Heading into the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina, the Carolina Hurricanes are sending five players to represent their countries. Between the USA, Denmark, Canada, and Finland, there is a lot of international hockey for Hurricanes fans to watch during the three-week break. Before that begins, however, how have the three new members of the Hurricanes played so far this 2025-26 season heading into the break? What grades would they get after 57 games?
Nikolaj Ehlers
The first player is Nikolaj Ehlers, who will be representing Denmark at the Olympics. Despite not scoring in the first 11 games for the Hurricanes, the Danish forward has been on a tear since then. In the last 46 games, he has 14 goals, 25 assists, and 39 points. Out of the 14 goals, five have come on the power play, and another three were game-winners. Furthermore, 12 of his 25 assists over that span have come on the power play. Even with a slow start to the season, Ehlers has been almost a point-per-game player, doing it all at 5v5 and on special teams.
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He’s seen time on the top line, second line, and most recently the third line with Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook. Ehlers can fit anywhere in the lineup and use his dynamic skillset of speed, stickhandling, and hockey IQ. He is a one-man zone entry on the power play, and he fits the nickname “Fly” perfectly.
Even his style of play, of reading breakouts and using some great passes to break out teammates, has blended throughout the lineup. His teammates are making Ehlers-esque passes that they have not done before. Overall for the season, Ehlers has 14 goals, 29 assists, and 43 points in 57 games. He is tied for second on the team in assists (Shayne Gostisbehere) and tied for third in points (Seth Jarvis). Even with taking until Game 12 to score his first goal with the Hurricanes, Ehlers has lived up to the hype of his six-year deal and much more.
Grade: A-
Brandon Bussi
The second player on the grading list is netminder Brandon Bussi. He has taken the hockey world by storm as the fastest goalie to 10, 18, and 20 wins to begin a career. Currently, he is 23-3-1 through his first 27 starts of his NHL career. The thing is, he was not on the Hurricanes roster through training camp. He was claimed off waivers mere days before their home opener on Oct. 9. Fast forward to Feb. 5, after earning the second shutout of his career, he sits with 23 wins in his first season in the NHL.
After playing 111 games in the American Hockey League (AHL), Bussi is in some good company when it comes to stats for 2025-26. He is currently tied for third in wins (23) with Jake Oettinger, who has started 37 games compared to Bussi’s 27. They are both only behind Karel Vejmelka and Andrei Vasilevskiy, who each have 27 wins. Vejmelka has started 44 games, while Vasilevskiy has started 37. When it comes to save percentage (SV%), Bussi is 13th with a .908, and Casey DeSmith is 10th with a .911. In terms of SV% for Bussi, when he sees less than 25 shots a game, that stat line behind the Hurricanes doesn’t do justice for how he’s played this season.
The stat that does, however, is goals-against average (GAA). Bussi is second in the NHL when it comes to GAA for goalies with 20 starts or more, with a 2.16. He is only .05 behind Vasilevskiy, who has a 2.11. Bussi is that close to a Vezina Trophy winner and Stanley Cup champion, all while playing in 10 fewer games, and was considered a third-string goalie to begin the season. Bussi has taken over in Carolina, and after 27 starts this season, it’s easy to give him the highest grade possible.
Grade: A+
K’Andre Miller
The final player on the grade sheet is defenseman K’Andre Miller. He is in the first season of his eight-year deal, where he has four goals, 19 assists, and 23 points in 49 games. He has missed eight games due to injury, but has had an okay season so far. He is fifth on the team in assists and 10th in points. Miller is already one assist away from tying last season’s total (20) in almost 24 fewer games. Furthermore, he is four points away from the 27 he had in 74 games with the New York Rangers in 2024-25.
Miller has already surpassed his power-play point total (three) in fewer games and scored the second-ever power-play goal of his career (his last one was in 2021-22). He is currently in the middle of a career high in average time on ice (22:29). The most he had before the 2025-26 season was 21:57, twice, in 2022-23 and 2024-25. There have been some growing pains for Miller this season. There are some games where he will play like the defenseman the Hurricanes traded for back on July 1, while others, he will misread a play or pinch at the wrong time to cause an odd-man rush.
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However, Miller’s size and length have given him the ability to make some key plays in the defensive zone for the Hurricanes. Furthermore, it’s his first 49 games in a new system that he’s never played before, after spending the first five seasons of his career with the Rangers. The Hurricanes’ system is known to be an adjustment period for defensemen, and Miller is going through the same process as Brent Burns, Sean Walker, Shayne Gostisbehere, Jalen Chatfield and others have had to go through.
That said, when it comes to a new system, especially for a defenseman, it’s fair to give the benefit of the doubt and a ton of leeway when thrown into the Hurricanes system. Despite some games where he has looked off at times, he has played more good than bad in 2025-26, and will get better as the season progresses.
Grade: B-
When it comes down to it, all three of the new guys have been solid for the Hurricanes in 2025-26. There are still a good amount of games left in the season, and they will continue to get better. The Hurricanes are 36-15-6 on the season with 78 points. As long as Ehlers, Bussi, and Miller keep taking their games to another level, there is no doubt they will win another Metropolitan Division title, and hopefully make another deep playoff run in season eight of the Rod Brind’Amour era.
