RALEIGH, N.C. — Rod Brind’Amour can pinpoint precisely when he believed the Carolina Hurricanes had what it takes to compete for the Stanley Cup.
“Eight years ago,” he stated. That marked the beginning of Brind’Amour’s tenure as head coach, starting a path of consistent playoff appearances and near-misses at reaching the final until this season.
The Vegas Golden Knights entered the league nine years ago, and from their aggressive expansion draft strategy to this spring’s run, they’ve maintained championship aspirations. Their inaugural season ended with a final appearance, and they captured the title in 2023. This third Cup Final appearance may be their most unexpected.
This matchup between Vegas and Carolina represents nearly ten years of development for two franchises in non-traditional hockey markets that have emerged as elite teams. Their paths have converged for this moment, a best-of-seven championship series starting Tuesday evening.
“It’s for all the marbles,” Golden Knights forward Cole Smith commented. “Just the way they play, they play a really fast game. So do we. It’s going to be a really great series.”
Carolina claimed their sole Stanley Cup title in 2006, when Brind’Amour served as team captain. He spent 9 1/2 seasons as a player with the organization and seven additional years as an assistant coach before his 2018 promotion. He has participated in 98 of Carolina’s 100 playoff wins since the franchise relocated from Hartford in 1997.
“Roddy’s been at the helm of it the whole time and just establishing the culture that we do have here,” said defenseman Jaccob Slavin, currently in his 11th campaign with the club. “It’s been building and building and we’ve been close and knocking at the door. I think we finally just have the right personnel, the right commitment, the right buy-in because our game really hasn’t changed.”
Slavin, captain Jordan Staal, grinder Jordan Martinook and center Sebastian Aho have remained together since Brind’Amour’s promotion, while wingers Andrei Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis and goaltender Frederik Andersen joined the established core over time. The Hurricanes captured at least one playoff round annually but had never managed three consecutive series victories.
“We’ve been trying really hard for eight years, and it’s not anybody’s fault,” Martinook explained. “It’s just we’ve fallen short.”
Logan Stankoven, obtained at the trade deadline last year when Mikko Rantanen was sent to Dallas six weeks after Carolina got him from Colorado, has excelled at center on the second line between Taylor Hall and Jackson Blake. Stankoven paces the squad with nine goals.
Hall, who arrived from Chicago in that initial three-way trade with Rantanen, leads the Hurricanes with 16 points. Nikolaj Ehlers, signed last summer as a free agent, had a monster Game 2 of the East final after they lost the series opener, including scoring the overtime winner.
“I don’t think I’ve done anything special to get this group (here),” Ehlers said. “This group was ready for it.”
Carolina stands 12-1 this postseason, the fewest defeats to reach the final since 1983. Brind’Amour believes this is where his squad has deserved to be for an extended period but acknowledges remaining work.
“I don’t think we have broken through,” Brind’Amour said. “You’ve got to win. I know everyone makes a lot about getting this far, but nobody’s going to remember who comes in second.”
Vegas finished second during its inaugural campaign when nobody anticipated the expansion franchise would compete. The Golden Knights advanced to the final before falling to Washington in five games.
“Set the tone right away,” said center William Karlsson, one of three original “Misfits” remaining from the franchise’s start. “That came out of nowhere.”
Initial general manager George McPhee’s selections of Karlsson, defensemen Shea Theodore and Brayden McNabb and winger Reilly Smith — back after a year and a half absence — from other organizations positioned Vegas for success. Intelligent draft choices, free agent acquisitions and trades by McPhee and current GM Kelly McCrimmon created a culture of winning at any cost.
“It’s what you want to be as an athlete,” McNabb said. “You want to be on a team that does that.”
Additions like Mark Stone, Jack Eichel, Ivan Barbashev and Alex Pietrangelo helped the Knights capture the Cup in their sixth season. They’ve reached the playoffs in all but one year.
Pietrangelo’s career-ending injury created room to acquire Mitch Marner on June 30. Marner tops all playoff scorers with 21 points, finding success during a time of year that eluded him through nearly a decade with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“I think our team is deeper and a better team than what he had played on in Toronto,” McCrimmon said. “Not that Toronto didn’t have real good teams, but you have to have that depth throughout your roster because to go through three rounds or ultimately, hopefully, four rounds, everybody’s got to take their turn.”
Pavel Dorofeyev has emerged as a breakout performer in that regard, and he and teammate Brett Howden share the lead for most postseason goals with 10 each. Karlsson returned in the second round after missing the previous six months with an undisclosed injury.
Goaltender Carter Hart, a controversial signing last fall after he and four other Hockey Canada junior players were acquitted of sexual assault, has found his rhythm. Hart stopped 118 of 125 shots in a West final sweep of Colorado.
Most significantly, Vegas has won 19 of 24 games since McCrimmon dismissed coach Bruce Cassidy in late March and hired John Tortorella, whom he had never met or spoken with previously.
“We asked ourselves, ‘Who can come in and give us that kind of a bump?’” McCrimmon said. “John was the guy that we really felt strongly could do that.”
