The Carolina Hurricanes' 2024-25 season came to a close earlier this week as the team lost in five games to the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final.

On Friday, select players met with the media in Raleigh for their end-of-season interviews.

Jordan Staal

On the team's run: It shows that the core guys we have here are really good players. We were fortunate to bring in some great players as well. This has been obviously a little frustrating right now. Just trying to unpack what happened the last month or so and all season long, but obviously you want to be in these situations. You want to be in the playoffs, you want to have another chance at the whole thing, it’s just not easy to win. You’d love for it to be easy, but there’s always an opportunity to get better. With the group we have and the way it played out this year, we have a great opportunity to take the next step. It was a positive year. Didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but a lot of good stuff.

On the young guys learning to cherish the opportunities to go deep in the playoffs: I remember getting the speech when I was 18, 19. Going to the Finals those couple of years and you had some old, grizzled guys – like me – telling you like this and you’re like, ‘Ehh, okay…’ Then coming here and being out of it for six years and you’re about ready to lose your mind. You’re not wrong. The stuff doesn’t just happen every year. You hope it does and you work for it every year, but we have some great young players who are coming up still. They learned pretty quickly and they’re loving the feeling of playing in the playoffs and I think once you get that taste, it makes you want it that much more. I think we obviously have some guys who have been here for a while too and are still searching for that first one. So it’s all a good recipe for hopefully getting over the hump.

On if he was surprised by the narratives that popped up of the team being boring or their system not working: Not really. I mean, the media is interesting sometimes. There’s stories that get clicks and narratives that get clicks and eyes and so you run with it. But like Roddy said, Florida wasn’t doing a whole lot different than what we were doing. Obviously they’re an exceptional team, have great players, but the system and their mentality to how we play. Obviously a few different changes in things that they do, but the idea that we were boring, I mean, we’re literally  chasing pucks all game long. It’s not like we’re sitting back. It’s a fun game. If you step into the Carolina Hurricane building and watch the game, you won’t be bored.

On what his offseason looks like now with him being well into his career: It has changed. Just me taking care of myself, I realized I have to skate more. As you get older, you have to be on the ice more. And then training wise, there are a few adjustments here and there physically, but I found it’s just my brain. You try to just turn it off the best you can. Get away with the kids and enjoy the family and time and all that stuff. That’s the biggest thing, because it’s a long year and you run into one of these rides and your brain is on all the time. You’re so focused. You wake up today and it’s such a different feeling just knowing you don’t have a game or this or that, worrying about what I have to eat and whatnot. So just turning your mind off is the biggest thing for me, I think. Physically, a few different things have changed training wise as I’ve gotten older, but the mind is the biggest thing, for sure.

On if the loss to Florida creates more clarity in what this team is missing: You could always improve your roster. There’s 31 teams with a lot of great players on it that you always think, ‘Oh, hey. They’d be a great piece,’ or whatever it is. But as I said before. You just want to keep giving yourself a chance. You want to keep getting the best players you can and giving yourself the opportunity to win it all. It’s not easy to do and it’s unfortunate the way it’s played out here since we’ve gotten on a roll to get to that next step, but if it was easy, anyone would do it. Anything worth it is going to be tough.

'We Didn't Get Near Where We Planned On': Rod Brind'Amour, Jordan Staal, Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis On Game 5 Loss, Elimination The Carolina Hurricanes fell 5-3 to the Florida Panthers Wednesday night in Game 5 at Lenovo Center to cap off their 2024-25 season.

2024-25 Exit Interviews

Sebastian Aho
Jaccob Slavin
Jordan Martinook
Jalen Chatfield
Sean Walker
Jesperi Kotkaniemi
Frederik Andersen
Seth Jarvis
Andrei Svechnikov
Alexander Nikishin
Scott Morrow
Logan Stankoven
Eric Robinson
Dmitry Orlov
Brent Burns
Rod Brind'Amour and Eric Tulsky

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