Hurricanes aim to repeat as Cup champs minus Andersen
Goalie signed with Oilers as free agent; Nikishin remains unsigned
ByTom Gulitti
July 13, 2026
After the NHL Draft, free agency and other offseason moves, NHL.com is examining where each team stands in preparation for the 2026-27 regular season, which starts in September. Today, the Carolina Hurricanes:
2025-26 season: 53-22-7, first in Metropolitan Division; won Stanley Cup
Key arrivals
Key departures
Frederik Andersen, G: The 36-year-old signed a one-year contract with the Edmonton Oilers on July 1. Andersen was 16-14-5 with a 3.05 goals-against average and .874 save percentage in 35 regular-season games and 13-2 with a 1.89 GAA, .910 save percentage and three shutouts in 16 Stanley Cup Playoff games. … Mike Reilly, D: The 33-year-old remains unsigned as an unrestricted free agent. He had nine points (one goal, eight assists) and averaged 14:58 of ice time in 42 regular-season games and had two assists and averaged 12:55 of ice time in two playoff games.
Recapping the Hurricanes’ quiet offseason and previewing their chances at repeating
On the cusp
Bradly Nadeau, F: The 21-year-old could get a chance to play more in the NHL with Seth Jarvis needing 4-6 months to recover from off-season shoulder surgery. Nadeau had three goals in 12 regular-season games with the Hurricanes last season and 56 points (27 goals, 29 assists) in 52 regular-season games with Chicago of the American Hockey League. He helped the Wolves reach the Calder Cup Final with 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in 21 playoff games. … Felix Unger-Sorum, F: The 20-year-old led Chicago with 66 points (17 goals, 49 assists) in 72 regular-season AHL games and had 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in 14 playoff games. He had an assist in his NHL debut in a 2-1 win against the New York Islanders on April 14. … Joel Nystrom, D: The 24-year-old helped the Hurricanes survive injuries on defense, getting 10 points (one goal, nine assists) in 38 regular-season games. He had 10 points (one goal, nine assists) in 37 AHL regular-season games and six points (two goals, four assists) in 21 playoff games. … Charles Alexis Legault, D: The 22-year-old had two points (one goal, one assist) in 12 regular-season games with Carolina last season and eight points (three goals, five assists) in 24 AHL regular-season games before getting four points (one goal, three assists) in 16 Calder Cup playoff games.
CAR@PHI: Nadeau whips Ehlers’ pass into the twine
What they still need
The Hurricanes have had a quiet offseason so far, but they didn’t need much after winning the Stanley Cup. Although they lost Andersen as an unrestricted free agent, they still have Brandon Bussi, who started and won the last three games of the Stanley Cup Final, and Pyotr Kochetkov in net. Carolina needs to re-sign restricted free agent defenseman Alexander Nikishin, who has been mentioned in trade rumors
They said it
“There’s still a lot of room to improve. I think the team when it was playing its best was incredibly hard to beat and down the stretch and into the playoffs they were playing very, very well, but there’s always room to improve. There’s always spots we can get better. Our goal is to build a team that is good enough that even when we’re not playing our best, even when we have some injuries, we still can win the Cup.” — Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky
EDGE stat to watch
For a fifth straight regular season (since start of puck and player tracking era in 2021-22), Carolina led the League in offensive zone time percentage (45.5). Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere (49.6; first) and forwards Andrei Svechnikov (49.3; second), Seth Jarvis (48.2; sixth), Sebastian Aho (48.2; seventh) and Taylor Hall (47.7; 10th) gave the Hurricanes five of the top 10 skaters in that category. The Hurricanes were also tied for the NHL lead in midrange goals (104) and ranked second in all three major shots on goal location categories: high-danger SOG (723), midrange SOG (769) and long-range SOG (627). — Troy Perlowitz
CAR@VGK, SCF, Gm 3: Hall capitalizes on tenacious effort down low
Fantasy spin
After Andersen’s departure, the stage is set for Bussi to emerge as one of the upper-echelon fantasy goalies with an even bigger workload ahead. After going 31-6-2 last season, Bussi relieved Andersen during the Stanley Cup Final and never looked back; Bussi led the Hurricanes to victories in all three of his starts against the Vegas Golden Knights, including a championship-clinching shutout in Game 6. Bussi is 12th among goalies in NHL.com’s fantasy rankings and worth reaching for in standard redraft leagues anytime around the top 100 overall and ahead of teammate Kochetkov. — Pete Jensen
Projected lineup
Andrei Svechnikov — Sebastian Aho — Jordan Martinook
Taylor Hall — Logan Stankoven — Jackson Blake
Nikolaj Ehlers — Jordan Staal — Jesperi Kotkaniemi
William Carrier — Mark Jankowski — Eric Robinson
Jaccob Slavin — Jalen Chatfield
K’Andre Miller — Sean Walker
Shayne Gostisbehere — Alexander Nikishin
Brandon Bussi
Pyotr Kochetkov
Injured: Seth Jarvis (shoulder surgery)
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