The Carolina Hurricanes kick off the 2025-26 season starting on Oct. 9 with a home game against the New Jersey Devils. The Canes, who have made it to the NHL playoffs for eight consecutive years, are expected to do very well again this season.
As a matter of fact, they are among the favorites to win the Stanley Cup, and are the consensus pick to win the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference. Last season, the Hurricanes finished with 99 points while losing the last three games of the season as they rested some regulars.
According to FanDuel, the Canes are just behind Edmonton and Dallas as Stanley Cup favorites, projected at 106.5 points this coming season.
Is there room for improvement from last year?
One thing for sure the team will be looking to improve is their power play. Last season they finished 25th in the NHL with an 18.7% success rate. The good news is that they had the top penalty kill in the league. They killed off 83.6% of those situations.
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The Canes came in second in the league with an average of 31.7 shots per game. They were ninth in the league in scoring at 3.24 goals per game. The team could use a higher shooting percentage. Team defense was also very good at full strength as they allowed 24.9 shots per game, also best in the league. They allowed 230 goals which placed them at 10th best in the league.
Here’s a look at where they stand before their season opener against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET, FanDuel Sports Network).
Additions and subtractions
Gone are Brent Burns, Dmitri Orlov, Jack Roslovic, and Scott Morrow.
Burns was popular in the locker room and an important mainstay on the penalty kill, but he had lost a step and went without a goal while at the point on the power play. He only had three power play assists all season.
Orlov had good games and bad games but never seemed to entirely mesh well with head coach Rod Brind’Amour’s system. Roslovic contributed with 22 goals but scored most of them earlier in the season. He also finished with a team worst -10.
The Hurricanes picked up former New York Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller on a huge eight year deal worth $60 million. NHLI via Getty Images
Morrow was a promising prospect but was thrown into the playoffs after Jalen Chatfield was injured and seemed to be in over his head. The Canes went after K’Andre Miller to replace Burns and signed the defenseman to a huge eight year deal worth $60 million. They traded away Morrow and two high draft picks to get him.
The team will also be hoping that highly regarded KHL superstar, Alexander Nikishin will fill in for Orlov.
They signed the top free agent on the market at the time, Nikolaj Ehlers, who should help with the team’s scoring. He signed with Carolina for six years and $51 million.
Possible lines and combinations
Brind’Amour has some decisions to make regarding his line up.
During the preseason, he has been experimenting with Logan Stankoven at center and the youngster has done well. If the coach stays with Stankoven at second line center, the lines might look like this:
Jarvis – Aho – EhlersSvechnikov – Stankoven – BlakeMartinook – Staal – CarrierRobinson – Kotkaniemi – Hall
If the coach gives “KK” another try as second line center, perhaps the lines would look like this:
Jarvis – Aho – EhlersSvechnikov – Kotkaniemi – BlakeMartinook – Staal – StankovenHall – Jankowski – Carrier/Robinson
Either way, the Hurricanes have a potent group of forwards who will be dangerous most nights.
The coach has a similar problem on the blue line. In a perfect world, he might want to have his top blueliners playing together, but both have been injured during the preseason and have yet to play any preseason games.
Chatfield – NikishinGostisbehere – Walker
Chatfield has good speed and can help out Nikishin, who is still learning the system. Gostisbehere and Walker have successful history together and should perform well. The Canes picked up Mike Reilly to be their seventh defenseman and with his experience, he should fit in well. He will be the answer to fill in for any injury as that was an issue for Carolina last postseason.
One problem? The Canes have five left-handed defensemen and two right-handed which means someone needs to play their offside.
Jacob Slavin is like Superman, expect him to figure this out as well. Additionally, the Canes have been very impressed with Charles Alexis Legault and after a solid preseason, he could slide his way into the mix.
The Hurricanes are looking to rely more on netminder Frederik Andersen as they pursue a Stanley Cup this season. NHLI via Getty Images
In net, the Hurricanes will be relying on the tandem of Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov. When he is on his game, Andersen can be solid, but he is injury prone and it is hard to count on him through the entire season. Kochetkov is talented but has been a bit inconsistent. Sometimes he can try to do too much.
But together, they should be a suitable duo.
The team signed Cayden Primeau to help out in case a third goalie is needed. Primeau has looked good in preseason. The Hurricanes have lots of room with their salary cap so they could very well look to improve before the trade deadline.
Will Carolina live up to all the predictions and accolades. The time to find out begins on Thursday.