NHL News
Carolina Hurricanes 24-25 Season Preview
Carolina Hurricanes
Metropolitan Division
2023-24 Recap
Record (W-L-OTL): 52-23-7
Over/Under: 34-46-2
Home Favorite: 27-14
Home Dog: 0-0
Road Favorite: 22-12
Road Dog: 3-4
Win Score 4 or more: 33 of 52
Lose Give Up 4 or more: 19 of 30
Puck Line Wins: 35 of 52
Puck Line Losses: 16 of 30
Front End Back-to-Back: 10-4
Back End Back-to-Back: 8-6
Goals Scored Per Game: 3.38 (8th)
Goals Against Per Game: 2.57 (4th)
Additions: Jack Roslovic, Shayne Gostisbehere, Sean Walker, William Carrier, Tyson Jost, Eric Robinson, Sam Gagner (PTO)
Subtractions: Jake Guentzel, Stefan Noesen, Teuvo Teravainen, Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei, Evgeny Kuznetsov
Six straight trips to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the Hurricanes and with last season’s trade deadline acquisition of Jake Guentzel, the hope was he would be the missing link to a berth in the Stanley Cup Final. In the end, goaltending let them down in their second round series defeat at the hands of the New York Rangers. Carolina enters this season with more questions about their roster than they have had in the past seven years.
Offense
The Hurricanes finished 8th overall in goals scored but 16th at 5 on 5. It was Carolina’s power play, second best in the NHL (26.9) that pushed the Canes into the top 10 in scoring. That same power play success didn’t translate in the playoffs with the Canes power play clicking at just over 19%. Carolina’s top line of Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis and Andrei Svechnikov have all had at least one 30 goal season. Aho has hit the mark the past three seasons and five of the last six while Jarvis and Svechnikov have each done it once. Aho was the only Canes player who had more than 70 points, leading the team with 89.
The Canes lost two of their top six-point producers from last season with the departures of Teuvo Teravainen and Brady Skjei via free agency. The signing of Shayne Gostisbehere will likely offset the offense lost from Skjei but replacing Teravainen third on the team in both total goals scored and power play goals will have to come from within. The Hurricanes look vulnerable down the middle outside of Sebastian Aho. Jesperi Kotkaniemi gets bumped into the 2C role, which means more minutes and tougher matchups than previous seasons. Jack Drury (114 NHL games) and 35-year-old Jordan Staal are the Canes other centers.
Defense
The blueline is going to look a little different this season as Carolina decided to say goodbye to both Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei and bring in Sean Walker and Shayne Gostisbehere. The Canes add two players known more for their offense and move on from two stalwarts who can play both ends of the ice, log over 20 minutes a game and were key members of the penalty kill. Walker did kill penalties last season when he played for the Flyers while Gostisbehere averaged a mere 20 seconds a night with his team shorthanded. I expect the two to start the season as the Hurricanes third pair.
At 39, Brent Burns has seen his average time on ice drop each of the last two seasons. Burns and Jaccob Slavin will once again be Carolina’s top pair. Slavin is one of the NHL’s best defensive defensemen and while Burns may be showing some signs of age, he still has what it takes to play against the opposition’s top lines. Jalen Chatfield and Dmitry Orlov make up the Canes second pairing. When Brett Pesce was injured in last season's playoffs the two led the blueline in even strength minutes.
Goaltending
Freddie Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov give Carolina one of the best regular season goaltending tandems in the league. The key words being “regular season”. The tandem ranked top four in save percentage. Andersen was limited to 16 games due to injury and gave up an average of less than two goals a game. The two goalies combined for seven shutouts. It's the playoffs where Freddie Andersen has his struggles to come up with the key save in a big moment. Canes fans still loathe the night they were eliminated from the playoffs by the Rangers. New York turned a 3-1 third period deficit into a 5-3 win. Andersen gave up four goals in three of the six games to the Rangers after giving up four goals just once in the regular season.
I am interested to see if Carolina shows a little more trust and belief in Kochetkov for the upcoming season. There’s nothing more the organization would like as to see him follow in the “skates” of other fellow Russian goalies like Andrei Vasilevskiy, Sergei Bobrovsky, Igor Shesterkin, or Ilya Sorokin.
Player to Watch – Jesperi Kotkaniemi
A team with legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations needs to be strong down the middle and asking Kotkaniemi to handle the role of second line center is a lot at this stage of his career. Last season he finished 11th among Hurricanes forwards in points, just two ahead of Jake Guentzel who played 62 fewer games as a member of the Canes. Come playoff time when the games matter most, Kotkaniemi had just one assist and played just over 11 minutes a night. Stefan Noesen was the only Hurricanes forward to average fewer minutes. If Kotkaniemi can handle the added responsibility, Carolina will stay in the playoff mix.
Outlook
I am one who believes the Hurricanes will take a step back this season. Will it be big enough that they miss the playoffs? At +270 (DraftKings Sportsbook) I am willing to take a shot.
Regular Season Point Total: 100.5 (Over/Under -115)
To Make the Playoffs: -350
To Miss the Playoffs: +270
To Win the Metropolitan Division: +250
To Win the Eastern Conference: +650
To Win the Stanley Cup: +1300