The Carolina Hurricanes just kept knocking on that door.
On Sunday, they were ready for their ultimate moment.
I’ll be the first to raise my hand and admit that I didn’t believe they were built to win the Stanley Cup.
If the two-time defending champion Florida Panthers were the standard for what it takes to win it all, then it was hard to believe Carolina was even close after watching the way that they were dominated by the Cats in the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals.
Great regular season team, excellent habits, but still not good enough to get over the hump when it mattered most if they faced a team like Florida in the postseason.
As it turns out, I was wrong.
Nobody would have blamed management in Carolina if they decided to make a major organizational change.
Instead, the Hurricanes went back to work and tripled down on their belief that they were one or two key pieces away from contending for a Stanley Cup.
Carolina acquired K’Andre Miller from the New York Rangers and signed him to an eight-year contract.
A couple of days later, the Hurricanes signed free agent Nikolaj Ehlers to a six-year deal.
Carolina also locked up Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake with eight-year contract extensions.
After searching for a capable second-line centre for years and falling short, the Hurricanes committed to move Stankoven from the wing to centre on a permanent basis.
Carolina constructed a new-look second line that featured Stankoven, Blake, and veteran winger Taylor Hall, who they had signed to a three-year deal as a free agent in the summer of 2024.
Those decisions paid off in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Blake led the Hurricanes with 20 points in 19 games, including a goal and an assist in a 3-0 series-clinching win in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Hall ranked second on Carolina with 19 points in 19 games, including the Stanley Cup-clinching goal.
Stankoven led the Hurricanes with 11 postseason goals.
His 16 points in 19 games were the team’s fourth-most behind Ehlers, who recorded 18 points in 18 games.
Carolina’s search for secondary scoring turned into its source of primary scoring when it mattered most.
Blake, Hall, Stankoven, and Ehlers were outstanding.
When a first line that featured Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis, and Andrei Svechnikov struggled, head coach Rod Brind’Amour kept his second line intact, elevating Jordan Martinook to the top line with Aho and Svechnikov, while moving Jarvis to a third line with Ehlers and Jordan Staal.
The captain Staal responded with a series-high six goals in the Stanley Cup Final, becoming the oldest player in NHL history to win the Conn Smythe Trophy.
In case you missed it, Staal could be found as high as 300-to-1 to win the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Staal to win the Conn Smythe was +650 entering Game 4.
Meanwhile, Ehlers registered seven points in the final three games of the Stanley Cup Final, including an empty-net goal in the clinching Game 6 win.
The Hurricanes learned some tough lessons when they lost to the Panthers in five games in the 2025 Eastern Conference Final.
Instead of overhauling the roster, they made the key changes needed to complement their existing core group, maintaining a belief it would be enough to win it all.
Another important change was the addition of rookie goaltender Brandon Bussi to their roster.
The 27-year-old Bussi went 31-6-0 with a 2.47 goals against average and an .895 save percentage in the regular season.
When the Hurricanes decided to go with Frederik Andersen for Game 1 of their first round series against the Ottawa Senators, Bussi didn’t mind waiting.
The 36-year-old veteran Andersen led all goalies with a .931 save percentage entering the Stanley Cup Final.
When he stumbled against the Golden Knights, Carolina turned to Bussi and never looked back.
Bussi posted a .931 save percentage and won all three of his starts in the Stanley Cup Final.
The rookie turned aside 47 of the 49 Vegas shots that he faced in the third period or later.
Bussi became the first goaltender to win the Stanley Cup-clinching game after not starting Game 1 of the Final since Andy Moog accomplished that feat for the Oilers all the way back in 1984.
While resilience, additions, and goaltending were all among the keys to Carolina’s Stanley Cup win, it’s fair to point to their postseason path as another key factor.
When FanDuel opened a market for the Eastern Conference Winner last summer, the Panthers and Hurricanes were the top two choices.
The rest of the top five included the Tampa Bay Lightning, New Jersey Devils, and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Florida, New Jersey, and Toronto didn’t make the playoffs.
Tampa Bay lost to the Montreal Canadiens in the first round.
With the rest of the Eastern Conference teams that were expected to contend for a spot in the Stanley Cup Final all taking a major step back, and the young teams that capitalized on their downfall not ready to contend, the door was wide open for Carolina.
The Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers were considered more likely to miss than make the playoffs last summer.
The Senators had the shortest odds to win the East of Carolina’s three playoff opponents.
The Hurricanes swept them in the first round.
Meanwhile, in the Western Conference, the Edmonton Oilers took a major step back after back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances.
A case can be made that the top three Western Conference teams entering the postseason all played in the same division in the Colorado Avalanche, Minnesota Wild, and the Dallas Stars.
The Wild eliminated the Stars in the first round.
The Avalanche eliminated the Wild in the second round, but not without suffering some significant injuries.
When Colorado faced Vegas in the Western Conference Final without Cale Makar, they looked like a shadow of the team that had dominated Minnesota.
The Golden Knights played their best hockey versus the Avalanche in the Western Conference Final.
The loss of William Karlsson versus Carolina was critical.
After cruising to the Stanley Cup Final with series wins over the Senators, Flyers, and Canadiens, the Hurricanes were rested and ready to handle the physicality of the Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final.
At least on paper, their potential path to the Stanley Cup couldn’t have been more favourable.
Regardless, Carolina proved they had what it takes to win it all with their resilience and commitment to doing what it takes to get better.
The additions of Ehlers, Miller, Stankoven, Blake, Hall, and Bussi over the past couple of years all paid off big time in the postseason.
After years of knocking on the door, it finally opened.
The Hurricanes proved they were ready for the moment as the 2026 Stanley Cup champions.
