Recap of Stanley Cup Final from 31 May 2026

The Golden Knights and Hurricanes are both vying for their second Stanley Cup in their third trip to the Final – Vegas in its ninth season and Carolina in its 46th (28th as the Hurricanes) – with both captains, Mark Stone and Jordan Staal, also looking to cap “The Playoff Grind” with a second championship

* Both teams will hit the ice today at Lenovo Center – Carolina at 11 a.m. ET, Vegas at 1 p.m. ET – before holding availabilities during 2026 Stanley Cup Final Media Day.

* The 2026 Stanley Cup Final Interactive Information Guide is now available on the League’s Media site.

THE PLAYOFF GRIND: CAPTAINS CHASING ANOTHER CUP

The quest for the Stanley Cup brings players, coaches, executives and fans alike back to the ice shift after shift, game after game, series after series and season after season. Throughout the 2026 Stanley Cup Final, #NHLStats will highlight that pursuit in “The Playoff Grind” series.

* Mark Stone has paired resilience with production throughout his 14-season NHL career, highlighted by a hat trick on home ice three years ago when Vegas secured its first Stanley Cup. Stone, acquired by Vegas in its second season (2018-19) and the only captain the club has ever known, was the first player in more than a century to score a hat trick in a Stanley Cup-clinching win when he did so in 2023. In the years since, Stone has added a 4 Nations Face-Off championship and Olympic silver medal with Canada – both claimed alongside Mitch Marner, Shea Theodore and Seth Jarvis while opposing Americans Jack Eichel, Noah Hanifin and Jaccob Slavin.

* Stone leads the 2010 NHL Draft class – in which Taylor Hall went first overall – in career playoff points despite being the 178th overall pick (6th round). After brief stints with Ottawa across two seasons, Stone broke into the NHL full-time in 2014-15 when he was a runner-up for the Calder Trophy, his first of three times as an NHL Awards finalist (Frank J. Selke Trophy: 2x). Known as “Expressive Mark Stone,” the 34-year-old has overcome injuries throughout his career – including missing five games this postseason – but enters his second Final with a point in four straight games (3-2—5) on the heels of the highest-producing season of his career (1.22 P/GP).

* Jordan Staal, 37, is the oldest player in the 2026 Stanley Cup Final and is seeking to become the first player in NHL history to go at least 17 years from his first Cup to his second. Staal got his first taste of the Final before even entering the NHL, attending as a 17-year-old draft prospect in 2006 when his brother, Eric Staal, was competing alongside now-head coach Rod Brind’Amour en route to Carolina’s only championship to date. Taken second overall that year behind now-ESPN analyst Erik Johnson, Staal waited only three years to lift the Stanley Cup for the first time – eliminating his brother and the Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final before winning with the 2009 Penguins.

* The career arc now comes full circle for a player who “does everything” for the team that acquired him 14 years ago this month – including posting his sixth career 20-goal season in 2025-26 and first in a decade. The longest-tenured player and captain in team history, Staal has established himself as the organizational standard-bearer, appearing in every playoff game during the club’s run of eight straight postseason appearances (alongside Sebastian Aho for each of them). Staal has been a finalist for the Calder Trophy and twice for the Frank J. Selke Trophy – just like his captain counterpart on Vegas – and, also like Stone, is now four wins away from completing the playoff grind for a second time.

MONDAY’S MEDIA DAY HAS MIX OF PLAYERS HOPING FOR FIRST title, PAST WINNERS
The 2026 Stanley Cup Final Media Day takes place at Lenovo Center today with the Hurricanes and Golden Knights set to hold availabilities after their respective practices.

* Jordan Staal (13 GP; 2009 & 2008 SCF) and William Carrier (6 GP; 2023 & 2018 SCF) are Carolina’s only players that have dressed at least one game this postseason with Stanley Cup Final experience, while Vegas features 13 led by Brandon Saad (12 GP; 2015 & 2013 SCF) and Ivan Barbashev (11 GP; 2023 & 2019 SCF) as well as “Golden Misfits” William Karlsson (10 GP; 2023 & 2018 SCF), Brayden McNabb (10 GP; 2023 & 2018 SCF), Reilly Smith (10 GP; 2023 & 2018 SCF) and Shea Theodore (10 GP; 2023 & 2018 SCF). Of note, Jesperi Kotkaniemi also skated three games with the Canadiens in the 2021 Final but has yet to play in these playoffs.

* Staal, Saad, Colton Sissons (6 GP; 2017 SCF) and Tomas Hertl (2 GP; 2016 SCF) are the four players with Stanley Cup Final experience who did not appear in the 2023 championship series. Hertl’s 873 career regular-season games mark the second most among Golden Knights or Hurricanes players without a Cup behind Taylor Hall (989 GP), who is set to make his Final debut nearly 16 years after going first overall in the 2010 NHL Draft.

* Barbashev (2023 VGK & 2019 STL) and Saad (2015 & 2013 CHI) are the only two-time Stanley Cup winners on either roster as they look to become the latest players with three championships. They are among 12 current Vegas players with a title (also Karlsson, McNabb, Smith, Theodore, Jack Eichel, Adin Hill, Brett Howden, Ben Hutton, Keegan Kolesar & Mark Stone; all w/ 2023 VGK), while the two for Carolina are Carrier (2023 VGK) and Staal (2009 PIT).

GET TO KNOW: MITCH MARNER AND SEBASTIAN AHO
The 2015 NHL Draft is on full display during the 2026 Stanley Cup Final, with seven players from the class having participated in the postseason (6 w/ VGK, 1 w/ CAR) – including three of the top five picks. Golden Knights forward Mitch Marner (No. 4 by TOR) and Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho (No. 35) are two stars among the cluster who are set to appear in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time.

* Marner is competing past the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in his career and enters the Final as the NHL’s leading scorer (7-14—21). The first-year Golden Knights star has multiple championships on his resume after leading the London Knights to both OHL and Memorial Cup titles in 2015-16. His 16-28—44 (18 GP) and 2-12—14 (4 GP) were crucial in each MVP-winning performance, respectively.

* His point-producing ways have since translated into the NHL by means of 40 or more assists in each of his first 10 career campaigns – a stretch bested by only six players in League history: Marcel Dionne (16 seasons), Wayne Gretzky (15 seasons), Dale Hawerchuk (13 seasons, Artemi Panarin (11 seasons), Peter Stastny (11 seasons) and Bobby Smith (11 seasons).

* Marner enters the Final with a three-point edge on the next-highest scorer in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, teammate and fellow 2015 selection Jack Eichel (2-16—18; No. 2 by BUF). Marner can become the fourth player in the NHL’s modern era (since 1944) to lead the playoffs in points in his first season with a franchise, alongside Ryan O’Reilly (2019 w/ STL), Frank Mahovlich (1971 w/ MTL) and Bill Goldsworthy (1968 w/ MNS).

* The Hurricanes have qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in eight of 10 seasons since Aho first debuted in 2016-17, including every postseason since 2018-19, which comes on the heels of multiple on-ice successes for the Rauma, Finland, native following Rookie of the Year honors in 2013-14 with Kärpät U20 of Finland’s SM-liiga and a silver medal-winning performance with the Suomi during the 2014 World Junior Championships. If Carolina wins, it will mark the second time in NHL history that at least one Finnish player captures the Stanley Cup in three consecutive postseasons (it happened from 2015 to 2017).

* Aho has been a consistent playoff performer since entering the NHL and tops the franchise in all-time playoff goals, assists and points. Already the first player in NHL history to register 10-plus points in each of his first seven postseasons, Aho (4-3—7 in 13 GP) enters the Final three points shy of becoming the fifth to record eight consecutive at any point in their career. He would join Wayne Gretzky (11 from 1981-91), Mark Messier (10 from 1983-92), Brad Marchand (8 from 2018-25) and Bernie Geoffrion (8 from 1953-60).

* His connection with Carolina began well before taking his first strides on NHL ice. A 13-year-old Aho was one of 12,355 fans in attendance at Hartwall Areena in Helsinki, Finland, where the Hurricanes and Wild went head-to-head in the 2010 Premiere Series – his first NHL game. Eric Staal, brother of current teammate and captain Jordan Staal, appeared in the contest.

SWEDEN STARS FREQUENT TOP OF DRAFT BOARD

Three of the top five ranked international skaters for the 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft hail from Sweden including Ivar Stenberg (No. 1 ITL), Viggo Bjorck (No. 4 ITL) and Elton Hermansson (No. 5 ITL). Stenberg (4-4—8 in 8 GP) and Bjorck (1-5—6 in 8 GP) just finished playing for their country at the 2026 World Championship where they skated with and against many NHL players – only Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond had more points among Team Sweden forwards in the tournament.

* Stenberg could become the ninth Swedish-born player to be selected among the top three picks in an NHL Draft and should he go first, would join Mats Sundin (1989) and Rasmus Dahlin (2018) as the only players from his country chosen with the No. 1 pick. Sundin is the Senior Executive Advisor of Hockey Operations for the Maple Leafs and was on hand when the team won the lottery and the right to select first overall, while Dahlin is the captain of the Sabres, the host team for this year’s draft.

* Round 1 of the 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft will take place on Friday, June 26 (7 p.m. ET, ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS) from KeyBank Center in Buffalo. Rounds 2‑7 will be held on Saturday, June 27 (11 a.m. ET, NHLN, ESPN+, SN).

* CLICK HERE for #NHLStats Pack: Looking Ahead to the 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft