Hurricanes Announce Preseason & Prospect Development Schedules

It seems like the other day that the Carolina Hurricanes won the 2026 Stanley Cup, but the NHL machine doesn’t stop, even in the offseason. Ahead of the upcoming 2026 NHL Entry Draft, the Hurricanes announced their preseason and Prospect Development Camp schedules. What should fans expect from both schedule announcements?

2026-27 Preseason Schedule

On Thursday morning (June 25), the Hurricanes announced their four-game preseason schedule, which will include the Nashville Predators and the Florida Panthers. The first game will take place on Sunday, Sept. 20, on the road in Sunrise, FL, against the Panthers. Two days later, the Panthers will travel up to the Lenovo Center on the 22nd to complete the home-and-home schedule.

Following those two games, the Predators will travel to Greensboro, NC, to take on the Hurricanes at First Horizon Coliseum on Thursday, Sept. 24. The Hurricanes will return to where it all began in 1997 when they played their first two seasons in Greensboro. It’ll be a special moment to return there, especially after winning their second Stanley Cup in franchise history. The last preseason game will be on Saturday, Sept. 26, in Nashville.

Since the regular season schedule will now be 84 games starting this fall, the NHL and NHLPA agreed to shorten the preseason to four games. It was honestly a long time coming to shorten the preseason, with players training all year round now. There was no reason to have six or more preseason games as in years past.

The fact that it’ll take place within six days will make it easier to get the regular season going sooner rather than later. Plus, it’ll be easier for Rod Brind’Amour and his staff to figure out who to send to Sunrise on Sunday and Nashville that upcoming Saturday as the bookends to two games in the Raleigh and Greensboro areas.

Prospect Development Camp

At around noon Eastern on Thursday, the Hurricanes also announced the upcoming Prospect Development Camp schedule, which will begin on Sunday, June 28, at Invisalign Arena. It’ll run through Thursday, July 2, with skill sessions and testing between June 29 and July 1.

Regarding the roster, nine players are on it as of now (five forwards and four defensemen). Four players from the 2025 NHL Draft class will attend (Charlie Cerrato, Kurban Limatov, Viggo Nordlund, and Filip Ekberg), along with 2024 NHL Draft picks Timur Kol and Roman Shokhrin. Furthermore, whoever gets selected at the 2026 NHL Draft will attend as well. The Hurricanes should expect to release the full roster before camp begins on Sunday.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens on Friday, June 26, and Saturday, June 27, with the NHL Draft for the Hurricanes as they currently have four picks. They hold the 31st overall pick, the 105th (Round 4), 165th (Round 6), and 192nd (Round 6). In recent years, the Hurricanes traded away their first-round pick to obtain more draft capital, especially in the second and third rounds. Given that they only have four picks total, it would not be a surprise if they trade out again. However, if there is someone they like at 31 that might not make it to the second round, they might keep their pick.

Regardless of how it goes, the Hurricanes are usually draft winners, so it’ll be something to keep an eye on over the two days in Buffalo, New York. Now that the Stanley Cup Parade is over, it’s already go time for the draft and free agency on July 1. No matter what’s going on, the NHL machine keeps chugging along.