Tim Cowlishaw: How should Stars fans feel after watching Logan Stankoven, Hurricanes win Stanley Cup?
DALLAS - In a span of 24 hours, Jalen Brunson became King of New York and Logan Stankoven hoisted the Stanley Cup for the Carolina Hurricanes after finishing third in the Conn Smythe (playoff MVP) voting. Both can be greeted by sadness by Dallas fans although there couldn't be a more striking disparity in what the Mavericks and Stars received in return for their former young stars.
That would be Mikko Rantanen and nothing.
We have had enough discussion on how the Mavs should feel about their mindless handling of Brunson a few years back. How should Stars fans feel about Carolina, led in the early rounds by the young Stankoven, beating Dallas to a second Stanley Cup?
The first answer that comes to mind is "really good." For the 2024 and 2025 playoff runs, Carolina was basically Stars East. Sound enough to beat anyone in the first two rounds, unable to crack through the Eastern Conference finals. In fact, Rod Brind'Amour's squad lost three conference finals - 2019, 2024, 2025 - before blowing through the playoffs this spring with a remarkable 16-3 record. That suggests that a well-structured team that knocks on the conference finals door often enough can one day bust it down.
Stankoven did not develop quite as instantly as Wyatt Johnston after moving up to Dallas but he has blown past him in the playoffs with 11 goals and 16 points in this postseason. Only captain Jordan Staal, the winner, and Taylor Hall received more votes for the Smythe Award. The Hurricanes have further capitalized on the Rantanen trade by dealing this year's first-round pick from Dallas to New York for K'Andre Miller, a 6-5 big-minutes defenseman who had nine assists and was a plus-12 in the playoffs. They still have another first-rounder (2028) and two threes (2026 and 2027) coming from Dallas.
It's not the trade that should bother Stars fans. There's no reason Rantanen won't be an outstanding player for five or six more years. He can lead this team to that elusive second Stanley Cup.
Staal and Brind'Amour should be the concerns.
Staal is the 37-year-old captain who has not been a scorer of any kind the last few years for Carolina - no 40-point seasons since 2018 - who turned back the clock in the playoffs to be their best player. Staal scored goals in five straight Cup Final games, tying a record held mostly by legendary Montreal Canadiens (Jean Beliveau, Yvan Cournoyer, Rocket Richard).
This brings us to the Stars captain, and I said a year ago I think the time had come for the team to move on from Jamie Benn. That's not to disparage him, it's to recognize the importance the captain's role plays in hockey and how the C needs to be worn by a player delivering in big moments in some fashion. Look across the ice from Carolina, and there's 34-year-old Mark Stone, who's had his run-ins with the Stars and Benn. He could be considered a similar "on the edge" player as Benn if Stone weren't still in his prime as a scorer.
Stone averaged 1.2 points per game this season (73 in 60 games). It's the best of his career and better than at any point in Benn's career. He was a point-a-game guy last year at 33, still giving Vegas 19 minutes a night. Benn is down in the 13 minutes range, he's only scoring .6 points per game the last two regular seasons and his contributions at that end have vanished in the playoffs - one goal (power play) in 24 games the last two years.
If Benn returns for another season at a cut-rate price, the club needs to put the C on Rantanen's chest and ask him to lead them to the Cup. That simple. They have other issues, of course, like finding the money to pay Jason Robertson, but he's not part of any captain discussion. It's a crucial element that I think the Stars have missed the last few years that management should recognize and resolve.
Beyond that, there is Brind'Amour and there is Glen Gulutzan. The Stars had the veteran coach with the proven playoff track record (albeit missing the Cup) in Pete DeBoer, but they moved on when he lost the team over the Jake Oettinger benching. Gulutzan did about everything you could want an unproven head coach to do until it got to the Minnesota series. Then the Stars simply lost to a team that was their equal in six games.
That happens. But what if it happens again? Gulutzan is looking for his initial playoff series win at a time the team wants to be bringing home a Cup. Are they operating on two different tracks? Can Gulutzan leap past the trials and tribulations that Brind'Amour endured for eight years in Carolina to discover the promised land?
That's not a question the Stars want to address right now. A head coach deserves three or four seasons to prove himself. But this is also the NHL. No one's waiting on anybody. The coach who beat the Stars in their last two conference finals, Kris Knoblauch, is already out at Edmonton.
The Oilers aren't waiting (although they appear to be courting disaster with Mike Babcock - their problem, not ours). Vegas is still knocking on the door. Colorado will be healthier next time around. If Minnesota keeps Quinn Hughes, the Wild are right there, too.
I think a Carolina win gives Stars fans some hope that patience can be rewarded. But it also asks some questions that the club doesn't want to even deal with right now.
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This story was originally published June 16, 2026 at 2:39 AM.