Hurricanes’ Young Guns Taking Games to Another Level

The fact that he set new career highs with over 20 games left in the season shows that his confidence is high in 2025-26. Furthermore, to notch his first 40-point season in 64 games gives some relief in knowing that he can play in a top-six role, almost playing 17 minutes a night, 5-on-5 in a bigger role, and on the power play. If this is his trajectory, Blake could be a star player in the NHL very soon.

Alexander Nikishin

For Nikishin, it’s been a year of learning for the young Russian defenseman. It’s his first full season in the NHL, a new system, a new language, and a daily effort to become a better player. For what he’s done already, there is a reason why the Hurricanes were excited to have him on the NHL roster finally. In 63 games in his rookie season, Nikishin has nine goals, 25 points, and is a plus-13. Not only does he have nine goals, but it’s a franchise record for a rookie defenseman.

Nikishin’s goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins put him first all-time in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers history in goals for a rookie defenseman. He passed Justin Faulk, who had eight in 2011-12. The other two were Jamie McBain (seven in 2010-11) and Chris Pronger (five in 1993-94 with the Whalers). Nikishin stated after the game, once he heard about the record, “It feels good. Making history is special and (I’ll) never forget that.” While it’s been a learning process for him all season, Nikishin’s confidence is growing, and he’s becoming a player whom the Hurricanes can rely on more and more in bigger roles.

After the win on Tuesday night (March 10), Rod Brind’Amour stated about Nikishin, “He’s always had that confidence. We know he’s got that big shot… He needs to just keep shooting that thing. We’ll keep on him with that. His game is growing… He’s going to be a good player here for a long time.” Nikishin will be arbitration-eligible on July 1, and there is a good sense that he will get an extension to stay with the Hurricanes for a while.

Logan Stankoven

When it comes to Stankoven, he has taken on a bigger role as he’s been the second-line center for the majority of 2025-26. After moving over from the wing, he has had to learn new roles and find a way to stay productive in a position that he has not done full-time since his Kamloops days in the Western Hockey League. This season, Stankoven has 12 goals and 29 points in 64 games. He is currently on pace to set career highs across all scoring categories after finishing with 14 goals, 24 assists, and 38 points in 2024-25.

In terms of faceoffs, Stankoven is at 44.1%. While it’s the lowest of his career, this is the first full season of playing center compared to mainly playing wing the last season and a half with the Dallas Stars and the Hurricanes. Thankfully for him, he can learn from Jordan Staal, Sebastian Aho, and even Brind’amour about how to become a more effective faceoff man. When a two-time Selke winner is the head coach, that will go a long way.

Along with Blake, Stankoven’s eight-year extension kicks in next season. Between him and Blake, those two will be permanent fixtures within the Hurricanes’ core through the 2033-34 season. With a full season as the second-line center under his belt, he can build on that in his second full season with the team as he looks to continue to develop with one of the best teams in the NHL.

Overall, when it comes to the three young players for the Hurricanes, the trajectory is only going up for Blake, Nikishin, and Stankoven. They’ve shown in 2025-26 that they can be game changers, and they haven’t entered their primes yet. As long as they can keep working at their crafts, there could be no stopping these three as they look to help be part of the core that includes Aho, Jaccob Slavin, Seth Jarvis, and others as seasons go on. When it comes to the Hurricanes, they’ve set themselves up nicely with good, young talent for years to come.