As we get ready to close out the first week of free agency, the Carolina Hurricanes have set themselves up for a stellar 2025-26 season after the additions of Nikolaj Ehlers and K’Andre Miller. Even with the eight-year extension for Logan Stankoven that doesn’t kick in until July 1, 2026, the Hurricanes are looking like a team that will be a huge contender for the Stanley Cup this season. The team still has $10.644 million left in cap space after the Ehlers and Miller acquisitions, with room to grow. That said, what would a lineup currently look like with the roster as of Friday, July 4?
Jumping onto the idea from fellow The Hockey Writers members Tony Wolak and Jesse Courville-Lynch, let’s take a look at a projected roster lineup for the Hurricanes going into the 2025-26 season.
Hurricanes Roster Projection 1.0
While the Hurricanes did address their defensemen and top-six winger concerns, the only need left is a bona fide second-line center. Currently, they have Jesperi Kotkaniemi as their current 2C on the roster, and unfortunately, that will not get the job done to win a Stanley Cup. Even with his $4.82 million average annual value (AAV), his lack of overall production in the regular season and playoffs is not what teams expect from a 2C behind a player like Sebastian Aho. There could be some external moves via trade if the Hurricanes want to bring in someone to slot behind Aho.
Related: Hurricanes’ Offseason Just Getting Better With Ehlers Signing
However, if they stick internally, two wingers could move to the center role, if that’s a road the Hurricanes could go down. One option could be Seth Jarvis, as he’s been taking more faceoffs for Rod Brind’Amour in the last couple of seasons, more so during 2024-25. Another could be Stankoven, who’s played center before in his hockey career, going back to Kamloops of the Western Hockey League. He is also a right-shot, which could give the Hurricanes that particular center fit they’ve been looking for. For the sake of argument, let’s say they move Stankoven to the 2C spot; this is what the forward core could look like in 2025-26.
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
| Nikolaj Ehlers | Sebastian Aho | Seth Jarvis |
| Taylor Hall | Logan Stankoven | Andrei Svechnikov |
| Jordan Martinook | Jordan Staal | Jackson Blake |
| Eric Robinson | Jesperi Kotkaniemi | William Carrier |
| Tyson Jost | Mark Jankowski |
Kotkaniemi hasn’t thrived as the 4C, but with Jordan Staal being the shutdown 3C for the last few seasons, that is how the…
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