The 2025-26 NHL season is over, and the Carolina Hurricanes have been named Stanley Cup Champions. We’re a little biased of course, but we are certainly happy with the result. And there are lessons to learn from their journey.
As we all know, the NHL is a little bit of a copycat league. It might be cliche at this point, but after the Florida Panthers just went back-to-back, we saw teams try to get some more physicality in their lineup (as they learned the wrong lessons from that incredibly fast and aggressive team), or teams getting bigger on the blue line after the Tampa Bay Lightning recently won with some giants on defense. It’s a common enough theme throughout the history of this little league.
The Hurricanes do feel different in that sense though, as there are true lessons to take from their eventual Stanley Cup win. And some apply directly to the Philadelphia Flyers.
This isn’t saying that the Flyers are doomed if they don’t do these exact things that the Hurricanes just did and won the Cup with as their pillars, but it would certainly put them on the right path.
Always try to get better no matter what
The entire ethos of the Hurricanes throughout the past few years and under general manager Eric Tulsky has been to not settle for anything. They have tried to get just about any good player who becomes available — from trying to trade for Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner before they arrived in Vegas, to trying to offer sheet Evan Bouchard very recently — they have not been fine with the team that they have. They might love the roster from top to bottom, but there is always room for improvement.
Carolina certainly took swings on players like Jake Guentzel and Mikko Rantanen, to get that star forward who they deemed that the team was lacking to take them beyond the Eastern Conference giants that kept on taking the Cup from them. But even after they did take that risk, they were able to pivot when it didn’t work out, or go with a backup plan.
It’s obvious now, but shifting quickly after Rantanen didn’t want to re-sign in Carolina and getting playoff dog Logan Stankoven and a bunch of draft picks, was the right call. It wouldn’t surprise anyone if the 31 other GMs around the NHL would have just plugged their noses and completely ignored that Rantanen was going to walk — to keep that player because they want to have him in the playoffs that season.
It ultimately did not work out that specific year for the Hurricanes, but it did in the end and it’s always about the long-term picture. Tulsky then used those draft picks they got back from the Dallas Stars for Rantanen in their pivot move to acquire K’Andre Miller from the Rangers last summer. And now that has proved to be an incredibly smart acquisition.
And now, instead of going all-in with Rantanen, they have to young players in key positions locked up for several more years — sustaining their success.
It’s an undying desire to always get better and to have failsafe plans in place just in case something goes awry is ultimately the driving force behind the Hurricanes’ success. They didn’t panic because they kept on failing in the Eastern Conference Final. No massive eject button was pushed to send one of their stars out for more complementary depth players or whatever. If anything, they fully committed to what has caused them to see success in the first place, adding a player like Nikolaj Ehlers in free agency and molding Taylor Hall into the player that he was in the playoffs.
The Hurricanes knew what types of players they wanted to target and went for it, fully committed to their plan.
How does this apply to the Flyers? It might just be being extremely patient in their build (which they seem to be) and not just trying to take any Rantanen-esque shortcuts to get their guy who they don’t think wants to stay here and be a part of what they’re making. The Trevor Zegras trade is certainly an example of something that the Hurricanes could have done when they were earlier in their competitive cycle — waiting out until the price was right and making sure it is a player that fits their team well enough that they can succeed.
Utilize your draft picks well
Well now that basically the one lesson that just about every single NHL team should learn is out of the way, let’s get more specific.
The Hurricanes have done one extremely unique thing for a perennial contender: They care about their draft picks and like to keep a surplus.
It’s very odd for a team who is consistently finishing at the top of their division, and before Sunday night, have never been able to reach the top of the mountain, to still like to have a bunch of draft picks. You often see teams like the Lightning or Panthers or Avalanche or Stars just shedding valuable draft picks every single year and maybe select two or three or four prospects in the later rounds just to get something, because they spent them all on win-now moves.
Even after winning the Cup, the Hurricanes still have their first-round pick for the 2026 NHL Draft. Now, they do only have four picks for this upcoming draft, but they also have eight in the following two years; including four first-rounders in the next three years.
They won’t sacrifice a large part of their future just to get that do-it-all fourth-line player, since they can just add that internally because they have done such a stellar job developing draft picks from a few years back. It’s insane but next year, this team could add top prospects like Bradly Nadeau and Felix Unger-Sorum who could make a sizeable impact at forward.
And that also goes with drafting the right players. Going all-in on skill and work ethic with players who will fit their system well.
The Hurricanes have always made draft picks on draft weekend that make all the online and public scouts freak out because they just think they got a hidden gem. Even something like taking a risk on Ivan Ryabkin — or their several other Russian prospects — because they viewed it as an opportunity to get a prospect who could have gone a lot higher in different circumstances. They’re just constantly taking advantage of the league zigging one way, so they zag the other and see if it pans out.
For the Flyers, they need to take a couple of zagging prospects. Maybe it’s betting on a dropping prospect like Mathis Preston or Xavier Villeneuve in a couple weeks, or not just trading away any draft pick for someone like Darnell Nurse this summer. Treat the picks like they can actually be useful instead of just the cost of doing business or whatever.
Draft picks can be much more valuable if treated well and not just spent feverishly.
Goaltending is only as important as you need it to be
Okay, one final one, we promise. But it has to be pointed out that the Hurricanes did this with an undrafted Brandon Bussi in the crease and before him, a Frederik Andersen who boasted a similar save percentage to Sam Ersson in the regular season.
Carolina was just built on the principle that they will never rely on their goaltending to get them through a game or a series or an entire season. It’s almost like they have achieved everything that they did in spite of the notion of a goaltender “stealing a game”. The 20 skaters in front of him are just so good and are built in such a way that they don’t need someone who can be 2011 Tim Thomas in the crease, but just someone solid enough who makes the saves that they are expected to
With Dan Vladar, the Flyers do have that but they have also leaned on him during a whole lot of games this past season. We’re sure it’s not the situation that the Flyers want to be in, but it can eventually get to a point that it is a luxury that they have a capable starting netminder in between the pipes.
They are not going to pay Vladar like an eventual Vezina Trophy finalist on his next contract, but someone that can settle into a role somewhat like the Hurricanes have with their own netminders.
It has never been a priority for Carolina to get The Guy at the back. It is probably some super smart equation that they do to come to this, but it certainly seems like it is more sustainable to build a team full of very good skaters and then see which netminder can come up big and just be what they need, rather than commit a whole lot of resources to trying to find a goalie that can steal them games and get them some unearned wins overall.
Year-to-year skaters tend to be the same type of player in the same environment. For goalies, they are not that. Their performance can drastically change even if it is the exact same system and same group of players in front of them; because it is just such a mental game. So why not take that risk out of the equation and just see who fits?
Let’s just hope that Vladar can be exactly that and maybe the Flyers will lean on him less if they get him some help in a capable backup.
