Hurricanes’ bold reset swings Stanley Cup back to Carolina

Hurricanes’ bold – Carolina didn’t change its coach or identity to win the Stanley Cup again. Instead, general manager Eric Tulsky powered a reset with high-stakes trades and free-agent wins—starting with Mikko Rantanen’s winter arrival, Nikolaj Ehlers’ signing two days later, a

The coach is the same. The system is the same.

Rod Brind’Amour’s Carolina Hurricanes kept their demanding style at the center of everything. built around Jaccob Slavin. Sebastian Aho. Seth Jarvis and Jordan Staal—players who have defined their steady rise to the playoffs year after year. But this year, the difference wasn’t about the identity on the ice. It was about what arrived to push that identity over the edge.

General manager Eric Tulsky made the kind of moves you can’t take back. Over 17 months, his additions added up to a Stanley Cup for the second time in franchise history—and the first since 2006.

Tulsky’s boldest swing started in January 2025, when he acquired elite winger Mikko Rantanen from Colorado. Soon after, he added another proven performer when veteran Taylor Hall joined the Hurricanes as part of a three-team blockbuster. When it became clear Rantanen didn’t want to be part of Carolina’s long-term future. Tulsky traded him to Dallas and received centre Logan Stankoven and two first-round picks in return. One of those picks later became part of getting defenceman K’Andre Miller on July 1.

Two days later. Carolina won the bidding competition to sign top free agent Nikolaj Ehlers. a speedy winger who gave them something they’d been missing late in the season after seven consecutive postseason appearances without reaching the final. The years of “so close” ended in a way that felt almost inevitable—Ehlers. Stankoven. Hall and Miller all played their roles in turning the rite of spring into a championship. Ehlers even capped it with the empty-netter that sealed the title.

Brind’Amour’s system doesn’t welcome everyone. Tulsky emphasized that the Hurricanes didn’t just chase talent—they chased fit.

“We’ve really focused on finding people who fit the way we want to play,” Tulsky said. “We ask players to play a very distinctive style, and our scouts have done a great job finding players that can come in and look their best playing the way Rod needs them to play.”

The run didn’t start with a smooth story—it started with a gamble that could have broken the whole plan.

Trading for Rantanen was a huge risk, and it demanded a steep price. Tulsky sent Martin Necas and Jack Drury to the Avalanche as part of the deal that brought Rantanen to Carolina. The bet hinged on one thing: whether Rantanen would be the missing piece.

It didn’t fit the way Carolina needed. Rantanen finished with six points in 13 games with the Hurricanes. and discussions that involved Toronto’s Mitch Marner didn’t lead to Rantanen waiving his no-trade clause. Instead. he ended up in Las Vegas. where he became a key part of the Golden Knights’ run to the final.

Carolina didn’t wait for the end of the road. Tulsky flipped Rantanen to Dallas instead of risking an uncertain exit in free agency. In return, the Hurricanes got Stankoven and a pair of first-round picks. One pick helped land Miller, whose presence shored up depth on the blue line.

“We never want to get worried about the what ifs,” Tulsky said. “That being said, sometimes it doesn’t go the way you hoped, and you’ve got to be ready to figure out how you’re going to move forward from there.”

Stankoven justified the patience. He led the team with 11 goals during a dominant stretch that carried the Hurricanes through 16 victories in 19 games.

The remarkable part is how little Carolina had to reinvent itself.

Brind’Amour’s Hurricanes hadn’t just been good in the regular season; they weren’t trapped in the pattern of losing early and wondering “what if.” They won at least one series in six of his first seven years behind the bench, including three trips to the East final.

Tulsky didn’t blow everything up when he took over from Don Waddell two years ago. A former scientist who got into hockey by blogging about it as a fan, Tulsky instead adjusted the roster with targeted moves—changes that arrived right on time.

One came right before opening night in October, when the Hurricanes claimed goaltender Brandon Bussi off waivers from back-to-back champion Florida. Bussi, playing in the NHL for the first time at 27, won 31 of 39 starts during the season.

When the postseason demanded more, he was ready. Frederik Andersen’s spot in the final gave way to Bussi, and he backstopped Carolina the rest of the way, including a shutout in the Game 6 clincher on Sunday night.

“We have the confidence in Bus,” Brind’Amour said. “He makes a ton of big saves. Even when there’s breakdowns, we trust him back there, gives us tons of confidence to play our game and just be aggressive all night.”

Aggression is often what the Golden Knights are known for—chasing every big-name free agent or trade candidate. That approach delivered the Stanley Cup in 2023 and three runs to the final in the first nine years of their existence.

Carolina ended up becoming that kind of team too. Tulsky framed it as a principle rather than a trend.

“Fundamentally, we want to be aggressive,” Tulsky said. “Rod has the team playing very aggressive on the ice. We want to be aggressive off the ice, too. And when you have a chance to add a really high-end player, we never want to miss out on it.”

The Hurricanes didn’t miss on Ehlers.

After seven consecutive postseason appearances without a trip to the final, the addition of Ehlers turned their momentum into something sharper. Carolina’s holdovers—people like Jordan Staal and grinding forward Jordan Martinook—were able to believe the upgraded group could finally finish.

When Martinook spoke about what the team built, he didn’t try to hide the uncertainty that came with the Rantanen swing.

“When your team is trying to get better all the time. it’s something that you can get behind. ” Martinook said. “Obviously, we took a run of Mikko, it didn’t work out, but look what we got from it. Stanks and Key, those are two of the pieces that we got from it. Hallsy was part of that, too. Those are three incredibly important pieces to our team. It just shows that they’re ready to take chances all the time.”.

Carolina Hurricanes Rod Brind'Amour Eric Tulsky Stanley Cup Mikko Rantanen Nikolaj Ehlers Logan Stankoven Taylor Hall K'Andre Miller Brandon Bussi Frederik Andersen Martin Necas Jack Drury