The NHL can keep handing out monster deals to young stars and still end up with the same old truth when the playoffs hit: the teams that survive are usually the ones with some mileage on them.
That’s the tension running through the league right now. Macklin Celebrini and Leo Carlsson have already landed huge contracts, with $18.8 million AAV and $18 million AAV deals, and clubs are clearly more willing to lock in franchise players early.
In a rising-cap world, those numbers are supposed to look smarter down the road. At the same time, the sport keeps leaning younger in certain spots, with more kids forcing their way into real roles.
The Carolina Hurricanes are a good example of that trend. During their Stanley Cup win, they got major contributions from Logan Stankoven, Jackson Blake, and Alexander Nikishin.
The youth was there. The speed was there.
But the broader pattern around the league still points in another direction.
According to PuckPedia, the Los Angeles Kings are the oldest team in the league by average age at 31.5. The Florida Panthers sit at 30.9, followed by the Colorado Avalanche at 30.5, the Toronto Maple Leafs at 30.3, and the Vegas Golden Knights at 30.2.
The rest of the top 10 includes the Minnesota Wild at 29.9, the New York Islander and Tampa Bay Lightning at 29.8, the New Jersey Devils at 29.7, and the Carolina Hurricanes at 29.6. Dallas and Edmonton are tied for 11th at 29.4.
That list lines up pretty neatly with the teams that keep hanging around the top of the bracket. Of the 12 teams mentioned, eight are legitimate Cup contenders for the coming season.
The recent playoff path tells the same story: Carolina and Vegas in last year’s final, Florida and Edmonton in the two seasons before that, Vegas and Florida in 2023, and Colorado and Tampa Bay in 2022. The league’s biggest stage has not exactly been a youth showcase.
The youngest teams tell a different story, but not necessarily a more successful one. PuckPedia’s bottom 10 starts with the Montreal Canadiens at 26.3 and the Chicago Blackhawks at 26.5.
Then come the Vancouver Canucks at 26.8, Buffalo Sabres at 27.0, Calgary Flames and Philadelphia Flyers at 27.2, New York Rangers at 27.3, San Jose Sharks at 27.4, Ottawa Senators at 27.5, and St. Louis Blues at 27.6.
Only two of those teams - Montreal and Buffalo - look like they have a real shot at the Cup this season. Montreal stands out because of how well its cap management has gone lately, with most of its strong young core locked into team-friendly deals.
Buffalo is in that conversation too. The rest are much more likely to spend time in the lottery than in a deep playoff run, even if some of them can surprise.
San Jose added veteran help in the offseason. Philadelphia showed some life last season and reached the second round.
Ottawa keeps pushing, even if losing its captain hurts.
That’s the basic shape of the modern NHL: young teams can flash, but old teams usually finish. The trade deadline still reflects that reality, with contenders chasing veteran presence for the playoff grind.
Experience keeps getting talked up for a reason. The grind of the Stanley Cup playoffs is brutal, and the league’s biggest moments still seem to reward players who have already been through them.
There’s also a simple reason this keeps happening: players are lasting longer. Training and body maintenance have changed, and more guys are producing well into their 40s, something that used to be far less common. Brad Marchand, Corey Perry, and Brent Burns are all examples of that.
Jordan Staal winning the Conn Smythe at 37 drove the point home again. The NHL may be getting younger, faster, and richer, but when the pressure is highest in May and June, veteran cores still tend to be the ones that get it done.
In Other News...
Nikishin Just Raised The Stakes In Carolinas Next Contract Call
The ripple effect from Macklin Celebrinis five-year, $94 million extension is already reaching beyond San Jose and into the next round of NHL contract talks, where top young defensemen will have plenty of numbers to study. For Carolina, the conversation has quickly turned to Alexander Nikishin, whose first notable contract ask is being viewed through the same lens as the deals elite players are landing elsewhere, especially as the market keeps creeping upward for impact blue-liners.
Nikishin is reportedly aiming above the $8 million-per-season range, a figure that would immediately reset expectations for a Hurricanes defenseman if it becomes the starting point in serious negotiations. What makes it even more interesting is that there still is not much clarity on the structure of the deal he wants, leaving Carolina with an important question to sort through well before the next contract cycle gets rolling. [Read more 🡒]
The Worst Hurricanes Playoff Pain Still Defines This Team
The Hurricanes have built plenty of good regular seasons in recent years, but their playoff history still carries the weight of three Eastern Conference finals that ended badly. A retrospective ranking of the franchises postseason series puts those defeats at the bottom of the list, with the 2019 loss to Boston standing out for how thoroughly Carolina was controlled, while the 2009 meeting with Pittsburgh is remembered more for being competitive before slipping away.
For a team that has been close enough to taste a Stanley Cup Final berth, those series remain a reminder of how narrow the margin can be at that stage. Even in a rankings exercise, the same theme keeps surfacing for Carolina: when the pressure rises in the Eastern Conference finals, the Hurricanes have too often found themselves one step short of the breakthrough they were chasing. [Read more 🡒]
Hurricanes Face A Tough Alexander Nikishin Decision As Talks Drag On
Contract talks around young defenseman Alexander Nikishin have become one of the more intriguing loose ends of the Hurricanes offseason, and the uncertainty has only grown as the calendar has moved along. As Carolina weighs its next move, Nikishin remains a restricted free agent whose long-term fit is suddenly harder to read, especially with the team still trying to sort out what kind of commitment makes sense for a player with his upside.
The wrinkle is that the situation is no longer just about a simple bridge deal or a routine bit of summer housekeeping. Nikishins camp is pushing for a big-ticket contract, while Carolina has to balance that ask against the rest of its roster planning and the reality that his name has already surfaced in trade conversations. For a club built on structure and patience, it is the kind of decision that can shape more than one season. [Read more 🡒]