NHL
After Cleaning House Management wise, The Hurricanes Make Moves to Accelerate the Rebuild
The Carolina Hurricanes missed the playoffs last season by 14 points but looked sharp in certain games. After sort of a disappointing season, Ownership cleaned out the management drawer and filled the void with many new faces. New Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour, will have new assets to play with this season but it may not be a roster that will get Carolina to the playoffs.
Have the Hurricanes Gotten Better?
In a time where adding and subtracting the right pieces can get your team into the playoffs, I do not think the moves made here will have that effect. Adding Dougie Hamilton helps but for the price of Noah Hanafin? That is not too good of a move. The Jeff Skinner trade was also questioned by many as it looked like the Buffalo Sabres gave up nearly nothing.
Goaltending was another big issue last season for Carolina. In Free Agency, the Hurricanes lost Cam Ward but gained Petr Mrazek. This is the equivalent of losing a 1-B and adding a 1-B that can back up another 1-B in Scott Darling.
Additions
Dougie Hamilton was the big addition of the offseason. In 82 games last year for Calgary, Hamilton put up a total of 44 points including 17 goals and 27 assists. Michael Ferland was the second part of the deal that sent Hamilton to Carolina. Ferland tallied 21 goals and 20 assists last year in 77 games. Ferland may be a great Powerplay guy for the Hurricanes and could sit somewhere in the top six forward group. Calvin de Haan was added in Free Agency as a top-four defenseman to strengthen the D-core. de Haan played just 33 games last year but is a great defenseman to put on the Penalty Kill, he can also set up forwards in the offensive zone.
Carolina dove into free agency one more time this offseason for a goaltender. The goalie added was Petr Mrazek. In 39 games last year, Mrazek had 14 wins and posted a 3.03 GAA and a .902 SV%. Mrazek could steal a few games but I would not count on it.
Subtractions
Here is where the list gets long. On the forward position, the Hurricanes lost Jeff Skinner, Elias Lindholm, Markus Kruger, Derek Ryan and Joakim Nordstrom. These players all played 48 or more games this season and scored a total of 58 goals and added a total of 86 assists for a grand total of 144 points. On defense, Carolina gave up Noah Hanafin. The former 5th overall selection of the 2015 draft scored 10 goals with 22 assists last season. Hanafin is still unsigned by the Calgary Flames.
Cam Ward was a cornerstone goalie for the team in 2006 when the Hurricanes won their only Cup. He may have overstayed his time in Carolina as they failed to re-sign Ward at the end of the 2017-18 season. Last year, Ward put up 23 wins in 43 games and had a GAA of 2.73 with an SV% of .906.
Where the Carolina Hurricanes Stand
The Carolina Hurricanes stand in roughly the same position the did this year, however with players that may not be as good; and the Net Gain shows that with a -79 reading. It is that low because Carolina looks to fill out the spots with young prospects from their system. This includes Andrei Svechnikov who was drafted second overall in this past year’s draft.
To put the Hurricanes in a playoff spot next season would be all too generous. It looks to me like the team will slot somewhere around the sixth spot of the Metropolitan Division again. This will be a tough year for die-hard hard fans that want to see Carolina back in the playoffs.
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