Five questions about the Carolina Hurricanes as they open NHL training camp
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Carolina begins 2025-26 camp with few roster changes but high playoff goals.
- Newcomers Ehlers and Miller expected to fill key roles in Canes’ lineup.
- Roster depth limits prospect spots, but AHL standouts remain in contention.
So much was new for the Carolina Hurricanes 20 years ago.
The Canes began preseason training camp under coach Peter Laviolette with 40 players in camp, but only 15 who had played a game for the Hurricanes. New faces included forwards Ray Whitney and Matt Cullen, defensemen Mike Commodore and Frantisek Kaberle.
“I’ve never been in a camp with so many new guys,” Rod Brind’Amour, then the Canes’ captain, said in September 2005. “It’s the nature of the game. The guys that come together the quickest are going to be that much more ahead of the game.”
The NHL was coming off a season-long lockout, precipitated by a battle over a new collective bargaining agreement. The new CBA ushered in a salary cap, and new rules designed to allow for a faster, less-obstructive game. No one knew how that would affect team construction, and chemistry.
The Hurricanes came together. With Brind’Amour taking the lead, the Canes were the last team standing, holding up the Stanley Cup in 2006.
With the Canes about to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the championship, training camp for the 2025-26 season begins anew Thursday. Brind’Amour remains front and center, the head coach for an eighth season following a string of seven straight playoff appearances.
The new faces are a lot fewer this season — forward Nikolaj Ehlers and defenseman K’Andre Miller are the two biggest additions. The goal remains the same: come together quickly, play well, contend for the Stanley Cup.
Here are five pressing questions as training camp cranks up:
Where does Nikolaj Ehlers fit?
An easy assumption is that the 29-year-old winger will play the left side on Sebastian Aho’s line opposite right wing Seth Jarvis. That line would be lacking some size but not lacking speed.
Having Andrei Svechnikov at left wing would add more power, obviously, and perhaps create more space for Aho and Jarvis. But the skill level with an Ehlers-Aho-Jarvis line would be hard to match and might be too much for Brind’Amour to pass up.
Regardless of where he’s slotted, Ehlers believes he should fit in well with Brind’Amour’s system, saying, “The stress game that Carolina plays, trying to get the puck back as quickly as possible, I think with my speed I’ll be able to do that.”
Ehlers spent the first 10 years of his career with the Winnipeg Jets before leaving in free agency to sign with Carolina, and the Dane was a consistent point producer — 520 in 674 games, with eight 20+ goal seasons.
“I think every player always has a little bit more and I’m hoping a different culture and playing style will make me a better player,” Ehlers said.
What are the D pairings?
Veteran defensemen Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov are gone, which ensures a new look for the Canes on the back end this season.
For the past three seasons, one lineup staple for Brind’Amour was Jaccob Slavin and Burns on his top pairing for a solid lefty-righty combination. With Burns gone, Brind’Amour could pair Slavin with Sean Walker, a right-shot D-man. Or could he use Miller with Slavin in camp?
The D pairs could be Slavin-Miller, Alexander Nikishin-Jalen Chatfield and Shayne Gostisbehere-Walker.
That would have Miller, a lefty, playing his off side, but Miller has said he can handle it and be “pretty comfortable” with it. Given Slavin’s elite defensive skill and savvy, that could allow Miller, who has good speed, to be more offensive-minded.
“I think that’s going to be a fun challenge for me, something a little different, but I’m excited for it,” MIller said after his July 1 trade from the New York Rangers.
Who’s the second-line center?
How many times has this question been asked at training camp? Answer: a lot.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi has consistently been given the chance to grab hold of this position and make it his own. At 6-foot-3 and 203 pounds, the 25-year-old Finn has the size and seemingly the inherent toughness to handle the position, but his play has been filled with too many ebbs and flows – he has had 12 goals in three of his four seasons with Carolina and averaged 33 points a season while being a nonfactor in the playoffs the past two seasons.
Brind’Amour seems amendable to taking a looksee at Logan Stankoven at center in preseason camp. Stankoven handles the puck well, can drive play up the middle and is relentless once around the net. He’s also 5-8 and 165 pounds, and Stankoven said one offseason goal was to get stronger, especially his lower-body strength.
Another Jackson Blake?
A year ago when camp began, there was talk of whether Blake, Bradly Nadeau or Felix Unger Sorum, three skilled young prospects eager to jump to the NHL, could grab a forward spot on the Canes roster. Blake played his way on to the big team and then well enough as a rookie to earn an eight-year contract extension that begins in 2026-27.
Nadeau and Unger Sorum spent last season with the Chicago Wolves in the AHL, Nadeau finishing with a team-high 32 goals and Unger Sorum getting some looks at center. Nadeau, a Canes’ first-round draft pick in 2023, led AHL rookies in goals and was a member of Canada’s World Junior team. He did get in two late-season games with the Canes, and handled himself well in the recent 2025 Prospect Showcase in Florida.
The problem for the younger hopefuls in camp this year is a Canes roster that’s fully stocked with forwards – that is, no room at the inn.
A more comfortable Nikishin?
Talk about a season in flux. Nikishin finished up the 2025 KHL playoffs with SKA St. Petersburg, jumped on planes and through hoops to get a visa and finally made it to the U.S. and the Canes. Thrust into the cauldron of the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Washington Capitals, the Russian D-man looked across the ice to see the Caps’ Alexander Ovechkin, a hockey hero.
Nikishin’s first NHL experience would be four playoff games, three against the Florida Panthers, the Stanley Cup champs. At 6-4 and 216 pounds, he had the size to hold his own and has a powerful shot, but was trying to learn on the fly and made the inevitable mistakes on the ice.
The offseason has given Nikishin, 23, the time to gain a better understanding of Brind’Amour’s system and what’s asked of the D-men, plus a better feel for his teammates, for Raleigh. He has had time to improve his English, which should add to his comfort level on and off the ice. He can start the new season fresh.
This story was originally published September 17, 2025 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Five questions about the Carolina Hurricanes as they open NHL training camp."
