The Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers are meeting in the Eastern Conference Final once again, just two years removed from their last dance. While it may not seem like that long ago, there's been enough time for both teams to undergo some heavy roster changes. So who's familiar and who'll be getting a fresh take on the series? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Returning For Carolina, the core has remained mostly in tact between the two seasons. Franchise cornerstones Sebastian Aho, Jaccob Slavin and Jordan Staal still run the show, while guys like Seth Jarvis, Jalen Chatfield, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Pyotr Kochetkov have continued to grow and develop. Veterans Jordan Martinook, Brent Burns and Frederik Andersen remain integral pieces for the Canes and funny enough, Shayne Gostisbehere has only known Hurricanes teams that have made it to the ECF. Andrei Svechnikov was a member of the Canes then too, but did not play in that series due to an ACL tear he suffered near the end of the regular season. Returning: 12 (10 of which played) For Florida, it's much the same. The talented core, which has made it to three straight Conference Finals, is led by Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk and Gustav Forsling. Then add in the top scoring threats of Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe, the veterans in Sam Bennett, longtime Panther Aaron Ekblad and Sergei Bobrovsky and some promising youngsters in Eetu Luostarinen and Anton Lundell. Returning: 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New There's a ton of new blood for this Hurricanes team which makes it much better than that team from two years prior. Taylor Hall, Logan Stankoven, Jack Roslovic and Jackson Blake are some of the newest pieces and have both added more offensive layers to the Canes. Guys like Eric Robinson, Mark Jankowski and William Carrier, who is no stranger to facing the Panthers having defeated them with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023, add size and speed to the Canes' bottom six, another thing that was lacking in that prior series. On the blueline, Sean Walker and Dmitry Orlov have been steady, dependable presences and there's even exciting young pieces like Scott Morrow and Alexander Nikishin waiting in the ranks. The Panthers have also had to retool a ton. They made a big splash at the trade deadline, bringing in not only Seth Jones, who has added back in a lot of scoring touch to the Cats' blueline, but also touted veteran Brad Marchand to supplement their middle-six. The Panthers added some top-six talent in Evan Rodrigues and reformatted their blueline as well with Niko Mikkola, Dmitry Kulikov, Nate Schmidt. Florida also added a lot of depth forward with journeymen Jesper Boqvist, Jonah Gadjovich, A.J. Greer and Nico Sturm and have some exciting young talent in the likes of Mackie Samoskevich waiting in the wings. The bottom line is, while there are plenty of players who remember the series from two years ago, nearly half of both teams are new and fresh faces. That doesn't mean it should be any less intense or close than it was back then though. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Be sure to check out the Carolina Hurricanes 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs Hub [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/carolina-hurricanes/latest-news/carolina-hurricanes-2025-stanley-cup-playoffs-hub] for all postseason stories! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stay updated with the most interesting Carolina Hurricanes stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw/sections/CAQqEAgAKgcICjCvqtILMO7F6QMwmeDfCA?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen] to never miss a story.
