The Greatest Day Of My Life: Logan Stankoven Reflects On Winning The Stanley Cup With Carolina At 23
He was acquired at a trade deadline as part of the deal that sent Mikko Rantanen out of Carolina. He is 5-foot-8, 165 pounds. He led the Hurricanes with 11 playoff goals and won the Stanley Cup in his third NHL season.
Logan Stankoven stood on the ice at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday night, surrounded by his family and teammates, and could not find the words immediately. Then he found them. "For me, it's the greatest day of my life," he told reporters after the Carolina Hurricanes shut out the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 in Game 6 to claim the 2026 Stanley Cup. "I'm still a young kid. Not married yet. I don't have kids, so just being able to experience this with my family and my teammates, and all the staff. It's the work we've put in and how much my family has sacrificed for me that makes it so special."
Stankoven is a Stanley Cup champion at 23, in his third full NHL season, having led Carolina with 11 playoff goals and finishing fourth on the team in points with 16. He was a plus-8 across the postseason. In the final, he had two goals and two assists, including the assist on Jackson Blake's clinching goal in Game 6 against a Vegas team built around big, physically imposing defencemen.
The Trade That Changed Everything
Stankoven arrived in Raleigh in March 2025 as part of the trade that sent Mikko Rantanen to Dallas. He was upset about leaving the Stars, who drafted him and developed him, but the destination changed his perspective quickly. "I was obviously very upset to leave Dallas. And I think it was one of the best things that could ever happen to me. Just looking back on that, I was very thankful for what Dallas did for me. But I think just coming here and how welcoming everyone was right off the bat and how great this team was, we were able to add some key pieces in the offseason, everyone just stepped up at different times."
Size Was Never the Argument
At 5-foot-8 and 165 pounds, Stankoven has spent his career answering questions about whether his frame would hold up against power forwards and bigger defencemen at the NHL level. In Game 2 of the final, he drove behind the net and bumped Rasmus Andersson, who had five inches and 40 pounds on him, came out of the board battle with the puck and scored the goal that started Carolina's comeback in a 4-3 overtime win. The argument about his size effectively ended there.
"I always dreamt of lifting the Cup someday," he said. "I never knew it was going to happen this fast."