I have another vote for Brindy, and another reason, aside from his incredible play and invaluable leadership through all three playoff runs.
When he was traded here in 2000, he made it clear he was here to compete and to win. This is important because up to that point, the Whaler/Canes were pretty much a joke around the league and not an attractive destination for anybody. Sure, a 35-year-old Ron Francis signed here two seasons prior, but he was on the backside of his career and had a history with the franchise. Even though he was not happy leaving Philadelphia, Brindy handled it like the pro that he is, and set his sights on willing Carolina into relevance.
This is important because it finally put an end to the bloodbath that was the Chris Pronger trade. Pronger begat Shanahan, who was immediately named captain despite demanding a trade before his plane landed. Shanahan begat Primeau, who held out and whined his way out of town after two seasons. Primeau begat Brindy, and for the first time, we saw how a professional handled a trade he didn't like -- because he just wanted to play hockey.
IMO, without Brindy coming in the way he did and validating this franchise, I have serious doubts that we'd be where we are right now. Again, you can argue that RF did that two years prior, but I'd disagree. No. 1, is the Pronger factor. The fact that we got Brindy here as the end result of trading Chris Pronger is huge. That trade could have haunted this franchise forever, and even though it still wasn't JR's finest moment, Pronger had to go (two drinking-related arrests before turning 20 kinda kills a player's relationship with a city), and we ended up with Brind'Amour, so I'll take it. And No. 2, Francis had a connection here, and the thinking around the league was that he signed here to finish out his career, not to win championships.
Brindy came here to win, and he basically willed us a Stanley Cup (with some help from a rookie goalie).