How aggressive will Hurricanes’ GM Eric Tulsky be after winning the Stanley Cup?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Tulsky allowed about 24 hours to celebrate before returning to work.
- Carolina holds four picks in the 2026 draft: 31, 105, 165 and 192.
- Tulsky said the organization fundamentally wants to be aggressive in adding talent.
Eric Tulsky allowed himself about 24 hours to celebrate after the Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup in Las Vegas on June 14.
Then, it was back to work for the Canes general manager. It was time to prepare for the NHL Draft, for the start of free agency, setting up the preseason schedule (including a game in Greensboro), negotiating contracts and mulling over potential deals.
OK, he did take a day out for the Canes’ downtown celebration. Tulsky rode through downtown Raleigh in a red Jaguar convertible on Saturday, June 20, taking it all in and enjoying himself, then joined the team on the stage to lift the Cup again and say a few words to the thousands of Canes fans.
Then, back to work, with little time to spare.
“We’re just always looking to get better,” Tulsky said before the Stanley Cup Final “It’s really about accumulating as much talent as we can.”
Last summer’s moves spawned a Cup run
In the offseason a year ago, Tulsky traded for defenseman K’Andre Miller, then signed him to a long-term contract. He signed free agent forward Nikolaj Ehlers, who ended a 10-year run with the Winnipeg Jets to come to Carolina. Call them two home-runs swings. Both came up big in the Canes’ run to the Cup.
“When you have a chance to add a really high-end player, we never want to miss out on it,” Tulsky said. “We never want to worry about the what-ifs.
“It’s one of the strengths of our organization that we’re not afraid to take those swings. But we’re also confident that if we keep staying aggressive, some will work and some won’t, but we’ll be ahead of where we were if we just stayed passive the whole time. “
And this year?
First, the NHL Draft
The first order of business for the Canes is the 2026 NHL Draft, which begins Friday in Buffalo with the first round and concludes on Saturday. Carolina has little draft business to do, holding four total draft picks – a first, a fourth and two sixth-round picks.
The Canes have the 31st overall pick and mock drafts have offered up such selection guesstimates as Jack Hextall, a right-shot center from Youngstown of the USHL, and Swedish winger Niklas Aaram-Olesen from Orebro of the SHL.
Another option: trade the pick.
The Canes contingent again will be in a war room at Lenovo corporate headquarters in Morrisville, and Tulsky again should be busily working the phone.
“We try really hard not to be dogmatic about looking specially for one thing,” he said. “You don’t want to pigeonhole yourself in looking for a specific opportunity and miss out on other players. We’re just trying to add talent every time we can.”
Canes Cup competitors already active
Other Eastern Conference teams already have added talent. The Florida Panthers made a splash this week by trading for Brady Tkachuk of the Ottawa Senators, uniting him with his brother, Matthew. The Washington Capitals traded for St. Louis Blues forward Jordan Kyrou and then forward Alex Tuch from the Sabres.
Talk around the NHL of late has been about Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin and Winnipeg goaltender Connor Hellebuyck being available and wanting a change of scenery. There’s scuttlebutt that Jason Robertson of the Dallas Stars possibly could be traded or tendered an offer sheet. All that has created a lot of noise.
In the past two years, Hellebuyck, 33, has won a Hart Trophy, a Vezina Trophy and an Olympic gold medal with Team USA. He has five years left on a contract that pays an average of $8.5 million a year.
Serious interest from the Hurricanes? Any interest? Only Tulsky knows.
Canes goalie Frederik Andersen is due to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, when NHL free agency begins. The Canes signed to a one-year contract last year and the two sides could consider the same, or the two could part ways.
Defenseman Alexander Nikishin is a restricted free agent, and TSN’s Darren Dreger reported Wednesday Nikishin potentially could be a part of a trade. How does Tulsky handle that?
Tulsky had downtown throng roaring Saturday when he called up forward Nic Deslauriers, another pending UFA, to sign a new contract.
“Two more years!” Deslauriers bellowed to the crowd, adding another word in there.
Tulsky could be making some more noise in the next week. Then again, he has the core of a Stanley Cup winner returning next season.
“Fundamentally we do want to be aggressive,” Tulsky said.
But how aggressive?
Preseason schedule set
The Canes announced Thursday the Stanley Cup champs would play four preseason games before the 2026-27 season, including a Sept. 24 game against the Nashville Predators at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, home of the ECHL affiliate Gargoyles.
The Canes will face the Florida Panthers in two games -- at Florida on Sept. 20 and at Lenovo Center on Sept. 22, both with 7 p.m. starts. After the game in Greensboro, which has a 7 p.m. start, the Canes finish up the schedule with a 3 p.m. game Sept. 26 against the Preds in Nashville.
2006 NHL Draft
Carolina Hurricanes picks
First round -- No. 31
Fourth round -- No. 105 (from San Jose)
Sixth round -- No. 165 (from Toronto), No. 192
This story was originally published June 25, 2026 at 12:26 PM with the headline "How aggressive will Hurricanes’ GM Eric Tulsky be after winning the Stanley Cup?."
