Hurricanes clinch spot in 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs

The Carolina Hurricanes are heading back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, having officially clinched their spot with their win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Logan Stankoven scored twice in the first 10 minutes on Thursday as the Hurricanes cruised to a 5-1 victory.

This season marks the eight in a row in which the Hurricanes will take part in the postseason. That streak comes on the heels of a run from 2010 to 2018 in which Carolina did not make the playoffs once.

The Canes now own the third-longest active streak of making the Stanley Cup Playoffs, as their eight trail the Colorado Avalanche and (once they clinch) Tampa Bay Lightning, which have nine apiece.

Carolina has made the playoffs in every season under head coach Rod Brind’Amour, and they have won their opening series in each of those seasons. With seven consecutive years with a series win, this iteration of the Hurricanes trail only the Broad Street Bully Flyers (nine) and two different eras of the Montreal Canadiens (10) for the NHL record for consecutive playoff appearances with a series win.

This season has been a lot of what fans have become accustomed to from these quality Hurricane teams in recent years. Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis have turned in productive seasons, and a commitment to aggressive forechecking and solid team defense have powered a strong campaign.

What might make the Canes more dangerous this time around is a bounce back effort from Andrei Svechnikov, who has already passed 60 points for the first time since tearing his ACL toward the end of the 2022-23 regular season.

The offseason signing of Nikolaj Ehlers has also paid dividends. Ehlers’ contributions on the power play have given Carolina a top-five unit after finishing 25th in the league a season ago. Ehlers, who spent his entire career prior to this year with the Winnipeg Jets, has already set his career high in assists and matched it in points.

The emergence of goalie Brandon Bussi, who has slowed down a bit of late but set several records for being the fastest in NHL history to a certain amount of wins, has helped offset a long-term injury to Pyotr Kochetkov and regression from veteran Frederik Andersen.

Carolina is in a tough fight with the Buffalo Sabres and Lightning for the top spot in the Eastern Conference, but the Hurricanes are a virtual certainty to win the Metropolitan Division, meaning their round one opponent would be one of the many contenders for the wild card spots in the East.