Carolina reaches the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2006, while Vegas returns again after a late-season coaching change. Here are 10 players—five from each team—positioned to swing the 2026 Final.
The stakes feel obvious when the Stanley Cup Final arrives, but the routes to get there tell the real story. For Carolina, it’s a breakthrough after a long wait. For Vegas, it’s proof that a season can be flipped—fast—when the right decisions get made at the right time.
The Carolina Hurricanes reached the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since coach Rod Brind’Amour was captain of the 2006 championship team. Vegas. meanwhile. answered late with a different kind of reset: the Golden Knights reached the final for the third time in the franchise’s nine years of existence after Bruce Cassidy was replaced by John Tortorella late in the season. Vegas won the Cup in its second trip in 2023.
The series winner will claim the franchise’s second Stanley Cup title. And with that kind of promise hanging in the air, these are the players most likely to decide how quickly the momentum shifts.
CAROLINA HURRICANES
Frederik Andersen has been given the ball as Carolina leans on experience. After a middling season, Brandon Bussi played four more games and finished with 15 more wins than Andersen. Still. Brind’Amour stuck with the veteran goaltender. and Andersen has turned things around with a 12-1 record and a 1.44 goals-against average.
Andersen’s choice carries a personal edge too. He was one of the first clients of Claude Lemieux after the four-time Stanley Cup winner became an agent. After Lemieux’s May 28 death, Andersen said he wants to make Lemieux proud.
Jaccob Slavin brings a different kind of impact: control. He’s regarded as a top shutdown defenseman. which is why he was named to Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off and the Olympics. An injury early in the season helped explain why the Golden Knights were able to score 10 goals against the Hurricanes in two October wins. Now Slavin is set to help limit a deep Vegas team.
Logan Stankoven is the spark Carolina can’t afford to take lightly. He was the key piece in the return when the Hurricanes traded Mikko Rantanen to Dallas last season after acquiring him earlier in the season. The 23-year-old has recorded his first 20-goal season and leads the team with nine playoff goals on the red-hot second line.
Taylor Hall, still searching for his old rhythm, found it by attaching himself to the right chemistry. Hall came over in the first Rantanen trade from the Chicago Blackhawks as part of a three-team deal. The 2010 No. 1 overall pick was a Hart Trophy winner in 2017-18, but his play had dropped off before the trade. Now he’s been steady on a line with Stankoven and Jackson Blake, and he leads Carolina with 16 points.
Sebastian Aho represents the question every contender asks in a Final: will the first-line engine show up?. Aho has only four goals and seven points in 13 games after averaging a point per game in the regular season. The second line has been carrying the Hurricanes. and if Carolina is going to beat the Golden Knights. the Aho-led unit will need to produce more offense.
Others to watch for Carolina are Seth Jarvis, Andrei Svechnikov, K’Andre Miller, and Jordan Staal.
VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Mitch Marner arrives as a reminder that some criticism sticks even after a move. During his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs. the team never got out of the second round and rarely out of the first. He received part of the criticism. Joining the Golden Knights in a sign-and-trade. he’s found momentum: in the playoffs. Marner is leading the playoffs in scoring with 21 points.
Jack Eichel is being used like a weapon in big moments. Coach John Tortorella calls him the best 200-foot player in the NHL. In the conference finals, Eichel was used against Nathan MacKinnon during the Colorado Avalanche’s sweep. Eichel is second in playoff scoring with 18 points and also helped the USA win Olympic gold.
Pavel Dorofeyev has been finishing at a level that forces penalty killers to second-guess every move. He’s tied for the NHL lead with 10 goals, with four coming on the power play. He’ll be a restricted free agent at season’s end and is due a big raise after scoring 35 and 37 goals in the past two regular seasons.
Mark Stone may be the kind of player you notice more because of what he prevents than what he produces. The Golden Knights are deep enough that Stone plays on the third line. He’s a former Selke Trophy finalist and has four power play goals. Injuries were a problem and he was out for part of the playoffs. but the Golden Knights were much better when he returned.
Shea Theodore is running the backend with heavy responsibility. He’s averaging more than 25 minutes a game, the most of any player in the series. Theodore leads the Golden Knights with 11 points and has a series-high 46 blocked shots. His job, as Vegas tries to survive Carolina’s relentless forecheck, will be to keep danger from turning into goals.
Others to watch for Vegas are Carter Hart, Ivan Barbashev, Brett Howden, and William Karlsson.
One thing connects both teams’ storylines: the Final isn’t just rewarding the best performers—it’s rewarding the right role at the right time. Carolina’s shift toward Frederik Andersen’s turnaround and the need for more production from Sebastian Aho will be tested against Vegas’s playoff scoring pace led by Mitch Marner and the two-way workload John Tortorella leans on from players like Jack Eichel.
For Vegas, Tortorella’s late-season change and the franchise’s experience in reaching the Final will be measured against Carolina’s hunger to end a long stretch since 2006. For the fans, the competition begins long before the puck drops: it starts with who shows up when the game tightens.
Stanley Cup Final 2026 Carolina Hurricanes Vegas Golden Knights Frederik Andersen Rod Brind'Amour John Tortorella Mitch Marner Jack Eichel Taylor Hall Sebastian Aho Shea Theodore