2025 Exit Interviews: The Players

RALEIGH, N.C. - Just two days after their season ended at Lenovo Center, Carolina Hurricanes players met with assembled media to put a bow on the 2024-25 season.

From welcoming nearly half a team's worth of new faces in September to embarking on the club's most successful playoff run since 2006, the Canes reviewed the year that was while previewing a summer bursting with opportunity for the organization to improve even further.

Here are a handful of highlights from Friday's availabilities.

Stepping to the microphone largely in pairs, Jaccob Slavin and Jordan Martinook were the first two to the microphone to start the day. The two members of the team's leadership group expressed obvious frustration with their season ending short of their ultimate goal, with Slavin talking about how the team "shot themselves in the foot" in the first few games of the Eastern Conference final, alluding to the turnovers that led directly to Florida goals.

"I wish we gave ourselves a chance from the beginning, but I don’t think we did with the way we played in the first three games," the trusty defenseman said. "[It's] something I think we’ll look back on as a group and wish it was different.”

Martinook had similar thoughts, but also made sure to say how proud he was of this year's group, especially coming off of last year's losses in Jake Guentzel, Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei, Teuvo Teravainen, and more.

"I felt like it was just such a great group of guys that really just gelled together," the alternate captain remarked. "Maybe we weren’t supposed to be as good as we ended up being, but I think it just shows how much work went into it and how much people really cared about this team.”

Jalen Chatfield and Jordan Staal batted second in the order and the first item addressed was the injury that caused Chatfield to miss the final six games of the team's season.

Revealed to be a hip issue, No. 5 said he would have loved to have been out there with his teammates, but would have been detrimental to the cause in his current injured form. On a positive note, he does not need surgery and expects to be good to go for the fall.

As for Staal, he'll turn 37 years old just before training camp and understands that his time left in the league is not growing longer.

"It’s been a little frustrating right now, just trying to unpack what happened in the last month or so and all season long. You want to be in these situations, you want to be in playoffs, you want to have a chance at all the things, it’s just not easy to win," Staal said. "We’d love for it to be easy, but there’s opportunity to always get better. I think the group we have and how it played out this year, we have a great opportunity to take the next step. But yeah it was a positive year, it didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but a lot of good stuff.”

Frederik Andersen and Eric Robinson came to the stage with two different situations. Andersen, who was inked to a one-year extension during the playoffs, stated his intent to be healthy and available as possible next year, and that he proved to himself this year that he's still among the league's best when he's on the ice.

"Obviously, you’ll probably see (Pyotr Kochetkov and I) share the net a lot if we’re both going and healthy, so that’s the ultimate goal is to just be available," the man they call "Zilla" answered. "I know I can play at a high level when I am. So that’s definitely the goal to be able to have a good offseason and come back as good as possible, really."

Robinson, on the other hand, is set to be a free agent after a career year in Carolina, though he expressed interest in sticking around the City of Oaks, calling himself and the Canes "a good fit."

During the 2023-24 season, Robinson played games in the American Hockey League and was on waivers. This year, he was one of just three Hurricanes to play in all 82 regular-season games and set career highs in all three major offensive production categories with 14 goals, 18 assists, and 32 points.

What changed for the Bellmawr, N.J. native?

“Probably just opportunity. I felt like I got a good chance here from the beginning," he said. "I got to play up and down the lineup. Probably confidence too. Once you have a good start, playing every night, it just builds.”

While Robinson said he and the team have had talks about an extension, Dmitry Orlov was on the other side of the coin. Now having completed a two-year, $7.75 AAV deal with the team, the 33-year-old is set to hit the open market and revealed that there hasn't been much chatter about sticking around.

Although he may not be here next season, Orlov was still kind enough to give someone who will be, Alexander Nikishin, high praise.

“He’s big, strong man. Played in the KHL at an early age. I think he learned and knows his level of hockey. I think he’s confident to come here," Nikishin said. "Obviously, it wasn’t easy to jump in in the playoffs time and play his first NHL game, but I think he’s hanging well and I think he’s going to be a good future player here for a long time. I think he’s got good hockey IQ, he can skate, good defensively, offensively. He’s a two-way player. That’s why the Canes waited for him for a long time. He’s a good player.”

Orlov spoke with another promising piece on the team's blue line, Scott Morrow.

Thrust into a difficult position during the playoffs with both Chatfield and Sean Walker out of the lineup, Morrow still leaves his first full season as a pro having learned a lot.

"You have to read and react a little bit more than I felt like I had to do in college, so just working on that and learning how to do that was something I felt grew over the course of the season,” the AHL All-Star highlighted as one of the biggest differences. He said he plans to try and add muscle and become a stronger skater this offseason.

Morrow is one of the pieces that gives the team hope for years to come, a subject that Sebastian Aho spent some time talking about when it was his turn.

“There’s a lot to be excited for. We have young guys like Stanks and Nikishin, we already know what kind of player Jarvy is, he’s only gonna get better. Blakey… we’ve got good pieces on the team and obviously the core, or whatever you want to all it, we’ve been through quite a bit," No. 20 said. "It’s an exciting offseason, we do have the cap space and we do have some assets, I guess time will tell how it’s all gonna play out.

The aforementioned Logan Stankoven sat alongside Aho, and talked about his adjustment after being dealt while still technically a rookie.

“[The Canes are] first class, for sure. I think I’ve enjoyed every minute of being here and the people within the organization and my teammates," Stankoven answered. "I think I’ve been able to create a really good bond with, you know, everyone here, and I love the city and just kind of the vibes around it, so yeah, looking forward to hopefully spending a lot more time here.”

Another bright spot who had to adjust to Raleigh on the fly, Alexander Nikishin, spoke via Andrei Svechnikov.

Appreciating the experience of playing a few games with the team after coming over, the blossoming star didn't want to get into specifics of what exactly he'll be working on this summer, but gave a hunger-filled answer about his desire to become a full-time NHL defenseman.

"He said he’s going to try and catch them and be better than those guys.”

As for Svechnikov, he's hoping that his strong postseason will help get him back to being the player that was once on pace for a 40-goal season and could thunder through anybody with booming hits.

"I know what (kind of) player I am and what I can bring. That’s how I’ve got to play every time, every game, every season. I’m going to try to find that and bring that game to the next season.”

Someone who landed a few heavy hits themself this season was Jesperi Kotkaniemi. While the physical addition to his game has been welcomed, Kotkaniemi acknowledged that he still has not become the player he was expected to be when he was drafted. He hopes to take a step forward next season.

“I hope so," he responded when asked if there's another level for him to get to. "I feel I got drafted as a big skill guy, so you know I haven’t got there yet, but hopefully that’s coming.”

Speaking with Sean Walker, the defenseman expressed disappointment after being knocked out of the postseason with a shoulder injury, one that he initially sustained during the regular season, but played through for a bit.

Impressing in the first year of a five-year contract, he was asked if he would like a bigger role next year.

"It’s not something I’m necessarily eyeing, right, but you know I’d love to help the team. I feel like if I’m playing good, I can play in those roles," Walker answered. "At the end of the day, I just want to come play the best I can, and wherever they think I fit in the lineup that’s going to help the team win is where I’ll be happy."

To wrap up the day, Brent Burns and Seth Jarvis took turns at the podium solo.

Going over 18 minutes answering just five questions, several of them were about the now 40-year-old's future and what's next for him. Set to be a free agent, he laid out the strong appreciation he and his family have for the city of Raleigh.

"We’ll see what happens, but we love it here and would love for it to work out.”

Burns also revealed that he had surgery after last season and a good deal of this year was just focusing on how his body would feel responding to such.

Like Burns did this time last year, Jarvis is going to need surgery, but it's probably not going to be this summer.

Now, through four pro seasons, the 2020 first-round pick said that he played most of this year with a banged-up shoulder again, just like the 2023-24 season. Jarvis said that the rehab and strength training done last summer got the shoulder to a good spot ahead of the 2024-25 season, before things went sideways again early in the year.

Knowing a surgery would likely put him on the shelf for an extended stint, the 23-year-old won't be doing it this summer because of how late this season ran. He said he doesn't want to miss too much of next season, which is set to be an important one for him with the 2026 Winter Olympics on the horizon.

Somehow managing to lead the team with 33 goals despite the bum shoulder, Jarvis also feels like there's still more he can get to, when fully healthy.

"There are still definitely levels I want to get in that department, but I think just figuring out how to score in this league is one of the biggest challenges," he shared. "The league’s always changing and goalies are getting better, so it's always a work in progress, but I think figuring out different ways to score, scoring from different areas and just overall expanding my game offensively that way has been something that I’ve put a lot of focus into. I’m glad I’m starting to see the benefits of it.”

Following the players that spoke today, the team announced that Head Coach Rod Brind'Amour and General Manager Eric Tulsky will hold their end-of-season media availability on Tuesday, June 3 at 10 a.m.

Coverage of that will follow on Hurricanes.com.