NHL Futures Wager: Carolina Hurricanes to Win the 2026 Stanley Cup

The puck drops on the NHL season in six days.  So it's time for me to pull out my crystal ball to forecast which team will hoist the Stanley Cup next June.  My selection for the 2025-2026 season is the Carolina Hurricanes, who are currently +850 at BetMGM.  The last season for the Hurricanes went according to their recent script. That is to say the team had one of the best regular seasons in the league, dominated in the early playoff rounds, but bombed spectacularly in the Conference Finals. Will this be the season they finally break through to their first Stanley Cup Finals since 2006 (and first in the Rob Brind’Amour era which began in 2018)?  Time will tell, but it seems that this club is as well positioned as it's ever been.

   

The ‘Canes made a huge in-season trade last January to obtain superstar Mikko Rantanen from the Avalanche but he never fit in with the team or the city, so they turned around and unloaded him in a deal with Dallas at the trade deadline.  This offseason, Carolina’s front office remained aggressive, securing a big-time forward in Nikolaj Ehlers from the Jets and acquiring two-way blueliner K’Andre Miller from the Rangers.  The top three centers -- Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis, Jordan Staal -- return and that's certainly a good thing.  The defense may actually be better this season than in the past, if that's possible.  The team shed aging and declining Brent Burns (signed with Colorado) and Dmitry Orlov (Sharks) but picked up Miller and Mike Reilly so that stingy blue line should be one of the best in the league once again. 

   

The biggest question mark heading into this season is the goaltending tandem of Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov.  This is a club with enough offensive and defensive talent, though, that even average play in goal is enough to produce a dominant record.  But it sure would be nice if the duo could step up when the Canes really needed them - like the Conference championships. Neither goalie could manage a .900 save pct last season and if that trend continues and given Carolina’s aggressive deadline history, don’t be surprised if a new backstop is brought in down the road.

With several prospects breaking through last season, and so much of the team’s core locked up long term, Carolina is built for success again. 
   

Take the Hurricanes to win the 2025-2026 Stanley Cup at +850 odds.  

As always, good luck...
Al McMordie