{"id":5353,"date":"2026-06-27T12:34:59","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T12:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5353"},"modified":"2026-06-27T12:34:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T12:34:59","slug":"carolina-hurricanes-follow-stanley-cup-title-by-figuring-out-to-how-to-improve-a-largely-set-roster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5353","title":{"rendered":"Carolina Hurricanes follow Stanley Cup title by figuring out to how to improve a largely set roster"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Carolina Hurricanes lead the crowd in a final storm serge with Jordan Staal (11) holding the Stanley Cup during Stanley Cup Celebration in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, June 20, 2026. (AP Photo\/Karl DeBlaker) (Karl B DeBlaker\/FR7226 AP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

MORRISVILLE, N.C. \u2014 At first glance, Carolina Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky doesn\u2019t have a ton to do with the roster as the Stanley Cup champs<\/a> head into the offseason.<\/p>

Read more Naomi Osaka retires in second set of Bad Homburg final with foot injury<\/a><\/p>\n

Then again, the Hurricanes have never been the type to just sit back, either.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re fresh off beating the Vegas Golden Knights to claim the Cup for the second time, the first coming 20 years ago when coach Rod Brind’Amour was captain<\/a> . The team has most of its core locked up to long-term deals, though that won\u2019t stop the Hurricanes from looking to bolster the roster all the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always room to improve, there\u2019s always spots we can get better,\u201d Tulsky said Friday night after the first round of the NHL draft<\/a> .<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to build a team that even when we\u2019re not playing our best, even when we have some injuries, we still can win the Cup. … We need to keep taking steps to get to where we can be favorites year in and year out no matter what comes our way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Hurricanes headed into the offseason with 36-year-old veteran Frederik Andersen \u2014 who anchored the net during Carolina’s 12-1 march<\/a> through the Eastern Conference playoffs \u2014 as their biggest-name unrestricted free agent. Reserve forward Nicolas Delauriers and seventh defenseman Mike Reilly were the other unrestricted free agents, though the Hurricanes signed Deslauriers to a two-year deal on the stage of their downtown-Raleigh championship rally<\/a> .<\/p>\n

There\u2019s another variable with defenseman Alexander Nikishin. The 24-year-old former top prospect became a lineup regular and worked in the third pairing through the playoffs, so the Hurricanes must decide whether to sign him \u2014 bridge or long-term \u2014 or potentially trade him.<\/p>\n

Nikishin\u2019s name has been popular for trade speculation. Tulsky said the Hurricanes had to pivot quickly to draft preparations and next week\u2019s start of free agency, so contract negotiations for him hadn\u2019t been a priority yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easy to punt for a little bit and let the dust settle and take care of the things that are pressing, then figure out where we\u2019re going to go from there,\u201d Tulsky said.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s another issue to monitor: the health of top-line forward Seth Jarvis. Tulsky said Jarvis is expected to be out up to six months after shoulder surgery<\/a> , a timeline that would could linger into next season. That could open a lineup spot for rising prospect Bradly Nadeau or someone else.<\/p>\n

The Hurricanes had been aggressive before in trying to push a perennial playoff team over the top, notably by adding Jake Guentzel<\/a> and Mikko Rantanen<\/a> to find more high-end finishers. But they ended up dealing Gutentzel’s rights to Tampa Bay in summer 2024<\/a> shortly before his expected departure in free agency, then had to move Rantanen after just 13 games in 2025<\/a> when it became clear he wouldn\u2019t sign an extension.<\/p>

Read more Sinner wants to \u2018talk about tennis\u2019 not top players\u2019 prize-money protest at Wimbledon<\/a><\/p>\n

The latter deal, however, worked in securing forward Logan Stankoven as the primary return from the Rantanen pivot. Stankoven centered the second line<\/a> with Taylor Hall and Jackson Blake that scorched its way through the playoffs<\/a> , with that trio combining for 25 goals and 55 points in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

The question now is how much to tinker after rolling to a 16-3 playoff record en route to the Cup, especially with the roster set to return largely intact.<\/p>\n

The motivation, though, won\u2019t change.<\/p>\n

\u201cI promise you, we\u2019re going to try to do it again,\u201d Brind\u2019Amour told fans during the team\u2019s championship rally.<\/p>\n

Five of Carolina\u2019s top nine forwards are signed through at least 2030-31, while physical forward Andrei Svechnikov is signed through 2028-29. Among the outliers, 37-year-old captain Jordan Staal \u2014 who won the Conn Smythe Trophy<\/a> as playoff MVP \u2014 and Jordan Martinook each have one more year on their deals.<\/p>\n

Staal wasn\u2019t ready to retire on a high note, telling The North State Journal after the June 20 parade: \u201cNo, I want to win another one.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for defensemen, Jaccob Slavin and K\u2019Andre Miller are notably lined up through 2032-33, while top-four defenseman Sean Walker is signed through 2028-29. Blue-liners Jalen Chatfield and Shayne Gostisbehere are each entering their final contract year.<\/p>\n

Beyond Andersen in net, Stanley Cup Final hero Brandon Bussi<\/a> is entering a three-year deal signed in February<\/a> and reserve Pytor Kochetkov has one more year. on his deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat can\u2019t make you complacent,\u201d Tulsky said of winning the Cup. \u201cThat can\u2019t have you saying, \u2018You know what? We\u2019re fine where we are.\u2019 Other teams are taking steps, things change year to year. We need to keep finding ways to get better every time we can.\u201d<\/p>

Read more After firing Mendoza, heat intensifies on Stearns as last-place Mets look for a path forward<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NHL: https:\/\/apnews.com\/NHL<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Carolina Hurricanes don\u2019t have a ton of free-agency decisions after winning their first Stanley Cup title in 20 years<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5351,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nCarolina Hurricanes follow Stanley Cup title by figuring out to how to improve a largely set roster - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5353\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Carolina Hurricanes follow Stanley Cup title by figuring out to how to improve a largely set roster - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Carolina Hurricanes don\u2019t have a ton of free-agency decisions after winning their first Stanley Cup title in 20 years\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5353\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-27T12:34:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/301e43655c6fd281487c1e4d78daca60-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5353#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5353\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Carolina Hurricanes follow Stanley Cup title by figuring out to how to improve a largely set roster\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-27T12:34:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5353\"},\"wordCount\":883,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5353#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/42f5c06c89d78f59d28ae9d48c4549c5-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5353#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5353\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5353\",\"name\":\"Carolina Hurricanes follow Stanley Cup title by figuring out to how to improve a largely set roster - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5353#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5353#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/42f5c06c89d78f59d28ae9d48c4549c5-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-27T12:34:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5353#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5353\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5353#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/42f5c06c89d78f59d28ae9d48c4549c5-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/42f5c06c89d78f59d28ae9d48c4549c5-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Carolina Hurricanes lead the crowd in a final storm serge with Jordan Staal (11) holding the Stanley Cup during Stanley Cup Celebration in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, June 20, 2026. 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