​The humorous thing about cheering for a team that wins the Stanley Cup is that once the season ends, you have to remind yourself that 30 other franchises have been waiting on the sidelines, eager for the dust to settle so they can start talking about the next campaign. The NHL Draft always marks the first real signal that the league is shifting its focus toward the 26-27 season and beyond, but it’s really around this time that everyone starts feeling comfortable discussing what lies ahead. There are several reasons for this, of course. The primary one is the player movement that begins around the draft and continues into Canada Day, when free agents can ink new deals. There’s also a sense that this summer could stretch out a bit longer than usual thanks to offer sheets and the domino effect they trigger. Bob has already weighed in on where the Hurricanes stand according to the rumor mill, and nothing has truly changed. Don’t expect a shift any time soon, as there are still moves to be made across the league.
That said, it’s fair to start thinking about next year. There is one more item to address from the past season, which the Hurricanes revealed later on Wednesday, and it will lead to the other tidbits we’ll discuss. The names of the 2025-26 Carolina Hurricanes have now officially been engraved on Lord Stanley’s Cup just before the trophy begins its summer tour to visit the different members of the team. We know those visits will begin soon, as Frederik Andersen noted when discussing his signing with the Oilers. He mentioned that his day with the Cup would be in a couple of weeks, and it makes sense that, to fit everyone in who gets a moment with the Cup, those events have to be scheduled promptly. Ideally, once each player has had their turn, we’ll hear about it and a montage of their days with the trophy will surface.
As for the engraving, the NHL does limit the number of names on the Cup, and the owner has the right to include his entire family—something that last year’s Panthers exploited more than once, with more Violas than you’d expect in an orchestra. Inevitably, some names would be left off. The two most prominent omissions on the Hurricanes’ staff might be Mike Sundheim and Bob Gorman, though it’s possible they agreed to leave their names out so that others, like Jorge Alves, could be included. It’s heartening to see Nicolas Deslauriers’s name stamped on there, since his acquisition was clearly intended to bring him into the fight for the trophy. While he played only one game in the playoffs, the attitude he brought and his evident fit with the team, both on and off the ice, were evident from a quick social media look. That impression was reinforced when he “signed” his extension at the rally.
This year’s Hurricanes are the ninth team to be inscribed on the bottom band, and they should remain on the Cup for the next 57 years (though feel free to correct me in the comments if my math is off) as the topmost band will be retired after 13 years to make room for the newest one, with each other band moving up a notch. It’s a small, ceremonial reminder of how the league’s history grows with each championship, even as teams begin to pivot toward the next season and the next wave of stories.