It’s a group Brind’Amour finds easy to endorse when it comes to those players who have been with him for much of, if not all of, this topsy-turvy eight-season roller coaster ride.
Consider that forwards Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook, and defenseman Jaccob Slavin, have been with the Hurricanes for Brind’Amour’s entire body of work. Forwards Seth Jarvis and Jesperi Kotkaniemi, and goalie Frederik Andersen, all came on board in 2021 and were part of the teams that reached the conference final two of the past three postseasons only to be handily eliminated by the Panthers on both occasions.
Management has done its part in augmenting the core with talent in the quest to push the team over the hump, including bringing in stars like Jake Guentzel and Mikko Rantanen in what proved to be short stints. This season the hope is that additions forward Nikolaj Ehlers, defenseman K’Andre Miller and feel-good story Brandon Bussi, the goalie Carolina claimed off waivers from the Panthers on Oct. 5, 2025, will finally lead Carolina to represent the Eastern Conference in the Final for the first time since 2006, the year they won the Cup for the only time in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers history.
Make no mistake about this, either. Each and every playoff disappointment digs deep in Brind’Amour’s gut.
You want incentive to keep coming back, to keep trying, to keep pushing the envelope?
For him, this is it.
“I don’t think you ever really get over it,” Brind’Amour said. “Like, you’re always like, ‘Man!’ It fuels you. At the same time, you have to ask things like, ‘What were the reasons we didn’t get it done? Why are we not getting to that next level?’ And then you try to relay it, and to figure out, ‘OK, how do we improve on that?’ And then, I mean, it’s just a challenge, right? At least for this group it is.
“Look, we obviously haven’t reached that final stage where we want. But I’ve never looked anyone in the eye and go, ‘Man, they haven’t brought everything they could.’ The reality is, we just haven’t been good enough. It would be different if we felt that, man, we were better than that team. But again, the reality has been that we’re just not quite there yet. And so that’s what’s fueled us. That’s why we’re continuing to grab players that we can grab and tweak this and that to finally, you know, get over that last step.”
The Hurricanes have positioned themselves to do just that when it comes to making another deep run. They lead the Pittsburgh Penguins by 10 points for first in the Metropolitan Division and are in good shape to secure home-ice advantage for at least the first two rounds of the playoffs.
Of course, Brind’Amour isn’t looking that far ahead. He never does.
“I mean, the NHL, if you look at big picture, it’s really hard,” he said. “It wears you right out. Like, it can be too much, so we don’t even look at standings. If you did that every day, it would kill you.
“We try to just focus on being the best version of what we are. And if that didn’t work out, let’s figure out why and try to improve the next day. And then when it’s all said and done, if that’s not good enough, then it’s not good enough.
“The bottom line: It’s really hard in this league, especially this year, with the compressed schedule the way it is, to be, you know, worrying too much about other things.”
One thing the Hurricanes don’t have to worry about: the passion and ability of their coach to lead their team. Because when things don’t work out, no one takes it harder than Brind’Amour, the 2021 recipient of the Jack Adams Award voted as NHL Coach of the Year.
