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Andrei Svechnikov

Carolina Hurricanes Sign Andrei Svechnikov

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The Carolina Hurricanes have worked out a deal with one of their most important players. Andrei Svechnikov, a restricted free agent this summer, has signed an eight-year contract with the Hurricanes that will carry an average annual value of $7.75MM. GM Don Waddell released a statement on the deal:

Andrei is one of the cornerstones of this organization, and we are thrilled to reach a long-term commitment to keep him here. He is one of the brightest rising stars in our sport, and will play a key role in our efforts to bring the Stanley Cup to the Triangle this decade.

The contract contains a modified no-trade clause (Svechnikov will submit a list of ten teams he can be traded to) in the four unrestricted free agent years that it buys out, and the full salary breakdown is as follows:

  • 2021-22: $2.0MM salary + $4.0MM signing bonus
  • 2022-23: $7.0MM salary
  • 2023-24: $9.0MM salary
  • 2024-25: $9.0MM salary
  • 2025-26: $10.0MM salary
  • 2026-27: $7.0MM salary
  • 2027-28: $6.0MM salary
  • 2028-29: $8.0MM salary

Since being the second-overall pick in 2018, Svechnikov has done what he always does–score. The 21-year-old forward has 59 goals and 140 points in 205 career games, including a strong 42-point effort in the shortened 2020-21 campaign. His size, skill, and skating ability make him a threat all over the ice, carrying the puck through the neutral zone or battling in front of the net for space. It’s hard to find many more well-rounded wingers in the league, and Svechnikov appears to be just scratching the surface of his offensive upside.

While this may seem like a huge salary for a player coming out of his entry-level contract (and it is), the deal represents a ton of security for the Hurricanes. They now have their young star locked in through basically all of his prime years at a relatively reasonable price. Skipping a bridge deal means that they won’t get any savings over the next two or three seasons, but buying out four UFA seasons is a big win for the Hurricanes. They can now move forward knowing exactly how much their top forwards cost. Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen both have three years left on their respective deals.

Not that Svechnikov is missing out. The young forward will have the 49th highest cap hit in the NHL this season, and though that will drop down a few pegs as he moves forward and other players ink more expensive deals, he’s still being paid quite handsomely. If he does turn into the 40-goal, MVP-type that some believe he can be, it will be a steal for the Hurricanes. But more likely is that he’s paid appropriately for his impact and the team can build around him as the salary cap gets back on track.

This deal will be used as a comparable by other restricted free agents around the league, though the player agents may not be very excited about it. Brady Tkachuk, for instance, who was drafted just two spots after Svechnikov in 2018 and has similar offensive numbers through the first part of his career, is also an RFA with the Ottawa Senators.

The Hurricanes though are now finished with their RFA negotiations, meaning they have certainty over their cap situation for 2021-22. They currently project to have a little more than $4.5MM, meaning they could potentially go after another UFA or target a bigger contract in trade.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Free Agent Focus: Carolina Hurricanes

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Free agency is now just a little more than a month away and many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market in late July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  Coming off a disappointing playoff exit, the Carolina Hurricanes have an extremely eventful summer ahead of them.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Andrei Svechnikov – Despite taking a small step back this season offensively, Svechnikov was a large part of arguably the most successful regular season in Hurricanes history. While seeing the highest ice time of his career, Svechnikov dipped below the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career and was moved up and down the lineup under coach Rod Brind’Amour. It’s not all bad for the young Russian winger, though, as he still managed a respectable 42 points in 55 contests. It was largely a better effort defensively this season for Svechnikov as well, still boosting his value as he earned those extra minutes. With proven 20-goal ability and 30- and even 40-goal potential, Svechnikov likely sees a huge raise on his entry-level contract in the neighborhood of $6MM. It’s interesting to note that Svechnikov is not eligible for arbitration, meaning that negotiations will have to be resolved purely between the team and his agent.

F Warren Foegele – It was another solid season for the 25-year-old forward, who’s settling nicely into a third-line scoring role with Carolina. After being drafted 67th overall in 2014, Foegele crossed the 200-game threshold with his final game of the 2020-21 season. Even through shortened seasons, Foegele’s now scored between 10 and 15 goals in three straight campaigns with his ice time creeping up year by year. He’s trusted in both zones by the coaching staff, and a longer-term, lower-dollar deal could end up benefitting both sides down the road.

G Alex Nedeljkovic – One of the two Calder Trophy finalists who’s up for a new deal next season, Nedeljkovic was a pleasant surprise this season that helped stabilize the Carolina crease. Nedeljkovic sported a sparkling .932 save percentage to lead the league in that category, paired with a 15-5-3 record. Nedeljkovic continued his strong play into the playoffs, as his .920 mark was more than enough to keep the team competitive. He’ll indisputably be given the inside track on the starters’ job next season in Carolina, and will likely earn a short-term, Jordan Binnington-esque contract this offseason.

Other RFAs: F Yegor Korshkov, F Morgan Geekie, F Spencer Smallman, D Jake Bean, D Maxime Lajoie, G Jeremy Helvig

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

D Dougie Hamilton – While he didn’t have the ideal contract year, Hamilton will be a huge commodity this offseason. A respectable offensive force on the blueline, Hamilton finished 2020-21 with his seventh straight 10-goal campaign. His ability in transition is huge in ensuring that his team is the one with the puck on their sticks, and his 6′ 6″ frame isn’t exactly something to mess with. With a 62-point pace this season over 82 games, he continues to be one of the highest-scoring defenders in the league. The demand for UFA defensemen this season is high, and rumors of a sign-and-trade have swirled surrounding Hamilton. While it’s seeming unlikely he’ll return to Raleigh, there’s always a chance.

G Petr Mrazek – Injuries largely forced Mrazek into a backup role this season. However, it didn’t impact his play when he was in the net – he had arguably one of the best seasons of his career. His .923 save percentage was his highest as a Hurricane, and while his 12-game sample size is certainly a prohibiting factor, it only reinforces Mrazek’s reputation as one of the best tandem netminders in the league. With Nedeljkovic assuming the starting role, it’s unlikely Mrazek will be content to return as a backup. Another team can promise more games and more dollars, which will likely be deserved for the 29-year-old Czech native.

F Brock McGinn – The proposition of McGinn returning to the Canes is, at this point, anybody’s guess. While he showed flashes of strong potential with a 30-point season in 2017-18, McGinn, now 27, has cooled off since then. He’s still been a solid depth contributor, and he even saw some ice time with Sebastian Aho on the first line this season. But with the strength of Carolina’s prospect pool, it may not make much sense to re-sign an aging, declining depth winger. With nearly 350 games of NHL experience, he’ll find a home next season, whether it’s in Carolina or not.

Other UFAs: F Cedric Paquette, F Jordan Martinook, F Max McCormick, F Sheldon Rempal, F David Gust, D Jani Hakanpaa, D Roland McKeown, G James Reimer, G Antoine Bibeau

Projected Cap Space

The Hurricanes have been smart in building a contender, signing players to affordable longer-team deals. It puts Carolina in a position to add big this offseason with nearly $30MM in cap space. They can’t be too playful with their cash, however. After all, they have both goalie spots to fill in addition to big contracts due on both offense and defense. With Nino Niederreiter, Vincent Trocheck, and Martin Necas all in need of extensions after 2021-22, this offseason could be crucial in maintaining long-term success in Carolina.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Snapshots: Svechnikov, Marincin, Devane

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The Carolina Hurricanes may be focused on an extension for head coach Rod Brind’Amour and his staff, but there’s another big-ticket item to work on this summer. Andrei Svechnikov is scheduled for restricted free agency and will be looking for a huge raise coming off another successful season.

If you are a Hurricanes fan hoping for a painless negotiation, you might just get your wish, as Svechnikov told reporters including Sara Civian of The Athletic that he would love to stay in Carolina “forever.” Svechnikov scored 15 goals and 42 points in 55 games with the Hurricanes this season and is an integral part of the young leadership group they have upfront.

  • Martin Marincin may be finally moving on from the Toronto Maple Leafs, as a report out of Europe has him expected to sign with HC Ocelari Trinec in the Czech Republic. Marincin has been with the Maple Leafs since 2015, getting more opportunities at the NHL level than many fans hoped he would. The 29-year-old didn’t play a single NHL game this season though and looks like he’ll be heading overseas to continue his career.
  • Not so for minor league forward Jamie Devane, who has signed an AHL contract with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for the 2021-22 season. Devane, 30, is known much more for his physicality and size than offensive performance, racking up 712 penalty minutes in his 366-game AHL career.

Extension Talks Cool Between Hurricanes And Andrei Svechnikov

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Over the offseason, Hurricanes GM Don Waddell had indicated that one of his priorities was to get winger Andrei Svechnikov signed to a contract extension.  The pending restricted free agent is now in the final year of his entry-level contract and has been a big part of Carolina’s success over the past couple of seasons.  However, he’s in a bit of a slump as of late with just one goal – an empty-netter – over the last 11 games.  As his on-ice play has slowed down, so too have his contract talks, reports Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News and Observer.

Although discussions on this deal started back in the offseason, Svechnikov’s agent Todd Diamond indicated that it may take until the summer to get something done with the shortened season also acting as an impediment in talks:

Things are kind of status quo. There’s a time and place to have deeper talks. There’s just so many games right now, it’s not the right environment for it. It may take into the offseason.

While Carolina would certainly like to get Svechnikov signed to a long-term deal, a bridge contract certainly would seem to make more sense on the surface at this point.  They already have more than $53MM in commitments for next season, per CapFriendly, and the 20-year-old is hardly the only one in need of a new contract.  Defenseman Dougie Hamilton is a pending unrestricted free agent while their goalie tandem of Petr Mrazek and James Reimer are also UFA-eligible.  Getting deals done to re-sign or replace them and round out the rest of the roster doesn’t make a long-term contract that buys out some UFA-eligible years the most viable of options.  Team owner Tom Dundon acknowledged to DeCock that a bridge deal is the likeliest route they’ll take and is quite confident in getting an agreement in place:

It’s easy, because he’s ours, we’re going to pay him fair and get it done.  That’s just when not if. We want to get it done. These are fairly easy deals to get done. The market, if you look at the bridge deals that have been done, it’s not that hard.

Svechnikov will be entering the RFA market this offseason without arbitration eligibility, something that he needs one more year of service time to reach.  Even with the lower goal output as of late, he still has 16 points in 19 games to sit one off the team lead and had a 24-goal, 61-point campaign in 2019-20.  Accordingly, even a short-term deal could creep into the $5MM range but that would still allow the Hurricanes to have enough cap flexibility to take care of some of those other free agents.  It just looks like it’s going to take a little while longer for them to get a deal done.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Sami Vatanen And Trevor Van Riemsdyk Expected To Test Free Agency

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Hurricanes defensemen Sami Vatanen and Trevor van Riemsdyk are expected to test free agency when the market opens up on Friday, GM Don Waddell told reporters, including NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti.  Waddell did indicate that Carolina is interested in retaining them and the players could still potentially circle back once they’ve seen what other offers are out there:

We’ve made it real clear that we’d like both guys, but we also understand that we’re under a little bit more of a scrutiny with our salary cap.  So if they go out to the market, whatever the market will bear, it might be something that if they do come back to us that we can talk about.

As things stand, the team has less than $8MM in cap space with only 17 players signed and while winger Warren Foegele and blueliner Haydn Fleury aren’t going to break the bank as restricted free agents, by the time they’re signed, there won’t be enough room to keep both UFAs by the time you factor in spending to fill out the rest of their roster.

Vatanen is the more intriguing of the two situations.  The 29-year-old was brought in by Carolina at the trade deadline despite being injured at the time with the hopes that he’d help them down the stretch and in the playoffs.  Of course, the pandemic shut things down and he was only able to play in seven playoff games.

While Vatanen’s offensive production has dipped in recent years compared to the 37 and 38-point seasons he put up in 2014-15 and 2015-16 respectively, he’s still an intriguing top-four option that can help run a power play.  He does, however, carry considerable injury risk as he has yet to play more than 72 games in a single season.  With a thin UFA market though, there still should be a large number of teams interested in him and a deal around the $4.875MM AAV that he had the past four seasons could still happen even with the salary cap flattened out.

As for van Riemsdyk, the 29-year-old was in a limited role for most of this season, playing in just 49 games during the regular season and only two of their postseason contests.  It’s unlikely that he’ll be able to command the $2.3MM AAV he played under the last two years but if he’s willing to sign for less, it’s plausible that he could be brought back at a rate that’s more commensurate with a sixth or seventh role.

Waddell also has to be mindful of two big-ticket deals on the horizon for 2021-22 in winger Andrei Svechnikov and defenseman Dougie Hamilton.  Svechnikov is a restricted free agent next offseason and Waddell indicated that extension talks are ongoing while allowing for the possibility of the 20-year-old’s next contract being a short-term bridge.  As for Hamilton, who is eligible for unrestricted free agency after next season, no talks have been held yet but he’ll be in line for a significant raise on his current $5.75MM AAV.  Knowing that those contracts will be coming sooner than later will certainly affect Waddell’s willingness to spend big on multi-year deals in the weeks ahead which could very well take Vatanen off the table for them.

Fortunately for Carolina, even if both of their UFA blueliners don’t return, they’ll still be well-positioned for next season with Hamilton anchoring a top-four that also features Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce, and Brady Skjei.  Veteran Jake Gardiner is also in the mix as well as Fleury so the Hurricanes will still have a strong back end without Vatanen and van Riemsdyk in the mix.

East Notes: Kravtsov, Svechnikov, McDonagh

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New York Rangers fans learned more than a week ago that prospect Vitali Kravtsov would be loaned to his former team, Traktor Chelyabinsk in the KHL this coming season. However, a small wrinkle developed since as Traktor announced the transaction this morning, revealing that Kravtsov was going to spend the entire season with their team.

That was contrary to general beliefs that the 20-year-old Russian would spend time in North America with a chance to win a roster spot with the Rangers in 2020-21. Up until now, most teams are loaning their prospects overseas with the ability to recall them for NHL training camps whenever that will be. That may not be the case here, although a recent report from USA Today’s Vince Mercogliano suggests that the Rangers can recall him at any time. However, the scribe adds that the team could very conceivably leave him in Russia for the entire KHL season, although the team will likely wait to see how he fares.

Kravtsov, who had a tumultuous first pro season in which he split time between the AHL, KHL, VHL and then back to the KHL, isn’t expected to automatically win a spot on the Rangers roster and with the AHL season being pushed back until December, it makes lots of sense to allow him to develop for a full season in the KHL to develop his skills. Whether New York will recall him for training camp in November or December isn’t clear, but it should be noted that unless Traktor makes the playoffs, he could be available to join the Rangers in late February or after his team is eliminated in the playoffs, which means he could be available to join the Rangers with plenty of season left in the NHL.

  • NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti reports that Carolina Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov, who suffered what looked to be a severe ankle sprain during the team’s series against the Boston Bruins, said he’s feeling 100 percent and believes that he would be able to play now for the Hurricanes had the team managed to get past Boston in the first round. Svechnikov was a key component to the team’s success with four goals and seven points in six playoff games before being injured in Game 3. The Hurricanes lost consecutive one-goal games in Games 4 & 5, suggesting his play could have made the difference in the series.
  • The Tampa Bay Lightning will be without veteran defenseman Ryan McDonagh for Game 4 in a key game against the Boston Bruins, according to The Athletic’s Joe Smith. McDonagh, who has been out since suffering an undisclosed injury in Game 1, will be replaced once again with two defensemen as the team is expected to play Braydon Coburn and Luke Schenn as the team will go with seven defensemen for a second straight game.

 

Andrei Svechnikov Open To Beginning Extension Talks

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Hurricanes winger Andrei Svechnikov is now eligible for a contract extension as he will be entering the final year of his entry-level contract next season.  While some of the potential top RFAs from the 2021 class may want to wait to sign to see what the financial picture looks like a year from now, the 20-year-old told NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti that he’s open to beginning talks this offseason.

Svechnikov’s second season was a strong one as he bested his rookie numbers despite the campaign getting shortened by the pandemic.  Overall, he put up 24 goals and 37 assists in 61 games to finish third on the team in scoring while logging a little under 17 minutes per game.  He played quite well in the playoffs too, collecting four goals and three assists in six games before suffering a high ankle sprain in the third game against Boston.  There won’t be any lingering concerns from that as Svechnikov indicated that he has nearly fully recovered from the issue and would have been ready to return had Carolina moved on.

Hurricanes GM Don Waddell said that he doesn’t have a timetable in place to try to work out extensions for Svechnikov or defenseman Dougie Hamilton who is a year away from UFA eligibility:

Certainly, they are both important players for this organization, and it makes more sense to get to it sooner than later.  You’re looking at two different types of contracts. One (Hamilton) is going to be an unrestricted free agent come next year after the upcoming year. Andrei will be coming off his entry-level deal. So it’s two different kind of negotiations we’re looking at. There’s no timetable. There’s no deadlines. They both have another year left. … We have a good relationship with both players. I fully expect both players to want to stay here.

While some top young players have signed extensions in recent years, last summer saw a shift towards players going to restricted free agency even without salary arbitration eligibility (including teammate Sebastian Aho).  That was in a different financial landscape though, one that projected a continual increase in the salary cap but it may be a few years before there is any sizable jump now.  Accordingly, Svechnikov may prefer to take a short-term deal (either this offseason or next) rather than lock in at a rate that could be below market value if revenues eventually work their way back up.  Talks will likely begin at some point over the coming weeks but this may be a case where waiting until next season makes the most sense.

Carolina Hurricanes Andrei Svechnikov Could Miss Rest Of Playoffs

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The Carolina Hurricanes have watched as 20-year-old winger Andrei Svechnikov has quickly developed into a star player for the team. Then they watched him get tangled up with Boston’s Zdeno Chara in Game 3 of the first-round of the playoffs and go down with an apparent leg injury. It didn’t look good.

However, two days later and another MRI still to come, Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour said (via News & Observer’s Chip Alexander) he “highly doubts” that Svechnikov will return for the rest of the playoffs, which would be a big blow to the team.

Svechnikov has been one of the key leaders on the ice for the Hurricanes, having scored four goals and seven points in six games so far. However, he fell backwards late in Game 3, with his right leg bending awkwardly on the way down while battling in front of the net with Chara. The loss could cripple the team’s offense as he was a major fixture on the team’s top line. He posted a solid 20-goal, 37-point season as a rookie last year, but really took his game up a notch with a 24-goal, 61-point season this past year and was looking even better in the playoffs.

More details of the injury and how long the young winger will be out will likely come in the next few days.

PHR Panel: Revisiting The 2018 Draft

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We’re now two months into an NHL postponement and there is still no clear timeline on when professional hockey will return. While fans of the sport have received small tidbits of news over that time, including college signings and contract extensions, the thirst for discussion has rarely been quenched.

With that in mind, we’re happy to continue our new feature: The PHR Panel. Our writing staff will give our individual takes on a question many hockey fans have been wondering about. If you’d ever like to submit a subject for us to discuss, be sure to put it in the comments.

To catch up on the previous edition, click here.

Today, with the 2020 draft still not set in stone, we take a look at how some top picks are performing a few years into their careers.

Q: Who will end up being the best player from the 2018 draft?

Brian La Rose: 

Back in 2018, the answer was Rasmus Dahlin. Nearly two years later, I don’t think that answer has changed.

While the Sabres have continued to struggle even with Dahlin in the fold, it certainly hasn’t been because of him. He had a lot thrown at him during his rookie season, perhaps too much for an 18-year-old defenseman. Despite that, he still did quite well. He was even better this season and was on pace to set new career-highs in points in spite of a dip in playing time if it wasn’t for a concussion and a minor upper-body issue that cost him ten games combined.

Defensively, Dahlin is still a little shaky at times but that’s par for the course for a young blueliner. He has made considerable improvements over his first two years and that should continue as he plays more and gets stronger.

At the end of the day, I’m not sure he’ll be the top offensive defender from this class but Dahlin’s all-around game will be enough to put him ahead of Quinn Hughes in terms of value. There will be some quality scorers from the 2018 draft (there already are) but they won’t be able to impact the game like a franchise defender that should consistently log over 25 minutes a night in his prime. Buffalo picking Dahlin back in June of 2018 signaled that they felt he was the best player in his draft class. There’s little reason to think otherwise at this point.

Holger Stolzenberg:

There are quite a few players that I like from this draft, but I’m going to go with the belief that the Buffalo Sabres got it right. Yes, Dahlin may not be that flashy defenseman who immediately dominated the league like fellow young blueliners Cale Makar and Hughes. Yet Dahlin is exactly what the team needed and has filled a major role in the two years he’s been in the league.

While his numbers look rather pedestrian through two seasons with 84 combined points, considering his status as the first-overall pick in 2018, those are actually impressive numbers for a teenaged blueliner. While they hardly compare to the first two seasons that Phil Housley had with Buffalo (he had 143 points), the league was quite different back in the early 80s with more goal scoring. In fact, the Sabres average more than one fewer goal per game now than they did back then, suggesting that Dahlin is much more comparable.

Now 20 years old, Dahlin is getting close to hitting his prime and should eventually have that breakout year to prove that he’s the best player in this draft. The blueliner has proven to be solid defensively and has good offensive skills, both of which should only get better. He will be a great player for years to come. We just might have to wait a little longer to see that play out.

Zach Leach: 

The 2018 draft class has yet to produce enough players with considerable NHL experience to truly make an educated guess on this question. Many, like college standouts Scott Perunovich (STL) and Tyler Madden (LAK), have yet to even debut, while some top picks like Oliver Wahlstrom (NYI) and Evan Bouchard (EDM) have only played in a handful of games. I like all four of these players to have good NHL careers, but I simply don’t have the sample size I need to say that any could be the best player of the class.

For now, I still consider the players that I personally felt were the top four players in the 2018 class to be the leading contenders to have the best NHL career: Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov, Buffalo’s Dahlin, Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk, and Vancouver’s Hughes (I had Wahlstrom at No. 5). Even in the midst of Dahlin mania back in June 2018, I felt Svechnikov was a special talent and a dynamic presence that was deserving of being the top overall pick. That’s why I listed him first and will stick with him as the player that I feel has the best chance to be the top player in his class. Dahlin, Tkachuk, and especially Hughes have certainly shown that they can be elite players and difference-makers for their respective franchises, but I feel that Svechnikov will outplay and outlast the field.

Svechnikov, who leads the 2018 class in goals, points, and games played, has already asserted himself as a franchise centerpiece for the Hurricanes. He has the natural offensive instincts as well as the willingness to play physically and win puck battles to be a scoring threat and key presence on offense for a long time still to come. I do not see Svechnikov’s offense drying up; in fact, his growth from year one to year two shows me that he is absolutely still on the rise and his near point-per-game pace this season is just the beginning of his offensive upside and I feel he will have staying power among the NHL’s elite once he arrives. I see Alex Ovechkin as the ceiling for Svechnikov, which would certainly give him a good chance at the title of best player in the 2018 class, both in ability and longevity.

Gavin Lee:

While I may not quite be on the same level as Zach when it comes to Svechnikov—what a comparable!—I too had him ranked as the best player in 2018 over Dahlin. There’s simply nothing that Svechnikov can’t do offensively. I was actually surprised he didn’t have a better rookie season, but the Hurricanes brought him along slowly with severely limited even-strength minutes and often only had him on the second powerplay unit. There’s nothing wrong with that, but when the team let him loose this season you started to see what Svechnikov is truly capable of.

No, it’s not all lacrosse goals and nifty dangles. The 6’2″ forward is a force when he gets to full speed, and can seemingly still make crisp passes with a defender hanging onto his back. He was on a 73-point pace this season while still averaging fewer than 14 minutes of even-strength ice time. When 16:44 (total) per game starts creeping close to 20:00, watch out for a player who one day may legitimately contend for both the Rocket Richard and Art Ross (remember, he only just turned 20).

There are some outstanding players in the field, but I’ll still put my money on the big Russian.

What Your Team Is Thankful For: Carolina Hurricanes

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As the holiday season approaches, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season heads past the one-quarter mark. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Carolina Hurricanes.

What are the Hurricanes most thankful for?

Spending ability.

The Hurricanes have built a strong drafting and development system over the last several years, but sometimes there had been tough decisions to be made over how many of the league’s top players they could truly afford. With new ownership and a different swagger about the franchise, they’re now a cap ceiling team that didn’t hesitate to match an expensive, front-loaded offer sheet in the summer. Sebastian Aho will earn more than $23MM of his $42.27MM deal in the first twelve months.

Who are the Hurricanes most thankful for?

Rasmus Dahlin.

No, a paragraph from the Buffalo Sabres’ piece didn’t get left in accidentally. If it weren’t for Dahlin’s presence in the 2018 draft, the Hurricanes would have never been able to grab top scorer Andrei Svechnikov second overall. Though he had a slow rookie season by some standards—20 NHL goals for an 18-year old is still pretty good—Svechnikov is really showing why he was so highly regarded coming into the draft and was a potential option at No. 1.

With 31 points in 29 games the young Russian forward has already almost caught his total from last season, and he wont turn 20 until the end of March. It’s hard to really know how far his talent can take him, but that superstar-level, MVP-type forward that the Hurricanes have been looking for for so long might already be on the roster, and his name might not be Aho.

What would the Hurricanes be even more thankful for?

Some losses from the rest of the Metro.

Carolina is 17-11-1 through their first 29 games this season and still somehow are sitting in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division. They would be firmly in second in the Atlantic Division, but the Capitals, Islanders and Flyers have all done a little bit better this year.

The Hurricanes are coming off an Eastern Conference Final appearance that shocked the NHL, but few would be surprised to see them in Stanley Cup contention this time around. Settling for a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference would make that extremely difficult however, especially if they end up with a first-round matchup against those Boston Bruins that ended their Cinderella run last season.

What should be on the Hurricanes’ Holiday Wish List?

An improvement between the pipes.

There isn’t a man on the Hurricanes roster that would say Petr Mrazek isn’t a big part of the team, but the 27-year old goaltender still suffers from inconsistencies that have plagued his whole career. He’ll stand on his head and provide the Hurricanes with Vezina-caliber netminding one night, and then let in a pair of soft goals the next.

His .903 save percentage on the year simply isn’t good enough to carry a team to a Stanley Cup, but it’s not that far off from where Mrazek has sat for much of his career. James Reimer has been slightly better statistically, but loses just as many games as he wins and probably isn’t the answer either. It’s hard to improve your starting goalie position during the season, but perhaps Carolina can find a way to stop just a few more pucks in the second half.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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