Hurricanes have 'seen enough' of playoff disappointments, ready to prove it

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes' long wait for the start of the Eastern Conference Final is nearing its end.

The Hurricanes will finally learn who they'll play in the Eastern Conference Final after the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres play Game 7 of their second-round series Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).

Next comes the hard part.

And it's not just because Carolina will have had 11 days off since completing the sweep of its second-round series against the Philadelphia Flyers on May 9 when the third round begins at Lenovo Center on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, truTV, HBO MAX, SN, CBC, TVAS).

This will be the Hurricanes' fourth appearance in conference final in the past eight seasons (2019, 2023, 2025, 2026). They went 1-12 in the previous three, but they believe the difficult lessons learned in those series will help them take the next step and reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since they won their first championship in 2006.

"We've seen a lot, this group," Carolina captain Jordan Staal said. "The guys that have been here for a long time, and obviously, even the short ones still have seen enough.

"We've gone through a lot and we're hoping it'll be a different story."

Staal is one of five players, along with fellow forwards Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, Jordan Martinook and defenseman Jaccob Slavin, who were with the Hurricanes when they were swept by the Boston Bruins in the 2019 conference final. They have 11 players remaining from the team that was swept by the Florida Panthers in the 2024 conference final and 18 from the five-game loss to the Panthers in the conference final last season.

Carolina lost the first three games to Florida last season by a combined 16-4 before winning 3-0 in Game 4 and taking a 2-0 lead in Game 5. But the Panthers rallied for a 5-3 win to end the Hurricanes' season again on their way to winning the Stanley Cup for the second straight year.

As painful as that was, their hope is they can take something from how they played later in that series that will help them this time.

"You'd like to think so," Aho said. "You gain confidence from your good stuff, but then you have to learn from maybe the mistakes or anything really. That's your whole career. You just try to be a better hockey player, so of course you try to use all the experience you have."

Riddled by injuries, Florida didn't qualify for the playoffs this season, so it's not in Carolina's way this time. That doesn't mean getting past this round will be easier, but the Hurricanes believe they are better equipped to handle whatever comes their way.

It begins with the additions of K'Andre Miller and Nikolaj Ehlers. Miller, a 26-year-old who was acquired in a trade with the New York Rangers on July 1, 2025 and signed an eight-year, $60 million contract ($7.5 million average annual value), gives them another top-four defenseman who defends well with his size (6-foot-5, 210 pounds), reach and skating, moves the puck well and can chip in offensively (six assists and plus-9 in eight playoff games).

Ehlers, a 30-year-old who signed a six-year, $51 million contract ($8.5 million AAV) as an unrestricted free agent on July 3, 2025, provides high-end speed and offensive skill (two goals, two assists in seven playoff games) on the wing playing on a line with Staal and Martinook.

"He is a really dynamic player with offensive skill and creativity who can turn puck possession into scoring chances," Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky said. "We've had a group that can dominate puck possession for a long time now. The more skill we have, the more we have to turn that into scoring chances and finish those chances, the more dangerous we get."

The continued maturation of young forwards Logan Stankoven (23) and Jackson Blake (22) playing on a line with rejuvenated veteran Taylor Hall (34) has added another element as well. The three drove the offense through sweeps of the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers in the first two rounds, with Hall leading the way with 12 points (three goals, nine assists), Blake second with 11 (four goals, seven assists) and Stankoven third with eight (seven goals, one assist).

Although the top line of Svechnikov (one goal, two assists), Aho (three goals, one assist) and Seth Jarvis (one goal, three assist) has yet to break out offensively, there's diversity to Carolina's attack that didn't exist previously.

"We feel like we can adapt to the way these games can be played, and I think it's going to take a maybe a different approach than what we had in the first two series," Martinook said. "We have so much speed on each line and I think that when you can match up to other teams' speed lines, it's definitely a good thing to have."

In addition, after the Panthers appeared to push the Hurricanes around physically early in the conference final last season, this group has played with commitment not to allow it to happen again this postseason.

"We just we have a little bit more toughness this year," Jarvis said. "I think that's something maybe we've lacked in the past. We have guys that are willing to step up and stick up for each other, and we have a really good group in terms (of) we're not letting anyone kind of push us around. We're holding our ground and are able to play in those tough games."

"And when you have a goalie like Freddie right now, how well he's playing, it's tough to beat."

Frederik Andersen was locked in through the first two rounds, not allowing more than two goals in a game and stopping 191 of 201 shots for League-leading 1.12 goals-against average and .950 save percentage with two shutouts. The 36-year-old was one of the main reasons Carolina had a fairly smooth ride to becoming the first team to start a postseason 8-0 since the NHL adopted the best-of-7 format for all four playoff rounds in 1987.

But the Hurricanes are experienced enough to know there will likely be rough patches ahead. They still have the battle scars from past conference final failures to remind -- and motivate -- them.

"That's how you learn," said coach Rod Brind'Amour, who was Carolina captain when it won the Stanley Cup in 2006. "You're going to go through struggles, and I think that shapes who you are, who you are as a team. The players in there who have been through it, it only makes them stronger.

"But we've had enough of those."