The Season Ahead: Carolina Hurricanes’ Forecasts
The Season Ahead: Carolina Hurricanes’ Forecasts
The Carolina Hurricanes have been one of the most exciting young teams in the entire NHL for much of the past half decade, beginning with the storm surge victory celebrations that took the league by storm during the 2018-19 season. Powered by young players like Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teräväinen, the Hurricanes have made the playoffs in each of the past five seasons, advancing all the way to the Conference Finals twice.
They’ve never managed to win a game past the second round, swept out of the postseason by the Boston Bruins in 2019 and the Florida Panthers this past season, but as the Hurricanes sit second in the Metropolitan Division with 26 points at the quarter mark of the NHL season, they seem as good a bet as any to break that trend this year.
Here’s a look at how the Hurricanes have performed this season: their strengths, weaknesses, and what could help set them apart from the rest of the pack in pursuit of Stanley Cup glory.
Category Five Hurricanes: Speed Demons
This era of excellence from the Hurricanes has largely been defined by the speed at which they play. It’s the great equalizer, as the Hurricanes are able to get to the puck faster than their opponents can, creating breakaway threats and shutting down opposing threats with their backcheck because of the high motor they play with: a good indicator of the team’s speed is the five shorthanded goals they’ve scored so far this year, tied for the second-best margin in the league.
The Hurricanes particularly excel in their opponents’ end of the rink, as Carolina’s 3.33 goals scored per game is just inside the league’s top ten. It still feels like they could find an extra gear — more on that in a moment — but it’s hard to complain about a team that’s sitting in secondplace in their division despite not playing their best hockey yet.
What’s interesting is that Vegas seems to like the Hurricanes more than most media members and pundits do, as the team sits with the second-best odds of winning it all this season, listed at or around +1000 to do so. Be sure to use a DraftKings North Carolina Promo Code if you want to bet on the Hurricanes, the NHL, or any other sport or league so that you know you’re locking in the best possible odds of winning big.
The Hurricanes look excellent right now, but things have been far from perfect for the club. When they struggle, the common denominator has been their defense.
Disappointing Defense
The Hurricanes are allowing 3.21 goals per game this season, barely a hair under the amount they’re scoring. That still isn’t an awful margin in today’s NHL, where scoring totals have skyrocketed in the past couple years, but it doesn’t inspire much confidence in the unit. The Hurricanes’ goalies have struggled for years, and this season is no different. Antti Raanta has struggled in net, while Pyotr Kochetkov and Frederik Andersen have been passable, but none of the three has done enough to instill confidence as the go-to guy moving forward.
Carolina’s defense hasn’t done much to help, as head coach Rod Brind’Amour hasn’t seemed to find a lineup he likes yet. Brind’Amour has juggled the defensive pairings consistently trying to find a spark. On the one hand, that could prove beneficial if he finds a way to maximize the skillsets of the players he has, but if there’s no magical fix to optimize the lineup, all that the shuffling does is prevent the new-look unit from getting a chance to gel.
They have plenty of talent, whether it’s offensive-minded defenders like Brent Burns or players like Dmitry Orlov and Jaccob Slavin… whatever they have just isn’t clicking yet.
What’s the Verdict?
All in all, the Hurricanes have excelled this season despite their faults. They’re always going to be in the thick of things with the speed and talent they possess, and they’re obviously good enough to make the postseason. Once they’re there, anything can happen. Whether that’s likely is another question entirely, and as I discussed with the team’s defensive pairings and goaltending, it just feels like this team is missing something.
They’re winning right now, so I wouldn’t expect any roster shakeup yet, but if the team starts to scuffle, I’d expect Don Waddell to swing a trade or two to give the lineup a jolt. It may take some difficult decisions to really maximize this team’s window, as the plug and play approach with deadline trades and a free agent or two hasn’t seemed to work yet: maybe they’ll have to trade one of their stars in order to land a big fish and really improve their chances of winning a title.
