The Carolina Hurricanes now face a new challenge: playing as reigning Stanley Cup champion
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Carolina Hurricanes
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Last season: 53-22-7, won Stanley Cup.
COACH: Rod Brind’Amour (378-182-56 over eight seasons).
SEASON OPENER: Sept. 29 vs. Florida.
DEPARTURES: G Frederik Andersen.
ADDITIONS: No major additions.
GOALIES: Brandon Bussi (31-6-2, 2.47 goals-against average, .895 save percentage), Pyotr Kochetkov (6-2-0, 2.33, .899)
What to expect
More of the same. The Hurricanes entered last year having gone to the playoffs seven straight years, though they had bumped into a familiar ceiling with three trips to the Eastern Conference Final. They stuck with their style of play — aggressive forechecking, pressure, relentless, grinding effort — and finally broke through that roadblock before beating Vegas to claim the Cup for the second time in franchise history. They enter this season as a reigning champion with a roster returning almost completely intact, making them again a favorite in the East and as a Cup contender under their face-of-the-franchise coach.
Strengths and weaknesses
The good: The Hurricanes had been on a multiyear quest to add more high-end offensive skill. Yet they proved last year they could manufacture a strong attack through sheer depth, with Carolina the only NHL team last year with seven different players having scored at least 20 goals, including top-line center Sebastian Aho, second-line center Logan Stankoven and last year’s free-agent addition Nikolaj Ehlers. There’s also a strong and deep group of defensemen, led by U.S. Olympic gold-medal winner Jaccob Slavin, Jalen Chatfield and K’Andre Miller.
The not-so-good: Andersen’s departure in free agency is a loss of veteran experience, though Bussi was a feel-good story all last year that ended with him shutting out the Golden Knights as Carolina won the Cup. There’s also the lingering question on the status of rising defenseman Alexander Nikishin, a restricted free agent who has not been with the team to start camp after working on the team’s third pairing in his first full season.
Players to watch
Forward Seth Jarvis led the Hurricanes with 32 regular-season goals, played on the Team Canada’s silver-medal winner at the Olympics and banged in the overtime power-play winner in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final. But he had shoulder surgery in June to correct a long-running issue and faced a 4-6 month recovery time. He’s been on the ice in a noncontact jersey to start preseason camp, but the question is going to be how long he needs to return to the lineup and then how long from there to find his full rhythm. There’s also the question as to how the Hurricanes will adjust, including whether that leads to more opportunities for prospect Bradly Nadeau or someone else.
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