With each passing day in preseason training camp, it became more and more apparent: Logan Stankoven will be playing center for the Carolina Hurricanes.
It began as something of an experiment. Stankoven moved from right wing to center during camp and Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour and his staff took a look. If it didn’t work well, they could pull the plug.
But the Hurricanes are opening up the 2025-26 season Thursday at home against the New Jersey Devils, and Stankoven, a right-hand shot, appears set to be the second-line center.
“I don’t really number it that way but we’ve got to give it a try,” Brind’Amour said. “You’ve also got to give it some time.”
The Canes, after taking Sunday off, were back on the ice Monday at Lenovo Center. NHL rosters for opening night were due by 5 p.m., although the Canes’ roster was all but set when training camp began.
Forward Nikolaj Ehlers is the biggest addition from last season, but the Canes’ new makeup will have defensemen K’Andre Miller and Alexander Nikishin in the defensive pairings to start the season. The Canes traded for Miller in the offseason, and brought in Nikishin from Russia at the tail-end of last season after the KHL playoffs were over.
With veteran defensemen Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov leaving in free agency, the Canes became younger on the back end — Miller is 25, Nikishin 24 — while adding more speed and potentially more offense from the D corps. Nikishin, in particular, is said to have one of the heaviest shots on the team.
Defenseman Jalen Chatfield was not feeling well, Brind’Amour said, and sat out Monday’s practice. The D pairings had Sean Walker with Jaccob Slavin, Shayne Gostisbehere with Miller and Nikishin working with Mike Reilly, another free-agent signee who is on the opening-night roster.
“We have some new guys and we have to figure out how they mesh best, and with who,” Brind’Amour said.
The Canes have three goalies on the initial roster: Frederik Andersen, Pyotr Kochetkov and Brandon Bussi, who they claimed off waivers Sunday from the Florida Panthers.
Brind’Amour, in assessing training camp on Monday, said: “We got everything covered and I thought the effort was good. Guys came in in great shape, and we’re closing in on it now.”
The Canes have hoped the past few seasons that Jesperi Kotkaniemi would become that strong, reliable No. 2 center. The Finn has prototypical size for an NHL center at 6-feet-3 and 203 pounds and has been given ample opportunity to win over the position, but has been too inconsistent in his play.
Stankoven, 22, is listed at 5-8 and 165 pounds. Not that Brind’Amour has a problem with a potential size issue.
“All that concerns you if you don’t have the engine he has or the motor he has,” Brind’Amour said. “Then it becomes an issue. But he doesn’t shy away because of his size.
“It’s all going to work its way out. I have a lot of faith in the player that he can figure it out.”
Stankoven centered wingers Andrei Svechnikov and Jackson Blake through much of the preseason and the line was together for the Canes’ sixth and final preseason game Saturday at Nashville. The Predators earned a 3-2 overtime win while the Canes had a scare when Svechnikov absorbed a huge open-ice hit from Joakim Kemell in the OT — Svechnikov was at practice Monday and later said he was “all good.”
Playing against a Nashville lineup of Preds regulars, Stankoven had almost 17 minutes of ice time and had three shots on goal. He lost six of eight faceoffs, going 0-4 against center Ryan O’Reilly, one of the league’s best on draws.
The Canes have lacked a right-shot center to take faceoffs since the departure of Vincent Trocheck in free agency to the New York Rangers in July 2022. Sebastian Aho, Jordan Staal, Mark Jankowski and Kotkaniemi all are lefthanded center men.
Stankoven, who said he was comfortable with the move from winger, was asked about the prerequisites of being a good NHL center.
“Being good on draws. I think plus/minus is key, too,” he said. “I think creating opportunities for my teammates and trying to spend as much time in the offensive zone.
“I think being a center, you have to be a little more patient. You have your wingers who are in front of you for the most part. There are a few things where you think ‘Oh, I’ve got to slam on the breaks.’ With my motor, I’m go, go. But you have to slow down, think and assess the situation.”
In 102 NHL games, Stankoven is 46.7% on faceoffs. But working with Brind’Amour, once one of the NHL’s best, has helped, he said.
“He gives me tips,” Stankoven said. “Any advantage you can get is huge, right?”
In personnel moves made Sunday, the Hurricanes claimed Bussi off waivers while placing goalie Cayden Primeau on waivers for the purpose of reassigning him to the Chicago Wolves of the AHL.
Primeau, who signed a one-year contract with Carolina on July 1, was claimed by the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday. Bussi, 27, has played 111 career games for the Providence Bruins of the AHL and was named to the AHL All-Rookie team in 2022-23.
Monday, the Canes assigned defenseman Charles Alexis Legault to the Wolves and placed forward Juha Jaaska on the injured non-roster list.