Hurricanes’ Stankoven grows into 1st year as 2nd-line center, gets hot start to the NHL playoffs
RALEIGH, N.C. — It had been a while since the Carolina Hurricanes had finished practice, with players coming and going from the locker room. Yet Logan Stankoven was still on the ice, leaving a crowd of reporters patiently waiting at his locker. HT Image Such is the dynamic for the 23-year-old as the Eastern Conference’s top seed heads into Round 2 of the NHL playoffs to face the Philadelphia Flyers. Stankoven has been rolling at nearly a point-per-game pace going back to mid-March, including scoring in every game of Carolina’s first-round sweep of Ottawa. Beyond the immediacy of that spotlight, though, is the other piece of Stankoven’s story: the Hurricanes are betting he can keep growing into the role as second-line center, coming after spending multiple seasons searching for an answer there. “Some guys are able to just jump right into the league and produce right away,” Stankoven said. “I think for me, it’s taken me a little bit longer to get where I want to be. I’m still not a finished product. I just …









