‘Starting fresh’: Why Hurricanes newcomer Logan Stankoven could fit in quickly — and well
Logan Stankoven flew into Raleigh at 11 o’clock Friday night, and 12 hours later was on the ice with the Carolina Hurricanes.
On Sunday, Stankoven will be in the Canes’ lineup against the Winnipeg Jets, playing in his new home arena with his new team and likely on the top line with Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov.
Such is the nature of the NHL and the trade deadline, when life in the fast lane can be hectic.
The drama surrounding forward Mikko Rantanen ended Friday when the Hurricanes dealt him to the Dallas Stars. Rantanen signed an eight-year, $96 million contract extension to activate the trade, making his time with the Canes — 13 games total — something of a cameo.
The trade also changed the life of Stankoven, 22, who was drafted by the Stars and was in the early stages of carving out his place on the team. The forward was the player sent back to the Canes in the trade and found himself Saturday in his first practice filling the void of Rantanen on the Aho line.
Asked Saturday about his life in the past 24 hours, Stankoven replied, “Just a lot of emotions.”
“I really didn’t expect this to happen,” he said. “But hockey is such a business and you have to understand that as a player. That’s what we kind of signed up for.
“It doesn’t really feel real. I think when you’re in an organization for a few years and you create relationships, you know, with the other players and the staff and stuff, it’s hard to leave. But starting fresh, it’s a new opportunity … yeah, disappointed to leave but a new opportunity and I’m really excited to be here with a team that wants me.”
Looking in from the outside, it was a sense of rejection that appeared to bother Rantanen. He had played 10 years with the Colorado Avalanche, winning a Stanley Cup, becoming a fixture in the lineup, only to be traded to the Hurricanes on Jan. 24 — in essence, the team telling the former NHL All-Star it was willing to part with him.
Rantanen never appeared to be able to find a good comfort zone with the Canes and his on-ice production was weak: two goals and four assists. Then came the increased speculation about him being traded by the Canes before the Friday deadline if he could not agree on a contract extension with Carolina.
Aho called it the “noise” surrounding the team the past few weeks, and said it was a distraction.
“For sure,” Aho said Saturday. “There’s no way around it. I mean, you want to do your job as well as you can and try to focus as best you can … for sure, it affects (you).
“It’s human nature. You hear that stuff and you start thinking. And whenever you start thinking about that other stuff, the stuff you can’t control …”
The uncertainty was especially hard for Aho. He has known Rantanen since their junior hockey days in Finland and joined Rantanen on Team Finland for the recent 4 Nations Face-Off. Aho said he was able to make contact with Rantanen before he left for Dallas.
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said the friction around the Rantanen situation had an effect on the ice.
“I sensed it in the way we were playing, and the apprehension,” he said Saturday. “It’s like it didn’t feel right. Which is natural when you bring in a guy like that.
“Now, we know what the team is. Now it’s (about) the pieces we have here working together in the optimal way and getting it done.”
Stankoven wasn’t the only newcomer at practice Saturday. The Canes also worked a late deal Friday with the Nashville Predators to obtain depth forward Mark Jankowski.
Stankoven is listed at 5 feet, 8 inches, but his lack of size has not been a detriment. A native of Kamloops, British Columbia, he was a big scorer as a junior in the Western Hockey League. A second-round draft pick by the Stars in 2021, he split last season with the Texas Stars in the AHL and Dallas, playing 24 games and then getting in 19 Stanley Cup playoff games.
Stankoven played 59 games this season with the Stars, notching nine goals and 20 assists.
Stankoven, BrindAmour said, was a player that first caught the eye of the Canes in his NHL debut — against Carolina on Feb. 24, 2024, in a 2-1 Stars win.
“A young kid and obviously the work ethic is there, the speed,” Brind’Amour said.
Aho’s first impression of Stankoven?
“Very fast, very explosive,” Aho said. “Good shot. Very good kid. Smart, too, I feel like.
“He didn’t butcher one drill, which is kind of nice. I think he’s going to fit in our system really nice.”
Stankoven believes so, too. His impression of the Hurricanes, he said, has been of a team that plays with great pace and aggressiveness. He likes that.
“Just how much gas they play with,” he said. “They forecheck hard. They compete really hard.
“The building’s loud. It’s really fun to play in the building that really gets into it. “
He’ll get his first taste of that, with the Canes, Sunday against Winnipeg.
This story was originally published March 8, 2025 at 3:10 PM.
