The Carolina Hurricanes have won the Stanley Cup.

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They only won it on June 14 and this is June 24 but it feels like they won it five years ago. Why? Because the NHL has been in complete chaos and pandemonium ever since.

We’re only 10 days later but it doesn’t feel like it because teams have been wheeling and dealing with trades. I’m writing this June 23 and today alone we’ve got:

– Bowen Byram and Jordan Greenway of the Buffalo Sabres to the Chicago Blackhawks for 4th overall, 45th overall, and Louis Crevier. As of writing this Bowen Byram has not agreed to a contract extension.
– Jordan Kyrou of the St. Louis Blues to the Washington Capitals for Connor McMichael, Milton Gästrin, and the 16th overall pick.
– William Eklund, Kasper Halttunen, and Brandon Svoboda of the San Jose Sharks to the Ottawa Senators for the 9th overall pick.
– Simon Nemec and Maxim Tsyplakov of the New Jersey Devils to the Calgary Flames for a conditional 1st round pick in 2027, conditional 1st round pick in 2028, 35th overall pick in 2026, and Etienne Morin. Nemec as of writing has not signed an extension with the Calgary Flames.

That’s just today!

Right after the Cup final concluded the San Jose Sharks swapped their 20th overall pick (from the Edmonton Oilers) to the Buffalo Sabres for Michael Kesselring and the 27th overall pick. Darren Raddysh of the Tampa Bay Lightning got traded to Toronto Maple Leafs and signed to an extension (Toronto also traded Joseph Woll to the Philadelphia Flyers), but the big ones happened on the 21st when Florida traded Mackie Samoskevich to the Seattle Kraken then traded what they got for Mackie (Tampa Bay’s 25th overall pick) plus Florida’s 2027 2nd round pick and 9th overall pick this draft for Brady Tkachuk to unite the Tkachuk brothers in Florida.

We got only 48 FREAKING HOURS to digest that before we got the craziness today. And I’m supposed to try and tell you what happened 10 days ago?

Let’s kick off with my prediction: on the dot!

Carolina Hurricanes in six games

I predicted and I nailed it. After the first three games with the Golden Knights up 2-1, people were talking like the series was over and Mitch Marner was going to win the Conn Smythe trophy. Everyone was talking like the series was done. Vegas wins, Evil Empire triumphs. It’s like somehow everyone forgets that these are a best of seven series. Game one was a 5-4 victory for Vegas. Game two was a 4-3 overtime win for Carolina. Game three was a double OT win for Vegas with a 5-4 score. Double OT! But Mitch Marner scored a hat trick so people had to act like that’s game.

Game four the Hurricanes put in Brandon Bussi and win 5-3. In game five, Bussi does even better allowing only two goals for a 4-2 victory. Game six? Shutout.

I originally had Logan Stankoven as my Conn Smythe trophy pick, but nobody saw Jordan Staal becoming a final MVP and absolutely stealing with six goals in six games in the final.

It was a fantastic series (save for the first two games) and it meant Carolina ended up with one of the most dominant playoff performances of all time. Let’s break it down.

Carolina Wins

I had for several years put my faith in the Carolina Hurricanes but time and time again they let me down. To the point I didn’t pay attention to just how much their team actually changed in the past two years.

Their top line was Jackson Blake, Logan Stankoven, and Taylor Hall. Hall and Stankoven came from the Mikko Rantanen deal, who came from a Martin Necas trade with Colorado. Basically a three way trade also including Chicago to acquire Taylor Hall. Jackson Blake was only in his second year in the NHL. That means their top line in the playoffs was a line that couldn’t really have existed two years prior.

Carolina’s third leading scorer in the playoffs was Nikolaj Ehlers who signed with Carolina in the offseason. That means their top four playoff scorers were all guys that came in the past two years. But what changed from Carolina in those two years?

At forward in 23-24, Hurricanes made a big deal for Jake Guentzel, who finished fourth in their playoff scoring then ran off to Tampa Bay. They had Evgeni Kuznetsov and Teuvo Teravainen. Otherwise it was pretty much the same forward group. Oh and Marty Necas, but I already mentioned how he was traded. That’s the four guys at forward who basically got replaced by Ehlers, Stankoven, Hall, and Blake.

The defence is where the real change was. Brady Skjei is now in Nashville. Dmitry Orlov played in San Jose this past season. Brent Burns tried to chase a ring in Colorado and, well, got burned. Tony D’Angelo I won’t even bother to look up where he is. Actually I think it’s the Islanders. Brett Pesce went to New Jersey. That’s five of their seven defencemen gone from 23-24 to 25-26. Only Jaccob Slavin and Jalen Chatfield remain.

24-25 they add Shayne Gostisbehere, Sean Walker, and Alex Nikishin. This year they added K’Andre Miller in a trade with the New York Rangers and veteran (and former Montreal Canadien) Mike Reilly as an extra body.

In goal it has been Freddy Andersen every year but this time they had a rookie backup in Brandon Bussi they got off waivers. Bussi ended up saving Carolina’s bacon in the Cup final. Andersen was pretty great for most of the playoffs and if he wasn’t injured in game three, or tried to keep playing? I’d be writing about Vegas winning the Cup. He had a rough final. Nothing to be ashamed of. That’s why Staal gave him the Cup next.

The lesson to learn about Carolina is basically if at first you don’t succeed? Try try again, but add to it. It’s not about trading away your star players. Sebastian Aho kind of disappointed. Seth Jarvis wasn’t scoring his usual level. Andre Svechnikov contributed off the scoresheet but might have been better to score more. It was fine. They didn’t have to trade one of those three to build this team. They only had to trade Necas.

The one place they did overhaul was the defence, bringing in a lot more puck moving and speed. Losing long time guys like Skjei and Pesce likely hurt at first but not once the team really got their rhythm with Miller, Gostisbehere, and Walker. Think about all that stuff you heard for years about how you need big punishing defencemen in the playoffs. Sean Walker is 5’11”, 191lbs. Ghost is 5’11” 183lbs. Both played important minutes. Slavin is 6’2″ but he’s a Lady Byng type. He doesn’t punish you he boxes you out and doesn’t allow you to set plays.

This was a very clean Cup win. Carolina played the right way. They might have been called a bunch of jerks but I think this was a very respectable Stanley Cup. I hated seeing Montreal getting stomped (I think the media has overblown how bad the Habs lost and don’t realize how similar it was to the Capitals loss the season prior. Habs ran out of gas) but I always respected how they played us.

The Jerks did well.

Vegas loses

I picked Utah to win. They lost to Vegas.

I picked Vegas to beat the Ducks. They did that at least.

I picked Colorado to beat them in six games and Vegas swept them.

I bet against Vegas two times and was wrong. Why should I bet against them again?

Because they were not as good as the Canes.

Full credit to Vegas for making it to the Cup final. They did not look like a Cup contender going into the playoffs. They really figured their defensive game out with John Tortorella behind the bench replacing Bruce Cassidy only a week before the playoffs. Torts was basically a good luck charm.

I never thought Vegas was going to get that far replacing Alex Pietrangelo with Mitch Marner. Turns out I was very wrong. I didn’t think the goaltending would hold up since I didn’t have much faith in Carter Hart. Turns out he was just good enough. Vegas went to the Cup once already with just good enough goaltending. The goalie who got them there was now deemed unplayable and burns a hole in the Golden Knights cap. I should have known they’d almost do it again.

Vegas was a big target as people treated them as the villains they are, and the captain Jack Eichel and GM Kelly McCrimmon really tried to fight the narratives. Silly. Vegas should just embrace being the villain. Even their defences made them sound worse. You’re not winning anyone over talking about how much everyone wants to play on your team.

Vegas is projected to have around $90 million in cap which leaves them with about $14 million to acquire three defencemen and three forwards while also re-signing Pavel Dorofeyev. That won’t be easy. Knowing Vegas they gotta be thinking of getting rid of someone so they can bring someone back. I could see Colton Sissons staying on a really cheap deal. Cole Smith as well as Vegas liked playing him on the fourth line. That leaves you with $12 million for Dorofeyev, another bottom six guy, and three defencemen. I doubt they can afford Rasmus Andersson, even if he takes a pay cut. I kinda wonder if they even want him.

But this is the Vegas Golden Knights. They are ruthless. I’ve heard people say they will tell Mark Stone to pick a new home to save $9.5 million and land a bigger fish. I could see Ivan Barbashev and maybe even William Karlsson getting moved. Who knows. Oh, also, buying out Adin Hill? Absolutely pointless until 28-29. That’s when you actually save on it. He got them good on his deal. They need to find a team who wants him or they are stuck with that $6.25 million cap hit.

I think Vegas will pull something off to make their team desirable next season, but I don’t know if they get back here the way Edmonton got back after losing a Cup final.

The Stanley Cup 2027

As per tradition: LET’S GET STUPID WHO WINS NEXT YEAR?

You gotta look to Carolina first. They had literally one of the best runs to the Cup of any team in over 30 years.

I already mentioned the trades made yesterday. I don’t think Washington is suddenly a contender with Jordan Kyrou. I honestly think Ottawa is better off without Brady Tkachuk and while William Eklund is a good add they need more. Toronto is definitely trying to make the playoffs but I don’t think they get to contender status.

The best chance in the East to stop Carolina from repeating is of course the Florida Panthers making their big “revenge tour” with a healthy Barkov (hopefully) and now having the Tkachuk brothers instead of just, you know, the good one. I can’t discount the value of adding a strong forward to your top nine after Mitch Marner was able to counter the loss of Alex Pietrangelo to get Vegas to a Cup final. I can’t make that mistake again. I just need to see what Florida does about their goaltending. If they figure out a way to add Connor Hellebuyck? Of course they become the favourite. That might be tough.

The west is a crapshoot. You got Edmonton bringing in Mike Babcock to coach. I’m sure that goes fine. Anaheim will try to take a next step and use Mason McTavish to get there as trade bait. Dallas has some serious cap problems and might look very different. Minnesota proved they are a player and seem to be in a lot of trade rumours but still need a second line centre. They also need to actually re-sign Quinn Hughes.

Colorado also has to re-sign a big defenceman in Cale Makar, but they also have to deal with the fact that Brock Nelson isn’t getting younger and has a full no trade clause. He’s going nowhere until next summer unless he agrees to. Nazem Kadri is back full time but they have to find a spot for him. Most seem to feel like the Avalanche will move off of Valeri Nichushkin to get better but who is taking him off their hands?

The San Jose Sharks are probably not Cup contenders but I wonder what happens if they take a step forward. Everyone seems to think they make a big addition to the blueline. Morgan Rielly? Darnell Nurse? Maybe even Zach Werenski? Nobody has assets like them.

I’ll quickly circle back to my Montreal Canadiens. The fanbase is getting restless because they haven’t added a top six centre yet. They also have to find Brendan Gallagher a new home or buy him out, and also need to move on from Sam Montembeault. If they get lucky and do that without taking cap back? That’s $9 million off the books. Montreal was rumoured to have been very close to a deal for Matthew Knies with Toronto which wouldn’t really address a need but would certainly make the Habs harder to play against. I don’t know who the Canadiens get but I have no doubt they will get someone. My dream would be Adam Fantilli. I doubt they pull that off but like I said. It’s a dream.

I was sure the Cup was going west last year. It stayed in the east. For the past 11 years the Cup has gone to a team in the east eight times. I went 11 just because Pittsburgh won back to back. The prior years it was going mostly west (Chicago, LA, Anaheim, hey remember Detroit in the west) and we used to constantly talk about the west being the better conference. Not so much anymore.

It’s funny that I said I expected the east to go full on trying to beat Florida, destroy itself, and it would allow a west team to play clean up. That’s pretty much what happened but in the opposite conference. Without a Florida to beat in the East? Carolina just played clean up losing only one game in three series. It was the west that beat itself up trying to beat Colorado, and it ended up someone just sweeping them in the end.

It’s just too early (NO FUCKING DUH) to pick a winner just due to the sheer craziness of trades lately. We don’t know if in a week someone is going to acquire Auston Matthews and Kirill Marchenko and Sidney Crosby after trading 20 first round picks and suddenly oh yeah that team is the favourite.

If I picked a team in the east it would be Carolina repeating. Repeats are popular these days and their run was so dominant how could you not? For the west? I’m tired of picking Dallas. Which will probably mean Dallas finally wins it like Carolina did.

But I’ll go totally wacky, what are you doing, this is insane, and say the San Jose Sharks. They got NINETY SEVEN MILLION IN CAP SPACE which means they could offer sheet Adam Fantilli for four first round picks paying him $20 million a year and they’d still have SEVENTY SEVEN MILLION IN CAP SPACE. They could add Zach Werenski and Morgan Rielly and even Darnell Nurse on top of it and still have FIFTY MILLION IN CAP SPACE. If the Sharks want to go for it? They got an over abundance of assets, youth, and cap space to do absolutely anything and everything. I hope the Sharks do it.

Then again they are kinda cursed so…

Break the Curse Sharks!

“Carolina Hurricanes vs. New Jersey Devils – March 9, 2013” by Dougtone is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 .