NHL
*NOTE* This article was written by former TSJ writer, John Lehocki.
The Carolina Hurricanes are on the rise. This is a team to look out for in the next two to three years. The Hurricanes have a plentiful amount of prospects in the system, and have made trades to improve themselves significantly. With a huge win in the draft lottery and winning the second pick in the 2018 draft, the Hurricanes selected Russian winger Andrei Svechnikov. Carolina also acquired defender Dougie Hamilton and forward Michael Ferland, as well as prospect Adam Fox, from the Calgary Flames for Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin.
GOALTENDING
The Hurricanes brought in Scott Darling from Chicago last season, and his numbers were sub-par for a starting goaltender. Darling is looking to having a bounce back season and prove that he earned the four-year, $16.6 million dollar contract he signed last off-season.
Longtime Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward is set to leave the franchise after spending the last 13 seasons with the team. Ward is rumoured to be headed to Chicago. Carolina needs to find themselves a new back-up goaltender to support Darling. This could be done by trade or through free agency. The three goaltenders they should look at are Chad Johnson, Anton Khudobin, and Petr Mrazek. All three have a good amount of NHL experience. They can be very reliable on Darling’s nights off.
DEFENCE
The Hurricanes defence has improved greatly over the last few seasons. The most recent stand-outs include Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce. Both were drafted by the team and have earned their contract extensions and roster spots on the team. The Hurricanes also have NHL All Star Justin Faulk on their right side. They also have recently acquired Dougie Hamilton.
They have qualified RFA Trevor Van Riemsdyk, but that still leaves holes in the defence. There are prospects in the system who could see some ice time such as Hayden Fleury, Jake Bean, and Roland McKeown. They could also use a veteran on their third defensive paring, such as Brooks Orpik, Josh Georges, or Kevin Bieksa.
OFFENCE
The Hurricanes offence is pretty stable for now. There are rumours of Jeff Skinner getting traded, which I would expect to happen. However, there are also good replacements for him within the roster. Draft pick Andrei Svechnikov has the ability to play top six minutes for the Hurricanes, with Justin Williams, Sebastian Aho, Jordan Staal, and Teuvo Teravainen.
The Hurricanes will need to add another top six winger in free agency, and they have quite a bit of money to spend. Their best option would be James Van Riemsdyk. It would be a good reunion of the brothers, which is something Carolina has done in the past with the Staal family.
For the bottom six forwards, I would expect Martin Necas to get the call up to the team for the season. I also expect Phil Di Giuseppe to see more ice time with the team. Michael Ferland, Jordan Martinook, Victor Rask, and a signed free agent should round out the bottom six.
