Why Is Logan Stankoven Selling Sticks on Facebook Marketplace Even a Story?

So this made the rounds a couple weeks ago. Somebody in Kamloops, British Columbia was scrolling Facebook Marketplace and found Logan Stankoven, fresh off a Stanley Cup, selling two brand new Warrior sticks for 175 Canadian each. Screenshots went everywhere. B/R Open Ice picked it up. For about two days the hockey internet decided this was hilarious and a little scandalous.

And my honest reaction was: why is this a story at all?

Here is the entire thing, start to finish. A hockey player had some extra sticks. He listed them locally for about half what they cost at retail. That is the whole event. I genuinely do not understand what the scandal is supposed to be.

I think the only reason it traveled is the salary number. Stankoven signed an eight-year, 48 million dollar extension last summer, so the joke writes itself. Millionaire selling sticks on Marketplace, ha. Except that deal does not even start until this coming season. Last year he was still on his entry level contract, and players only get paid during the season anyway. But even setting all that aside, so what? Guys get flooded with free gear from their equipment sponsors. Selling the overflow instead of letting it pile up in a garage is the most normal thing in the world.

Players have been selling sticks to fans out of arena parking lots for decades. The only thing new here is that this time there was a screenshot. Somebody in Kamloops actually got a great deal on brand new pro sticks with a real paper trail, and honestly, good for them.

So no, this is not a story to me. But it did make me think about Stankoven, and that is worth a few words.

Because what a year he had for us. Carolina got him from Dallas at the 2025 deadline, and he turned into exactly the kind of player this team is built on. In the championship run he put up 11 goals and 5 assists, which is real production from a guy who plays bigger than his size and never takes a shift off. He is 22. He just signed here long term. And he was right in the middle of the group that finally got this franchise over the top.

That is the actual Stankoven story. Not a Facebook listing. A young, relentless forward locked up for eight years who just helped win a Cup and is going to be a problem for the rest of the league for a long time.

Let the man clean out his garage. We got the important part.

Go Canes.