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Despite breaking the curse and finally winning a game in the Eastern Conference Final, the Carolina Hurricanes were unable to extend their series with the Florida Panthers, losing Game 5 by a 5-3 final score in Raleigh on Wednesday night.
Now 1-16 in their last 17 East Final games, the Canes remain without a home victory in the final four since June of 2006 — the same year the franchise captured its inaugural Stanley Cup championship.
But despite another disappointing result, head coach Rod Brind'Amour is proud of his team — and sick of the negativity surrounding it.
“It's the craziest thing that we're this far and all we're hearing is negativity, from everybody,” Brind'Amour told reporters. “With the pieces that left this organization, I didn't think we were making playoffs, I was that worried about it. Because it was such a mass exodus of good players to free agency. We were able to find good players to fill in.
“I got nothing but pride with this group. Yeah we didn't love how this kinda went this series, but again that's the standard right there. You're not giving Florida enough credit.”
I think this is a phenomenal question and answer from @Canes Rod Brind’Amour.
I’m guilty of criticizing the teams playing Florida, it’s easy to criticize when a team loses, but I don’t think the @FlaPanthers are getting enough credit for how consistent they’ve been. pic.twitter.com/t1pBmukJ8H
— Jonny Lazarus (@JLazzy23) May 29, 2025
Brind'Amour does make a good point. The Panthers have now won the Eastern Conference in back-to-back-to-back seasons, and the Hurricanes came close to taking them to a Game 6 back in Sunrise.
That's after a ton of free agents left the team last summer, including Teuvo Teravainen, Brady Skjei, Brett Pesce and Stefan Noesen. Despite that, the Canes finished second in the Metropolitan Division with a 47-30-5 record in 2024-25.
That doesn't change the fact that the Hurricanes have come short of their ultimate goal of winning a Stanley Cup with the current core. Still, the Panthers are a powerhouse and are well deserving of another trip to the NHL's ultimate series.
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Still a lot for Hurricanes to get excited about
Despite their abysmal Eastern Conference Final record as of late, the Hurricanes will have most of their core returning next year.
Although Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov are unrestricted free agents and probably won't be back, the only UFA's up front are Jesper Fast, Jack Roslovic, Eric Robinson and Tyson Jost — and none of those players moved the needle too much this season.
As well, general manager Eric Tulsky has a ton of cap space to work with this summer; Puck Pedia projects the team having as much as $28 million.
Unlike last summer when the squad lost a couple of key players, Tulsky should be able to convince a few marquee free agents to come to Raleigh, North Carolina, and the squad should be even better next year.
Yes, it was another disappointing exit, and this roster has got to find a way to get over the hump while Sebastian Aho, Jaccob Slavin, Andrei Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis are in their primes.
But there is still a lot to get excited about, and it wouldn't be at all surprising if the Hurricanes were right back in this spot next spring. It'll be interesting to see what offseason moves the front office makes to try to return to true Stanley Cup contention next year.
