Carolina Hurricanes News

Home

Quizzes

Newsletter

Hurricanes’ Blake & Stankoven Are Becoming a Dangerous Duo

Carolina Hurricanes right winger Jackson Blake celebrates his goal with center Logan Stankoven and left winger Nikolaj Ehlers (James Guillory-Imagn Images)

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Hurricanes’ Blake & Stankoven Are Becoming a Dangerous Duo

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Conor Power | Last updated Nov 8, 2026 4:30 PM ET

Add us as a preferred source on Google

The Carolina Hurricanes have relied heavily on their two emerging stars early this season to overcome an injury crisis, and they have repaid that faith. Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake have been two of the Hurricanes’ best players early this season. Carolina’s young twin dynamos have driven the early-season success that has kept the Hurricanes as the NHL’s benchmark. These two have already taken center stage for entertainment value, but they’re more than just fun to watch. They are a dangerous duo.

Blake’s Playmaking

Blake has taken a massive step towards stardom. His ability to dangle in a phone booth is effective, and it’s flashy. The Fargo, North Dakota native has 19 points through 19 games as he continues to hover around the point-per-game mark, currently riding a seven-game point streak. Most impressively, 14 of Blake’s 19 points are assists. He’s becoming a genuine playmaker, creating high-quality chances.

Blake’s on-ice analytics reflect this. According to Natural Stat Trick, his goals-for per 60 rate (GF/60) exceeds his expected goals-for per 60 rate (xGF/60). At 4.33, the Hurricanes winger is showing he can deliver high-end offensive production, passing his 4.20 xGF/60. That’s exactly what the Hurricanes have been asking for from some of their supporting pieces over the last decade. Blake’s becoming that difference-maker down the lineup the Hurricanes haven’t really had. I don’t mean recently; the Hurricanes have lacked multiple lines of high-end offensive output for almost their entire existence. But Blake isn’t the only contributor.

Stankoven’s Snipes

Stankoven has become one of the best goal scorers the Hurricanes have. 11 goals in 19 games puts him on pace for almost 50. He’d be only the fourth 40-goal scorer in franchise history, and the post-relocation record is 45. Stankoven is on pace to shatter that. Whether he gets there or not is somewhat irrelevant because it puts him among the best goal scorers on the roster if he hits 30. At this pace, he’ll do that in his sleep.

Stankoven’s 4.64 GF/60 is again frankly ridiculous. Players with GF/60 rates over 3.5 are good, and going over four is excellent. Stankoven’s is over 4.5. It’s a little higher than his 4.12 xGF/60, but that suggests that any regression would be slight. It doesn’t seem massively inflated by a sudden early-season hot streak. If it is sustainable, Stankoven could quickly become one of the most dangerous scorers the Hurricanes have ever had.

One uncertainty that emerged from the Hurricanes’ domination in the 2026 postseason was Stankoven’s shooting percentage. Shooting 20% is incredibly impressive, but in a 19-game sample size, it isn’t definitive. It could have been used to argue Stankoven’s production wasn’t sustainable. In the 19 games this season, Stankoven has shot at 20% again, so this is now 38 games shooting 20% overall. That’s not a small sample size anymore, and it comes down to how well Stankoven works with Blake.

Emerging Star Combination

When you look at what the two 23-year-old forwards have done together, it gets unbelievable. As a combination since Stankoven arrived in Carolina, Stankoven and Blake have a 3.44 GF/60 at 5-on-5. Compare that to a miserly 1.93 goals against per 60 (GA/60), and you’ve got the makings of a good pairing. That goes with a 3.69 xGF/60 at 5-on-5, so this isn’t just some lucky break. Across 117 games, with 1,117:51 of ice time together, they’ve been everything Carolina could ask for. However, this lacks context.

Let’s look at Blake without Stankoven. His 5-on-5 xGF/60 is great, at 3.06, but his 5-on-5 GF/60 drops starkly to 2.16. It indicates Blake doesn’t have the finishing power on his line to find the back of the net consistently. That makes sense, given that the relationship between these two players often sees Blake as the playmaker and Stankoven as the finisher. That means Blake is creating more than capitalizing, so a measure of chance generation like xGF/60 should reflect that, right?

Well, that’s why we have to add Stankoven without Blake to the mix. Stankoven’s 5-on-5 xGF/60 is 3.21, which is very good, but his 5-on-5 GF/60 drops to 3.05. It’s good, but it isn’t the deadly combination that Blake and Stankoven have become. Again, it indicates that Stankoven’s capitalizing a lot on his chances. We’ve seen what happens when you combine the two, but there is no control variable here. What happens if we remove both?

The answer is carnage. The GF/60 drops to 2.81 off an xGF/60 of 3.03 for the Hurricanes with neither Stankoven nor Blake on the ice. It’s a monumental drop from the pure number of chances you see created with the young bucks on the ice for Carolina.

That’s a lot of numbers. To put this into perspective, Stankoven capitalizes on his chances better than Blake, but Blake creates more overall. Together, they’re one of the most dynamic combinations the Hurricanes have. They work well because their skill sets complement each other. Without them, Carolina struggles to replace their level of creation. These two have become the engine of the Hurricanes’ offensive hydraulic press.

Operating on a Shared Wavelength

The other thing is, Stankoven and Blake seem to share a brain. It’s all good to have complementary skill sets, but if you see the game differently, the combination won’t be as strong. This isn’t the case here. Blake and Stankoven always look up and drive at the net with the intention of scoring. They do this when they get to the dangerous areas of the ice in front of the net. It makes passing and anticipating a pass easier when you know exactly what the other person is thinking. They’ve already done that in a run to the Stanley Cup. That shared method to success makes them a dangerous combination.

What’s scary about these two is their age. Two 23-year-olds, both under contract for the next seven seasons after this one, and they’re beginning to break out. These two are candidates to be key contributors to this franchise. They’ve started to play like star players for Carolina. That will only continue to get better as they keep maturing and improving in the years to come.

This article first appeared on The Hockey Writers and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: