3 Hurricanes Players Seeking to Continue Upward Trajectory

Heading into the Fourth of July weekend, the Carolina Hurricanes right now have 98% of their Stanley Cup roster returning for the 2026-27 season. They will be looking to defend their title as Cup champions. The Hurricanes hope the roster can continue from where they left off following their Stanley Cup win. That said, which three players are looking to continue the upward trajectory in their NHL careers to help the Hurricanes hopefully go back-to-back?

Jackson Blake

After tallying 34 points in his rookie season, Jackson Blake had the breakout season everyone hoped for. He finished his sophomore season with 22 goals and 53 points in 81 games. What a way to take a solid rookie season and go to another level in year two. Blake followed that up with seven goals and 20 points in the playoffs. His 13 assists and 20 points led the Hurricanes en route to the team’s second-ever Stanley Cup.

As he heads into his third NHL season, Blake will be showing why he earned that eight-year, $40.94 million deal last summer. His new deal kicked in on July 1, paying him $5.117 million annually. Some people around the hockey world think that Blake could be a star player in the making. After the season he just had, while leading the Hurricanes in playoff points, there is an argument to be made that he is already a star player.

Ahead of his second season in the NHL, Blake told The Hockey Writers that his mindset is to get better as a player. Safe to say he has done that, especially as a Stanley Cup champion at 22 years old. Heading into the 2026-27 season, can he reach the 60-point mark? Could he replicate what he did in the playoffs once again? As part of the Junkyard Dog line, Blake has a solid chance to have an even better third NHL season in Raleigh.

Brandon Bussi

What a story for Brandon Bussi during the 2025-26 season. Just mere days before opening night, the Long Island native was claimed off waivers by the Hurricanes after the Florida Panthers tried to send him down to the Charlotte Checkers. Bussi went on to set records during his first NHL season. He finished the season with a 31-6-2 record with a 2.47 goals-against average (GAA), a .895 save percentage (SV%), and two shutouts. During the playoffs, he finished with a 3-1-0 record with a 1.60 GAA, a .931 SV%, and one shutout.

Along the way, he signed a three-year, $5.7 million deal, paying him $1.9 million annually through the 2028-29 season. Fast forward, he makes his playoff debut in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. While it did end up in a loss in double overtime against the Vegas Golden Knights, he went on to win the next three games. He became the first goalie to win three games in his first three starts in the playoffs. He also became the second undrafted goalie to win a Stanley Cup, while posting his first playoff shutout.

Heading into the 2026-27 season, Bussi will probably be the 1A goalie in a tandem with Pyotr Kochetkov after Frederik Andersen signed a one-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers. Bussi will start the first year of his three-year deal, while Kochetkov is entering the last year of his four-year deal. General manager Eric Tulsky stated at his end-of-season media availability that the Hurricanes are comfortable with the tandem of Bussi and Kochetkov if Andersen signs elsewhere.

Now that Andersen has, it’ll be up to Bussi and Kochetkov to lead the way in the crease for the Hurricanes. Regarding Bussi, he is playing with house money as his NHL journey continues with the team that gave him a chance, and he rewarded them with another Stanley Cup. In 2026-27, the Hurricanes and Bussi hope to keep this ride going another season with “Bus” driving them to another deep playoff run.

Logan Stankoven

Another player hoping to take his game to another level in 2026-27 is Kamloops, BC native Logan Stankoven. The 23-year-old managed his first full season in Raleigh as the second-line center for head coach Rod Brind’Amour’s side. It was a learning curve for Stankoven, building on being a full-time center after being a winger for the two seasons prior.

During the 2025-26 season, he finished with 21 goals and 44 points in 81 games. Stankoven was even 44.3% from the faceoff dot, a number that grew throughout the season. He followed that up with 11 goals and 16 points in the playoffs, leading the Hurricanes in goals. Stankoven also had a 46% faceoff percentage as part of the Junkyard Dog line, alongside Blake and Taylor Hall, who were the best line throughout the playoffs. At one point, Stankoven was a frontrunner to possibly win the Conn Smythe Trophy.

Stankoven will enter his second full season with the Hurricanes in year one of his eight-year, $48 million deal that he signed last summer. His deal, which started on July 1, will see him paid $6 million annually through the 2033-34 season. Now that he has a full season under his belt within the system, along with building his confidence as the 2C for the Hurricanes, the hope is that he becomes a 50-point-or-more player in Raleigh.

The way he plays a relentless style of hockey, there is a solid chance that Stankoven could reach another level in his game. When it comes to him and Blake, the two younger players on the Hurricanes’ roster will be doing everything they can to build on their success from 2025-26 and help the team defend their crown.

As the Hurricanes look to defend their Stanley Cup crown, expect Bussi, Stankoven, and Blake to continue their success this upcoming 2026-27 season. While the rest of the NHL will be fighting to take their crown, the Hurricanes will be on a mission to go back-to-back, with these three being big pieces along the way.