The Aftermath
The 2017-18 season would be Cam Ward's final with the Hurricanes. During the following offseason, Ward would venture outside of Raleigh by signing a one-year deal with the Chicago Blackhawks. Ward would make his return to PNC Arena in mid-November, making 37 stops in a 3-2 overtime loss after Sebastian Aho scored the game-winner early in the extra frame. Ward would retire at the end of the 2018-19 season at 34 years old. Ward finished his time with the Hurricanes with 318 wins, almost 200 more wins than the next closest goalie.
Marcus Kruger's time with the Hurricanes wouldn't last much longer. He was placed on injured reserve in January before being waived a month later and finishing the season in the AHL. Kruger was traded twice during the offseason. The Canes sent him to Arizona in the trade that landed them Jordan Martinook. Two months later, Kruger was part of a deal back to Chicago, where he'd play his final NHL season in 2018-19.
Trevor van Riemsdyk stuck around a little longer, playing three seasons with the Hurricanes. He was part of the team that broke the playoff drought the following season and the bubble team in 2019-20. van Riemsdyk walked at the end of his third season in Raleigh, signing with division rival Washington, where he has remained for the last four seasons.
The Hurricanes organization would honor Cam Ward as the inaugural inductee into the Hurricanes Hall of Fame. Fittingly, his induction ceremony would come two nights before the outdoor game in 2023 against the Montreal Canadiens, the team he beat in the quarterfinal round in 2006 to kickstart his Conn Smythe-winning performance. Behind Seth Jarvis' first-career hat trick, the Hurricanes defeated the Canadiens, 6-2.