Carolina Hurricanes season preview
It was a very disappointing ending to the 2022-23 season for the Carolina Hurricanes as they were swept in the Eastern Conference Finals. Each year, the Hurricanes are a team that is talked about as a Stanley Cup contender which is warranted considering that they have won the Metropolitan Division three years in a row. They are favored to win the division yet again at +180 at DraftKings Sportsbook.
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Offense
Carolina is very strong at creating offense, as they finished as the fourth-best team at generating high-danger scoring chances per 60 (14.87) and also skated to the fifth-best expected goals per 60 (3.56). The issue with the Hurricanes is that as well-rounded as they are, they don’t seem to have any true game-breakers. Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov are very good players, along with Martin Necas, who broke out in the 2022-23 season. But this team doesn’t have a true superstar.
The Hurricanes would be much scarier offensively if they could figure out their power play. Last season, they finished 20th on the man-advantage, scoring at 19.8% rate.
Defense
Team defense is what makes the Hurricanes such a successful team. Rod Brind’Amour has done a fantastic job at getting his players to buy in and really focus on playing a complete, 200-foot game. Their blue line is the team’s biggest strength, starting with one of the most underrated players in the league, Jaccob Slavin. They brought in Dmitry Orlov in the offseason to round out this group that had the second-best goals against in the league last year (2.56). Carolina could arguably be the best defensive team in the NHL.
Goaltending
Goaltending has been another strong area for the Hurricanes. They have three very strong netminders, Frederik Andersen, Antti Raanta, and Pyotr Kochetkov. The biggest issue that they have is staying healthy. Andersen is the go-to guy when they’re all healthy, but we’ve seen Raanta and Kochetkov play in a ton of games in previous seasons. I wouldn’t consider any of these goalies as elite, but they’re all capable of helping the team win games.
Player To Watch – F Seth Jarvis
Jarvis is entering his third NHL season, and this feels like a year that he can truly break out. He’s only tallied 79 points in 150 career games played, but it is assumed that he will get first-line minutes as well as reps on the first power play unit. I could easily see Jarvis hitting the 60-point mark. The 21-year-old has a very high ceiling.
Outlook
The Hurricanes are without a doubt a playoff team. I would actually go on to say that it’s a lock. They can potentially compete to win the entire Eastern Conference, but the Hurricanes have struggled to find success in the playoffs. They’re my pick to win the Metropolitan Division for the fourth straight year, but I don’t think this team has enough talent to win the Stanley Cup.
