The Carolina Hurricanes return to the ice Tuesday night to start the new season. Before the puck drops, they'll raise their 2026 Stanley Cup Championship banner into the rafters.

General manager Eric Tulsky met with the media Monday, the eve of a new season in which the Canes will try to defend their Stanley Cup championship.

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Nearly the entire team returns with experience in Rod Brind'Amour's aggressive, high-pressure system, which demands conditioning and relentless effort. All 23 players on the Canes' projected opening-night roster were in Raleigh last season.

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"There is an upside to having the status quo," Tulsky said during a news conference at Lenovo Center. "We have players who hit the ground running from Day 1; they know what to do, they know what's expected of them. There are always little wrinkles to learn, but the system as a whole is something that everybody out there understands from Day 1. Hopefully that shows up in the cohesiveness when we hit the ice."

Training camp was framed as a "new journey," and despite a celebratory summer, Tulsky said some players arrived at camp 20 to 25 pounds lighter, easing concerns about complacency.

"It's also just sort of an attitude," Tulsky said. "Talking to people about how they want to approach Game 1, Game 2, Game 3, you can see nobody is thinking beyond tomorrow. Everybody understands they've got a new job to do."

Tulsky is entering his third season as general manager. The Canes have reached the playoffs in eight consecutive seasons and have won at least one series in each of those appearances.

Seth Jarvis' injury recovery

Tulsky said Jarvis is continuing his rehabilitation after undergoing shoulder surgery in June. He was placed on the injured non-roster list.

The original timeline called for Jarvis to miss four to six months, but he said during training camp that he was ahead of schedule in his recovery.

"He's an incredibly driven player and he has done absolutely everything he can to keep his injury timeline as short as possible," Tulsky said. "If it were up to him, I bet he'd be in the lineup tomorrow, but ultimately it's up to his body and the medical staff. We'll see over the coming weeks how the finishing touches on his rehab go and when he's ready to go."

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Alexander Nikishin contract situation

Defenseman Alexander Nikishin remained an unsigned restricted free agent during the offseason and was not on the training camp roster.

Nikishin played 81 regular-season games last season, scoring 11 goals and adding 22 assists for 33 points.

"We're trying to find a resolution," Tulsky said. "He has largely kept things out of the media, and I want to be respectful and make sure that when players talk to me, they know it's just between us. And so if they're not talking to the media, I'm not going to either. Both sides are trying to find a resolution and figure out how we go forward from there."

On prospects Bradly Nadeau and Felix Unger Sörum

"They both played extremely well in the preseason, did everything they could, earned a ton of trust from Rod, and I know they will be here this season," Tulsky said. "I don't know if it will be 15 games or 70, but they're clearly ready.

"That being said, we had a lineup of skaters at a ring ceremony last night, and it's a tough team to crack right now."

On keeping three goaltenders

The Canes are opening the season with three goaltenders: Brandon Bussi, Pyotr Kochetkov and Cayden Primeau.

Bussi and Kochetkov are expected to be the primary tandem after Frederik Andersen left during the offseason, while Primeau's strong play during training camp moved him into the picture.

"The mechanics of an opening-night roster are a little complicated," Tulsky said. "We have a trust in him, and he's an important part of our organizational depth at the position. And so we're gonna go with three goalies and see where we go."

On re-signing Pyotr Kochetkov

"He's an important part of our team, he's played well for us, won a lot of games, plays an aggressive style that really fits with the way we play," Tulsky said. "We saw an opportunity to get a deal done that both sides were happy with to take this off our plate and move forward."

On opening night

"It's really special to be part of this," Tulsky said. "There's some players on the team who are veterans who haven't had the chance before, and I wanted it for them so bad. Getting to see them get it is really gratifying. Feeling like I played a role in how that happened is really special to me."

The Canes' opening-night opponent, the Florida Panthers, are a common pick to win the Stanley Cup again. Florida won championships in 2024 and 2025 but failed to reach the postseason in 2026. Florida eliminated the Canes from the postseason during both of its championship runs.

"They're a great team and we've had some great battles with them over the years," Tulsky said. "I think last year's Cup is ours until the puck drops tomorrow, and then it's up for grabs."

Jordan Staal, who has been Carolina's full-time captain since the 2019 season, keeps the 'C' for this year and Sebastian Aho, Jaccob Slavin and Jordan Martinhook are alternate captains.

The puck drops Tuesday at 5 p.m.