Hurricanes 2026 Free Agents, Draft Targets, Offseason Guide After NHL Final Win
Rod Brind'Amour and the Carolina Hurricanes have secured their second Stanley Cup.
After starring for the 2006 Cup team, Brind'Amour helped the franchise clinch another championship 20 years later with a 3-0 Game 6 win over the Vegas Golden Knights.
Brind'Amour could now have the chance to make more Hurricanes history with a team well set-up for a potential Cup defense in 2027.
Outside of one major free agency question in net, most of the current Hurricanes roster is signed through at least next season.
Here's a look at some of the remaining questions general manager Eric Tulsky is going to have to answer as his team begins their Stanley Cup celebration.
Free Agents
1 of 2
Contract information fromย PuckPedia.
Pending UFAs:ย Nicolas Deslauriers, Mike Reilly, Frederik Andersen
Pending RFAs:ย Alexander Nikishin
The biggest question for the Hurricanes this offseason will be whether the team will keep the goaltender who backstopped them to the Stanley Cup Final.
After posting a .874 save percentage during the regular season as part of a tandem with rookie netminder Brandon Bussi, Frederik Andersen reached a new level during the Canes' playoff run.
He led all goaltenders through three rounds with a .931 save percentage, 1.41 goals against average and three shutouts to lift the Canes to their first Cup Final appearance in two decades.
Andersen will turn 37 in October, and the Canes already committed to Bussi as their goaltender of the future after extending him through the 2028-29 season.
The Hurricanes also have Pyotr Kochetkov under contract, so Tulsky will need to decide whether Andersen's stellar playoff run justifies carrying three goaltenders on the roster next season.
Carolina has two other veteran pending UFAs who moved in and out of the lineup last season in defenseman Mike Reilly and winger Nicolas Deslauriers.
Alexander Nikishin, a 2020 third-round pick by the Hurricanes, is in need of a new contract after playing almost every game for the Canes this season.
Nikishin ranked second among Canes defensemen with 11 goals, and third with 22 assists, through 81 games of his first NHL campaign.
The Hurricanes are heading into next season with just under $12 million in cap space, per PuckPedia. That could give the Canes enough room to re-sign both Andersen and Nikishin should they decide to go in that direction this offseason.
Draft Targets
2 of 2
Draft information courtesy ofย PuckPedia.
2026 Draft Picks: Round 1 (1), Round 4 (1), Round 6 (2)
Tulsky has the rare opportunity to select a first-round draft pick in the same season his team went to the Stanley Cup Final.
The Hurricanes still own their 2026 first-rounder and will have a chance to select on the first night of the draft this June.
NHL analysts agree on one thing about this first-round pick. Tulsky is likely to use it to target a skilled player.
Bleacher Report's Hannah Stuart projected the Hurricanes will use their first-round selection to select OHL winger Jaxon Cover.
"He fits the Hurricanes' pick mold pretty nicely: raw, for sure, but a genuinely outstanding skill set," Stuart reported.
The Athletic's Corey Pronman predicted the Hurricanes would instead target another OHL winger in Nikita Klepov.
"Carolina has a long history of betting on pure hockey sense and skill in the draft, and Klepov fits that mold perfectly," Pronman reported.
What Hurricanes scouts determine about which late first-round pick has the most raw talent will shape what Tulsky does with its first pick later this month.
