MORRISVILLE, N.C. (AP) — At first glance, Carolina Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky doesn't have a ton to do with the roster as the Stanley Cup champs head into the offseason.
Then again, the Hurricanes have never been the type to just sit back, either.
They're fresh off beating the Vegas Golden Knights to claim the Cup for the second time, the first coming 20 years ago when coach Rod Brind'Amour was captain. The team has most of its core locked up to long-term deals, though that won't stop the Hurricanes from looking to bolster the roster all the same.
“There’s always room to improve, there’s always spots we can get better,” Tulsky said Friday night after the first round of the NHL draft.
“Our goal is to build a team that even when we’re not playing our best, even when we have some injuries, we still can win the Cup. ... We need to keep taking steps to get to where we can be favorites year in and year out no matter what comes our way.”
The Hurricanes headed into the offseason with 36-year-old veteran Frederik Andersen — who anchored the net during Carolina's 12-1 march through the Eastern Conference playoffs — as their biggest-name unrestricted free agent. Reserve forward Nicolas Delauriers and seventh defenseman Mike Reilly were the other unrestricted free agents, though the Hurricanes signed Deslauriers to a two-year deal on the stage of their downtown-Raleigh championship rally.
There's another variable with defenseman Alexander Nikishin. The 24-year-old former top prospect became a lineup regular and worked in the third pairing through the playoffs, so the Hurricanes must decide whether to sign him — bridge or long-term — or potentially trade him.
Nikishin's name has been popular for trade speculation. Tulsky said the Hurricanes had to pivot quickly to draft preparations and next week's start of free agency, so contract negotiations for him hadn't been a priority yet.
“It's easy to punt for a little bit and let the dust settle and take care of the things that are pressing, then figure out where we're going to go from there,” Tulsky said.
There's another issue to monitor: the health of top-line forward Seth Jarvis. Tulsky said Jarvis is expected to be out up to six months after shoulder surgery, a timeline that would could linger into next season. That could open a lineup spot for rising prospect Bradly Nadeau or someone else.
The Hurricanes had been aggressive before in trying to push a perennial playoff team over the top, notably by adding Jake Guentzel and Mikko Rantanen to find more high-end finishers. But they ended up dealing Gutentzel's rights to Tampa Bay in summer 2024 shortly before his expected departure in free agency, then had to move Rantanen after just 13 games in 2025 when it became clear he wouldn't sign an extension.
The latter deal, however, worked in securing forward Logan Stankoven as the primary return from the Rantanen pivot. Stankoven centered the second line with Taylor Hall and Jackson Blake that scorched its way through the playoffs, with that trio combining for 25 goals and 55 points in the playoffs.
The question now is how much to tinker after rolling to a 16-3 playoff record en route to the Cup, especially with the roster set to return largely intact.
The motivation, though, won't change.
“I promise you, we're going to try to do it again,” Brind'Amour told fans during the team's championship rally.
Five of Carolina's top nine forwards are signed through at least 2030-31, while physical forward Andrei Svechnikov is signed through 2028-29. Among the outliers, 37-year-old captain Jordan Staal — who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP — and Jordan Martinook each have one more year on their deals.
Staal wasn't ready to retire on a high note, telling The North State Journal after the June 20 parade: “No, I want to win another one.”
As for defensemen, Jaccob Slavin and K'Andre Miller are notably lined up through 2032-33, while top-four defenseman Sean Walker is signed through 2028-29. Blue-liners Jalen Chatfield and Shayne Gostisbehere are each entering their final contract year.
Beyond Andersen in net, Stanley Cup Final hero Brandon Bussi is entering a three-year deal signed in February and reserve Pytor Kochetkov has one more year. on his deal.
“That can’t make you complacent,” Tulsky said of winning the Cup. “That can’t have you saying, ‘You know what? We’re fine where we are.’ Other teams are taking steps, things change year to year. We need to keep finding ways to get better every time we can.”
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL
The Carolina Hurricanes pose for photos after a win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Carolina Hurricanes' head coach Rod Brind'Amour speaks during Stanley Cup Celebration in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, June 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
Carolina Hurricanes lead the crowd in a final storm serge with Jordan Staal (11) holding the Stanley Cup during Stanley Cup Celebration in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, June 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
LA GUAIRA, Venezuela (AP) — The situation has grown more desperate by the hour in Venezuela as people dig through the rubble of collapsed homes and apartment buildings three days after the devastating one-two punch of 7.2 and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes, knowing time is running out to find survivors.
Authorities announced Friday night that they would block access to La Guaira, the epicenter of the destruction, as chaos and traffic began to hamper search efforts. Officials said anyone who wants to enter would now have to seek official permits, but provided few details of who would be allowed in.
Venezuelans took the search for missing loved ones into their own hands, citing a scarcity of government rescuers, as the human toll of Wednesday's quakes climbed to at least 920 dead and more than 51,000 missing. People reported seeing few state rescue teams in the hardest-hit areas, despite authorities projecting an image of a robust government response.
Aid agencies consider the first 48 to 72 hours to be a crucial time frame to retrieve people alive, though that can be extended if they have access to food and water.
“Each person saved is a miracle,” said Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly. “We are not going to hide absolutely anything about the magnitude of this tragedy."
In the state of La Guaira, just north of the capital, Caracas, Nazareth Jimenez sobbed into a loved one's shoulder as she watched neighbors use hammers and power tools to try to cut through slabs of concrete in a building reduced to a mountain of debris. She was wracked with anxiety as she waited to see if her siblings, nephews, nieces and friends would emerge alive.
“My God, how are we going to get them out of there?” Jimenez murmured.
“We're making a call for help to the government and countries across the world,” she said, pleading for machinery capable of moving collapsed structures. “There are still people alive in there.”
Government forces distributed food and water to survivors in La Guaira, and acting President Delcy Rodríguez said her government was mounting a full response during these “critical hours for rescuing people alive.”
She welcomed the arrival of international rescuers and humanitarian aid. She said La Guaira had been militarized and more help was on the way, even as residents said it was just a fraction of what they needed.
The disaster poses a huge challenge for Rodríguez, the former vice president who took office in January after the capture and removal of then-President Nicolás Maduro by the United States. Venezuela has been facing economic disarray for more than a decade, and many people reject the legitimacy of the political movement Rodríguez represents.
The number of dead was expected to climb, and people reported tens of thousands of missing on independent digital databases. Those figures likely included people who have been incommunicado due to the lack of cellphone signals, and some reports may be duplicates.
The number of injured was more than 3,300 as of midday Friday, and authorities said they rescued 243.
The International Organization for Migration said up to 6.76 million people could be affected, some 2 million of them in Caracas alone. The destruction was amplified by the quick succession of shallow quakes, experts said.
Loyce Pace, the International Red Cross’ regional director for the Americas, said “people are still terrified to reenter what were their homes.”
Indeed, many continued to sleep on the street.
Omar Reyes said around 20 family members died.
“I’ve been left alone in this life,” Reyes said, walking through the rubble where two of his children were buried.
In the city of Maiquetia, people lined up outside stores and pharmacies that served them one by one behind closed doors. At one point a woman in a crowd threw herself to the ground to protect a package of diapers with her body, desperate to keep it.
Traffic and throngs of motorcyclists at times disrupted search efforts. Mexican soldiers and volunteers repeatedly asked for silence to try to hear signs of life under the rubble, but bikers — civilian and uniformed — continued to honk horns and rev engines to the first responders' frustration.
Some people began to carry off basic goods such as toilet paper and food from stores in Catia La Mar, adjacent to the country’s main airport. Others swarmed a civilian pickup truck that was giving out bread and water, until a soldier intervened. The parking lot of a pharmacy turned into a makeshift shelter with tarps, hammocks and tents.
A few miles away, Yuleidy Cadenas, 28, stood across the street from a collapsed public housing building, hoping her son, mother and brother would be pulled out alive.
She fled barefoot from another building as it collapsed Wednesday and found her mother’s 12-floor apartment tower had pancaked.
“I got on top of the rubble and told them to yell back, and nobody did, not my brother, nor my son or my mother,” Cadenas said.
Venezuelan authorities said Friday that 861 volunteers from Mexico, the U.S., El Salvador, Switzerland, Colombia and beyond were in the country, and more were coming from elsewhere.
Acting President Rodríguez said she spoke to U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday and they reaffirmed their commitment to send rescue teams and aid equipment.
Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Associated Press journalists Clara Preve in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, contributed.
Residents and rescue workers search through the rubble two days after an earthquake struck in La Guaira, Venezuela, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Residents pull a body from the rubble two days after earthquakes struck La Guaira, Venezuela, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Rescue workers place Daniel Cordero on a stretcher after pulling him from the rubble two days after an earthquake struck Catia la Mar, Venezuela, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Residents walks through the rubble two days after earthquakes struck Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Residents and rescue workers search through the rubble two days after an earthquake struck La Guaira, Venezuela, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Juan Pablo Arraez)
