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Stankoven scores eventual game winner in debut for Carolina

Paul James
Mar 9, 2025 | 6:13 PM


Stankoven scores eventual game winner in debut for Carolina

Kamloops NHL rookie Logan Stankoven celebrates after scoring in his first game as a Carolina Hurricane Sunday, after being moved from Dallas at the 2025 NHL trade deadline/via Canes on X

It was supposed to have been a family reunion to wrap up his weekend.

The hollers and cheering of some 400 Kamloops faithful were expected to greet Logan Stankoven as he took to the ice for the warm-ups on Sunday in Vancouver.

Instead, the NHL rookie found himself three time-zones and 3,850 kilometers away from Rogers Arena, wearing a uniform and a number he didn’t have until he hit the practice ice the day before.

But rather than shrink and let the disappointment of a missed family reunion and the adoration of home-town fans absorb him, the 22-year old would instead turn the challenge into an opportunity.

Stankoven, placed on the top line and the first power-play unit on the right wing beside Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov, would take advantage, tipping in a point shot from Shayne Gostisbehere on the power play early in the 3rd for his first goal as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes.

That goal would be the eventual game winner, as Stankoven and the Hurricanes would beat the top team in the NHL, the Winnipeg Jets 4-2 Sunday afternoon.

Stankoven arrived for his first practice with his new team on Saturday, a day after he was the active player component of a major trade the Dallas Stars pulled off to secure Miko Rantanen from Carolina, with just a couple of hours left ahead of Friday’s trade deadline.

The 22-year old, who was disappointed in leaving the team that drafted him in speaking with Radio NL on Friday, had expected to be in the line-up for Dallas against the Canucks on Sunday, where friends, family and fans from Kamloops were headed by the hundreds to support him.

While disappointed with leaving Dallas, the fans and team in North Carolina have been quick to embrace him, as well as Mark Jankowski, who the Hurricanes also picked up on ‘deadline day’ from the Nashville Predators, who picked up the first two goals of the game against Winnipeg.

Carolina is in a similar position in the standings as the team Stankoven left.

The Hurricanes sit 2nd in the Metropolitan Division behind the Eastern Conference-leading Washington Capitals.

The Stars sit 2nd in the Central Division, behind Western Conference-leading Winnipeg.

Sign written by a fan welcoming Kamloops NHL rookie Logan Stankoven to the Carolina Hurricanes, after he was traded to the team on Friday at the NHL trade deadline/via Canes on X