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The Forwards

Charlie Cerrato - He’s definitely playing in the two games for the Hurricanes. While I don’t think he’s in the running to fill an NHL role quite yet, this is essentially an extended tryout for call ups during the regular season. Cerrato will be Carolina’s first line center and should see a ton of time in all situations.

Ivan Ryabkin - He’s not going to Russia, folks. Ryabkin will be one of Carolina’s top forwards at this tournament, especially with Nadeau likely missing these games to prepare for NHL camp. I actually think that Ryabkin and Cerrato would be a fun line together, as both players can get under the skin of their opponents.

Gleb Trikozov - It wouldn’t shock me if Gleb plays here again, simply because he needs the ice time. He already has two of these showcases under his belt, but given how many games he has missed over the past two years due to injury, it might not be a bad idea to let him get a head start on this season.

Felix Unger Sorum - After his year last year, I’m not so sure that Felix will be playing at the showcase. There’s nothing that he truly stands to gain from it. I’m still putting him here as a maybe, but I’d put his odds at playing around 10%.

Zachary Lansard - I’ll be watching him very closely in both games, because I feel like he’s on the verge of a breakout. He may not play on the top line for the Hurricanes, but he’ll be a key contributor.

Stiven Sardarian - The second new player that Carolina has added this offseason should be here as well. Sardarian was acquired for future considerations after not signing with Buffalo. While he’s on the older side at 23, this will still be his first pro season.

This is where things start to get weird. Assuming no Nadeau and Unger Sorum, that’s really only five prospects at forward to pay attention to. Even with their additions, that’d only be just over half a lineup. Last year, the Hurricanes supplemented their roster with guys that were going to mostly play in Greensboro, and it went awfully. I cold possibly see Neuchev getting included as a 23 year old, but even then, he has three years of AHL experience. With that, we’re likely looking at this for the lines:

Ryabkin - Cerrato - Trikozov

Sardarian - Lansard - Invitee

Invitee - Invitee - Invitee

Invitee - Invitee - Invitee

This is what happens when all your prospects are still in Europe, and I don’t mean that as a dig. It just means that these tournaments will be a little dry on talent outside of the top end. I have Lansard at center for now, although I feel that his game is better suited for the wing long-term. And again, if Felix somehow plays, that bumps Gleb down to play with Sardarian and Lansard.

Defense

Noel Fransen - Fransen signed with the Hurricanes this spring, a bit surprisingly given that he was rumored to be signing in Finland. He should be Carolina’s top offensive threat from the blue line, and in some cases it might look like the Hurricanes have four forwards out there. I’m excited to see how Fransen looks on the North American ice.

Dominik Badinka - Badinka was quite good offensively at the last showcase, and I’m curious to see what sort of improvements he’ll have heading into this one. I thought his AHL play this year was okay at best, and I’m looking for him to show legitimate improvements.

Charles Alexis Legault - Once again, I’m not sure Legault needs this showcase. I’m only putting him here because I’m very unsure of who else the Hurricanes would bring in. I’d put his odds a bit higher than Felix’s, at 25%.

Aleksi Heimosalmi - It would make sense for the Canes to bring Heimosalmi again, although he has to be tired of these tournaments.

Pairings could look like this:

Fransen - Badinka

Heimosalmi - Invitee

Invitee - Invitee

The Wolves haven’t signed any defensemen to AHL deals for the upcoming season, so we’ll likely see some CHL talent here that previously went undrafted.

Goaltending

Yegor Velmakin - Velmakin signed with Chicago for this upcoming season and I’d love to see him get one start. He has some interesting traits, although his age is a factor that limits his upside a bit.

Zachary Jovanovski - Jovanovski benefits from some extra NHL camp time since he’s staying in the OHL this year. It wouldn’t shock me if he gets one of the two starts, because I would imagine the Hurricanes want to give him some film to work on in camp both with the Canes and back in Guelph.

Both goalies should start one game. It’s a weird year this year where there’s only three participating teams, so it makes sense that each goalie would play one game.

Final Roster

The roster, for now, is built like this:

Ryabkin - Cerrato - Trikozov

Sardarian - Lansard - Invitee

Invitee - Invitee - Invitee

Invitee - Invitee - Invitee

Fransen - Badinka

Heimosalmi - Invitee

Invitee - Invitee

Velmakin/Jovanovski

If the Canes want to build a “super team,” they’ll include Nadeau, Unger Sorum and Legault. But I would imagine that winning a meaningless prospect showcase isn’t at the top of their priority list. Of course, it’d be nice, but certainly not a priority.

Once the roster does get officially announced, I’ll have a breakdown of all players attending as well as some things that I’m hoping to see out of these two games. As a reminder, the Hurricanes are hosting this year! Both games will be at Invisalign Arena in Morrisville and will be free to attend. I’ll be there, and I know a ton of other Canes fans will be too. Carolina plays on Sunday and Tuesday, both days at 2pm.

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Boom?

It’s been quiet on the Alexander Nikishin front for a long time, and even though Pierre LeBrun is off the grid and Elliotte Friedman is hibernating, you’d still think we would have heard something by now. I’m thinking back to an interview that Eric Tulsky had towards the end of the season where he mentioned that signing Nikishin wasn’t as big of a priority to them. Now, it may have seemed weird, but he meant that with Nikishin being immune to the threat of an offer sheet and an RFA, the team could focus on other things. Exactly what those other things are is a mystery to you and me, but they’ve been focused nonetheless. The Hurricanes have just a touch under $10 million in cap space, and one would assume that the vast majority of that will be used to sign Nikishin. With the cap space in mind, it makes sense that the Hurricanes haven’t been doing a whole lot right now. And after all, they have no real incentive to trade Nikishin. He’s still a productive NHL player and just won a cup, and even if he’s unhappy with his role, you’d have to think the idea of playing for a contender at least cancels out some of that sentiment.

My opinion on trading Nikishin hasn’t changed. I’m fine with it for the right package, but if that doesn’t exist, I’ll be happy that he’s back. He may not be the top pairing guy that we wanted him to be in this particular system, but I still have belief that he’ll be a damn good defenseman. We saw flashes of it this past year, and I believe that his second NHL season will be a good bit better. We haven’t seen any NHL news at all in the past few weeks, and I doubt we get a resolution on this anytime soon. In fact, it wouldn’t shock me if Nikishin is still unsigned at the start of training camp. The Canes can afford to play hardball.

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Seth Jarvis’ Temporary Replacement

Jarvis has been seen out of the sling, which is great news, but it got me thinking about who will fill his spot on the NHL roster. The obvious choice here is Bradly Nadeau, but if I’m Rod Brind’Amour, I’m making it a very open and public competition during camp. In fact, it wouldn’t shock me if the Hurricanes bring in a player or two on a PTO to increase the level of competition in camp. This will be the ultimate test for Nadeau. Is he truly ready to step into a top six NHL role? He’s been a dominant force in the AHL for two years now, but at a certain point, you need him to elevate and prove it at the NHL level. He’ll likely face stiff competition in camp, most notably from Felix Unger Sorum, who had a hell of a year with Chicago in the AHL this past year and made his NHL debut as a result. While Nadeau has a bit more experience at the NHL level, Felix’s upside is likely higher and a good offseason could potentially create even more competition in camp.

Other than Felix, I don’t see Nadeau having a ton of competition from his AHL teammates. Justin Robidas is awesome, but he’s not a top six NHL forward. So, that leaves me with some questions about who Carolina might bring in on a PTO for training camp. Some options that I could see Carolina inquiring on are Marcus Johansson, Patrik Laine and Vladimir Tarasenko. All could likely be had for cheap, and while Laine might be the best of the bunch, he and Tarasenko are the anti-Brind’Amour type players that I don’t believe would work here. Johansson is 35 but coming off of a 49-point season. He can play center and the wing, and while I don’t know where he fits in once Jarvis gets back, it’s certainly a decent fit for the time being. Ultimately, I still believe it’s Nadeau’s job to lose. But with some okay options still remaining, it’s fair to wonder if Carolina at least tries to get creative.

Quick Thoughts on the World Junior Summer Showcase

Carolina was well represented at the World Junior Summer Showcase, with four prospects participating. I thought that Mikey Berchild was awesome in the games he appeared in. He was creative, getting to the dirty areas on the ice and putting up points. He’ll make USA’s team in the winter, if I had to guess. Ryder Fetterolf was also quite solid for team USA, and while I’m a little less confident in his odds of making it, I still wouldn’t be surprised. He outdueled other goalies on the roster a number of times. Now, I’m not the biggest fan of Filip Ekberg and I think he’s destined for a good Euro career rather than an NHL career. But he did play exceptionally well at this event and he’ll be a key middle six player for the Swedes at the World Juniors. The real story, however, was William Hakansson. He was unreal defensively in every game he played in and showcased his underrated puck handling ability as well. Everything he does just screams “NHL defenseman” to me. He’s efficient at breaking up rushes, physical, intelligent, has great positioning, and can move the puck a lot better than I had previously seen. Even if he can just get to average, he’ll be a legitimate number four defenseman. Maybe even a number three if he can tap into a bit more offense.

Questions

Who is the most overrated Canes prospect of the past ten years? - Howie Handorf

Let me be the first to say that I love this question. I’m going to put a list below of the most overrated prospect from 2016-2022 for the Hurricanes, as we’re still a bit too close to the 2023 and present drafts to make judgment calls on them just yet.

2016: Julien Gauthier

2017: Stelio Mattheos

2018: Jack Drury (I hyped up Luke Henman, that was a teachable moment)

2019: Jamieson Rees (I hyped up Tuukka Tieksola, another teachable moment)

2020: Vasiliy Ponomarev

2021: Scott Morrow

2022: Gleb Trikozov

Now, keep in mind that this isn’t a measure of who the biggest bust from each class was. In fact, Drury has gone on to have a really solid NHL career. But in 2016, Gauthier is who everyone on Canes twitter wanted the Hurricanes to take. He was everything Hurricanes fans had been wanting the team to have. He was tall, strong, and a damn good goal scorer in junior. Everything after that was an absolute disaster, and as much as it pains me to admit it, Luke DeCock nailed it when he said that Gauthier was “trending towards being a bust.” Stelio Mattheos’ situation is tough given the cancer diagnosis. I thought he was going to be unreal after some fantastic years in junior, but alas. Drury was hyped up after a really good SHL season, but I played into the bit too much and should have toned down expectations. Jamieson Rees fell off the face of the planet when he turned pro, and Ponomarev had a great debut with Carolina but ultimately fizzled out after being traded to Pittsburgh. Morrow’s career to this point speaks as to why I felt he was overhyped, and I just cannot see it with Gleb. Still, none of the players listed afterwards come close to how overrated Julien Gauthier was. He had the hockey sense of a brick and was absolutely atrocious in any NHL stint that he did get after being traded from Carolina.

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Howie also had a follow-up question about the superior NC beach. I have a very soft spot in my heart for Wrightsville Beach. My aunt and uncle bought a house down there in the early 2000’s and have been kind enough to let the family use it for vacations as well. It’s a really beautiful beach, and the end of the island where it’s not as crowded is spectacular, especially at night. It’s where I proposed to my wife, too, so there’s that sentimental value as well. We’re actually here right now, and I love it.

Did we build up Nikishin too much? - Trevor

Short answer: no. There’s likely 25 other teams in the NHL, possibly more, where Nikishin would have entered the team as a top three defenseman on the roster. The fact that he was buried in Carolina speaks more to how insane their roster construction is than it does to Nikishin’s talent level. He finished third in defenseman scoring on the team, had a franchise record 11 goals as a rookie defenseman and continued to improve as the season went on. Sure, he wasn’t productive during the playoffs, but he adjusted his game to be much more responsible defensively since the Hurricanes didn’t want him chasing offense in the playoffs.

Carolina isn’t looking to trade Nikishin because he’s bad, and I think some fans have a mentality that if the Hurricanes are wanting to trade a player, it’s because that player isn’t good. I don’t think that’s the case. I think it’s much more likely that Nikishin is the team’s best trade chip when it comes to upgrading the roster in a meaningful way. And if he can’t fetch the team a meaningful upgrade, then they’ll just keep him. So while Nikishin may have not been the 50-point guy he was in the KHL, I’d be remiss if I didn’t say the KHL is not nearly as good of a league as it was a decade ago. It’s still a good league, no doubt about it, but I’d say it’s a lot closer to the SHL in terms of competition than ever before.

Would you offer Nadeau a longer term low AAV extension before the season similar to Koivunen’s recent extension? - Brendan Thiry

This past week, Pittsburgh quietly signed Ville Koivunen (yes, the Ville Koivunen you’re thinking of) to an eight year, $4 million AAV contract. I was stunned by this given Koivunen’s lack of NHL success to this point. He’s two years older than Nadeau is, as well. While I don’t hate the premise, I have a hard time seeing the Hurricanes giving Nadeau that type of deal unless he really shows out this season. And if I’m Nadeau, I’m not sure I’m comfortable taking an eight year deal and leaving money on the table. In Koivunen’s case, this is his one chance to prove himself and cash out. If Nadeau signs that type of deal, he runs the risk of being worth much, much more as the cap continues to rise and his value as a player increases. So ultimately, I don’t think I’d offer Nadeau that type of deal unless he shows that he’s on a similar level to Blake and Stankoven.

The Canes have drafted in the Top 5 six times in history. If you could change your pick for one of them, which would it be? - CanesIncognito

This question rocks. For your reference, those six picks were:

• Eric Staal

• Andrew Ladd

• Jack Johnson

• Elias Lindholm

• Noah Hanifin

• Andrei Svechnikov

It’s also a much tougher call than you’d think. Johnson immediately stands out as a potential choice. If the Canes had instead taken Anze Kopitar, the top European forward in the draft, they would have had a one-two punch of Eric Staal and Kopitar down the middle for nearly a decade or more. That would have been unbelievable, and even if they got one game out of Kopitar, it would’ve been better than Johnson. There’s also Carey Price, selected fifth overall, that the Hurricanes really could have used. A tandem of Ward and Price would have fed families.

I’m at least okay with the Ladd selection despite him not having the best career as a Hurricane. He helped the team win the cup in 2006, which is always going to boost his stock in my book. However, if we could rewrite history, Blake Wheeler is the only other player in this draft that I probably would have preferred.

With Lindholm, this is a tough one. In the couple years after the draft, if you asked Canes fans, they would have told you that Sean Monahan should have been the pick. That would maybe have helped the Canes in the short term, but Monahan’s injury history is rough. In fact, the only player to outscore Lindholm outside of the top two is Jake Guentzel. That, obviously, would have been a great pick for the Hurricanes. I still don’t think that Guentzel would’ve moved the needle enough during that era of Canes hockey, though.

I lived through the playoff drought, and so I’m going to take some time to talk about the Hanifin pick. Hanifin was the top defenseman in the class and had the makings of a franchise defenseman. He was not that with Carolina, seeing steady improvements but still only looking like an okay top four defenseman. Carolina moved on from Hanifin, and while he’s not a top pairing defenseman anywhere in the league, he’s a really solid second pairing defenseman and has been for his entire career. Hanifin actually leads the 2015 class in games played, having played nearly 40 more games than Connor McDavid, who sits at number two. So, while this wasn’t necessarily a great pick for Carolina results wise, he’s been a really good NHL player that could easily reach 1300 games. Still, imagine the Hurricanes with Zach Werenski, Kyle Connor, Mathew Barzal, or Mikko Rantanen.

Ultimately, I’m going to say choosing Kopitar over Johnson would have had the biggest impact for the Hurricanes. He’s a hall of fame candidate and the thought of he and Eric Staal playing on the same team has me salivating.

Who could you see making a big jump this year, prospect or player-wise? And what do you think could happen with Niki? - Megan Shoen

On the roster, I could see Logan Stankoven taking another big step this year. We all saw how good he was during the playoffs, and I strongly believe that he’ll have a bit more luck on the offensive side of the puck this year. It’s hard to believe, but he and Blake aren’t even in their prime yet. Both players have another level to reach, and that should be very exciting for Canes fans.

Prospect-wise, I’ll pick a forward and a defenseman. I strongly believe that prior to his injury last year, we were witnessing Alexander Siryatsky’s breakout. This kid’s skating is unreal, he’s a great defender and I believe that his offensive instincts and puck skills are underrated. He’s going to be a key contributor for Metallurg Magnitogorsk this year. While I maintain that he’s not a Nikishin-level prospect, the skating makes him at little more projectable at this point in his career.

At forward, I’m thinking that Zach Lansard could be one of the best players in the CHL this year. He just makes things happen, and I’m really interested to see what he looks like after an offseason with some NHL training under his belt. He’ll likely be at the prospects showcase in a month, and should at least get a bit of off-ice training with the Hurricanes in addition to those games. That first offseason as an NHL prospect is huge, and I strongly believe that Lansard could be well over a point per game player with Regina this upcoming season. He’ll be playing with some top 2027 draft picks, too.

I feel like I covered what I think will happen with Nikishin above, but I’ll summarize. If the Canes feel that they can get a legitimate difference maker for him, they’ll pull the trigger on a trade. Otherwise, they’ll keep him. Regardless, I believe this negotiation will continue into training camp and perhaps longer.

Thanks everyone for reading! I’ll have some more offseason content coming out in the next few weeks, as well as some previews for the prospects showcase roster.

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B+ Tier: NHL Top Six/Top Four

Bradly Nadeau - Nadeau still has top six upside and the potential to score 25-30 goals at the NHL level routinely. There’s a higher ceiling than that, but at this point in his development, I’m not entirely sure that ceiling is still feasible. I’ve seen a lot of growth from him this season, particularly on the defensive side of the puck, but I’m still not sure how much of a play driver he’ll be at the NHL level. Nadeau’s shot is still a threat from anywhere in the offensive zone, so that alone will make him a valuable player in the NHL. With Seth Jarvis out, this is the perfect opportunity for Nadeau to establish himself as an NHL player. He should get some power play time and legitimate top six minutes, and that will go a long way towards determining exactly what he is going to be as an NHL player. There’s still a lot of time for Nadeau to develop, though. It’s hard to believe, but he just turned 21 in May. It feels as if he’s been in the system for a lot longer than that.

Felix Unger Sorum - That’s right, folks. Bradly Nadeau no longer stands alone in a tier. I’m that high on Unger Sorum. There wasn’t a prospect in the system that improved as much as Unger Sorum did in every facet of the game. Unger Sorum’s pure playmaking ability and hockey sense might be the best we’ve seen in a player associated in this system for a long time, and that includes the NHL. The way he can manipulate space on the ice and find any open player with the puck is unbelievable. Felix sees the ice better than any other prospect I’ve seen, and he makes everyone on his line better. If Unger Sorum can continue to improve his play off the puck and get stronger, we’re looking at a player that’s capable of 50-60 assists per season. He’s still not the most confident shooter, and he lacks the power to be a scoring threat from a distance, but I still think he can be a scoring threat at the NHL level. Unger Sorum may not be quite as close to the NHL as Nadeau is, but he’s still very close. it won’t be much longer before he’s a legitimate call-up option to the NHL.

That’s it for the B+ tier. There isn’t another player in the pipeline that I’d consider for this tier as of right now, although a few could be close to that point around December or so. Carolina’s strength has been in their pipeline depth rather than high end talent for a while now, so it’s not a major concern that there aren’t a ton of high end players in this tier. In fact, Unger Sorum is a new addition to this tier.

B Tier: Top 9/Top 6 NHL Player

Ivan Ryabkin - Ryabkin was always going to be a fascinating player to follow in his D+1 season, and he didn’t disappoint. He started in the AHL and showed flashes of strong play, then went to the QMJHL and dominated. After his dominant stint in the QMJHL, Ryabkin came back to the AHL and looked more the part of a pro player. He was taking less penalties, getting to the net more often, and playing the role of agitator without taking penalties. In fact, he was being a pain in the ass while wearing a smile on his face. Now, I truly have no idea what to make of the rumors that he’s going back to Dynamo Moscow next season. I don’t believe that would be a wise move for him, but it may be games by an agent to try and get Carolina to give him more ice time in the minors. Moving back to Russia for a year wouldn’t necessarily be the end of the world, but it does feel like it’d be a step back in competition for him. When Nick and I interviewed Wolves Head Coach Spiros Anastas on Developing Hurricanes, he raved about how Ryabkin’s style of play was missed after he left for the QMJHL. That sounds like a coach that’s willing to give Ryabkin every opportunity. Now, Ryabkin is one of the few players in this system that I could see making his way into the upper tier in a few months. He needs to get quicker and improve his endurance, but he has the puck skills, hockey sense and compete necessary to be a really good NHL player. I’m not putting him in the above tier until I see where he’s playing next year as well as how he looks through the first few months of the season, though.

Timur Kol - He doesn’t turn 20 until next month and is 6’4” and 200 pounds, meaning he’s already pretty filled out for the NHL. I like Kol’s tape from his time in the KHL, although his ice time was sparse and he didn’t see consistent games there either. Kol plays a responsible defensive game, moves well and has at least average puck moving ability. That plus his size and physical maturity should get him at least a decent look once he gets to North America. Speaking of that, it’s a little surprising that Kol hasn’t signed anywhere for next season. He has the talent to play in North America, but Chicago has a fairly crowded blue line for next year. I wouldn’t hate to see Kol in a full-time KHL role for a year or so, but ultimately I feel that the best path for him is to play in the AHL this season. I’m not as bullish on Kol’s upside as some, although I do feel that he could be a solid prospect given the size and skating combo. I feel that he has the potential to fill a bottom pairing role at the NHL level, and that’s great value for a guy picked in the sixth round.

Kurban Limatov - Prior to the 2026 draft, there wasn’t a prospect in the pipeline that fascinated me more than Limatov did. Wiggo Sorensson (who I’ll talk about a bit later) may contend for that spot this season, but for now, Limatov is still the most fascinating prospect in the system. He’s hyper aggressive, chasing all sorts of offense and hits anywhere whenever he’s on the ice. There’s some really intriguing offensive potential there, too, and combine the good skating ability and previous traits mentioned with his size and you have a hell of a prospect. Limatov is chaos packed into a hockey player, and as a result of that chaos, the possible outcomes for his development are vast. There’s a chance he becomes an electrifying NHL defenseman in the Pavel Mintyukov mold. There’s also just as good a chance that he never figures out how to be as effective of a player once the competition ramps up. The fact of the matter is that Kurban Limatov has the potential to make defenses look absolutely silly and also to make a lot of really strong defensive plays. But as of right now, we’ve only seen him do so against players at his age level. On intrigue alone, Limatov could be in the B+ tier. But, I caution people to pump the brakes a bit here. Limatov’s highlight reel makes him a very good Fun/60 player, but his full tape still shows a raw prospect that still has a lot of development to do.

Charlie Cerrato - Cerrato’s overall two way play and pace is going to put him on a fast track to the NHL. In fact, it wouldn’t shock me if he sees a handful of NHL games this upcoming season. I still have general questions about the upside, though. I believe the skill that he possesses is good enough to occupy a third line role very effectively, but I do have questions as to whether or not he can elevate his game enough to be a second line center. Injuries kept Cerrato from seeing any sort of meaningful game time after signing with the Hurricanes, although he did practice with the Wolves a bit. My gut tells me that Cerrato will start the season in Chicago, but a good training camp may cause Rod Brind’Amour to give the kid a bit of an extended look. Judging from what I’ve seen from Cerrato, he’s the type of player they like. While he may not have as high of a dawg/60 as Logan Stankoven, they both compete like hell and will be more successful as a result.

William Hakansson - I was going to rank him in this tier even before Carolina signed him to a contract. It’ll begin in 2028 with the slide rules, and by that point, he should be a seasoned pro. Hakansson is slated to play in the SHL for the second straight season this year, so by the time his SHL contract is up, he could be ready to slot into an NHL lineup. At the very least, he won’t need a ton of AHL time. Now, I’m waiting for a little while on this pick because I do need to see if there’s any offense to be found in Hakansson’s game whatsoever. I’m not asking him to turn into Cale Makar, but I would like to see more than simple passes both to exit the zone, off the rush, and in the offensive zone. As a defenseman in today’s NHL, you have to be able to move the puck. Very, very few defensemen left in today’s NHL can’t do that. Often times, they don’t last very long. So if Hakansson can be an effective puck mover while also playing the mature defensive game that got him drafted in the second round, the Canes will be in a good place.

Charles Alexis Legault - This will be Legault’s last appearance on a ranking or tier list that I do since he turns 23 soon. He’s right on the cusp of being a full-time NHL player and I do believe that if the Hurricanes do move on from Alexander Nikishin, Legault is a natural replacement. He fits the role of a third pairing defenseman as someone that can play with a bit of an edge and also chip in with some decent plays offensively here and there. Legault needed to work on his turns and improved his backwards skating a bit this year, which will help him have more success defending against the rush at the NHL level. I don’t see Legault being much more than a solid third pairing defenseman, but the way he plays should give him a solid NHL career.

Alexander Siryatsky - I’m super intrigued by this player. He’s one of the best skaters in the system and has very underrated puck skills to go along with solid defensive awareness and positioning. Now that he has put on some weight, he’s seeing a lot of success against high level competition in Russia. It’s a damn shame that a leg injury cost Siryatsky a good chunk of the season, because he was fantastic and improving with every game leading up to the injury. This year, he’s poised to be a second pairing defenseman on a very good Metallurg team. While I don’t think he’s going to ever be on the level of Alexander Nikishin as a prospect, I do think that he profiles as an NHL prospect. He’s 6’4”, skates better than most defensemen in the system (which says a lot, mind you) and plays a fantastic 200-foot game. I see a player that could fill a second pairing role for the Hurricanes in the future. He, like Hakansson, is under contract with his club for two more years. Should he head to North America afterwards, one would imagine that he could also threaten for a lineup spot right away.

Semyon Frolov - Man, I really wish that Frolov was healthy this year. Him being placed as the last player in this tier means nothing, but the injury that kept him out of nearly the entire season does concern me slightly. I still believe that Frolov has the potential to be a really solid NHL goalie, but until I see him in action against better competition, I won’t feel comfortable projecting him beyond that. He should see some more opportunities to shine this season, and I sincerely hope that he shines right away.

There’s a lot of talent in the B-tier for the Hurricanes. It’s where their system shines, in my opinion. It wouldn’t shock me if we see someone like Ivan Ryabkin make his way into the B+ tier this year, although if he moves to the KHL, his chances of doing that go down to almost nil. Still, there’s a number of players that I believe could play meaningful NHL games here, and we’re still scratching the surface of this system.

B-/C+ Tier - Players With Some NHL Traits

This tier combines B- and C+ because to me, it’s a wash between them when you’re talking about NHL prospects. At this stage, there are players just drafted that I can’t pencil into any specific role, players that have shown me a little bit but are still so far out, and guys that may have fallen out of favor a little bit. It’s a mix of everything, so I’ve combined it.

Wiggo Sorensson - Talk about an enigma. This kid has a ton of speed and skill, and if he pops, he could be unbelievable. But he hasn’t played above the fourth tier of Swedish hockey and the rumors are that he’s a bit of a headcase. Carolina likes their enigmatic players, not shying away from the Noel Gunlers or Ivan Ryabkins of the world. What I like about Sorensson is his ability to dictate the pace of play and make other players around him better. That’s a very unique skill and not one that you can teach. I sincerely hope that he can play in a better league this year, because if he can, the sky is truly the limit. On skill alone, you could argue that Sorensson should be in the next tier up, maybe even one higher. But given his unproven nature and other questions, I’m keeping him in this tier right now.

Michael “Mikey” Berchild - Every single clip I’ve seen of this kid shows me that he’s an absolute DAWG. That doesn’t mean that he’s going to be a first line player. Moreso that I love his compete and motor. Berchild just works his ass off every shift and will frustrate the hell out of opponents. I really like that sort of player, and it helps that he has a good amount of skill to his game as well. Now, there’s the obvious questions about his size and whether or not he can take the next step, but he’s a really interesting player to keep an eye on. He’s heading to Denver in the fall and that’s the perfect school to get the most out of him. Head Coach David Carle is one of the best in the business and Berchild fits his style of play perfectly.

Zach Lansard - I want to talk about this player a bit, because from what I’ve seen and heard, he’s one to keep an eye on. Like Berchild, he has a relentless motor and competes his ass off every shift. My only thing is that I feel that Lansard might be all-around better in every category. The stats from this past season don’t wow me by any means, but I care a bit more about the process than the production right now. Obviously, we’re looking for an improved stat line next year, but for now, let’s take a look under the hood

.Look at those forecheck primary assists and shot assists. I could cry. Dude just makes things happen on the forecheck. That’s a DAWG right there. He needs to make more passes to the slot, but with this forecheck data, I’m seeing a guy that can absolutely play in the NHL. I’d love to see Lansard take the jump to the NCAA after one more year in the WHL, because I believe that at that point, he’ll be ready to dominate that level as well. Again, the under the hood data is super interesting here, and the film that I saw both from development camp and his draft year have me paying very close attention.

Jayden Perron - Perron’s 2025-26 season was like the Undertaker waking up in the coffin. That was sick when I was a kid, and so was Perron’s season. He looked like the player that could make things happen at the snap of a finger in the offensive zone and seemed to make everyone around him better. Perron’s shot was a threat from anywhere in the offensive zone and he had decent transition numbers. He’ll need another good year for me to be fully convinced in his upside, but he certainly revived his prospect status this past season.

Justin Poirier - Go back and watch every single one of Poirier’s goals and find one of them that wasn’t electric. Go on, I dare you. You won’t find one. This kid can absolutely fire the puck, and there isn’t a player other than Nadeau in the system that can score from anywhere like Poirier can. He plays a scrappy game off the puck as well, and given that style of play, I debated putting him in the B tier. Ultimately, there’s still a ways to go for a player of his size to make it to the NHL. I like that he’s transferring to Michigan next season as I feel that he’ll play better competition and will likely be one of the NCAA’s leading scorers. It’s hard to believe, but Poirier doesn’t turn 20 until September, so he’s still very young by prospect standards.

Viggo Nordlund - I like Nordlund enough, he’s got a good amount of skill, a shot that can surprise you, and pushes the pace of play. He had a really solid year in HockeyAllsvenskan and was one of the best U20 players in that league, which earned him a spot on the SHL club with Skelleftea this year. Nordlund needs to develop that one or two elite traits that’ll carry him to the NHL level, and as of right now he doesn’t have that. He’s still very intriguing due to the skill and skating, but I’m just not ready to put him in the higher tier until we start seeing him against better competition.

Fyodor Avramov - Avramov has some potential as a power forward, but to this point, we’ve yet to see him make an impact at the KHL level. The skating and shot stand out as traits that could translate to the NHL, but I’ve yet to see Avramov take the steps forward that he needs to take to push his way into legitimacy as a prospect. When his KHL contract expired this year, I thought there was a chance that we could see him signing with the Hurricanes. Instead, he signed a two year VHL contract with Khimik. The VHL isn’t a bad league, and he’ll get consistent top six playing time there, but I was holding out hope for some KHL time. What’ll get Avramov pro time in North America is the size, shooting and puck skills. The rest of his game will need to fill out a bit in the VHL before I can confidently say that he’s an NHL prospect.

Alexander Rykov - When I think of players in danger of falling out of this tier, Rykov comes to the front of the mind. In three seasons post draft, he hasn’t cemented himself as a full-time KHL player and has seen his ice time with Traktor dwindle. I also thought it telling last season when his contract was up and the Hurricanes didn’t sign him right away. Usually, the Hurricanes are quite aggressive when it comes to getting their players to North America, but with Rykov, they’ve been unusually patient. Flash forward to this offseason and we’re seeing a repeat of the same scenario. I will say that last year when I was watching Rykov at dev camp, I didn’t see a ton from him outside of the motor. That was disappointing, given Rykov’s production at the VHL level for years. I’m still putting him in this tier because he’s been productive in limited KHL minutes and there’s at least enough in his game, but if he gets off to a slow start, he’ll slip.

Roman Shokhrin - Take a look at the EP stats and you’ll come away wondering why I rank Shokhrin in this tier. But watch him play and you’ll see exactly why I have him in this tier. He’s an unreal defender, shutting down plays at a high end level and adept at defending with the body and with his stick. Shokhrin has been the best shutdown defenseman in the MHL since being drafted and will finally get a shot in a higher league next year, playing for Molot Perm in the VHL. Now, Shokhrin profiles as a bottom of the lineup defenseman due to the lack of offense in his game. He’s limited to simple passes and simple breakouts, and I don’t see him being more than a 15-20 point NHL defender. But, there’s a lot to like about the way that he plays and how he can defend. Given his lack of time outside of the MHL, it’s still difficult to project how good Shokhrin will be. He is under contract with Perm for two years, and perhaps he gets a KHL deal if he impresses this upcoming season.

Noel Fransen - I was a bit surprised to see Carolina offer Fransen a contract after the rumors that he was signing in Finland, but I actually prefer that he starts his North American pro career this year. Fransen has the puck skills and skating to really pop as an offensive defenseman, but I don’t think that he gelled with what the coaches look for in Sweden. A lot of Swedish teams prefer defense first players and Fransen is still very much a work in progress defensively. But if you watch Fransen play, you see a very interesting player with NHL traits. He’s one of those prospects that I’m waiting to see in North America before I really start to project his game, but there’s enough to like from the skill and underlying data to make me interested.

Dominik Badinka - I still have no idea what to make of Badinka. He started the AHL season at 19 years old and was injured during the playoffs with a broken back, so that definitely set him back a bit. Whenever I watched Badinka play this past year, I came away very underwhelmed. The skating stood out, and I thought that his defensive positioning was fine, but there just wasn’t a whole lot else to take away. He wasn’t very impactful in the offensive zone, didn’t wow me a ton defensively, but also didn’t make a ton of mistakes. Joel Nystrom has had success being a low-event type of defenseman, and Badinka’s size makes him a bit more interesting than that, but I’m still not sure what to make of him. If there’s one bit of encouragement, it’s that his offensive production in the AHL was much better than it was in the SHL.

Nikita Artamonov - I’m not writing Artamonov off yet, and neither should you. I think his lack of consistency this year could be due to the KHL being a brutal league to play in as a young player. It’s still concerning, though, going from being your team’s top scorer to being loaned away because they didn’t want you to play for them anymore. Artamonov’s skating and hockey sense stand out. He’s always in the right place at the right time to make something happen, it’s just that his puck skills are so much further behind. If his hands could ever catch up to his feet, he’d be a damn good prospect. I suspect that he’ll have a better year this year with a change of scenery. While it’s a concern that Artamonov went from a consensus number two prospect in the system to being almost universally out of the top ten, there’s still plenty of time to right the ship.

Roman Bausov - It was a tough year for Bausov, who spent the vast majority of the season injured. He was a bit better offensively from a points per game standpoint, but his calling card is always going to be his defense and skating ability. For a 6’5” player, his straight line speed stands out as a true plus trait. This year, I’m looking to see what Bausov can do with a healthy offseason. There’s certainly a long way to go, but I really do think that there’s an interesting prospect if we wait a few years.

Ryder Fetterolf - Fetterolf is an atypical goalie pick for the Hurricanes, as he’s barely six feet tall. Most of Carolina’s drafted goalies stand 6’3” or taller, so Fetterolf stands out a bit in that way. Still, the resume speaks for himself. In his first year of junior hockey, he was the best goalie in the CHL and was flat out dominant in high school the year before, so he has a proven track record. Watching Fetterolf, you can tell he’s a competitor. He sells out to make saves, has really solid positioning and rebound control, and gives his team every single opportunity to win each night. I love that he’s heading to Penn State next year, as I feel that the NCAA is a legitimate step up from the OHL. During the draft, I thought that Fetterolf might go a bit higher than he ended up going. His fall is likely due to his size, as most teams don’t love goalies that are this size, but the tools are there.

Zachary Jovanovski - Jovanovski’s stats from last season don’t jump off the page, but he played in 52 games and all four of Guelph’s playoff games. This kid is a workhorse and fits the mold of a goaltender the Hurricanes like to draft. He’ll get a ton of opportunities this upcoming season due to Guelph hosting the Memorial Cup, so he’ll see a ton of game action as his team tries to load up for that run. As a goalie, he’ll take a little while to develop and so if I were to rank the players in this tier, he’d be closer to the bottom. There’s just a lot of outcomes in how he could develop. But I do think that it’s a great idea to draft as many goalies as possible since you truly never know what you’re going to get.

This tier has a lot of prospects that have potential to pop, a few that have a ways to go, and a few that are sliding down the ranks a little bit. Still, it’s a very strong middle tier that has a handful of guys that could become NHL players someday. Other than Hakansson, every 2026 pick made their way into this tier. I felt that this was fair, given that none of them were drafted in the top 50. Of course there’s going to be a ways to go for those guys.

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C Tier - Long Shots, but a Few Traits

Filip Ekberg - I really don’t see it with Ekberg. The skills are average, the skating is fine but doesn’t wow me, and he’s very weak in his own end. But we’re still only one year removed from him being drafted, so I don’t think that I can give up on him yet. Ekberg will need a massive OHL season in order to get signed by the Hurricanes, as his rights expire on June 1, 2027. I’m hoping to see him a bit at the prospects showcase in the fall and hopefully then I’ll see some improvements.

Alexander Perevalov - Perevalov might be one of the smoothest skating forwards in the system, and when he’s on, he’s really good. He had solid numbers in the VHL this past year and parlayed that into a two year contract extension with his team. I don’t think he’s an NHL pick, but perhaps he comes to North America once his VHL deal expires and he surprises. The offensive game is at least something worth paying attention to.

Stanislav Yarovoi - Yarovoi profiles as an NHL fourth liner and the production hasn’t ever been great over in Russia. He’s a solid role player that competes and has a strong two way presence, but I don’t think there’s ever going to be enough offense in his game for him to be an NHL player. I’m not quite ready to give up on him yet, but time is running out.

Timur Mukhanov - Every once in a while he’ll do something that makes me see why he was drafted. Mukhanov’s biggest issue has been his inconsistency at the KHL level. Through the past three seasons, Mukhanov hasn’t been able to establish himself above the fourth line at the KHL level. As a result, his counting stats are pretty weak and I don’t see a ton of upside here. The skill was a fine bet in the sixth round when he was drafted.

Andrei Krutov - He has some of the best pure stickhandling ability in the Canes’ system, but good lord is this kid’s skating ugly. It’s part of the reason why he hasn’t gotten a major look at the KHL level yet, although he did just extend his loan with Amur. I’m willing to at least wait and see given the puck skills and hockey sense, but unless the skating improves, it’s not happening.

Gleb Trikozov - It’s become a bit of a Canes twitter meme that I’m not the biggest fan of Gleb. And while I’ve definitely played into it, I do legitimately feel bad for him. He signed with a lot of promise out of Russia and has had an absolutely brutal go of things in North America due to injury. And these injuries haven’t been short stints, either. We’re talking multiple serious leg injuries in back to back years. As a result, Gleb’s AHL career has been pretty awful. He’s at his best when he’s crashing the net and causing havoc, and I haven’t seen him do that. Every time I’ve watched Gleb play, he’s a ghost. Completely absent. It’s just tough to see how a player with so much skill can be that absent.

Vladimir Grudinin - I feel that we’ve seen Grudinin kind of plateau over the past two years, not really taking that next step forward that you’d expect him to take. He has been a consistent top four defenseman at the KHL level, but I just don’t see a player with his profile making it to the NHL. He’s a smaller, slight defenseman that doesn’t really play well in the offensive zone. Again, that’s just strange to me.

Oskar Vuollet - Vuollet is such a perimeter player that I’m wondering if he’ll ever find success in a league as solid defensively as the SHL is. We’re still not very far removed from him being drafted by Carolina, but his complete and utter unwillingness to carry the puck to the middle is a legitimate concern of mine.

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Ruslan Khazheyev - This kid should never have signed with Carolina as early as he did, and I feel that in doing so, he really hurt his chances of being an NHL goalie down the line. He was very clearly overwhelmed by the AHL in his first year and was given absolutely zero leash the following season. Instead, he spent the entire year on a god awful Greensboro team. I do feel bad for the kid, because he’s had some solid moments at the AHL level. But at this point, I don’t see him jumping over Sawchenko for the AHL backup role.

Note: Yegor Velmakin technically graduated from prospect status this year, but I’m at least going to say that he’d be in this tier since he signed with AHL Chicago recently. Carolina’s goalie depth is so poor that he has a chance to impress just because of that.

This tier is a bit of a bummer, especially considering the fact that Carolina’s top two picks (and three overall) from the 2022 draft find their way onto this tier. Not every draft can be a winner, but that one looks especially ugly.

D Tier - Guys I’m Writing Off

Viktor Neuchev - Hilariously, Neuchev still qualifies as a prospect since he’s under 23. Still, I don’t see more than a solid role player at the AHL level. I wasn’t necessarily shocked that Carolina brought him back given their poor forward depth at the AHL level, but I wouldn’t expect much from him this year.

Nikita Guslistov - I haven’t seen nearly enough from Guslistov since he had a brief period of success with Severstal a few years ago. He’s not really moving the needle for me, and given the fact that he’s close to 23, I’m ready to write him off.

Alexander Pelevin - I’ve never been a fan of Pelevin, and him being at this point doesn’t necessarily surprise me. He’s been a fine VHL defender, but at some point you’d hope that he would have gotten KHL games. That just hasn’t happened, and he’s so damn boring.

Michael Emerson - He’ll graduate prospect status shortly before the new year, and man, I just do not see it. There’s nothing in his game that makes me think he’ll even be a decent AHL player.

This is usually a pretty small tier, because with some players, you just never know. But with these four, I’m fairly confident that we aren’t seeing NHL players.

And that’s it for the prospect tiers! While Carolina didn’t add a ton to the top of the system in the 2026 draft, they certainly added a lot to an already impressive middle of the pack. The emergence of Felix Unger Sorum gives the team a solid one two punch at the top of the system, and there’s a good amount of players that could see their stock rise as we get into next season. As always, thanks for reading!

• Signed G Zach Sawchenko to a one year, two-way contract

• Re-signed D Aleksi Heimosalmi to a one year, two-way contract

That’s it! Other than bringing in a fourth string goalie to make up for the loss of Amir Miftakhov, Carolina has stayed put. This was to be expected given that the Hurricanes extended Mark Jankowski during the playoffs and only lost Mike Reilly and Frederik Andersen from the NHL roster. While I’m slightly surprised the team didn’t bring back Andersen as some insurance, it’s a pretty big vote of confidence in the tandem they do have. For one, they’re counting on Brandon Bussi to continue playing at the level he was at during the regular season and the Final. Two, they’re counting on Pyotr Kochetkov to bounce back from injury and return to form. I do expect perhaps one or two more minor league moves for the Hurricanes to bolster the Chicago Wolves, but unless a trade happens, this is pretty much it.

That being said, what could be on Eric Tulsky’s offseason to-do list?

1. Find a home for Jesperi Kotkaniemi

2. Find out what to do with Alexander Nikishin, whether it be a trade or a contract extension.

3. Acquire a top six forward via trade

4. Finish signing the rest of the RFAs and shore up minor league depth

Lots of tall tasks stand ahead of our fearless GM this offseason, and at the top of that list has to be moving on from Jesperi Kotkaniemi. With the center market being as bad as it is, it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s a team out there that wants him. While they may not get a ton of value back for him, anything is better than nothing at this point. Plus, the extra nearly $5 million in cap space is worth a good bit too.

Then, there’s Nikishin. Prior to free agency beginning, I wrote about the cases for and against trading him. Those reasons are still valid, and while reports seem to indicate that Nikishin won’t be here next year, I’m of the mindset that this may be insiders trying to will some excitement into existence at this point in the offseason. The Hurricanes don’t need to trade Nikishin at all. In fact, I’m sure they’re more than fine with having him play for the team since he’ll no doubt be better than he was this past year. With Kotkaniemi, it feels like that situation feels a bit untenable and the team would be better suited to get some decent value for him while they can. These moves feel like the bigger priorities for the team to sort out before they try and improve the roster. And to be honest, it’s likely that Carolina may try solving multiple problems at once by using Nikishin to upgrade the roster if they do try and move him at all.

Prospect Development Camp Notes

I didn’t attend prospects camp, but I have some notes based off of what Nick posted over on the CanesProspects account and some other things I heard around the draft. I’ll do this in bullet point format here.

• While he’s not at the same level that Nikishin was as a prospect, get excited for Alexander Siryatsky. I’ve seen him play and the skating and skill combined with his defensive zone play is intriguing to say the least. Some other things I’ve heard tell me that he’s vastly underrated by the public scouting sphere right now.

• Mikey Berchild is very interesting to me. The skill is raw, and he has a way to go before I can hype him up too much, but I loved some of the videos that Nick posted of him in camp. There was one sequence where he outworked Kurban Limatov, played off of contact and created space to create a scoring chance. If he can do that consistently, there’s a path to the NHL for him. Guys like Stankoven, Jarvis and Blake are elite at doing things like that.

• I saw the same things from Zach Lansard’s junior tape. Carolina really took some interesting forwards in this draft.

• Roman Shokhrin isn’t the biggest standout in terms of offensive ability, but his pure defensive ability is truly fascinating. He’s a really strong defender and skater and I’m thrilled that he’s finally getting time at the VHL level this upcoming season.

• A bit surprised that Timur Kol didn’t get an ELC after training camp, especially considering he’s a KHL free agent right now. Chicago does have a pretty crowded blue line right now, with Badinka, Seeley, Fransen, Legault, Valimaki, Montgomery and Heimosalmi all fighting for spots. Kol would likely play in that group, but I’m not convinced he would get consistent ice time. If Kol can get a KHL contract for a year, that’d be ideal.

• First looks at Wiggo Sorensson’s tape and I’m thinking it’s going to be a while here. The skill is undeniable, but he’s not playing against very good competition. I definitely see why Carolina was interested, because he was very good at the U18s. My hope is now that Sorensson has been drafted, the Hurricanes can get him into at least HockeyAllsvenskan to play against solid comptetition. HockeyEttan will be a step up from the fourth division of hockey in Sweden, but it’s not a good league.

• Charlie Cerrato could push for a roster spot this fall. I doubt he gets it, but he’ll get a nice look in camp. He looked really good in the clips I saw, and it looks as if that injury is behind him now.

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Reader Questions

What is the likelihood of Alexander Nikishin being traded, and why would the Hurricanes consider Šimon Edvinsson over him at a likely more expensive price? - Reece

From how the insiders are reporting it, they’d like for those odds to be 100%. I’m leaning that there’s about a 60% chance that Nikishin is in another uniform at the start of the season, but depending on the day, I could be convinced otherwise. It’s just so hard to predict, because not every NHL team will want to dig a hole on their NHL roster just to fill another. It’d be different if Carolina was just asking for futures in this deal. Draft picks get traded all the time. But when you’re asking for a player in return, that makes a deal all the more difficult to complete.

As for Edvinsson, I see that as your typical “Hurricanes are in on everything” situation rather than something imminent. An agent could say “oh yeah, Carolina checked in” to put pressure on Detroit. The Canes have the draft picks to offer sheet Edvinsson, so the agent could be leveraging that to try and make some headway in negotiations. I like Edvinsson fine enough and he is a year and a half younger than Nikishin is, so that’s at least intriguing. There’s also the question of system fit, and I do wonder if Edvinsson is a better fit in the Canes’ system than Nikishin is due to his skating. Some free advice to all the NHL teams reading this (because I know all of you obviously do, duh), if Carolina wants one of your defensemen, you may want to take a step or two back and wonder why.

Which Russian Prospect non Dman are you most interested in coming to NA in the next 2-3 years? - Howie Handorf

I’m going to say Semyon Frolov. I think he’s the best goalie in the system and the skill set really intrigues me. He desperately needs a big year after spending most of this past season injured. Other than that, I’d say Fyodor Avramov at least intrigues me a little bit due to being one of the only power forward prospects in the system.

Can you please explain to people that our team is signed and were unlikely to make moves unless they are great? - Michael Oneill

This one made me laugh. I actually haven’t seen a ton of negativity online, but perhaps that’s due to the fact that I don’t follow a whole lot of Canes accounts outside of folks I know personally. However, as I stated at the beginning, the only way you can make a tangible improvement to the roster as currently constructed is by adding a legitimate star. Making improvements on the Eric Robinsons and Jordan Martinooks of the world aren’t going to move the needle for the Hurricanes much, if at all. And besides, this free agent class was awful.

Were you a little surprised Aleksi Heimosalmi is coming back for another year? It doesn’t seem like the Wolves have much faith in him. - Tom Edwards

A little, yes. Heimosalmi struggled mightily in North America for the first year of his career here. He did see some improvements this past year, however, most notably in terms of his defensive zone play. He saw a small uptick in points but also went from a -29 last year to a plus 11 in four fewer games. While +/- is generally a stat that can be ignored, a 40 point swing towards the positive is certainly something to keep note of. Heimosalmi is a fine AHL depth defenseman to have, so I don’t hate the move. I’d be more surprised if his Hurricanes tenure extends beyond this upcoming season, but that’s just me.

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Which player from the 26 draft haul is most likely to crack the NHL lineup 1st? And when? - Dave McBrayer

William Hakansson is the one I could see making it to the NHL first, likely three to four years from now. He has around 50 games of pro experience in Sweden between the regular season and playoffs, plays a responsible defensive game and has the size and skating to make him successful at the NHL level. I like all of their picks, but guys like Sorensson, Berchild and Lansard are going to take a while to make it to the league, if at all, and goalies are so unpredictable. Hakansson is under contract in the SHL for two more years and I could see him getting a decent role with Lulea this upcoming season. After that, he may only need one year in the AHL to adjust to this level of play.

Quick little aside here: I’m not going to update my top ten prospects list post-draft. I don’t feel confident that any of these players can crack my top ten yet, although Hakansson is close. I will do a tier list and put all of Carolina’s 2026 draftees into that list, though.

What exactly has changed in Artamanov’s game in the past 2 years? He’s fallen off so much production wise and he looked so promising at one point. - Jay

I don’t think much has changed with Artamonov himself, just that he got the short end of the stick in Russia this past season and couldn’t get into a groove. He’s not the type of player that can dominate with his puck skills, nor do I see him as someone that can drive play at an elite level. Moreso, I see him as a complementary winger that can put himself in a scoring position and occasionally set up teammates using his shot as a pass. I think that once teams realized they could pressure Artamonov a bit, he faltered. So it’s now on the player to adapt, and I feel that getting out of Torpedo’s system may end up working out for him. He is now on loan to Severstal Cherepovets and will play with fellow Canes prospect Vladimir Grudinin.

Thanks to everyone that submitted a question! I’ll have more content out for you all next week as I put all of our prospects into tiers.

The case for keeping Nikishin

It’s not hard to see why you’d keep Nikishin. He’s a 6’4” defenseman that set the team’s record for goals by a rookie defenseman this past year. He also had a decent year production wise with minimal power play opportunities, so you’d expect roughly 40+ points next year if his role were to increase. His defensive play should take a step forward as well now that he is comfortable at the NHL level, so it’s natural to expect that he’ll be a much more impactful player in his second NHL season. You look at the KHL tape and it’s not hard to see why this player was such a highly touted prospect coming into the NHL. He was mobile, hit everything in sight and was one of the KHL’s most consistently productive defensemen in the offensive zone. He looked like the complete package and a true future number one defenseman. That sort of player doesn’t grow on trees, and if you move him, you may spend the next few years searching for the next Nikishin.

There’s also Nikishin’s age. He turns 25 in October and is vastly younger than most of the Hurricanes’ other defensemen, save for K’Andre Miller. Keeping some of the defensive core on the younger side will keep the team competitive for much longer. While he may only have one or two more years left of improvement before his true prime, we’re looking at a player that could be dominant over the course of the next eight seasons if he makes some adjustments to his game. And with Jaccob Slavin being 32 years old, the Hurricanes need to start preparing for what it might look like if Slavin takes on a lesser role in the coming years. This past season we already saw that Slavin wasn’t playing at one hundred percent, and his game suffered as a result. His eight points in 39 games were his lowest totals ever in the NHL, and there were times this year when he actually looked human. Now, Slavin still had a solid year defensively and his performance in game six of the Stanley Cup Final was nothing short of clinical.

Ultimately, you also don’t want to give another team a number one defenseman, and unless the trade is one for one, here’s a good chance you’re giving up a dollar to get some quarters. Essentially, you give up one really good asset for a few okay assets. That’s a tough situation to win, especially given the contract situation. Teams could just sit there and force the Hurricanes into signing Nikishin to a bridge deal that walks him right to UFA status. Then, if the player wants, he can sign wherever he wants to and the Hurricanes get nothing. Reports from Pierre LeBrun indicate that Nikishin may not have been happy with his role this past season, and who can blame him? He went from playing nearly 30 minutes a night in the KHL to averaging half that in the NHL. Of course he’s going to be frustrated. Given Carolina’s so-so leverage in this situation, it’s reasonable to wonder whether or not the team can truly come out ahead in a trade.

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The case for trading Nikshin

Now, this is a lot more nuanced. Carolina’s left side is currently Jaccob Slavin, K’Andre Miller and then Alexander Nikishin, with Shayne Gostisbehere also in the mix as another left handed defenseman. Nikshin isn’t leapfrogging Slavin or Miller anytime soon, so he’s a bit buried on the depth chart. While the Hurricanes could potentially balance out the even strength time a bit more or give Nikishin more opportunities on the power play, the fact of the matter is he’s the third pairing defenseman. Given the aforementioned rumors that Nikishin isn’t happy with his role, it may make sense to explore the market in case he’s not willing to sign long term. Nikishin is still at the peak of his value around the league and teams are going to be lining up for the chance at getting a player like him.

Carolina isn’t one to shy away from a tough contract negotiation. In fact, there have been agent polls done by sites like The Athletic that state that Carolina is one of the more difficult teams to deal with. So with that in mind, the team can wait it out with Nikishin. GM Eric Tulsky mentioned that his contract negotiation is on the back burner for now. Nikishin received a qualifying offer and due to rule 10.2.c, he is ineligible to be given an offer sheet by another team. Therefore, the team can wait things out with Nikishin and focus on improving the team however they can. And I know some folks are leery of the reported $8 million asking price, but with the cap rising as rapidly as it is, that’s just what defensemen are going to cost now.

The case for trading Nikishin is that he’s at the peak of his value right now. He was on a Stanley Cup winning team, he is a controllable asset for another two years, and he’s just now entering his prime. There’s also the fact that his style of play is tantalizing to 31 other teams. Everyone could use a 6’4” defenseman that hits like a freight train and can put up solid production from the blue line. As such, you’re likely demanding a pretty hefty return if you’re Carolina. No other player on the roster can net you a return like Nikishin without creating a serious hole on the roster. While Charles Alexis Legault doesn’t have the upside of Nikishin, he may be better suited for a third pairing role. And Joel Nystrom has already signed a four year extension to put him in consideration for the NHL lineup as well. So Carolina has some players waiting in the wings if need be.

Without ragging on Nikishin too much, it’s clear that his defensive zone play wasn’t up to par at all this past year. He was chasing plays too often and left out of position due to his poor skating and ill-timed pinches. That’s something that did get better as the season went on, but the skating is going to have to see some massive improvements before I stop getting concerned.

Summary

There’s a strong case to be made for trading Nikishin, and there’s just as strong a case for keeping him. Ultimately, the Hurricanes will make the right decision with the player. It’s not necessarily something the team is rushing to make a decision on, though, so this process will likely carry on pretty far into the offseason one way or the other. The fact that the Hurricanes are even considering this speaks volumes to not only how the roster is constructed but how well they’ve drafted in recent years as well. A few years ago, trading Nikishin would have been out of the question. Now, it’s at least a reasonable possibility.

Carolina began the draft with picks 31, 105, 165, and 192. They turned the 31st overall pick into 51, 61, 68 and 125, which is damn good work from Eric Tulsky and crew. The talent gap from 31 to 51 isn’t very wide, and the Hurricanes were able to amass a stronger group of prospects that way. The team has always maintained a strategy of drafting the highest value possible, and their strategy of trading down in the draft helps them maximize the value of each selection, even if they don’t end up making that pick right then and there.

51st Overall - William Hakansson

Over the past three years, there has been a massive shift in how Carolina drafts defensemen. We’re seeing them put an even larger emphasis on big defensemen that have strong skating ability. Legault, Badinka, Kol, Shokhrin, Siryatsky, Bausov, Limatov. All of these players have strong skating ability and are at least 6’3”. Hakansson comes to the Hurricanes from the Lulea system and played in 22 SHL games and 16 games in the second league this year. He also appeared for the Swedes at the World Juniors, and Carolina specifically mentioned the fact that he’s already a pro defenseman. The skating and defensive ability stand out, as does his physical play. He’s mean, shuts down plays effectively and has untapped potential when it comes to his puck skills. With Hakansson, the next steps are to continue improving his all around defensive game and to hone his puck skills. I see a lot of bottom pairing defenseman projections, but I feel like he could be a solid number four defenseman if his play with the puck can even be average. He likes to mold himself after Jaccob Slavin, apparently, which was a fun comparison. I actually think there’s a bit more nastiness to his game than Slavin’s, which I like.

I’ll give this pick a B. Per the consensus rankings tool on EliteProspects, Hakansson was ranked 31st overall. A lot of sites had him as a mid-20s type of player. This is the type of player you draft every time, though. While the upside may be a question, there’s a good chance he’s an NHL regular. Some people are commenting that Carolina’s defense is pretty old, but if they keep drafting players like this, it won’t be for long.

61st Overall - Wiggo Sorensson

The first ever selection from the Swedish fourth tier, Sorensson immediately becomes one of the most, if not the most, intriguing players in the Hurricanes’ pipeline. Darren Yorke, Carolina’s AGM, mentioned that Sorensson’s level of competition was akin to Minnesota high school hockey this year, where you really don’t know what you have until you see him at a different level. And then the Hurricanes kept seeing him at better levels, such as at the U18 Worlds against the best players in his age group, and he finished a point per game player en route to winning a gold medal. Sorensson has elite skating and intriguing puck skills that make him a highly competitive player. He can play center, and while I don’t think he sticks at that position at the NHL level, it’s at least worth noting that he has the ability to. This is one of those picks that’s going to seem really weird at the start, but if it works, Carolina is going to look so, so smart. They’re one of the few teams that can look at this player and see him for what he is: a small, yet unbelievably skilled forward with a relentless motor and high upside. Some of the things that Sorensson can do while evading pressure is truly outstanding. The biggest thing with Sorensson will be how he handles the upticks in competition as he continues to move through the ranks in Sweden. He’s moving up a level to HockeyEttan, the Swedish third division, next year. While it’s still not a great level of hockey, it’s certainly a step up and I could see some team at a higher level taking Sorensson in on a loan. Be patient with this pick, folks. It’s going to be a long time before we see this player in the states.

I’ll give this pick a C for right now. I love the idea of swinging for the fences here, but there’s a good chance you whiff and your bat goes flying into the dugout. The outcomes here are so vast, with one side being “legitimate top six NHL scorer” and the other being “guy that has a decent career in Sweden.” Sorensson is going to be a fascinating player to track over the next few years.

68th Overall - Zach Lansard

Lansard played a solid role for Regina this year, building off of a 19 point season by putting up 56 points this year. He also scored three times in Regina’s playoff series against Medicine Hat. Lansard seems like another prototypical Hurricane in the sense that he’s not the biggest forward (still six feet tall, though) and he has a high compete level, good skating and a strong motor. Those are things that Carolina covets, and the Hurricanes really seemed to value Lansard’s potential. From EliteProspects’ tracking data, Lansard creates a ton of offense in his own end but isn’t great in transition. Now, this could be due to Regina’s system and less so the player itself, and I’ll be watching him play in the near future to try and get an idea of what he’s like as a player. From what I’ve seen and read, Lansard drives play on his line and makes a ton of offense happen. He gives me some Diet Seth Jarvis vibes with how he can play off of contact and create offense as a result. Obviously I’m not suggesting that Lansard is a Seth Jarvis level player, but I do see some similarities that could carry him to NHL success.

I’ll grade this pick a C+. I like Lansard, and it feels like it fits the system. I’d feel a little more comfortable if he had an NCAA commitment in the future, but there’s still plenty of time for that. The WHL is fine competition, and even if he’s not in the NCAA, it just means that he can turn pro quicker.

105th Overall - Mikey Berchild

Carolina drafts from the NTDP for the first time since 2022 when they selected Cruz Lucius. I was a little surprised to see them go back to North America with this pick, especially considering the fact that it felt like they had found a market inefficiency in Russian players these past few years. While it was an underwhelming Russian class, it still surprised a little. But enough about that. Mikey Berchild is a lot like Zach Lansard, in the sense that they’re both players with a high motor, good skating and compete level. Sensing a trend? Berchild fell a bit in the draft because he’s 5’10” and also playing on the NTDP where he’s going to be a bit under the radar compared to some of the top players on that team. He’s committed to Denver and will be heading there in the fall, which is a great fit for his style of play. Denver loves their competitive forwards that are effective around the net, and I feel that Berchild will find a lot of success there. Berchild’s puck skills get a higher ranking than Lansard’s from EliteProspects, but they’re less bullish on his physical play. I actually see a player that can effectively play off of contact from the little I’ve seen, so I’m not sure I buy their 3.5 out of 9 grade.

I’ll give this pick a B. It’s solid value in the fourth round, and the fact that he’ll have four years to develop in the NCAA with one of the best coaches in the game is great. I’m a huge fan of taking players that get to the net and have a relentless motor because there always seems to be a role for them in the NHL.

125th Overall - Ryder Fetterolf

Carolina selects a goalie! Fetterolf was a rookie in the OHL this year and was fantastic for Ottawa, carrying them to the playoffs and winning the CHL’s Goaltender of the Year award. While he’s not the biggest goalie at 6’0” flat, he makes a lot of impressive saves and the competitiveness to make saves is intriguing enough. Fetterolf went from an invite at Ottawa’s development camp to a legitimate starting goalie that took the reins and never looked back this year. While there are questions about his overall upside and size, this is a good gamble to make in the fourth round. He’s committed to Penn State and that’ll be a perfect place to continue to develop. Canes fans will get to see him play with Justin Poirier this year, so we know he’ll get goal support. Given how Carolina has handled Ruslan Khazheyev’s pro career to this point and Frolov’s first season post draft being spent on the injured list, it makes sense to take another goalie.

I’ll give this pick a B. I’m never going to hate a goalie pick, because you truly never know what you might get. Carolina’s goalie depth is poor to say the least, and Fetterolf gives them another solid option.

165th Overall - Zachary Jovanovski

To the shock of all, the Hurricanes took back to back goalies here. Jovanovski didn’t have the stats that Fetterolf had this past year, but he did start in 52 games and has the size that Fetterolf doesn’t. Jovanovski is 6’3” and is more of a technical goalie that relies on his size and positioning to make saves. He’s not committed anywhere yet, but he does have the benefit of Guelph hosting the Memorial Cup next season. He’ll play a lot of games over the next two years, and after that, we’ll see what happens.

Like with the Fetterolf pick, it’s hard to hate this. It gets a B, just because Carolina needed more goalies in the system and I can see why they wanted to take this player.

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Canes trade pick 192 for the rights to John Carlson

This one stunned us on the live stream. It truly came out of nowhere. I completely understand why Carolina did it, though. They constantly look for ways to improve the team, and Carlson is still an elite offensive defenseman even at 36 years old. He moves the needle forward for the Hurricanes and balances out the defense, giving them three right shot defensemen, if he signs. Spending a sixth round pick to get to talk to him a few days earlier is a no-brainer from me.

Now, if the Hurricanes do get Carlson signed, the obvious question is: who is the odd man out? I think a lot of fans pointed to Alexander Nikishin as the choice, and it’s interesting to see why. Now, I will say that the Hurricanes have a lot of decisions ahead of them, and Nikishin would be able to garner quite a hefty return in a trade, but I’m not sure he’s the guy I’d move. Instead of tacking on a little addendum, I’m going to make a promise to you all. This week, I’ll have an article breaking down the case for and against trading Alexander Nikishin. I’ll also have some more in-depth film room style reports on each drafted prospect throughout the summer.

Final Draft Grade: B-

Overall, it’s a solid class from Carolina. They picked value at pretty much every spot, and even though I love picks like Sorensson and Lansard, they’re still so far from the NHL that I can’t possibly give them a higher grade. This draft, like a lot of Carolina’s draft classes, has the potential to look a lot better in a few years if even one of these players works out. All in all, Carolina did a good job of stocking the pipeline in this draft. They added another big defenseman to their pool, three forwards with high skill ceilings, and two goalies to fill in a very barren pool. It’ll be about five years before we can truly judge the effectiveness of Carolina’s draft strategy here, but I like the odds of some of these players working out as NHL prospects. Now, I don’t see any of these players cracking my top ten list right away. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, either. I just need to see a bit from some of these players before I can rush to put them ahead of guys like Timur Kol and Kurban Limatov. Hell, Noel Fransen didn’t make my top ten and he just signed with the Hurricanes.

Thanks to everyone for reading, and I look forward to bringing you more coverage on the 2026 class!

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2026 NHL Draft

Carolina has picks 31, 105, 165 and 192 in this upcoming draft class. Obviously, with the lack of high end picks, this may very well end up being a fairly underwhelming class at the onset. However, as we’ve seen in most drafts other than 2023, Carolina will likely trade out of the first round and recoup some value with their picks in rounds 2 and 3.

Some available names include the following:

• Jack Hextall - another center prospect with decent compete and offensive skill. Would be available in the end of the first round.

• Nikita Scherbakov - he’s a solid defender and has good size, and he fits the mold of what Carolina has looked for out of defensemen in the draft over the past few years.

• Dmitri Borichev - I don’t know if the Hurricanes go with a goalie first for the second year in a row, but the team does have a need in goal.

• Brek Liske - If the Canes trade down once or twice, I could see Liske being an option. He played a smaller role on a good team this year and got way better as the time went along this year. Underrated puck skills at his size.

• Jaxon Cover - Cam Robinson mocked him to the Hurricanes at 31, but I can see him falling into the second and being available a little later.

• Gleb Pugachyov - He’s one of the more physical forwards in the draft and has super high compete. Offensive skills are a mixed bag, despite good results in the MHL this year.

Carolina’s needs heading into the draft are essentially the best players available. With so few picks, you’re just looking to take whoever gives you the best chance at making the NHL with that pick. Truly, the most interesting thing about the Canes’ draft will be what they decide to do with their first round pick. Moving it back and getting more picks would certainly make the draft day two stream more interesting, but I don’t think the Hurricanes care a whole lot about how drunk I get.

If I could create a wishlist for the Hurricanes in the draft, it’s for the team to draft at least one more goalie, then maybe another solid defenseman in the middle rounds. Carolina has a really solid pool already, and while certain prospects may not be getting as much hype from the public sphere as they should, they will eventually.

Prospect News and Rumors

• Noel Gunler has signed with Djurgardens in the SHL for two years. Gunler was drafted 41st overall by the Hurricanes in 2020 and never made it above a bottom six AHL role in his pro career with the Wolves. Injuries and an overall lack of consistency really hurt Gunler as a pro, and he’ll go down as a really bad second round pick for the Hurricanes.

• Noah Philp has signed with HV71 in Sweden. I was never going to be shocked if Philp left the Hurricanes, especially given their need for veterans with a bit more impact. But he played his role well after being claimed on waivers.

• Nicolas Deslauriers has signed a two year extension and Juuso Valimaki has signed a one year extension.

• After missing the on-ice portion of last year’s development camp, Kurban Limatov is returning for this year’s camp. Joining him are prospects Timur Kol and Roman Shokhrin, both sixth round picks in 2024. Both players have not played in North America yet, so this will be a good opportunity for fans to get a look at both players.

• Speaking of development camp, the Hurricanes announced the schedule for that. If you can go, I highly recommend. A lot of the camp is spent doing skating drills and other skills sessions, but it’s a good look at how an NHL team operates and you get to see some new faces. I will not be able to attend due to work, but I hope everyone has fun.

Alexander Nikishin

Alright, let’s talk about Alexander Nikishin. We’ve seen the rumors that the Hurricanes are at least seeing what the market is on Nikishin, and while nothing is imminent, it’s definitely worth talking about. It’s a complicated situation, after all. Nikishin turns 25 in October and his agents likely want a two year bridge deal that can walk him to UFA status. Carolina likely wants an eight year deal so they can have him signed long-term like the rest of the core is. There’s also the reports that Nikishin was frustrated with his role in Carolina, and I can understand that, to an extent. He went from being a nearly 30 minute a night player with SKA to playing 15 minutes a night in the NHL. And his results offensively were solid, but his defensive play was a huge concern and something the team will want him to work on. There’s also the fact that Carolina has Jaccob Slavin and K’Andre Miller on the left side, and both players aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. So, in this case, Nikishin is blocked.

It’s not unusual for a player to want a bigger role, especially one who had so much hype coming into the NHL. And I still think that Nikishin could be a very good NHL defenseman. But if there’s one thing the Hurricanes can stand to trade from, it’s left defensive depth. Charles Alexis Legault is never going to be better than Nikishin, but he may be better suited for a third pairing role. Nikishin could fetch the team a legitimate star forward or a star goaltender, which is something that the Hurricanes desperately need. Now, I’m not saying the Hurricanes should trade Nikishin. He has the potential to be excellent at this level. But if there were a time to trade him, it’s while his value is highest.

Nick and I will be live streaming on YouTube and the CanesProspects twitter account tonight for the draft, as well as tomorrow for rounds 2-7!

First round - Canes Sweep Senators

The Canes came out of the gate hot in this series, as Jordan Staal took down Brady Tkachuk in a fight right off of the faceoff in game one. What followed in those four games was one of most suffocating efforts of defensive hockey we’ve seen from a team. Carolina gave Ottawa nothing in this series. Zilch. Nada. We even saw Jake Sanderson say on the bench “there’s no space” which was a great comment on how effective Carolina was. They were unbelievable in this series and led by Logan Stankoven, who had goals in every game and his line was one of the best lines in hockey. I don’t want to dwell too long on this series because my thoughts on it have been made known already, but Carolina was unreal here.

Second round - Canes sweep Flyers

Cool, Carolina gets to match up with the Flyers! That should be a fun series! Narrator voice: It was not if you were a Flyers fan. The team felt pretty much in the drivers seat all the way through, even with two of the games going to overtime. It felt that Carolina was able to finally outscore their defensive mistakes and average goaltending for the first time in the seven years they’ve made the playoffs. While two of the games did go to overtime, the series never felt particularly close. Once again, Jackson Blake, Taylor Hall and Logan Stankoven led the way for the Hurricanes in dominant fashion.

Third round - Canes beat Montreal in five

Thanks to Montreal and Buffalo going seven games, the Hurricanes had a record setting 11 days off in between playoff games. Naturally, what followed was a game one where the Hurricanes looked completely outmatched and their entire defense proceeded to have the worst games of their careers all at once. Not a great start! And you all know what followed: the narratives. “Oh, Carolina can’t win in the conference final again.” “Look what happens when they play a good team” and so on. One Canadian reporter even suggested that the Hurricanes “soil themselves once the adults get in the room.” But if you watched the previous games, you’d know how dominant the Hurricanes were. So game two comes around and the Hurricanes win a close one in overtime against the Canadiens. Most importantly, though, they got back to their game. They were suffocating defensively and hitting everything in sight. And, as a result, that wears on a team. Montreal’s fatigue and Carolina’s rest really started to show in game three when the game went into overtime. The Hurricanes were relentless, and all Montreal could do was ice the puck over and over and over. They looked exhausted. Carolina had finally worn them down. And what followed over the next two games was sheer and utter dominance the likes of which we haven’t really seen this team accomplish until then. The Hurricanes exorcised their demons with a little bit of drama at the beginning, just to make things interesting.

Canes win the Cup in six

Look, you all saw the games. I’m not here to recap that. What I want to talk about here is what I saw afterwards, what it means to people, and what’s next. First off, oh my god. They did it. I got a unique perspective of these games, as I was working at the Lenovo Center for all six games and watch parties. Tickets were too expensive, so I figured I might as well get paid to be around it instead, you know? And let me tell you, I’ve never heard a louder building. Even the watch parties were insane, with the team making the brilliant decision to simply keep the vibes just like a Canes game. Making them affordable and easily accessible meant fans of all backgrounds could come and enjoy a playoff-style atmosphere. I love it. And man, was the building rocking for all six games. The comeback in game three may still have been the loudest pop I’ve ever heard in an arena aside from Ehlers’ empty net goal that sealed the deal. Seeing people young and old this excited for a championship win meant something to me, and I won’t lie, there were tears shed because of how amazing it was.

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Honestly, what has impressed me the most has been how the community has completely taken ahold of this and run with it. From the nearly 200,000 people packed into downtown Raleigh on a 90 degree day to the fans packing a bar on Glenwood to have a chance to see the cup, it’s clear that Raleigh is a hockey town. It’s one of those things that I can see having a huge impact on things outside of hockey, from MLB taking interest to MLS and potentially other sports as well. And this will also be massive for hockey’s growth in the area as well. I’d love to see more rinks built in the area.

This means something to fans. From new fans to fans that have been here for years, we’re all able to enjoy this. This team has a unique feeling amongst it where it truly feels like there’s a community here and that the team is a part of that community. That’s been awesome to see as well, with everyone rallying around the team. It’s something that everyone can agree on here, and given the college basketball culture here, that’s saying something, man.

Seeing how much it meant to many of the players was incredible. Seth Jarvis sobbing with his family and then doing the same during the parade when he shouted out his brother. K’Andre Miller with his family and his joke that he can’t wait to show the haters his ring. Frederik Andersen going through the devastating loss of his agent and still managing to help the Hurricanes get to the Stanley Cup final. Seeing how much it meant to this whole team, most of whom had never won a Stanley Cup before, was a fantastic sight.

Playoff MVP - Taylor Hall

If the NHL did things the way the MLB does and separate the final from the rest of the playoffs from an award standpoint, they’d have a playoff MVP. That should be Taylor Hall. He was unbelievable in every series and not just from an offensive standpoint. Hall was physical, creating turnovers, scoring clutch goals and making an impact on every shift. Honestly, his whole line could be nominated for this “award.” All three of them were Carolina’s best line in the entire playoffs.

Best Defenseman - K’Andre Miller

Miller showcased exactly why Carolina was so high on him and spent so much to acquire him. He was unbelievable in these playoffs, man. He played all sort of roles, from shutdown defenseman to transition offense creator and even had some power play time. He looked like the number one defenseman that Carolina hopes he can be.

Stormy’s Bacon Saver Award - Brandon Bussi

I’ll be honest, I don’t think Carolina wins the Cup without Brandon Bussi. He was unreal in the last few games of the series and sealed the deal with a shutout in game six. After not playing for nearly two months, Bussi stepped in and was up to the task. He saved the Hurricanes’ season.

Sorry for keeping this a bit short, but I have some other content coming out this week for the draft to make up for it. Enjoy this summer, folks. The Carolina Hurricanes are Stanley Cup champions.

Let’s dial it back to 2006, shall we? Hockey was still less than a decade old in Raleigh and while the Hurricanes had a rowdy, passionate fan base, it was still pretty local. Hell, we didn’t even get all of our regular season games broadcast here until 2009 or so. If we wanted score updates, we had to look for them on the game sheet on the computer, dammit. I remember having the 2006 DVD and watching game seven over and over and over again when I was a kid. Someone else DMed me with the same exact story, and it’s amazing the sort of impact that had on kids at the time. 2009 felt like such a whirlwind, and I remember the team losing in the conference finals and not knowing the misery that we were about to face. I want to focus more on what this team means to people in this piece, but in order to do that, I need to tell you all everything that happened from the Hurricanes ECF appearance in 2009 until the team made the playoffs again a decade later, just to show you all what we’ve been through.

• Drafting Ryan Murphy

• Drafting Zach Boychuk over Erik Karlsson

• Losing to Tampa in 2011 in game 82, eliminating us from playoff contention

  • I went to this game with friends for my birthday. Horrible day for 13 year old Matt.

• The team deciding that they were always “one piece away” and those pieces being Ron Hainsey, Viktor Stalberg, Lee Stempniak, Radek Dvorak, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Derek Joslin, and a who’s who of aging, past their prime players.

• The team letting Jim Rutherford resign rather than fire him, despite giving the team no prospects (at the time) and the seventh overall pick in the 2014 draft.

• Ron Francis drafting Haydn Fleury over a whole host of better options.

• Noah Hanifin not hitting his stride with Carolina despite being drafted fifth overall

• Ditto for Elias Lindholm

• Carolina selecting Jake Bean and Julien Gauthier in the 2016 draft

  • The entire 2016 draft could be used here, as the team had two first round picks and four picks in rounds 2-3 and wound up with zero good NHL players from that draft.

• Victor Rask cutting his hand wide open while prepping sweet potatoes and missing a ton of time.

• The entire Klas Dahlbeck experience

• Derek Ryan and Chris Terry playing actual NHL roles

• The team sending a draft pick to Vegas so that they wouldn’t pick Joakim Nordstrom or Lee Stempniak in the expansion draft.

  • Stempniak getting injured immediately during offseason training and only playing 37 games for the Hurricanes afterwards.

• Kirk Muller quite possibly being the most boring coach in team history, even somehow surpassing Paul Maurice in that regard.

• Bill Peters and the entire Akim Aliu story as well as multiple reports of him abusing players.

• All love to Eddie Lack, but Eddie Lack being brought in to replace Anton Khudobin.

• The team trading for 47 seconds’ worth of James Wisniewski

There’s a lot more that I’ve probably repressed. The point is, this team could never stop getting in their own way. We’d hear reports of Karmanos giving his GMs the green light to spend money and then the team doing nothing with said money. The Hurricanes were awful on the ice, were lucky to get 8,000 fans in the building on a Tuesday night, and seemed to be trapped in an endless cycle of hockey purgatory. They were too good to finish as one of the worst teams in the league, but they weren’t nearly good enough to make the playoffs.

But what really marred the Hurricanes’ ten year playoff drought was the constant threat of relocation. Canes fans were constantly being told that the team should relocate to Quebec since that was a real hockey market and actually deserved an NHL franchise. Every loss felt devastating because you felt that the league would intervene sooner rather than later. Then, Peter Karmanos gets sued by his own children for failing to pay them back for their investment when he purchased the Whalers. At the time, that felt like the nail in the coffin for the Hurricanes. How could the NHL let this continue? And it’s why a lot of long-term Hurricanes fans get so mad when we aren’t taken seriously. Not every fan base knows what it’s like to be under the threat of losing your team, and it’s why the team’s success means so much to us now. That 2019 run was special and did a damn good job of erasing ten years of absolute misery.

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And so, I set out to see what the Hurricanes mean to people. What each person’s story is. For the Hurricanes, it’s always been a team that has a strong community feel. The Hurricanes are North Carolina, and they’ve been engrained in the community here. Obviously they’ve united plenty of college fans, and the tailgating culture here only adds to that sense of community. So, here’s what this run means to you, the fan, in your own words.

I’ve followed this team from the first game in Greensboro, to the move to Raleigh, the magical run in 2002, the awful 2003 season, the magic of 2006, the run in 2009 & the doldrums from 2010-2018. Rod changed this team & culture. 2006 was amazing, but 2026 is something different

In 2018 I went to my first HAC (Hockey Analytics Conference), so there was a general fondness for a team that hired Tulsky. At that same HAC, I met a very cool guy who, a few years later, would be hired by that very same team… and marry me. Getting to watch them build something incredible makes me so proud — Them getting over the hurdle that brings them into view of the real finish line? It’s fucking special.

I purposely bought tickets when the team was bad (2011 - 2021, or so) because I was scared they would leave. And I didn't want them to leave and feel like I could've done something but didn't. It's a little hard to believe that we're here.

We’ve got a good Canes buddy that passed away last June. He had a quarter pack w another good friend. The last few years, all of our families have bonded through Canes playoff runs. He sadly isn’t here to see us get past the ECF, but we know he’s up there rooting them on.

Was there in 06 so getting back is amazing. But I want this for this generation. The people that fell in love with a team when tickets were 10$ in the lower. The ones who have stayed through all the ECF losses. For my wife who is one of them. And my 3 year old. They deserve this

This is my dad and I when we won the cup last time. I’ve been a life long fan and the obsession is probably unhealthy, but through the ups and the downs, from Rask cutting off his hand to watching Jeff skinner get destroyed every game, to this is just unreal. I love this team.

As a lifelong canes fan, I was 2 at the inaugural game in Greensboro. Canes hockey was my first love, I watched them win the cup when I was 11. Now I’m watching every game with my 3 year old, getting her into the game. I’d be happy to chat more about it.

Man, this is big. My wife and I stuck with this team attending games for 9 playoff free years and then watching them knock on the door but coming up short. The culture and family that this team is and how they transcend that to the community. Its special man.

Wow. I’m still speechless. I was young in 06 and was more a basketball fan at the time so I just started following the canes in the playoffs that year. Still didn’t quite grasp the depth of what I saw. Said man hockeys fun. Let’s watch next season. Commence the dark times. I watched them fall and I watched them rise. I was there at RBC,PNC, the Lenny. I was there during the 5 games for $50 year. I watched ruutu and Gleason serve Knucks. I drove from NYC to NC for the stadium series game over night after my flight was canceled. I’ve watched this team grow hockey in the NC. Hockey has been some of the best parts of my life. I’ve met the best people through hockey. I’ve never been so proud of a hurricanes team. It’s been a great year. Let’s keep the ride going boys.

My husband and I became STMs in 2019 when I was graduating from grad school. I was always active on Twitter and because of that, became friends with some people on here, and then Covid happened. One of those people invited us to their house to watch hockey during lockdown playoffs. What happened after that is a multi-year friendship with a fantastic group of people. The past few years, a solid group of us have gotten season tickets together in a section. We have traveled to multiple stadiums for a road game each year. We have cheered together, cried together, raged together, and been there for each other outside of hockey for celebrations and for tragedies. This team did more for me than entertain me, they have given my husband and I a second family and lifelong friends. We hope to add watching the Stanley cup be raised to our memories with our best friends.

I lived in Raleigh in 2012-18. Dark times. I moved to the UAE in 2018. Hard transition. When the season started, if it was a 7 game, the 3rd period was beginning as I got up to shower. Forslund was my buddy. (He was in form during the Ayres game - i had no idea what was going on) They were a bunch of jerks. I woke up at 4am to watch the whole clincher against the Devils.McGinn hit the winner in my office right before my first class.
That year was really hard - that team kept me going and connected to home.

My dad has been a fan since the beginning! He really got me sucked into Canes Hockey a few years ago. I was eight in ‘06, and Game Seven was on a school night for my sisters and I. My dad was helping us get to bed, while sneaking glances at the TV. Once we were all in bed? He was GLUED to the TV. And when the final horn sounded? He’d never been happier! And now the both of us get to experience this together, 20 years later. And we are both excited! We’d also decided, after going to our first Canes Game in person in Buffalo, to go to all 32 NHL Arenas. And so far, we’ve been to 8 out of the 32!

Sure, every fan base has new and old fans, that’s a part of sports. The dark times of the 2010s were able to make this fan base feel more like a family rather than just a group of fans. They received their own rallying cry in 2019 thanks to Don Cherry, who called the team a “Bunch of jerks.” Carolina’s marketing team ran with it, and to this day, I’m pretty sure no other piece of merch has sold as well. While that motto doesn’t really exist anymore, it united the fan base and gave the fans a bit of a chip on their shoulder at the same time. The Hurricanes mean something to people in this area. Youth hockey has exploded in the area and we’re seeing more kids playing hockey than ever before. People I knew a decade ago that never paid the Hurricanes any mind are now die hard fans. We’ve seen the team get their first (and hopefully not their last) outdoor game. Fans here have waited twenty long years for this opportunity, and the Hurricanes are right on the doorstep of greatness. Whatever the outcome of this series, one thing is clear. This one’s for North Carolina. All of us. Enjoy it, folks!

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So, yes, I was wrong to doubt the team. It’s almost like Eric Tulsky and Co. know what they’re doing. I think it’s reasonable to say that even though the Hurricanes won the Eastern Conference during the regular season, we didn’t ever really see the team give their full, 100% effort every night. Hell, Jaccob Slavin looked like a ghost of his former self a lot of the time this season. And you could tell that the team was saving for this final marathon. The playoffs may seem quicker, but it’s not a sprint. The physicality amps up, the games get tougher and you have to fight for every inch. I remember going to game one of the first round against Ottawa and seeing the Hurricanes in the first few minutes of that game. They were hitting everything in sight and the Senators had no space. Carolina looked like a completely different team out there and were in a class of their own. Ottawa was just in survival mode. Of course, at that point in the playoffs, I had no way of knowing what would follow from the Hurricanes. I remember as we left that game, my wife said to me “this team looks like they could go all the way, Matt.” And part of me was thinking that yes, they do look different, but they have to prove it first. The next 11 games have done just that. Carolina gave Ottawa nothing in the first round, then proceeded to do the same to Philadelphia, sweeping both teams. After an ugly game one where every single Hurricane had their worst game of the season, Carolina has put together three clinical defensive performances while also taking a commanding 3-1 series lead. And, if you watched OT in game three and all of game four, you can see that Montreal is gassed. They’ve run into the meat grinder that is the Carolina Hurricanes.

Some folks were concerned that Logan Stankoven wasn’t a good enough second line center for the Hurricanes to be able to win in the playoffs. For those of you keeping track at home, he has four more goals than anyone else on the Hurricanes in these playoffs and his linemates lead the team in scoring in the playoffs. The fact of the matter is that Stankoven is a big game player, and despite his stature, he shows up when the games matter the most. He, Jackson Blake and Taylor Hall have been unbelievable in these playoffs and they’re one of the best lines in hockey right now.

Then, there’s the goaltending. Frederik Andersen’s regular season was one to forget, but he’s a hilarious 11-1 in the playoffs with a .928 save percentage and a 1.44 GAA. That’s absurd. There have been six shutouts in the playoffs so far and Andersen has three of them, if the previous stats didn’t do him enough justice. As a whole, the team has played better in front of Andersen and has also been able to outscore their problems on the rare occasion where he’s given up some bad goals. And now that the Canes have won three games since game one, I’m still going to say that a lot of those goals weren’t Andersen’s fault. Yes, you’d like a high danger save here and there, but the sheer quantity of grade A chances, missed assignments and turnovers is a team issue, not a goaltending issue.

The Hurricanes’ fourth line is the best fourth line in hockey right now and it’s not particularly close. The production is nice, although none of them have more than five points in twelve games. But what really stands out to me is their absolute dominance whenever they get on the ice. They wear down whichever line they’re matched up against and do a damn good job of it. I know some folks saw William Carrier get a six year contract and wonder why, but watch him play in these games and you’ll see him hit everything in sight and have extended offensive zone time consistently. Jankowski and Robinson work perfectly as players that can push the pace on that line while also being quite physical as well. The result is a line that has given Montreal hell in this series. And that can be said for the entire roster right now, as every line seems to be running the Habs ragged.

While the Hurricanes haven’t punched their ticket to the Final yet, it’s clear this team is different than years past and they have the juice to go all the way. Watching this team in the playoffs has made me realize why the team felt comfortable staying put at the deadline despite some options to do more. They didn’t need to. And, due to their cap space and some guys in the system, this isn’t even the best potential version of the Hurricanes! There’s room to get even better, which should terrify the rest of the league. It’s the nature of fandom to be reactionary about your favorite team. It’s also okay to admit you were wrong and that sometimes, the guys in charge know what they’re doing. I’d say the Hurricanes’ management has proved that and more with how the team has performed in the playoffs.

Jankowski, 31, was set to become a free agent on July 1, and this deal keeps him around for the next two seasons. Jankowski’s contract also gives him an eight team no-trade list. It made a lot of sense for both sides to get this deal done, as Jankowski has fit in seamlessly as the team’s fourth line center and has chipped in a bit of offense in addition to his gritty play. If you’re like me, the cap hit may have been a bit surprising to you initially. What I’m reminding myself of is that even though he’s likely a 20-25 point player, that’s just what fourth line players are going to be worth moving forward. The cap has gone up, and so have the salaries for most players around the league. Jankowski has been a valuable piece in the playoffs, and even though his point totals don’t show it, the Hurricanes have really needed him in both series. Sure, it doesn’t help when both of your goals get called back.

Jankowski was one of the Hurricanes’ only free agents this year, with Deslauriers and Reilly being the only other two UFAs on the roster. Alexander Nikishin will sign an extension at some point as well. With Jankowski signed for two more years, it’s likely that if the team looks to improve their roster this offseason, they may need to trade a piece or two from it in order to do so.

Now, this move obviously made a lot of people think about Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s status with the Hurricanes. Not that we needed a ton of confirmation about this, but Kotkaniemi likely has at least one foot out of the door here in Raleigh. I would imagine that he’s moved sometime around the draft, because at this point, I don’t see a way that this relationship can be mended. Kotkaniemi hasn’t played a single minute in these playoffs and the only reason he saw ice time down the stretch was because the Hurricanes needed to rest their top players. So, while extending Jankowkski isn’t necessarily a large move, it’s almost certainly the final nail in the coffin for Kotkaniemi’s time as a Hurricane.

Moving onto Cerrato, it’s nice to see this contract finished now. Sometimes, these negotiations take a while, and for a player like Cerrato that had education opportunities, they probably wanted to make sure his contract would set him up for future success as well. Cerrato is a fascinating prospect to me. He’s likely a third line center at the NHL level, but every so often he’ll pop off with some skill and make passes that are really high end. Of course he has the ability to get to the net and play a strong defensive game, and that’ll work any day in Rod Brind’Amour’s system. Now, he’ll need to round out his game and find the next level in his game in all three zones, but some time with the Chicago Wolves will help him accomplish that. While I may have thought he was close to pushing for a roster spot next season, I believe that timeline might be pushed to 2027. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he has a really good year in the AHL and earns a call-up at some point.

As for Cerrato’s deal, it’s a pretty standard contract. There’s a $225,000 signing bonus and the NHL pay gradually bumps up every year of the deal. Cerrato is the first Hurricanes prospect to sign his ELC in 2026, but I’m sure he won’t be the last. The team still has to wait for the Russian season to end before some of their players’ contracts expire. At that point, we should see a few more names sign with the team. All in all, it’s a productive week for the Hurricanes.

1. Oh man, this is the Frederik Andersen we’ve been waiting all year for. With how good Linus Ullmark was for Ottawa this series, Andersen was going to have to at least match it. And I’d say he did, only allowing five goals in four games while keeping things steady as always for the Hurricanes. I know that workload has been a concern for Andersen in the past, but going to him today was the right call. Carolina winning the game allows Andersen to get some extra rest, and it also means you don’t have to potentially risk putting Brandon Bussi into a situation where he may not succeed. Credit where credit is due: Rod made the right call here.

2. I know that folks ragged on Logan Stankoven for his performance during the year, but as this series showed, he’s a big game player. A goal in each of the four games this series and his line drove play consistently as well. Stankoven is the type of guy where you just know that he’ll show up no matter what, and it’s plain to see why Eric Tulsky and Co. felt comfortable with keeping him as the 2C for the playoffs.

3. K’Andre Miller won’t ever be as good of a defender as Jaccob Slavin is, nor is that realistic. But he’s absolutely got Slavin beat in the playmaking department and I feel that he’s only scratching the surface of what he can be in all three zones. He was awesome in both games in Ottawa and that level of puck moving ability will only get better as he continues to adjust with the team. He’ll still have those turnovers that frustrate you, but the vision and way he can make an impact in all three zones screams top pairing defenseman to me.

4. Carolina matched Ottawa’s physicality this series and didn’t get Tkachuk’ed like they have when they’ve played Florida. Part of that is just due to the fact that Matthew Tkachuk is a much better shithead than his brother is, but I also think the Hurricanes have learned their lesson. Aside from the second period in today’s game, the team kept their cool.

5. If anything, this series made Eric Tulsky look really smart for trying to bring up head contact at the GM meetings. From Hall on Sanderson, Tkachuk on Martinook, Kleven on Nikishin, and Grieg’s sucker punch on Walker, this series had the potential to turn a lot uglier than it ended up. We all know Gary Bettman’s stance on CTE and brain injuries in general, but the league has to do a better job of protecting its players. Nobody wants to see players get hurt on both teams, especially in a series as close as this one was.

6. Ultimately, the Hall of Fame is for players a lot flashier than Jaccob Slavin is. But if you ask players who one of the hardest players to play against over the past decade is, I guarantee you a large portion of them will point to Slavin. Every single thing he does is clinical. Twitter won’t let me embed posts here, but let me borrow a stat from my good buddy CanesStats. Slavin played nearly 25 minutes on the PK alone this series, and Ottawa only scored once in that time. 5:23 of that time was spent at 5v3, where he allowed zero goals. That sort of effort on the penalty kill is what makes Slavin such a valuable player on this team. And sure, it’s not just him. You can go down the list of defensemen and all six of them had a hell of a series. But at the end of the day, Slavin leads that group and it’s his style of play on the ice that makes it look so damn easy. It’s not, and I know he’d be the first to tell me that. If there were an award for the best defensive defender in the league, and there should be, Slavin would win it often.

7. A little surprised that the league is actually giving a hearing to Ridly Grieg after his sucker punch to Sean Walker. A lot of Sens fans might be mad about it, but there’s no place for that kind of thing in the game. And from what it sounds like, a lot of the players around the league aren’t happy about it either. Pierre LeBrun mentioned that players in Tampa and Montreal were talking about it. With Ottawa losing, I could see the league only suspending Grieg for a regular season game or two.

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8. Hopefully Ehlers isn’t out for too long. Brind’Amour seemed to say that he was a bit surprised that Ehlers wasn’t good to go for game four, so I’m hoping that means he’s just taking precaution and will be back for game one of the second round.

9. I’m not panicking about Aho or Jarvis. I thought that they played very well in games three and four, and despite no goals at even strength, both players had their chances and were noticeably better. They also did an excellent job of shutting down the Stutzle line. And I think that bears mentioning, because Carolina’s depth is so good that even if their first line isn’t doing much of anything, their depth is good enough to carry them through a series. Not many teams around the league can say that.

10. Ultimately, this was one of the toughest matchups the Carolina Hurricanes could have had for a first round opponent. Ottawa is a really tough team, both in terms of grit and how young they are. They play hard, and as we saw over the course of the first round, that style of play can wear on an opponent. Props to the Hurricanes for not sinking to their level and taking care of business before the series could get out of hand. The Sens are very much trying to replicate the Florida Panthers style of shitheadery, and this time, the Hurricanes were unfazed.

11. Moving onto some prospect thoughts. Congrats to Spiros Anastas on earning the promotion to full-time head coach of the Chicago Wolves. It’s well deserved. Spiros is a great guy and if you’ve watched the Wolves all year, you know that there was a noticeable difference in the way the team played after he was named interim head coach. It feels like the Wolves were more aggressive, leaning on players’ skills and strengths rather than trying to be a defensive juggernaut. The team looked like they were having fun and that they could play a little looser, which seemed to work out.

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12. We’re seeing more Charlie Cerrato content coming from the Wolves’ social media, which leads me to believe that he could be making his professional debut soon. I’m a little intrigued as to why he hasn’t signed an NHL deal et, but it could just be that the team and him are working on bonus structure. Cerrato would be a huge addition for the Wolves, although I could see the team taking it easier with his injury. No sense in risking aggravating something and messing up what could be a huge offseason of training for him. Still, it’s nice to see that he has joined the Wolves for some practices.

13. Ivan Ryabkin had three points in six games with Chicago after returning from the QMJHL, which is a noted improvement on his numbers earlier in the year. Even without the points, he was creating much more offense and looked like a completely different player. Confidence will do that for a young player at the pro level, and I’m fascinated to see how the Hurricanes handle Ryabkin as a potential second year pro. If he can consistently tap into the offense while still being a hater on the ice, that’s going to be an unreal player for the Hurricanes.

14. It makes sense that the Hurricanes elected to call up Charles Alexis Legault to replace Nikishin on the roster while he heals from his concussion. Legault is built for playoff hockey and the intensity is an environment that I believe he’ll thrive in. Joel Nystrom may have more NHL experience, but Legault’s physicality and grit will be more of a match for how Nikishin plays than Nystrom would. I do think we see Legault play the first couple games of that series over Mike Reilly, too. Reilly doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence in me with all of his turnovers and lack of playing time this year.

15. Justin Poirier is transferring to Penn State. I really like the fit here, especially since Penn State has lost a lot of talent since their season came to an end. Poirier will get top minutes in a better conference and will likely have better linemates than he would have had at Maine, too. Poirier really intrigues me as a goal scorer and I feel that there are other areas of his game that could translate to NHL success. He’s a great skater, competitive, gets to the middle of the ice and can hang when the game gets more physical. There’s an argument to make that the Big Ten is the best conference in college hockey, so this will be a great challenge for Poirier. Kind of wild that he’s still 19 and won’t turn 20 until September.

16. We’re a little over a month away from the June 1 deadline to sign prospects, and I imagine that it will be a quiet deadline for the Hurricanes. The players that the Hurricanes will lose signing rights to on June 1 this year are Jakub Vondras, Nils Juntorp and Simon Forsmark. Juntorp is playing in the Swedish third tier league and isn’t an NHL prospect. Forsmark recently signed a three year extension with his SHL team, meaning he’s not going to be signing. And Vondras, despite decent numbers this year, doesn’t really excite me as a prospect and I don’t see the Hurricanes using one of their 50 contract spots on him. It’s always a bummer when the Hurricanes don’t sign a prospect because it means the team struck out on a player. The good news, though, is none of these guys were very high picks. Forsmark was a fourth round pick, Vondras was a sixth round pick and Juntorp was drafted by Chicago. You can live with misses in the fourth and sixth rounds.

17. I do very much wonder about Fyodor Avramov. His KHL contract is up and Sochi apparently hasn’t paid salaries in months. He’s a one of one in the system being the only power forward prospect the team really has, so I could see him getting a decent role in the AHL if he does come over.

18. Folks are understandably very excited about Kurban Limatov. His highlights are hilarious. I’m still cautiously optimistic here, because while it’s great that he’s doing what he’s doing at the MHL level, he has yet to prove himself at the pro level in Russia. The skating and offensive skill plus the hockey sense is a tantalizing skill set, but we have to see what this looks like against older and more physical competition first. Limatov won’t be able to skate circles around the competition forever, so I’m curious to see how he adapts.

19. Ultimately, this is a lost season for Semyon Frolov. Injuries limited him to less than ten starts and that’s just not enough for a 19 year old goalie. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he’s back at development camp this summer just so the Hurricanes can work with him more to try and make up for some of the lost time. Frolov still has a ton of upside and is the best goalie prospect that the Hurricanes have drafted in years, but man, losing a year of development this early is brutal. I’m hoping that he can stay healthy next year.

20. With the draft less than two months away now, I’ll start doing some deep dives on potential prospects that I could see Carolina drafting. As a reminder, the team doesn’t really draft based on what the NHL team needs. Especially when you’re picking as late as they are, you’re picking for three or four years in the future rather than the upcoming season. And yes, the team needs centers. But most drafted centers convert to the wing once they turn pro and teams draft the good centers a lot higher than wingers. And as we saw in last year’s draft in particular, teams do not draft players under six feet tall. So, Carolina is likely going to draft a ton of smaller, skilled players because they’re going to fall.

I’ll be back later this week with more content!

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Background

Cerrato, 21, was drafted in the second round of the 2025 draft after being passed over in the previous two drafts. In his first year of eligibility, Cerrato played a depth role for the US NTDP and had fine but not overwhelming production. The next year, he played for Youngstown in the USHL and was over a point per game but once again passed over. In his final year of eligibility, Cerrato showcased skill and played a key role for Penn State in the NCAA, finishing with 42 points in 38 games. Carolina liked enough of Cerrato’s game to select him in the second round, going a bit off the board to select a player they had high hopes for. This season, Cerrato battled injuries but still finished with an impressive 27 points in 23 games.

What’s Next?

Cerrato will join the Wolves and practice with the team while he rehabs the injury that he sustained during his game against Minnesota Duluth. He’ll get some valuable pro experience to end the year and should see some game action if healthy. A lot of people have stated that he could be eligible for the NCAA again since it’s just a tryout, and while I don’t hope to understand what the NCAA might do, my assumption is that he is no longer eligible due to the tryout being a professional one and not an amateur one. The distinction is important. But then again, the NCAA is dumb and college sports are not the same as they once were.

When Cerrato was drafted, I remember talking with Nick (CanesProspects) on stream that this felt like the likely outcome: Cerrato replicates his previous season or improves upon it and then signs at the end of the year. And sure enough, that appears to be the case. Since he just turned 21, he’s not at the same stage of his development that other players are. He’s the same age as Bradly Nadeau, for reference, so the time to start his professional career is now. With the injuries that he sustained this year, I’m less optimistic that he’ll see NHL action before the year is over. However, how his entry level contract is structured will tell us a lot about Carolina’s plans for him. If the deal begins this year, the team plans on having him contribute in some fashion down the stretch, even if it’s just as a call-up at the end of the year so some players can rest. If it begins next year, the team plans on having him with Chicago full-time for their playoff run. Either way would be beneficial for Cerrato’s development. Carolina has one contract spot remaining out of the 50 they’re allowed for the current season, so he could play this year if that’s what the team wants.

It’s likely that Cerrato and the Hurricanes will make something official in the coming weeks. I ranked Cerrato fourth in my February prospect rankings, and here’s what I had to say about him:

Cerrato plays his ass off every shift and can be a real agitator in the offensive zone. He’s buzzing and the skill has been on full display this year, resulting in a ton of offensive chances and highlight reel goals.

And I still stand by this. Cerrato is a transition threat and a legitimate menace with the puck on his stick. Defensively, he’s still a work in progress, but he’s a natural center that plays Rod Brind’Amour hockey. He’ll quickly endear himself to the coaching staff due to his work ethic and compete. Cerrato likely projects as a solid third line center in the NHL, although I could see the skill popping enough to make him a 50ish point player at the NHL level. Part of why Cerrato ranks so highly in my ranking is that his path to the NHL isn’t blocked by a whole lot. He’s immediately Carolina’s best center prospect in the AHL, and there’s a path for him to make the NHL next year. It’s a long shot, but it’s a possibility. Either way, it’s an exciting day for the Hurricanes and I’m excited for Chicago to get some much needed reinforcements.

• Dallas’ 1st

• San Jose’s 4th

• Toronto’s 6th

• Carolina 6th

Obviously not the biggest selection of picks, nor the best. But, unless someone in the first round becomes available that Carolina really likes, that Dallas first is almost assuredly getting traded for a couple of seconds.

Center Depth

Top prospects: Charlie Cerrato, Ivan Ryabkin, Nikita Guslistov

Carolina’s center depth isn’t very good, although two 2025 draft picks helped to bolster the depth. Cerrato and Ryabkin have had great years, and it wouldn’t shock me if both player were in Chicago to start the year in 2026. Drafting centers in the draft is hard after a certain point since it’s incredibly difficult for players to stick at that position at the pro level. I’m fairly confident that Cerrato is an NHL center, but I do have my doubts that Ryabkin can play C at the NHL level. He certainly has the snarl and willingness to get to the middle, but his game seems better suited for the wing. Carolina may look to improve on this position, as Guslistov isn’t someone I’d consider an NHL prospect at this point. Having one true center prospect in the pipeline is a little rough, but I’m not sure it’s something that the Hurricanes will be able to address given the picks that they currently hold.

LW Depth

Top prospects: Bradly Nadeau, Fyodor Avramov, Nikita Artamonov, Viggo Nordlund, Filip Ekberg, Alexander Perevalov

This is a solid group here. Nadeau is on the cusp of being a full-time NHL player and is in the midst of another great AHL season at 20 years old. Avramov intrigues me as a power winger that has a good amount of KHL experience under his belt. The other three players on this list all have some traits that I’m at least mildly intrigued by, so this crop of players has some potential. Still, there’s always room to improve, and outside of Nadeau, nobody on this list is remotely close to a sure thing. Of the group, Avramov and Nordlund are the ones that I feel could elevate themselves in the near future. Avramov seems like he could thrive in Carolina’s system, and Nordlund has had a really good year in the Swedish second league. Artamonov needs a bounce back season next year, especially since this year has gone so poorly for him.

RW Depth

Top prospects: Felix Unger-Sorum, Justin Poirier, Jayden Perron, Alexander Rykov, Andrei Krutov

This group isn’t quite as interesting as the group on the left side, but Unger-Sorum is a legitimate prospect and Poirier intrigues the hell out of me. I could see a world where Unger-Sorum is in the NHL next year due to his work ethic and hockey sense. He’s just so damn good at picking apart defenses with his passes. Poirier’s season was going great until he got hurt, which is a huge bummer. He was one of the NCAA’s more productive freshmen, then a tough injury derailed his momentum. He’s another small winger with a great shot, and that alone is enough to at least get him an ELC at some point. Perron is in the same boat as a small winger with a solid shot, although I think his skating is worse than Poirier’s, but his puck skills are better. Perron is a long shot for the NHL, but there’s enough traits to at least make me wonder if he can be a decent pro. Rykov battled injuries and got Russia’d during his first few years post-draft, but I really do like his game and there’s potential as a bottom six energy forward capable of putting up decent numbers. Then there’s Krutov, who has some of the best puck skills in the system but can’t quite establish himself at the KHL level. I’d expect Carolina to draft at least one or two wingers in the upcoming draft.

Left Defense Depth

Top prospects: Timur Kol, Kurban Limatov, Roman Shokhrin, Noel Fransen, Vladimir Grudinin, Alexander Pelevin, Alexander Siryatsky

This is the deepest Carolina’s prospect pool has been on the left side in quite a while. Kol looks like a minute munching defenseman that can move the puck at a high level, something that I don’t think is being talked about enough in Carolina. Limatov fascinates me as an offensive leaning defenseman with good size and great skating ability.. Shokhrin hasn’t impressed me a ton, but he’s a big defenseman with a bit of snarl in his game. Fransen is going to either work out spectacularly or not at all. He’s quick, has great puck skills and there’s potential to dazzle you offensively. He’s also a defensive black hole. Grudinin is a good skater and decent defender, but he’s also in Russia for a few more years and won’t be at prospect status for much longer. Pelevin puts me to sleep. And Siryatsky has seen KHL time all year. He’s not the flashiest player and I think he’s more of a third pairing guy at the NHL level, but he plays the right way, has good size and skates well, and he’s a KHL regular at 19 years old.

There’s a lot of promise in this group. No prospect was drafted higher than the third round, so the fact that Carolina has so many intriguing options here says a lot about their draft process and their development program. Would I be surprised to see another defender added to this list? Not at all. Defenseme are so hard to develop, and you never can have too many.

Right Defense Depth

Top prospects: Charles Alexis Legault, Dominik Badinka, Roman Bausov

While not nearly as deep a group of prospects, the right side still has some intrigue. Legault has proven that he’s an NHL prospect and will likely compete for a role next year. Badinka has shown some promise in the AHL this year as a mobile shutdown defender with some puck moving ability. While his offense isn’t great, the skating, size and hockey sense make him an intriguing prospect. Then, there’s Bausov. He’s a behemoth of a defenseman with tremendous skating ability and a lot of raw potential. He’s an incredibly raw prospect, though, and a major injury definitely slowed his development this season. Bausov has some upside, but we’re years away from seeing how this one plays out. Given Carolina’s lack of depth on the right side, it wouldn’t shock me to see them draft another right shot defenseman at some point in the draft.

Goaltending Depth

Top prospects: Semyon Frolov, Ruslan Khazheyev, Egor Velmakin, Jakub Vondras

Yikes. The goalie position is by far Carolina’s weakest. Frolov has a ton of upside but has also missed a ton of time this year due to injuries. Khazheyev seems to be an ECHL goalie and nothing more for Carolina, which is a shame since he signed as a 19 year old and showed a ton of promise. Then, there’s Velmakin, who has done well in the VHL this year but is nearly 23 years old and not someone I’m putting a ton of stock into due to his age and the level he’s playing at. Same with Vondras, who has done well in the Czech second league this year but lacks the potential to be an NHL goalie. So right now, it’s just Frolov. Carolina hasn’t picked a goalie as high as Frolov since they drafted Pyotr Kochetkov in 2019 and it shows. The pipeline is weak and the team should draft another goalie in 2026 in order to make their pool a bit deeper.

Draft Day Predictions

Let’s get the gimme out of the way first: Carolina trades out of the first round and acquires a couple of second round picks in exchange. Then, the team moves one of those seconds for a few picks in the middle rounds. Ever since the team used their original first in the K’Andre Miller trade, the status of the Dallas pick was almost set in stone.

Prediction number two: Carolina drafts mostly forwards. At least at this point, none of the defensemen available in the middle rounds excite me all that much, and the Hurricanes have a ton of U20 defenders in their pipeline. This is not a great goalie crop, so I don’t see Carolina taking a shot at a goalie until their fourth or sixth round picks. There’s a handful of solid defenders in the middle rounds, but I just feel strongly that Carolina could add more value by drafting a forward with their first few picks than they could with a defenseman.

Prediction number three: Carolina finishes the draft with seven selections. Carolina likely turns their first round pick into two second round picks, then moves a second for two more picks. Then, I could see them moving back again depending on how things work out. This could leave the Hurricanes with as many as seven picks. It will make for slightly more entertaining content on the day two draft stream, I’m sure.

Some targets I’m keeping an eye on include Jack Hextall, Tommy Bleyl, Nikita Shcherbakov, and either of Liam or Marcus Ruck. Still too early for draft profiles, but they’ll be coming during the offseason.

Underwhelming Deadline

The fan reaction post deadline has definitely been deflating, but I still think the team is in a good spot. What I did find interesting, however, was Rod Brind’Amour’s response to Carolina’s lack of moves at the deadline. While he seemed happy that Nic Deslauriers was a Hurricane, Brind’Amour expressed disappointment in the lack of moves to get over the hump. Brind’Amour has never been one to mince words, but this sort of response towards the management was a little shocking even still. He also mentioned the team being a little upset that no changes were made, which stunned me as well. Not that I was surprised that they were disappointed, but we don’t get the curtain pulled back to behind the scenes very often. It was a candid moment and I’m curious to know what the response was from management. I don’t expect Eric Tulsky to come down and give a rousing speech to the team like Mr. Burns, but at the same time, you can’t just sit by and do nothing at the deadline and then go silent.

Depth Scoring is Back

Despite not having a whole lot of high end scorers this year, the Hurricanes are getting a lot of contributions from up and down the lineup. Sean Walker just had a career high five game point streak snapped against Pittsburgh. They had four different players score against Pittsburgh and Calgary, then five different players score against Edmonton. Yes, the Hurricanes lack that true knockout punch on their second line, but man, there’s not a team in this league that can go toe to toe with them depth wise. Yes, Logan Stankoven is only on pace for 37 points. But he’s also a second year NHL player and hasn’t gotten going on the power play yet. Stankoven has 25 points at even strength this year, which is on pace for other second line centers in the league. Where he falters a bit is the power play points, only adding up to two this year. Carolina’s second power play unit has been inconsistent to say the least all year long, and the hope is that Stankoven can be more of a contributor in that regard moving over. I’m still of the mindset that while depth is great, the Hurricanes still need to make a push to increase the ceiling of their lineup, not the floor.

I’m Getting Tired of Writing About Goaltending

Folks. I knew Brandon Bussi was going to come down to earth eventually, but he has an .889 save percentage over his last ten starts and has been a little leakier than usual. Frederik Andersen still frustrates the absolute hell out of me. He was fantastic against Detroit and then followed that up with three terrible performances in net. I wrote about this before the deadline, but Carolina’s depth in goal is going to be one of the things that holds this team back before any scoring does. The Hurricanes not addressing their goalie issues is a major concern. Tulsky stating that Pyotr Kochetkov may be ready sooner than later doesn’t inspire any confidence in me either. Carolina’s three goalies on the roster all have save percentages under .900 this year. Hate to say it, but if the Hurricanes can’t win this year, it’s more likely to be because they couldn’t keep the puck out of their net, not because they couldn’t fill the net.

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If Not Now, When?

I guess this brings me to my next question. If now isn’t when the Hurricanes decide to go all in, when will they? Their philosophy seems to run against going “all in,” as that would involve trading everything in exchange for pieces that may or may not win you a Cup. And sure, sometimes you do wind up trading all of your draft picks for Tanner Jeannot and losing. But then you could also win back to back Stanley Cups, just as Florida has. Over the past two deadlines, they’ve acquired Nico Sturm, Brad Marchand, Vitek Vanecek, Vladimir Tarasenko and Kyle Okposo. Obviously, these are moves with varying impacts, but this is a team that recognizes that their window to win is now. When Tampa won their Cups, they traded the farm for Barclay Goodrow and Blake Coleman. And sure, in the past two years, Carolina has made a legitimate attempt to bring in the piece de resistance for the team. First Guentzel, who they failed to re-sign due to constantly lowballing him in contract negotiations. Carolina then went big to acquire Rantanen, but for whatever reason, he just didn’t want to play here. And he has every right to, but it’s a tough look. To have a team that’s noticeably better in most regards this year and to not improve it at all at the deadline is a tough look, especially with how wide open the East is this year. Carolina’s strategy of wanting to build a team that contends every year is great, don’t get me wrong. But you run the risk of constantly coming up short. The 2010s San Jose Sharks comparisons get a little old, but it’s true. They were consistently near the top of the league and then fell short every year in the playoffs. Sounds familiar, no? I’m not asking for a major deal every year, but if you’re going to say that there aren’t upgrades available that will meaningfully improve the team, that’s just false. You could have acquired a backup goalie. You could have acquired a top six forward. You should have done that during the offseason when there was plenty of time to make a trade. The price for Rantanen wasn’t too high, and yet now the price for players is too high? That’s just absurd. I’m still willing to give this management a chance, especially after they went out and acquired Miller and signed Ehlers to improve the team. It just feels like they’re willing to ignore some flaws. I promise I’m not trying to be overly negative and I’m thrilled at the team’s performance so far this year. I just really hope we don’t look back on this year and wonder what could have been if the team made a move when it counted.

Note: Man, all of this was written before the St. Louis game. Bussi wasn’t bad at all, but losses against two bottom feeding teams post-deadline isn’t a great look.

Prospect Updates

ELCzn is upon us. As of March 1, teams are free to sign their unsigned prospects to Entry Level Contracts. NCAA free agency has also begun, and it’s a good reminder that this is the most overrated time of year. Most players signed out of the NCAA aren’t going to do much at the NHL level, and most will sign with teams with poor depth. Carolina’s last three signings have not made it out of the ECHL, which shows you how awful it’s been. Yaniv Perets, Jason Cotton and Jacob Pritchard were all pretty much better off not signing. Now, I will say that Perets is the only one with promise, but even then, he was an undersized goalie.

• Chicago’s trio of Bradly Nadeau, Justin Robidas and Felix Unger-Sorum have been unreal this year. All three players are on pace for career years (Robidas has a career high in goals and Unger-Sorum in all categories). Despite Chicago’s lackluster play as of late, these three have been incredible. I would expect some reinforcements for the Wolves as some seasons wind down.

• Ivan Ryabkin might just be too good for the CHL. He had three straight games with four points and has 37 points in 17 games, an absolutely silly amount. I’m still not willing to plan the parade on this pick yet, as Ryabkin is still a long way from the NHL. I’d like to see him be more engaged in the play, and that’s been a common criticism of him. The effort level just isn’t there consistently. All that to be said and he’s still sitting at over two points per game. Crazy to think about what could happen if he puts a consistent effort.

• Good to see Charlie Cerrato back in time for the Big Ten tournament. They knocked out Minnesota on Wednesday night and the team looks to be back to form after some struggles.

• Speaking of players returning from injury, Semyon Frolov is finally back after being out with an injury since October. Understandably, his first two starts have been a mixed bag. I don’t want to call this a lost season for Frolov, but only nine starts is not enough to get any meaningful development from.

• Timur Kol and Kurban Limatov have been unreal for MHK Dynamo Moskva. As a pairing, they’ve been dominating in all three zones. This has earned Kol a call up to the KHL, where he has appeared in seven games. In three of those games, he has seen exactly one shift. While it’s not much, it’s more KHL reps and experience for him. Kol won’t turn 20 until August, and with an expiring contract, I’m looking at him as a possible Canes signee.

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• It’s a pretty quiet year for Canes prospects that need to sign. The only ones with expiring deals are Nils Juntorp, Jakub Vondras and Simon Forsmark. Juntorp plays in the Swedish third league, that’s an automatic no. Forsmark signed a three year extension in the SHL, so we can count him out as well. That leaves Vondras, who has had a decent year numbers wise in the Czech second league despite a record just under .500. While I don’t think Vondras is going to be anything, Carolina’s goalie depth in the minors is weak. Quapp, Primeau and Miftakhov all are on expiring deals. I’m putting it at a ten percent chance that he signs. I’d be surprised for sure, but it’s not entirely out of the question.

• Penn State and Michigan play in the Big Ten playoffs today. This is obviously a huge game for Charlie Cerrato and Jayden Perron, both of whom are having great seasons. Even if either team loses, I don’t believe their seasons will be over. Michigan is first in the pairwise and Penn State is sixth, so both teams have a decent shot at making the NCAA tournament.

Questions

Number of games Big Red plays in and how many teams he plays against? - Howie Handorf

“Big Red” obviously refers to Nicolas Deslauriers. Carolina has 18 games remaining, and of those 18 games, I’d expect Deslauriers to suit up in five or six, barring any injuries. Carolina’s best lineup doesn’t feature him playing, but you don’t want him to be sitting for over a month if you need him in the playoffs. As for the playoff games, he’ll see some time. I could see him starting in game one of a series to set the tone. I don’t see him making a huge impact on the team, though. This is a guy whose one job is to fight.

What’s a legitimate timeline to get Limatov to North America? - Sound the Siren

Fantastic question. Limatov is having a really solid second half of the season after a slow start and an injury plagued his first half. Statistically, he’s having a better year than he did last year, and that’s what you want to see. I’m also excited by the fact that he has played a lot more than he did last season. However, I’m not rushing Limatov. He’s the type of prospect where there are so many different ways this could not work out, so I’m fine with taking a slower approach to his development. I’d love to see him back in Raleigh this summer for his first real development camp, as he missed the on-ice portion due to injury last year. His current contract ends in 2027, but I’m fully expecting Limatov to extend his contract with Dynamo or sign with another KHL team before he signs with Carolina. The Hurricanes currently have a glut of good young defensemen in the pipeline, so I want Limatov to at least have one or two KHL seasons under his belt.

Where do you value Nikishin’s next contract at? - Tanner M.

Carolina likely wants to extend Nikishin for as long as they can. Sure, he has had some bumps this year, but he has also been a really solid defenseman for the team and he is only going to get better as he grows more comfortable in the NHL. Given the rising cap and the need for defensemen to be signed long-term, I’d imagine that Carolina would be looking for a contract somewhere in the eight years, $6.5M AAV range. It’s not quite top defenseman money, but it locks Nikishin up until his early 30s. Now, Nikishin and his management are likely pushing for a bridge deal. They’d likely push for a two year deal around $5M. Sure, it’s less money now, but it sets Nikishin up to have a ton of bargaining power by walking him to UFA status. He’ll then have the right to tell Carolina to pony up and pay him like a top defenseman, or else he’ll hit free agency. I’d imagine that this is the reason why we haven’t seen an extension yet. Carolina wants a long term deal, Nikishin’s management probably doesn’t.

How surprising is Ryabkin’s QMJHL dominance? Does it meaningfully change your view on him as a prospect? - Jay

Ryabkin’s QMJHL dominance is impressive, for sure. And no, I’m not really that surprised that he’s doing this well. Charlottetown is a good team and he’s playing top minutes after getting a ton of AHL experience earlier this year. Now, I will say that I’m not convinced that the QMJHL is that much better than the USHL, if at all, which is also part of the reason why I’m not that surprised. I think this is the offensive upside we had hoped to see, but I’m also seeing a player that’s not super involved in the play. Ryabkin still isn’t driving play on his line, he’s more of a recipient of good passes and good finishing from his teammates. Now, obviously there’s skill in the way he manages the puck and things like that, but man. Ryabkin’s effort level is still not consistently where it needs to be. I’m still very certain that he’ll be in the AHL again next season. He’s not going to need more time in junior, that much is clear.

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Which Canes prospect playing overseas currently excites you the most? - Pax

We’ve talked about Limatov, and his potential fascinates me. I’m also a fan of Kol, Avramov, Siryatsky, Nordlund and Fransen to varying degrees. I still think Semyon Frolov’s future excites me the most, because he is far and away the best goalie prospect that Carolina has drafted since Pyotr Kochetkov. I would love to see him play more this year, but I’m still hoping that he gets more time as we go along.

Do you think Bradly Nadeau stays with the Hurricanes, and if so, when does he get a full-time role? - Reece

Do you think the ceiling for Nadeau is higher than Blake/Stankoven in that you would rather move one of them? Ideally, all four (Jarvis, Blake, Stankoven, Nadeau) are on roster how do you imagine that will look? - Clarke

I’m 50-50 on this. If Nadeau stays, it’s because the Hurricanes found a way to get better without trading him, and that means he’ll be a full-time NHL player next year. However, given the assets the Hurricanes have, I find it hard to imagine a scenario where the Hurricanes make a move to improve their roster that doesn’t include Nadeau in some capacity. And for the right price, I’m okay with trading Nadeau.

As for the second one, Nadeau’s ceiling is higher than Blake and Stankoven’s. He has 30-goal potential at the NHL level, whereas I think Blake caps at around 20-25 in a given year. Stankoven likely plays better on the wing than he has at center this year, but I still think that he has solid upside and was a nice get for Carolina. But if you’re looking at a trade, I don’t think either player carries as much value as Nadeau. I also don’t really see a world in which you carry a roster that has all four of your top six wingers under six feet tall. That just doesn’t work come playoff time. During the season, it’s hard to tinker with your roster and trade from it. The Hurricanes did so with Necas and Drury last year, but both of those players had reportedly requested trades. It was a little different. Messing with the locker room mid-season is always a tough thing, so I don’t blame the Hurricanes for not trading from their roster. However, this offseason is the time to make some roster moves if they want to add big.

Realistic number of Russian draft picks making it over to North America by 2027? - Howie Handorf

I’m going to use the start of the 2027-28 season as my deadline here. Here’s my list of players that I could see signing with Carolina by then, based off of current contract information.

• Timur Kol - Super likely

• Fyodor Avramov - Pretty likely

• Alexander Siryatsky - Not likely for 2026, but could see in 2027 assuming he only signs a one year extension

• Kurban Limatov - I still don’t think it happens, but his contract does end in 2027 right now

• Alexander Rykov - Fairly likely

Notable omissions here are Nikita Artamonov, Semyon Frolov and Alexander Perevalov. Artamonov has been awful this year and I can’t reasonably predict that he’ll sign a contract based off of this season’s performance. Frolov needs a ton of time to develop and if I’m the Hurricanes, rushing him to the AHL is the worst thing to do for his development. Perevalov has had a decent year in the VHL but I’m just not sold on that production for a guy that’s about to be 22. So right now, I’d say that we see three for sure sign by 2027: Kol, Avramov and Rykov. I could see a world where Siryatsky and Limatov sign, but I’m also willing to let them develop in Russia more.

Thanks for reading! I haven’t written a long post like this in a while, so I hope you enjoyed it.

It’s certainly disappointing if you were expecting a big splash, but this was a relatively quiet deadline overall and only one of the big names moved. Nazem Kadri was the only center that moved, and it felt like he was always going to go back to Colorado or nowhere at all. Vincent Trocheck, Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, and more all stayed with their teams at the deadline. So, despite Carolina’s best efforts to get deals done, they weren’t willing to overpay. Now, I do think the fan base has overreacted a bit, especially considering that the Hurricanes have made a big splash in each of the past two deadlines. Fans wanted a second line center, and by all accounts, Eric Tulsky tried to make that happen. But at the end of the day, if teams are asking for Bradly Nadeau, a first round pick and more for a guy that was a mediocre Hurricane, I think you pass on that.

My mentions were filled with people furious that the Canes stood pat, and yet only one of you insulted my mother, so overall, it was a pretty tame day! Proud of you all. I understand the frustration to an extent. The Canes have had a pretty clear need all year, and I think fans are quick to look at EliteProspects and point out Logan Stankoven’s point totals without actually looking into things further. The narrative that Tulsky hasn’t done enough to improve the team is just laughable. After an entire day of people in my mentions acting like K’Andre Miller wasn’t good for some reason, he goes out and has three points against Edmonton and has a really solid defensive game. Imagine that. He is on a 38 point pace this year despite missing eight games due to injury, and he is pretty consistently seeing over 20 minutes of ice time a game. That’s insanely valuable. Oh yeah, and the other offseason acquisition, Nikolaj Ehlers, just hit 50 points last night and has now passed Seth Jarvis for third in scoring on the Hurricanes. Ehlers is now on pace for a career high 66 points, even after a slow start to the year. Those were the two big offseason additions, and both players have been key contributors to the roster this year. Even objectively, this team is so much better than last year’s team. If you disagree, you’re incorrect. So yes, it’s disappointing that you can’t improve on what’s already a great roster, but it’s not like Eric Tulsky just sat and did nothing. As one of my followers aptly put it: would you pay $100k for a Toyota Camry?

Now, let’s talk about some of the other notable trades that happened around the league.

To Vegas: Nic Dowd

To Washington: Jesper Vikman, 2027 3rd, 2029 2nd

Washington Grade: A-

Vegas Grade: B-

Feels like a pretty penny for a guy that’s really only going to kill penalties for you. Washington doesn’t get any immediate draft picks, but it stocks the cupboards for the future.

To Colorado: Nicolas Roy

To Toronto: 2027 1st, 2026 5th

Colorado Grade: D

Toronto Grade: A

I like this deal for Toronto. Roy is one of the slowest forwards in the league and doesn’t bring a ton of value on the offensive side of the puck. He’s a fine 4C, but giving up a first round pick for that is silly.

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To Dallas: Michael Bunting

To Nashville: 2026 3rd

Dallas Grade: B

Nashville Grade: C-

Nashville couldn’t have gotten more for Bunting? I know he’s not nearly the player teams thought he was when he was with Toronto, but he’s a solid forward that is scrappy and gets to the net. Nice work from Dallas to get a distressed asset.

To Ottawa: Warren Foegele, 2026 3rd

To LA: 2026 2nd, 2026 3rd

Ottawa Grade: B

LA Grade: B

I like Foegele as a borderline third line winger that can play on your penalty kill and push the pace. He’s allergic to finishing, but there’s value here. The second round pick is a bit steep of a price, but he does have another year on his contract, so that’s almost a wash.

To Columbus: Conor Garland

To Vancouver: 2028 2nd, 2026 3rd

Columbus Grade: C+

Vancouver Grade: B

Garland definitely helps to flesh out Columbus’ forward core, but I’m not sure if it’s enough to keep them contending with Boston and Montreal in the East wild card race. I do like this deal for Vancouver, getting two good picks for a 29 year old UFA.

To Buffalo: Sam Carrick

To New York Rangers: 2026 3rd, 2026 6th

Buffalo Grade: C-

Rangers Grade: B+

Getting anything for Carrick was going to give the Rangers a good grade here. I’m not the biggest fan, and I don’t think he helps the Sabres much, at all. Buffalo has to make the playoffs this year, though, so maybe it was needed.

To Buffalo: Luke Schenn, Logan Stanley

To Winnipeg: Jacob Bryson, Isak Rosen, 2027 2nd, 2026 4th

Buffalo Grade: D

Winnipeg Grade: A

Even with the salary retention on Schenn, I have no idea why Buffalo makes this deal. Stanley and Schenn don’t move the needle for them at all, and the team gave up some decent assets to get this done. Rosen wasn’t much of a contributor at the NHL level, but at 22 years old, there’s still time to mold him into an everyday player. Bryson is at least serviceable at the NHL level, and giving up a second and a fourth is just silly. Jarmo, what are you cooking?

To Anaheim: John Carlson

To Washington: 2026 1st, 2027 3rd

Anaheim Grade: A

Washington Grade: A

This is the one trade that shocked me. Absolutely stunned. I didn’t think Carlson would be moved, not in a million years. The return isn’t great, but there weren’t many teams that could take on that sort of cap hit and not demand retention, so I think that helped lessen the return a bit. Anaheim is currently sitting atop their division, and this gives them a legitimate PP1 quarterback with a ton of playoff experience and a Stanley Cup ring as well.

To Minnesota: Bobby Brink

To Philadelphia: David Jiricek

Minnesota Grade: C+

Philadelphia Grade: C

Brink is a nice add for Minnesota, and I think he could fit in really well there. Bill Guerin’s weird comments about the deal aside, it’s a nice move. The optics aren’t great though, because less than a year and a half ago, Jiricek was acquired by Minnesota for Daemon Hunt a 2025 1st, a 2027 2nd, and 3rd and 4th round picks in the 2026 draft. That’s a ton of assets to give up for a guy that you then turn around and flip for Bobby Brink. However, for Philly, it also means they’re getting a player on his third NHL team in four years since being drafted. That’s not a great look for anyone.

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To Tampa: Corey Perry

To LA: 2028 2nd round pick

Tampa Grade: C+

LA Grade: B

Perry is still a productive NHL forward and still his usual self, which I love. LA gets a nice grade here for the higher pick.

To Detroit: Justin Faulk

To St. Louis: Justin Holl, Dmitri Buchelnikov, 2026 1st, 2026 3rd

Detroit Grade: A-

St. Louis Grade: B-

Honestly, I thought Faulk should go for a bit more. They helped Detroit out by taking on salary with Holl, and then didn’t get a great prospect or pick package for a guy with a year left on his contract that’s on pace for 40ish points. I’m not a Buchelnikov guy, to me he feels like a player that could get overwhelmed by the size and physicality of the NHL. Getting a first and a third in this draft is nice, but I just feel like they could have pushed for a bit more.

To Islanders: Brayden Schenn

To St. Louis: Jonathan Drouin, Marcus Gidlof, 2026 1st, 2026 3rd

Islanders Grade: C-

St. Louis Grade: A

Schenn is not the player he once was, and with two years left on his contract, I can’t see that deal aging particularly well. Sure, the Blues took on Drouin’s contract, but they’re likely flipping him at next year’s deadline or before. Even if you take out the potential return from that deal, Gidlof, Colorado’s first and New Jersey’s third is nice work for the Blues. Gidlof is a massive goalie with at least some NHL potential, and the picks are nice. Good on the Blues for not waiting around on Schenn and getting what they could for him.

To Colorado: Nazem Kadri, 2027 4th

To Calgary: Victor Olofsson, Maxmilian Curran, 2028 1st, 2027 2nd

Colorado Grade: B

Calgary Grade: B

Feels like a fair trade for Calgary. Colorado gets some much needed depth at forward and he’s familiar with the system. Kadri was awesome for Colorado in 2022. Now, I will say that the contract here is not likely to age well, and I don’t know how long Kadri can sustain this level of play over the next three seasons. The picks are in the future, so it doesn’t help now, but Curran is at least a semi-interesting prospect. He’s a big, playmaking forward that can play center and has put up decent stats. Now, it’s not clear when his signing rights expire since he has committed to UMass next year, but I like the trajectory he is on.

To Seattle: Bobby McMann

To Toronto: 2027 2nd, 2026 4th

Seattle Grade: C+

Toronto Grade: C+

McMann won’t be nearly as good outside of Toronto, but he’s still a solid all situations player that’s going to help in the playoffs. It’s a bit of a steep price, but such was the state of the market. I feel like Toronto could have gotten more for McMann, or simply have kept him. Neither of those picks helps the team now, and the Leafs have a core that you need to win now with.

Overall, a handful of teams in the West got better at the deadline. I felt that the Eastern Conference teams largely stayed pat or made marginal upgrades at best at the deadline. Detroit may have gotten better, but I don’t think Faulk is enough to push that team through in the East. Carolina definitely didn’t do enough, but from what GMs are echoing, prices league wide were prohibitive when it came to making meaningful upgrades. Carolina responded with a dominant win over the Edmonton Oilers Friday, and it’s clear the roster is in a good spot even without that big piece.

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Utah Grade: B

This move makes a lot of sense for Utah. Their defensive group is weak, but they have a good young core and prospects on the way, and the time to make a push is now. With the middle teams in the West being so close to each other in the playoff race, Utah needed to do something to improve their roster. Weegar fits that bill. He’s a whole lot better than Maatta, who had only appeared in 22 games and seems to be falling out of favor in the NHL. He also is under contract until 2031, which gives the Mammoth some time to build out their defensive core and let him be a big part of it. I’m always wary of long-term contracts for defensemen over 30, and Weegar will be 37 by the end of his deal. There’s always a chance this ages poorly. But Utah needs to make the playoffs and this is a gamble you take. Now, they lose some points here for the risk of the deal and also for the sheer amount of assets given up. I’m not convinced that Jonathan Castagna is more than a depth piece at the NHL level despite good stats at Cornell. But he’s still an interesting prospect and carries some value. Three second round picks is also a lot, but it’s not like Utah needs more prospects. They’ve been a bottom feeding team for years now, so they have the prospect depth to feel comfortable moving out of the second round entirely. They also do get some points for getting out from under Olli Maatta’s contract. The cap hit wasn’t too much, but Maatta has played in 22 games this year and hasn’t been much of a factor. Utah deserves a ton of credit for not touching any premium draft picks or top five prospects in this deal. They can find another Castagna.

Calgary Grade: A-

I really like this deal for Calgary. They don’t get anything that can help them now, but they get four assets that will likely help them in the near future. Castagna could probably turn pro at the end of the year, and the three second round picks are either good darts to throw at the board or assets to improve the roster. What I like most about this deal is that it’s likely the highest value Weegar will have for the rest of his contract, and Calgary recognized that. They didn’t hold out for another year to see what would happen, they just jumped at the best offer. They get a slight ding here for not getting a top prospect or first round pick, but honestly, the three seconds might have a collective value higher than the first round pick. Calgary is in the middle of tearing it to the studs, and Weegar was signed to a long-term deal. I like Jonathan Castagna as a piece that can help Calgary’s bottom six, although I’m not sure he sticks as a long-term NHL player. The three second round picks are the real prize of this deal, and I could see Calgary using all three on players in the draft to bolster a pipeline that is kind of middle of the road.

Ultimately, I think both teams did well here. Calgary did well to get out of Weegar’s contract and still get value for him, and Utah did well to not give up any premium assets. This legitimately feels like a big deal, and I’m excited to see what more there is to come from the NHL over the next little while.

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Dallas Grade: C+

Dallas had next to no cap space to improve, but they’re in need of an upgrade and went out and got their guy. They had to pay a little extra to get some cap flexibility, but ultimately, a fourth round pick that is four years from now isn’t much to talk about at all. A second round pick in the 2027 draft may seem like a decent price, but it’s not a ton when you think that Dallas gets Myers not only for this year, but for next year as well. He’s not a pure rental, which boosts the value. Now, is Myers much of an upgrade? Not really. He’s a fine defender and brings some size, but I’m just not convinced that he can make a massive impact at 36 years old. Myers has been in the league for an eternity, though, playing in over 1100 NHL games. There’s not a ton of playoff experience there, but he’s the type of player you add this time of year.

Vancouver Grade: B

I want to give Vancouver a worse grade for being a poorly run franchise, but this is a solid deal for them. A second round pick is about as much as you’d hope for a guy like Myers, and adding the fourth for retaining salary is a good piece of business. Vancouver needs as many assets as they can take in the next few years, so adding two darts to throw at the board is a good thing. Vancouver likely has more in the tank at the deadline, too. This is a nice start, especially since Myers’ value is only going to decrease over the next season. They could have risked keeping him for another year, but at 36 years old right now, there’s no guarantee that he can continue being a 20 minute a night player for much longer.

So far, all we’ve seen league wide are minor depth moves that teams make. There hasn’t been a massive blockbuster yet, nor have their been any top four defensemen or top nine forwards on the move.

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Minnesota Grade: C-

This grade may be amended to a worse one if this is the only move that Minnesota makes. Even so, it’s a pretty weak move. McCarron can play center and is decent in the faceoff circle, but he’s a fourth line forward that doesn’t really drive play. Giving up a second round pick for a fourth line center is a move that’s very hard to justify, especially considering the fact that the Wild have tried to go all in this year by acquiring Quinn Hughes. It just feels like a lot to give up for the Wild, especially considering McCarron doesn’t move the needle very much for them at all. McCarron does provide some cheap depth, and he’s better than a lot of the depth options that Minnesota currently has, but it’s still a lot to give up for a guy that’s not seeing more than 11 or 12 minutes a night.

Vegas Grade: C

This one feels a little silly, only because Vegas moved out a third round pick for a fourth line forward. They get a slightly better grade because even though Smith is about the same player value wise, they spent less to acquire him. Smith is another depth winger that can kill penalties and provide some physicality. While he may not play every night for Vegas, he’s not a bad piece to have in your back pocket. Plus, it’s not like Vegas was going to use this draft pick either way They were going to trade it at some point, so it’s not like it’s that big of a deal. As for Sedoff, he’s a contract dump in this deal. Signed out of the WHL as an undrafted free agent, Sedoff has spent the last three years being a below average AHL defenseman.

Nashville Grade: B+

None of these trades help the Predators in the short term, as both picks are three years away from even being selected. It does give Nashville some assets to use to potentially improve the team in the future, or they can hold onto the picks to improve their pool. Getting two picks in the top 100 of a draft for two fourth line players is excellent work by Nashville. Obviously, the team would prefer to be in a playoff spot, but they’re taking advantage of the desperate teams. I like the moves.

These aren’t the biggest deals, but it shows that the market is slowly starting to shift. Pieces are moving, even if they aren’t the biggest. I’ll be here to cover the bigger moves when they’re made!

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In case you missed it, I’ll be covering some of the bigger trades leading up to the deadline as well as those made at the deadline. They won’t be super long pieces, but it’ll be some insight and some bonus content for y’all to read. Hope everyone enjoys!

Edmonton Grade: C

It’s a fine deal for Edmonton, who improve their shaky defensive core by default. Ty Emberson and Spencer Stastney getting less ice time is a boon for Edmonton, although I’m not really sure that Murphy moves the needle all that much. He’s a stay at home defenseman that really struggles from a possession standpoint, and Edmonton’s defense isn’t great to begin with. They don’t have the cap space for much, so if they were going to do anything, upgrading arguably their biggest area of weakness besides goaltending was a good thing to do. The cost of this trade just perplexes me. Sure, it’s not for three drafts, but a second round pick for what will ultimately be 25 regular season games and some playoff games of Connor Murphy feels like a lot. Even with the salary retention here, it’s a ton to pay for a player that doesn’t move the needle much further for your core. They’re likely desperate with McDavid essentially giving the team a deadline of 2028 to win, and since they have no cap space at the moment, this feels like the best they could have done.

Chicago Grade: A

This is a great deal for Chicago. They’re a few years away from true contention and they’re getting a pick in this deal that they can later flip or use when they are closer to their contention window. Murphy was an extremely tradeable asset being 32 years old and in the last year of his contract, and bumping the pick up to a late second round pick is nice work for Kyle Davidson. This move also gives Chicago seven second round picks over the next three drafts, so that’s plenty of assets to use to upgrade the current roster. The core has some nice pieces in it with Bedard, Nazar, Moore, Rinzel, Vlasic and Levshunov, so those picks can be used to make the team better. Nice work.

Overall, it doesn’t do much to shake up the NHL as we know it. Edmonton sits third in the pacific and this could be what they need to stay afloat in the playoff race. Chicago doesn’t really get all that much worse and they add to their pick pool.