Carolina Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal has signed a new contract extension.
Defenseman Alexander Nikishin remains unsigned.
Those were the two biggest developments as the 2026 Stanley Cup champions prepared for the start of preseason training camp.
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The “offseason” was a short one. The Stanley Cup is still being passed around. But it’s time to get back on the ice, and the Canes will skate out Thursday at 9 a.m. for the start of camp at Lane Arena, formerly Invisalign Arena, in Morrisville.
Nikishin’s status remains uncertain to those not privy to the discussions between the Russian defenseman and Canes management. A restricted free agent, Nikishin does not have a contract and will not be at camp Thursday, general manager Eric Tulsky said in a statement Wednesday, adding the team would have no further comment on the matter.
Another option: a trade. That could change the dynamic of camp quickly.
Some of the Vegas oddsmakers have made the Hurricanes the betting favorites to win a second straight Cup. Others point to the Florida Panthers as the favorites, with the Colorado Avalanche the third pick.
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour often refers to seasons as a relentless “grind,” but also a “journey.” Last year, the journey ended in celebration in Las Vegas with the Canes holding up the Cup.
With a new season about to begin, here are five pressing questions for training camp:
Jarvis said recently his rehab from shoulder surgery is moving along nicely, with no setbacks. He has been seen skating at Lane Arena, taking a few shots. But that’s a lot different than, say, being smashed in a corner fighting for the puck.
Forwards Jackson Blake and Bradly Nadeau both made their NHL debuts April 16, 2024, in the Canes’ final regular-season game at Columbus. Of bigger importance: veteran forward Jesper Fast suffered a serious neck injury in the game.
With Fast unable to play again, a spot was open in training camp in 2024 and Blake claimed it. After a strong rookie season in 2024-25, he received a new contract and now has won a Stanley Cup.
Jarvis will return this season, but may miss the first 15 to 20 games. Again, the door is open for Nadeau, a right-shot winger with a booming one-timer whose all-around game has improved in two years with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. So, too, Felix Unger Sorum, and others.
“All of us are ready,” Nadeau said Tuesday. “It’s a matter of who wants it the most.”
If Nikishin is a no-show, the easy move is to have veteran Mike Reilly play opposite Shayne Gostisbehere on the third D pair.
Reilly was needed in the playoffs after Nikishin’s concussion in the Ottawa series, playing two games. He was a late free-agent signing this summer, but his experience makes him more than insurance in case Nikishin is not on the team.
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The Canes also signed two defenders with extensive NHL experience this offseason — Pierre-Olivier Joseph and Jusso Valimaki. Joseph has played 225 games, most recently with Vancouver; Valimaki has 271 games played, most recently with Utah.
Keep an eye, also, on Charles Alexis Legault. At 6-foot-4 and 222 pounds, he could add toughness to the lineup and could be ready to make the step from the AHL to the NHL. He played 12 games last season for the Canes.
“I have a goal of playing in the National Hockey League for a long time, whether this year or in the future,” Legault said last week. “My goal (in camp) is to control what I can control. That’s my effort, what I put out there. The way I work, the way I play.”
A year ago, goalie Brandon Bussi attended the Panthers’ training camp and then was assigned to the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, only to have the road — and his life — take a turn.
Claimed off waivers by the Canes, he diverted to Raleigh. The rest was storybook: the chance to play in the NHL, winning 31 games, getting a new contract, closing out the Stanley Cup run with three straight victories.
With Frederik Andersen leaving in free agency, Bussi goes into his second season with the Hurricanes as the No. 1 goalie. But Pyotr Kochetkov, after hip surgery last year, comes into camp healthy, ready to push Bussi and compete for the net.
Ivan Ryabkin will be one of the youngest players in camp and could be one of the feistiest. The Russian forward, a second-round pick by Carolina, is listed at 5-11 and 185 pounds and can be a bit unpredictable on the ice, mixing some offensive flair with a penchant to mix it up with opposing players.
After a cameo appearance with Dynamo Moskva in the KHL, he has spent the past two seasons in North America, playing in the USHL, QMJHL and then the Wolves, where he played 31 regular-season games and 21 in the playoffs. Undisciplined at times, he had 70 penalty minutes in the 52 games in Chicago.
“He’s fearless,” Wolves coach Spiros Anastas said Tuesday. “For a young guy, 18 years old, to play 21 playoff games against men every night, he showed well. We’re hoping he continues to show that same grittiness and his discipline continues to get better.”
This could be an interesting twist in camp. Brind’Amour does like to tinker with lines and take a look at different line combinations in camp.
One would think the head coach will leave the NHL’s hottest postseason line intact: Logan Stankoven centering Taylor Hall and Blake.
Staal should center Nikolaj Ehlers and Jordan Martinook, and Mark Jankowski with Will Carrier and Eric Robinson. Or, Brind’Amour could slip Ehlers to the top line with Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov and put Jarvis’ temporary replacement with Staal.
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This story was originally published September 17, 2026 at 6:00 AM.