Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
If it’s June, chances are good that Carolina Hurricanes prospects are chasing down the Calder Cup.
Paired up with the Charlotte Checkers, Hurricanes hopefuls won the Calder Cup in 2019. Affiliated with the Chicago Wolves, another title followed in 2022.
And now they are back again. Game 1 of the best-of-seven 2026 Calder Cup Finals against the Toronto Marlies is tonight at Allstate Arena (8 ET, 
, Sportsnet 360, NHL Network Radio).
With the Hurricanes up 3-2 in the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights, the Carolina organization has a chance for the ultra-rare double-championship: a Stanley Cup and a Calder Cup in the same year. It has been 31 years since that last happened, when the New Jersey Devils and Albany River Rats accomplished it.
Getting to this point has been a winding journey, and the challenges started long before the Calder Cup Playoffs ever arrived.
Carolina’s preseason goaltending plans for the Wolves took a very early hit. Offseason acquisition Cayden Primeau, targeted to be Chicago’s number-one in net, never made it to the Wolves back in October. The Toronto Maple Leafs grabbed him off waivers from Carolina on Oct. 6, and he spent the first month of the season in the NHL. That left Chicago cycling newcomers Ruslan Khazheyev, Amir Miftakhov and Nikita Quapp through auditions in the crease.
But Carolina claimed Primeau back off waivers Nov. 8, and the Wolves had a netminder back who twice took the Laval Rocket to the Eastern Conference Finals.
More change awaited just 22 games into Chicago’s season, however. Carolina dismissed head coach Cam Abbott and installed assistant Spiros Anastas in an interim capacity. That decision paid off well in the final 50 games as the Wolves went 25-14-5-6. Anastas got a job reclassification – dropping that interim tag – April 20.
A scorching start for the Grand Rapids Griffins had quickly made the race for the Central Division lead a rout. Still, the Wolves stayed steady enough to eventually claim second place despite a frequent dose of the Griffins on their schedule.
Finishing second hardly brought much of a reward when they got a tough, playoff-tested opponent in the Texas Stars to start this run. Texas had gone to the Western Conference Finals a year ago and returned several key players. But the Wolves faced them head-on. The teams had to go to a deciding Game 5, but the Wolves put Texas away with a 6-1 win on home ice.
Next came those Griffins, a team that had finished 20 points clear of the 36-21-8-7 Wolves in the regular season. Instead the Wolves went to Van Andel Arena and secured a pair of one-goal wins. They dropped Game 3 at home before finishing off the 51-win, 107-point Griffins in four games.
The gauntlet continued, this time in the Western Conference Finals facing the Colorado Eagles. Another experienced opponent, the Eagles had blazed through their own playoff path, including taking out the red-hot Henderson Silver Knights. Again, however, the Wolves showed that they could go into a difficult building and win a playoff game. They took Game 1, lost Game 2, and then split Games 3 and 4 in Chicago.
All along Primeau gave them reliable goaltending, going 8-6 with a 2.58 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage.
However, it looked like the end might be near a week ago. Colorado dominated the Wolves in Game 5 at Allstate Arena, blowing out the hosts, 7-3. Colorado’s unyielding collection of offensive talent across four lines and a dominant blue line appeared to be taking over. Even worse, Primeau could not go in Game 6.
In stepped Miftakhov, whose only work since April 18 had been a seven-minute replacement stint in Game 5. In his first career Calder Cup Playoff start, he gave the Wolves 36 saves in Game 6 at Colorado for a 3-2 third-period comeback win that staved off elimination. He had to do it all again one night later, and he had. Miftakhov’s 39 saves carried the Wolves to a 4-3 Game 7 victory that pushed them onward to the Calder Cup Finals.
And so here the Wolves are, Western Conference champions for the sixth time in 25 seasons as members of the American Hockey League. A dependable blueline headed by veteran Juuso Välimäki has rounded into form through this long postseason trek. A host of Hurricanes prospects up front have helped to power this playoff run, too. Bradly Nadeau has strengthened his case further for eventual full-time NHL work and after a 27-goal regular season he has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 16 playoff games. Noah Philp, Justin Robidas, Ivan Ryabkin, and Ryan Suzuki give Chicago strong offensive support with top prospect Felix Unger Sörum having missed the past five games.
With that young talent getting a chance to go through the Calder Cup Playoffs, Carolina’s already-bright future looks even more luminous well beyond this Stanley Cup Final.
One more step remains for the Wolves to lift the Calder Cup for the fourth time. Friday is show time.
