The 2025-26 season is just around the corner and so too is Carolina Hurricanes hockey.
The Canes have made some big splashes this offseason, trading for K'Andre Miller and signing Nikolaj Ehlers, on top of extending both Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake on eight-year deals.
They also lost a few players too, which will change how the team will deploy its lineup.
So let's take a stab at projecting how the Hurricanes will look come Oct. 9.
Forwards
Nikolaj Ehlers - Sebastian Aho - Seth Jarvis
Andrei Svechnikov - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Jackson Blake
Jordan Martinook - Jordan Staal - Logan Stankoven
Taylor Hall - Mark Jankowski - Eric Robinson
William Carrier
It will be very interesting to see how the Hurricanes choose to deploy their forwards this season.
There's a ton of talent on the roster now and adding a talent like Ehlers to the group is going to potentially force someone out of top-six too.
Where Does Nikolaj Ehlers Slot In For The Carolina Hurricanes?
The Carolina Hurricanes picked up one of the biggest free agents this summer, signing forward Nikolaj Ehlers to a six-year deal.
Putting Ehlers on the top line with Aho and Jarvis gives the Canes a really potent top line with three players capable of scoring 30+ goals.
While Kotkaniemi may not be a top 2C option, he's the best option still for that role and Svechnikov and Blake can help bring a bit more offense to that grouping as well.
Stankoven pairs well with the Jordans as we saw in the postseason and Hall and Jankowski could be a fun sneaky pair. Add in some speed and physicality from Robinson and I certainly like the way that lineup looks.
The issue is that the team now has 14 forwards who played a significant NHL role last season, so someone is going to be the odd-man out.
For me, it was as simple as the fact that Carrier offers the least amount of offensive upside, but he's still a physical forechecker who helps beef up the lineup.
The Hurricanes will have a tough decision to make there and it may just come down to who's having the worst go at it through preseason.
Defense
Jaccob Slavin - K'Andre Miller
Alexander Nikishin - Jalen Chatfield
Shayne Gostisbehere - Sean Walker
Mike Reilly
Last year, we saw the Hurricanes change up their defensive pairings basically zero times unless they were forced to due to injuries. I don't think that will be the case this season.
As much as Tim Gleason likes letting his pairs gel, with four lefties and only one potential pairing with familiarity, I think we'll see a lot of changes in the early parts of the season as Carolina tries to find the right balance on the blueline.
To me, it makes sense to see Miller get a shot with Slavin early on, especially given the fact that the team extended him for eight years. I talked about it more here.
Where Will K'Andre Miller Line Up For The Carolina Hurricanes?
The Carolina Hurricanes made quite the splash at the opening of free agency, landing a top-four blueliner in an unexpected trade.
I also like the idea of Nikishin with Chatfield, as the rookie could benefit from a steady partner in his first full season.
Then Gostisbehere and Walker give the Canes a dependable pairing that did well last season.
Goalies
Frederik Andersen
Pyotr Kochetkov
As I talked about in my article about how Carolina will divide up the net this season, I truly believe the team will try to employ a true 50/50 split.
Whether or not that happens we'll see, but it's still obvious that Frederik Andersen is the guy for the Canes.
Unless something drastic changes during training camp, expect Andersen to be the Game 1 starter.
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