The Carolina Hurricanes had questions at second-line center heading into last season. Everyone felt that they needed to do something to address it during free agency last summer. In a way, that's what they did when they signed Logan Stankoven to an eight-year extension on July 1. He'd only been with the Canes for five months, but the team knew that they had something good.
While he was drafted by the Stars, Stankoven was destined to become a Hurricane. It just took longer than expected. When he was part of the package for Mikko Rantanen at the 2025 trade deadline, expectations were immediately placed on him. Some of them were a bit lofty. By the end of this season, Stankoven did more than enough to silence the doubters.
Stankoven settled into the 2C role before exploding in the postseason
A lot was put on Stankoven's plate at the beginning of the season. He was slotted in as the second-line center, and the early results were solid. He had 11 points in the first 20 games, but a long cold stretch followed. From mid-November to the end of 2025, Stankoven only added seven points. A four-game goal streak in early January helped turn things around until the break changed everything.
When Stankoven came back from the Olympic pause, he nearly matched his numbers from the first 57 games across the final 24, recording 11 goals and 19 points. Stankoven closed the season on an eight-game point streak, eclipsing 20 goals and 40 points for the first time in his young career. He was scorching heading into the playoffs, and he kept that going over the next two months.
Stankoven developed a knack early on for scoring the game-opening goal. He broke the ice in the first three games against Ottawa, becoming the second player in NHL history to do so. He scored again in Game 4, and while it wasn't the opening goal, it was the go-ahead goal. Stankoven added the first goal in the Philadelphia series, establishing a new franchise record for a postseason goal streak.
Throughout the postseason, Stankoven was a bulldog. He was always in the middle of the play, providing a spark for the group. Never was that clearer than in Game 2 against Vegas. Down 1-0 in the series and 2-0 in the game, Stankoven's goal began the comeback that ended in a 2OT win. Stankoven finished the playoffs with a team-leading 11 goals and was fourth with 16 points.
Growth in the dot, consistent scoring among the last hurdles to clear
As with linemate Jackson Blake, this season marks the start of Stankoven's eight-year extension, and the expectations will be even greater. The team showed immense faith in his ability to become its second-line center, and he largely delivered. However, there remain areas in which Stankoven needs to make marked improvement as his new contract begins.
The most glaring is his performance in the dot. Stankoven won just 44.3 percent of his face-offs, ranking in the bottom ten in the NHL among players with 500 draws taken. Some of this can be attributed to it being his first season as a full-time center in the NHL. He saw marginal improvement in the playoffs, winning 46 percent. Fortunately, he has a pretty good coach to help him with that.
There also needs to be a little more consistency with how often he's scoring. In the playoffs, Stankoven found a good balance. Translating that to an 84-game season isn't one-for-one, and cold stretches will happen, but they can't become prolonged. Any doubts about who the second-line center should be were put to bed, though I'm sure a few people might have something to say about it.
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