Logan Stankoven is Hurricanes’ center of attention on Day 1 of NHL training camp
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Logan Stankoven opened training camp centering top line with Svechnikov, Blake.
- Hurricanes seek in-house solution at third-line center after years of instability.
- Coach Brind’Amour sees Stankoven as a willing project to fill key center role.
For a team as established as the Carolina Hurricanes, especially with all the continuity of offseason, there’s very rarely any mystery about the first day of training camp. Jaccob Slavin’s absence certainly created a buzz, but that appears, for the moment, transitory.
The real surprise Thursday morning was seeing Logan Stankoven at center between Andrei Svechnikov and Jackson Blake, an experiment in an effort to solve one of the Hurricanes’ longstanding structural issues by looking within instead of without.
Like most NHL wingers, Stankoven grew up a center as one of the most skilled players in his cohort, getting moved to the wing as he graduated into pro hockey because of his size and the increased competition. (Like many, he’s still officially listed as a center because that was his draft position.) There aren’t many 5-foot-8 centers in the NHL, but it’s in his blood, and while the Hurricanes didn’t sign the 22-year-old to his big, new $48 million contract because they thought he was going to be a center for the next eight years, they’d certainly be happy if that’s how it turned out.
“It’s just back to what I grew up playing,” Stankoven said. “That was my normal position growing up. I thought I was solid at wing, but there’s always room to grow. It’s hard going from juniors playing center your whole career and then as soon as pro comes, you’re thrown to the wing and learning to get pucks out of the d zone and make plays on the wall. I think center maybe feels a little more natural for me.”
For the Hurricanes down the middle, Jordan Staal and Sebatian Aho have been constants since Rod Brind’Amour took over seven years ago. But that third center has been a bit of a revolving door, with a list of names that quickly descends into Remembering Some Guys: Victor Rask, Martin Necas, Lucas Wallmark, Erik Haula, Vincent Trocheck, Jack Drury. Only Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who was skating with the fourth line Thursday, remains.
Kotkaniemi was supposed to fill that role for the long term when the Hurricanes wheedled him away from the Montreal Canadiens, the third overall pick in the 2018 draft behind Rasmus Dahlin and Svechnikov. And he’s filled it with moderate success, but never as the kind of impact player his draft position would suggest. He’s a likeable, hard-working player, but at this point in his career he’s established himself as a down-the-lineup player, and that’s left the door open to an upgrade.
The Hurricanes had offers for him over the summer, but didn’t want to make a move without an adequate replacement, and none were forthcoming outside the organization. (And with $10 million in cap space, there’s no problem carrying the $4.8 million a year the Hurricanes had to give Kotkaniemi to pry him away from the Canadiens.) But perhaps, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour thought as far back as the end of the season, there was an upgrade within the organization.
“He’s willing,” Brind’Amour said. “You have to be willing to understand that there’s a lot of work that has to get in to play center. A lot of little things people don’t really understand. And you have to be willing to take the bumps a little bit. The fact that he’s done it in the past helps. It doesn’t really (work) at that level to say you can do it at this level. But we know what kind of kid he is. He’s willing to take on whatever we hand him.”
Brind’Amour had that conversation with Stankoven during their exit interview, so it was on Stankoven’s mind all summer. Even though it has been a while, the nuances of the position remain fresh in his mind, and as much as his answers remained tempered, Stankoven couldn’t hold back a series of big smiles at the questions.
“I’m pumped, I’m pumped,” Stankoven said. “The main thing now is trying to win draws, being a smaller guy, it is going to be hard. It’s learning each day and getting Rod to help me after practice and learning from some of the veteran guys.”
Brind’Amour cautioned, as he always does, that what was on the ice Thursday is not necessarily how the Hurricanes will look in three weeks when it matters. More often than not, though, his initial instincts do hold up throughout training camp. Which means that Stankoven not only gets the first look at filling that center void, but has the inside track.
“We’ve got a lot of high-end forwards and we’ve got to get them on the ice,” Brind’Amour said. “We’ve got to figure out how that works. We’re going to move lines around all camp, try different things, but it can’t hurt to see how that looks.”
If the past is any indication, Stankoven will remain the Hurricanes’ new center of attention for a while.
Never miss a Luke DeCock column. Sign up at www.newsobserver.com/newsletters to have them delivered directly to your email inbox as soon as they post.
This story was originally published September 18, 2025 at 12:39 PM with the headline "Logan Stankoven is Hurricanes’ center of attention on Day 1 of NHL training camp."
