Patience Has Become A Virtue In The NHL
Nearly every NHL fan who has endured years of playoff heartbreak reaches a point where they call for their favorite team to blow up the core and go into a rebuild. It’s happened everywhere, including in Pittsburgh from 2010 to 2015, when Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and company could barely get out of the first round. The same thing happened in Tampa Bay in 2019, when they were swept in the first round by the Columbus Blue Jackets. But, in Tampa Bay, there were calls for patience after the embarrassing defeat, perhaps learning a lesson from the Penguins, whose patience with their core paid off. Both of those teams eventually captured back-to-back titles and were rewarded for sticking with their core group of players. The same can be said for the 2026 Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes, who have endured years of playoff disappointments, rode it out with their core, and were rewarded with hockey’s ultimate prize. So, which leads to more success? A full teardown and rebuild, or riding things out with a core that can’t get wins when the games matter the most?
The list of teams that faced playoff disappointments is much longer than just Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay. The Washington Capitals had their own set of playoff disappointments during the Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and John Carlson era, but they kept that core together for more than a decade before it ultimately paid off with a Stanley Cup in 2018. There were many calls for Washington to move someone from that group, but those calls were ignored, and Washington continued to build around the group and improve it year after year.
In Tampa Bay, the Lightning endured a Stanley Cup Finals loss in 2015 and Eastern Conference Finals losses in 2016 and 2018 before finally breaking through. Calls in Tampa Bay were constant for the team to do something, anything, to shake up a core that some felt was stale. But two Stanley Cups and three finals trips later, it’s clear that Tampa Bay made the right call to ride things out with their group.
On the other hand, the teardown is always viewed through rose-coloured glasses because folks remember the Penguins during the Sidney Crosby era, when they drafted Crosby, Malkin, Kris Letang, Jordan Staal, and Marc-Andre Fleury. They may also think back to the Chicago Blackhawks, who used the draft lottery to pick Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.
The problem with viewing a full teardown with such optimism is that for every successful rebuild, there are teams that struggle for a decade or more. The Edmonton Oilers and Buffalo Sabres have both spent more than a decade rebuilding and have nothing to show for it at this point, though the Oilers came close to a title twice. The Sabres went 15 years without a playoff appearance, which should serve as a cautionary tale for anyone who believes that a full-scale roster teardown guarantees a window of contention. In fact, it doesn’t end with Buffalo and Edmonton, as the Philadelphia Flyers rebuilt and tore down more than once during the 2010s after multiple failed launches.
Much of the evidence points to teams that keep the core together being more successful, yet fans and media love to call for the general manager of their favorite team to rebuild when things get tough. A lot of that is an emotional reaction after a loss, which is understandable given that emotions run high come playoff time, and sometimes fans and media say things purely in the heat of the moment. But even though it might come off as rash, it’s not always wrong to want to tear down a core.
The best time, and perhaps the only time, to tear down a core is when it has become too old and too expensive to continue pressing with it. The Pittsburgh Penguins are a good example of this. They kept the core together during the 2010-2015 failures, but should have likely broken the core up around 2021-22 after five consecutive playoff series losses. They didn’t do so, and general manager Ron Hextall added to the core in the summer of 2022 in an effort to extend the Penguins’ playoff appearance streak, but they unfortunately hit a wall in 2023, and Hextall was fired.
The argument to keep the Penguins together during the 2018-22 run made sense, given that teams aren’t successful immediately after blowing up their roster, and the Penguins still had Crosby and Malkin playing at a high level. Had the Penguins torn it down, it likely wouldn’t have been five years before their draft capital reached the NHL. By then, Crosby and Malkin would’ve been 40, and the team likely didn’t have the patience to wait that long, nor would Crosby and Malkin.
The choice to keep the core together or blow it all up and start over is a case-by-case decision. The idea of always tearing down a core after a few playoff failures is wrong, and keeping an old, expensive core together forever is a bad idea, too. The best measuring stick for something like this might be long-term success and whether a team has consistently been a top 5-7 NHL team and won some playoff series.
Carolina struggled in the Conference Finals for years, but they showed management they could consistently win two rounds in the playoffs. This created an internal belief among management, and the Hurricanes were patient for years despite ugly third-round losses several times. But the Canes knew they had elite talent, a deep roster, and prospects coming up the pipeline. And finally, this year, their patience was rewarded.
This is what makes a case like the Toronto Maple Leafs so compelling. They’ve been good for a long time and have been a contender on paper at times. They have elite-level talent on their roster, but they can’t get past the second round, and most times, they can’t even get out of the first round. There is an argument that patience could pay off in Toronto, and it’s possible that argument could be right. The history of the NHL is littered with teams that lost many times before eventually breaking through and winning a Stanley Cup, and it’s not to say Toronto should plan a Stanley Cup parade, but it is to say they should give their core a few more chances to win before tearing it all down.
The Modern Stanley Cup Formula: Depth Over Cap Hits
When the Carolina Hurricanes raised the Stanley Cup last week, they continued a trend as old as the NHL salary cap: no NHL team in the salary cap era has won the Stanley Cup and had a player carry a cap hit over $10MM. This stat is surprising given how many high-end players now carry AAVs well over $10MM, but it also shows that the teams that have won in this era have done so with balance and depth rather than relying on stars to carry them to victory and creating a top-heavy salary cap structure. Now, $10MM might seem like an arbitrary number to use for this piece, but the fact of the matter is that no team has been able to get over the hump with a player on their roster making north of that dollar figure.
Now, this is not to say that highly paid superstars haven’t won the cup. Of course, they have. But generally, those who have done so have signed below-market contracts to keep the team competitive. A good example is the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won three Stanley Cups with Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby earning big money, yet neither player has ever had a cap hit above $9.5MM. Even back in 2009 when Sidney Crosby’s $8.7MM cap hit took up a bigger portion of the Penguins payroll (15.3% of the $56.7MM salary cap limit) Pittsburgh was still able to field a competitive roster despite allocating a big percentage to Crosby as they benefitted from a third line of Tyler Kennedy, Jordan Staal and Matt Cooke making less than $4MM combined which goes to show that often the depth of a team is the thing that will give them an edge. It is interesting to note that Pittsburgh was able to weather that contract and win the Stanley Cup despite it taking up a bigger percentage of the salary cap than $10MM+ would today. Which makes the $10MM+ even more arbitrary, but interesting.
Looking at the last few years, many elite-player contracts have settled in the $11MM-$13MM range, which is probably below market value for some. Despite earning less than they could conceivably get, those players have not been able to carry their teams to victory while earning over $10MM. There have been teams with players making exactly $10MM (for example, the Florida Panthers last season, with Sergei Bobrovsky and Aleksander Barkov), but in general, winning teams have consistently avoided the ultra-expensive contracts that weigh down their roster depth.
What Carolina showed this year, and what the Florida Panthers did in previous seasons when they won the cup, is that teams that can spread their payroll across different tiers are much more successful than those handing out hockey’s version of a supermax deal. That salary-cap efficiency allows for depth throughout the roster, which ultimately gives a team the ability to lay the groundwork for playoff success.
It should also be noted that the Florida Panthers won the 2025 Stanley Cup with two players carrying a cap hit of exactly $10MM, which is interesting given the depth of that roster. Despite carrying those two eight-figure cap hits, Florida was able to fill out their roster with solid depth players and roll all four lines throughout the playoffs. They also benefitted from some absolute bargain contracts, including those of Sam Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe, Evan Rodrigues, Niko Mikkola and youngster Mackie Samoskevich. In the case of the Panthers, they were an organization that had all the pieces fit at the right time during a two-year window, similar to what happened with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020 and 2021, as well as the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017.
What those three teams had in common was that they structured their salary cap to fill out their rosters, plan for injuries in the playoffs, adjust to matchup changes if necessary, and give themselves depth should some of their players become fatigued later in the postseason. The Penguins were a good example of this in 2017, when they used their salary cap flexibility to cover Kris Letang’s playoff absence by acquiring multiple veteran defensemen at the NHL Trade Deadline, including Ron Hainsey, who effectively replaced Letang on the top pairing. The Penguins had roughly 10 NHL defensemen on their roster come playoff time and ended up using eight of them on their way to the Stanley Cup.
The Penguins, like the other recent cup winners, had elite players, but a common trait among these teams is that their franchise stars carry discounted cap hits for various reasons. It could be by choice, as is the case with the Penguins, or it could be an advantageous tax situation, as it was in Florida and Tampa Bay, or it could be smart timing by the team to lock in players long term prior to a breakout. Whatever it is, they all avoided breaking the bank for their stars, which isn’t true for all teams and their franchise stars, just ask the Toronto Maple Leafs.
As was demonstrated with the Panthers, big cap hits do exist on championship teams, and it appears that a player will soon make over $10MM and become a champion, especially with the salary cap climbing. Barring unforeseen circumstances, $10MM should be a lot more common in a couple of years, and much less of a roster constraint. But that’s always been one of the main purposes of a salary cap world: spread-the-wealth around the league. Eventually, bigger cap hits will begin to win Stanley Cups, and $10MM will become a regular cap hit for a second-line winger or a second-pairing defenseman. Until then, it will be fascinating to watch how many more seasons the trend can continue.
Poll: Who Will Win The 2026 Conn Smythe?
The 2026 Stanley Cup Finals could wrap up as soon as Sunday night, with the Carolina Hurricanes holding a 3-2 advantage over the Vegas Golden Knights. Both teams have been led to the finals by standout stars, building a strong pool of Conn Smythe Trophy candidates no matter who wins the Cup.
A strong performance in the Finals is the best way to stick in voters’ minds and no player has stood out more than Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal. The 38 year old has scored six goals and seven points in five games this series. That is more than Staal had scored through the entirety of the first three rounds – when he notched five points in 13 games. Playing under the lead of head coach Rod Brind’Amour – who spearheaded Carolina’s last Cup win in 2006 – Staal has found his next gear at exactly the right time.
But – Brind’Amour didn’t win the Conn Smythe in 2006, and Staal lacks scoring across the full postseason. A better standout could be playoff scoring leader Mitch Marner, who has blossomed into a playoff star in his first postseason run with the Golden Knights. He has recorded eight different multi-point games, including two four-point performances, en route to 29 points in just 21 playoff games. Marner has looked a cut above the rest for the last two months. That standing – marked by his lofty scoring – could be enough to earn Marner the Conn Smythe regardless of the series outcome. Connor McDavid was bestowed that honor in 2024, though he finished those playoffs with an incredible 42 points in 25 games. Marner’s chances would rise significantly should Vegas mount a comeback – one that would likely be led by his electric offense.
If the trophy does land in Carolina, MVP could go to any member of the Hurricanes best line: Taylor Hall, Jackson Blake, and Logan Stankoven. The trio has clicked perfectly in the postseason. Hall and Blake lead the Hurricanes in playoff scoring with 18 points in as many games, while Stankoven ranks fourth with 15 points. Brind’Amour has leaned on this line to dig Carolina out of the defensive end and double-shift in important moments of the game. Their impact allowed the explosive styles of Nikolaj Ehlers, Seth Jarvis, and Sebastian Aho to shine. Opponents simply can’t cover all of Carolina’s top performers – and that begins with the hard-nosed impact made by each of Hall, Blake, and Stankoven.
There appeared to be a clear Conn Smythe option in Carolina’s net, before the Stanley Cup Finals. Starter Frederik Andersen was in the midst of a stellar postseason after recording 12 wins and a .931 save percentage through 13 games of the first three series. But the wheels fell off in the Finals, where Andersen recorded a .815 save percentage in 162 minutes before being pulled partway through Game 3. Rookie replacement Brandon Bussi has stood out in two-and-a-half games since. He has set a .908 save percentage and could very well end up the piece that pushed the Hurricanes over the line. That may not be enough to earn Bussi MVP consideration, though his emergence has certainly pulled down Andersen’s odds.
The top-notch, two-way impact of Mark Stone and Jack Eichel, or even the solid performances before the Finals from Vegas starter Carter Hart, could also push voters to consider their choices. A Vegas win on Sunday night could respark the debate, too, offering one more chance for players to make their case for the award. With the season set to reach its peak, who do you think will take home playoff MVP?
Who Will Win The 2026 Conn Smythe Trophy?
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Jordan Staal, CAR 55% (734)
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Mitch Marner, VGK 28% (377)
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Taylor Hall, CAR 7% (94)
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Other (Comment Below) 6% (84)
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Jackson Blake, CAR 3% (42)
Total votes: 1,331
Hurricanes Adjustments Ahead of Game 3
With the Eastern Conference Final series tied at one game a piece, the Carolina Hurricanes are expected to maintain several key aspects of their game while tinkering with a few key areas. For the Hurricanes, maintaining an unblemished road record will depend on a few critical tactical and personnel factors highlighted ahead of puck drop.
Penalty Kill
Carolina’s penalty kill is performing at a near-historic level this postseason, killing 23 of 24 opposing power plays (95.5%). As noted by The North State Journal, since 2000, only the 2004 Detroit Red Wings (96%) have put up a better PK percentage over a minimum of 10 playoff games.
Defenseman K’Andre Miller credited the success to “iron sharpening iron,” stating that going up against their own high-end power play units in practice every day keeps them sharp.
Line Matchup War
With the Canadiens holding home-ice advantage, head coach Martin St. Louis gets the luxury of the last change. Montreal will actively try to pull the Nick Suzuki–Cole Caufield–Juraj Slafkovsky top line away from Jordan Staal‘s suffocating checking line. However, while Staal’s line held Montreal’s top trio to just three 5-on-5 shots on goal in Game 2, even if Montreal avoids Staal on home ice, Rod Brind’Amour can still counter by hard-matching his elite shutdown defensive pairing of Jaccob Slavin and Jalen Chatfield against Suzuki’s wingers.
Battling the Bell Centre Noise
While Montreal has gained a reputation as road warriors in the playoffs, the Hurricanes are an absolute juggernaut away from home this postseason, carrying a 4-0 road record into Game 3. Carolina’s only two postseason games with more than three goals scored both happened on the road (in Ottawa and Philadelphia).
Unsung Heroes
Right winger Jackson Blake is completely altering his identity for the postseason. While he has been known primarily for offense, Blake matched his regular-season career-high in blocked shots just 11 minutes into Game 2, finishing the night with 5 blocks.
Despite the adjustments in their tactics, the Hurricanes are keeping an eye on Montreal’s bottom six. Following a costly failed overtime dump-in that led to Nikolaj Ehlers‘ Game 2 winner, morning skate reports indicate Montreal is scratching Oliver Kapanen in favor of the heavier Joe Veleno to counter Carolina’s relentless speed and physical forecheck.
Hurricanes Resting Numerous Players
Shortly before tonight’s game against Chicago, the Carolina Hurricanes shared several who won’t play: Jalen Chatfield, Jaccob Slavin, Jordan Staal, Jordan Martinook, Seth Jarvis, Sebastian Aho, and Andrei Svechnikov.
A laundry list, it’s enough to raise some eyebrows, but the main motivation of doing so is rest against a bottom-ranked team. The Hurricanes already locked up their divisional title, as they await their first round opponent, currently projected to be Ottawa if the playoffs started today.
Only one of the bunch is known to be injured, Chatfield, who left Tuesday’s action and is not 100%, head coach Rod Brind’Amour told the media, including Walt Ruff, team reporter.
Yesterday the club recalled Skyler Brind’Amour, Bradly Nadeau, Josiah Slavin, and Charles-Alexis Legault from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, and sure enough each of them are in the lineup tonight. It’s perfect timing considering they’re able to join the Hurricanes right across town, in time to play the nearby Blackhawks with limited disruption.
Brind’Amour’s presence is impossible to miss on name alone, as he’ll play with his father behind the bench for the first time since last year. No stranger to such April call-up duty, he found the back of the net for his first NHL goal late last season. The local product has become a respectable AHLer in his own right, sixth on the Wolves in scoring with 34 points in 66 games this year.
Slavin also carries a name synonymous with the Canes, as the brother of Jaccob. The 27-year-old is making his team debut, with first NHL action since 2021-22. A respected veteran at the AHL level, the winger is the captain of the Wolves, putting up 25 points in 66 games.
With the sentimental call-ups aside, Nadeau stands out as a promising youngster. The 20-year-old was a first rounder of the Canes in 2023 (30th overall) and already has the most NHL experience out of the bunch at 11 games (three points). Boasting an elite shot, the 5’11” winger is considered Carolina’s top forward prospect, with real top six upside. His AHL production has been excellent, 58 goals across 115 regular season games, and he’ll enjoy a spot on the second line still working to put it together at the highest level.
Finally, Legault is the only defenseman of the bunch, where he’s locked in on the third pairing. The 22-year-old has managed to skate in eight games with the big club this year, recording two points. The Quebec native has only modest AHL numbers, but at 6’4”, he hardly has to contribute in that area.
Carolina’s farmhands clinched a playoff spot, so the four will be summoned back across town shortly. The Hurricanes have three more regular season games after tonight, and they will rotate their lineup, continuing to be careful with more pressing matters around the corner.
East Notes: Crosby, Martinook, Staal, Texier
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby extended his NHL record for consecutive point-per-game seasons with a goal and a pair of assists in Sunday’s 5-2 win over Florida. He’s now at 72 points on the year; he can play a maximum of 70 games after missing 12 over the past several weeks with an MCL sprain and a subsequently unrelated lower-body issue. That gives him 21 seasons in a row above a point per game, two clear of Wayne Gretzky‘s previous record of 19. Crosby has never finished at or below a point per game in his career. The closest he ever got was a Cup-winning season for the Penguins in 2015-16, when his 36-49–85 scoring line in 80 games worked out to a career-low 1.06 mark. Among players with at least 750 career appearances, Crosby’s 1.24 points per game sits eighth all-time and third among active players behind Connor McDavid‘s 1.53 and Nikita Kucherov‘s 1.28.
More from around the Eastern Conference:
- The Hurricanes were without two-thirds of their main checking line in yesterday’s loss to the Senators, as Jordan Martinook and Jordan Staal were unable to go. Both were late scratches due to undisclosed injuries, the team announced. They each missed three-game stretches earlier in the year with a lower-body injury and an illness, respectively, but have otherwise been durable. With the Metropolitan Division title all but locked up with now just five games left in the season, it’s likely a case of extremely precautionary rest ahead of the playoffs. Martinook has 26 points and a +5 rating in his 73 appearances this year, while Staal has 33 points and a +3.
- After clinching a playoff berth earlier in the day thanks to some outside help, the Canadiens were quiet at home last night in a 3-0 loss to the Devils. They did so without the services of depth winter Alexandre Texier, who has now missed a seventh straight game with a lower-body injury, per Eric Engels of Sportsnet. He remains listed as day-to-day but has only played eight times since Jan. 29 due to injuries and a string of healthy scratches. He’s still been an efficiently productive find for Montreal this season after he opted to walk away from his contract with the Blues in November, recording an 8-11–19 scoring line in 38 games since his pickup.
Hurricanes Reassign Justin Robidas Amid Injury Updates
The Carolina Hurricanes saw a wave of roster updates come through during Saturday morning’s practice. Notably, winger Justin Robidas was not at practice, as he’s been reassigned to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. Robidas won’t skate in Saturday’s match against the Manitoba Moose but should be back in time for Sunday’s rematch.
Forward William Carrier also missed practice. It is unclear if he has sustained a new injury after appearing in Friday’s win over the Winnipeg Jets. Goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov did sustain a lower-body injury that forced him out of Friday’s game, and Saturday’s practice. Defenseman Jaccob Slavin also remained out, per NHL.com’s Walt Ruff.
In better news, Ruff adds that forward Jordan Staal participated in practice despite being questionable with an illness, and center Jesperi Kotkaniemi continued to work in a non-contact jersey.
Carolina continues to face a heap of injuries despite getting Shayne Gostisbehere and K’Andre Miller back into the lineup recently. They have been forced to play hot potato with much of their lineup, routinely cycling through their lines. The Hurricanes have had six different forward lines, and 10 different defense pairings, play in at least 50 minutes of even-strength ice time this season. Their most-used forward line has been Jordan Martinook, Staal, and Carrier – a trio that could be broken up if Carrier sustained another injury. The most-used defense pairing has been Miller and Sean Walker, who reunited recently after Miller missed six games.
The Hurricanes have felt the brunt of that shuffle over November. They started the month with a 4-1-0 record, but have fallen into a back-and-forth over the last two weeks. Carolina is 4-3-2 in their last nine games, and haven’t won back-to-back games since Novmber 8th and 9th.
Injuries have forced Carolina’s healthy skaters to step up. Sophomore winger Jackson Blake ranks fourth on the team in scoring with 15 points in 24 games. Robidas was also contributing to the offense, netting one assist and a 50 percent faceoff percentage through two games in a bottom-six role.
Robidas now have three points in the first four games of his NHL career, including a pair of games he played in last season. He has been an electric scorer in the minor leagues and currently ranks third on the Wolves with 12 points in 16 games. Chicago is trying to break out of their own November slump, posting a 2-4-0 record over their last six games but winning last Wednesday’s game against the rival Rockford IceHogs by a lofty 8-4. Robidas should help the Wolves keep that offense rolling as they look for better outcomes in December.
Metro Notes: Hamilton, Hurricanes, Penguins
Heading into the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs, the New Jersey Devils will be without their top forward and defenseman. However, it may not be long before the latter returns. Earlier today, Peter Baugh of The Athletic relayed a note from the Devils’ head coach, Sheldon Keefe, indicating Dougie Hamilton could return for Round One.
Originally, Hamilton had been ruled out for the regular season in mid-March, with a projected return date of Round Two of the postseason. A week ago, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported that Hamilton was recovering faster than expected, with the likelihood of a Round One return increasing exponentially now that he’s returned to skating.
There’s no question the Devils could use him. Hamilton scored nine goals and 40 points in 63 games for New Jersey this season, with 15 coming on the team’s powerplay. The Devils have slowed down since Hamilton and forward Jack Hughes exited the lineup, while their projected Round One opponent, the Carolina Hurricanes, have managed a 9-4-0 record since the trade deadline, meaning New Jersey will need every advantage available.
Other notes from the Metropolitan Division:
- Speaking of Carolina, the Hurricanes are expected to welcome forwards Jordan Staal and Andrei Svechnikov back to the lineup for tonight’s contest against the Buffalo Sabres. Staal and Svechnikov had missed a handful of games for Carolina over the past week. Unfortunately, in the report from Chip Alexander of The Raleigh News & Observer, the Hurricanes are expected to be without center Jesperi Kotkaniemi for the next week. Still, Alexander did reiterate a sentiment from head coach Rod Brind’Amour indicating it’s not a serious ailment for Kotkaniemi.
- Earlier today, Seth Rorabaugh of The Tribune Review contextualized Matthew Nieto‘s emergency recall last night. Rorabaugh reports that forward Philip Tomasino has been diagnosed with a concussion, and forward Blake Lizotte is considered day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. Unfortunately, the concussion will likely result in the end of Tomasino’s 2024-25 season. Still, he’s had a promising run with the Penguins since being acquired from the Predators earlier in the year, scoring 10 goals and 20 points in 48 contests with the new organization.
Hurricanes Notes: Svechnikov, Staal, Carrier, Kotkaniemi, Robidas
The Hurricanes are getting closer to full health at the right time. They’ve got a trio of forwards on the verge of returning to play, none more important than top-six winger Andrei Svechnikov. He participated fully in today’s practice and is tracking to return to the lineup tomorrow against the Sabres, although head coach Rod Brind’Amour wouldn’t confirm his availability one way or another (via the team’s Walt Ruff).
It’s been an extremely trying recent stretch for Svechnikov. He sustained an upper-body injury back on March 9 and missed seven games. His return only lasted three appearances until he sustained another undisclosed injury in a game against the Capitals last week. He’s missed a pair of games due to that one. The injury troubles come as Svechnikov is doling out his worst offensive performance since his rookie season. His 0.68 points per game pace is decently south of the 0.77 career average he’s set for himself over his seven seasons in the league.
He’s still one of the more important contributors on a Carolina roster that lacks a point-per-game contributor after trading Martin Nečas to the Avalanche earlier this season. Including Nečas, Svechnikov ranks fourth on the Canes with 19-26–45 in 66 showings. His 17:12 average time on ice is up slightly from last year’s 16:59, although his underlying are a tad concerning. While he’s controlling 58.7% of shot attempts at even strength, that’s on an exceptional two-way club in Carolina. He’s tracking to post a negative relative CF% for the first time in his career.
Nonetheless, they’d love to get Svechnikov back into the fold and hopefully on a hot streak entering postseason play. They’ve clinched a postseason berth and are essentially locked into second place in the Metropolitan Division with a first-round matchup against an injury-plagued Devils team, but more scoring from him is needed to make a deep run and advance to the Conference Final or further.
Elsewhere in Carolina’s forward group, captain Jordan Staal practiced ahead of tomorrow’s game and, like Svechnikov, remains questionable. He’s sat out the last four games with a lower-body injury and five of the last eight, so he’s clearly nursing something. The 6’4″ pivot remains a veritable two-way force in his 19th NHL season, posting his best offensive performance in three years while winning 53.9% of his draws, tying for fifth on the team with a +13 rating, and adding 42 blocks and 127 hits.
They’re also on the verge of getting depth winger William Carrier back in the lineup after a months-long absence. The 30-year-old was a full participant in today’s practice along with Staal and Svechnikov. He underwent lower-body surgery in late January and was ruled out indefinitely, although he never landed on injured reserve. He posted 4-5–9 in 39 games with 136 hits before exiting the lineup, averaging 11:37 per game in his first season in Carolina after signing a six-year, $12MM commitment last summer that could see him finish his career in Raleigh.
As they land some returnees, there might still be a departure from the lineup. Center Jesperi Kotkaniemi “tweaked something” in Saturday’s loss to the Bruins, Brind’Amour said, and he’s still being evaluated. It’s likely he’ll at least miss the Buffalo game after going without a point in his last six appearances. The 24-year-old has 11-20–31 in 76 games, an improvement from last year’s totals while averaging 14 minutes per game.
It stands to reason Carolina expects at least a net positive in terms of lineup influx for tomorrow’s contest. They returned rookie center Justin Robidas to AHL Chicago last night, per Ruff. The 22-year-old came up under emergency conditions late last week and recorded a point in each of his first two career NHL appearances, including Carolina’s lone goal in the loss to Boston. It was quite the initial showing from the 5’8″ centerman, who the Canes picked up in the fifth round of the 2021 draft. He has 17-31–48 in 65 AHL appearances after spending all of 2023-24 on assignment to ECHL Norfolk.
East Notes: Norris, Greenway, Staal, Fabbro, Roy
The Buffalo Sabres are working on winning their second consecutive game without a pair of forwards. Earlier today, TSN reported that Sabres’ Joshua Norris wouldn’t make his return to Ottawa this evening as he remains away from the team due to a mid-body injury, and Jordan Greenway has missed his fifth straight game with a lower-body injury (Tweet Link).
Despite being acquired by Buffalo at the trade deadline, Norris has only appeared in three games for the Sabres. He’s been productive in those contests, scoring one goal and one assist, averaging 18:36 of ice time a night, and maintaining a 54.0% playoff race. There’s no word on whether or not Norris’s season has ended, but he may be better served by fully healing from his current injury to start the 2025-26 season fresh for Buffalo.
Meanwhile, Greenway is similarly prone to injuries, especially this season. The gritty middle-six forward has only appeared in 34 of the Sabres’ 74 games this season, scoring three goals and eight points. Still, although he’s missed over half of the team’s regular season contests, the Sabres to a two-year, $8MM extension with mild trade protection.
Other injury notes from the Eastern Conference:
- According to Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer, Carolina Hurricanes’ captain Jordan Staal is unlikely to suit up tomorrow against the Washington Capitals. Staal is dealing with a lower-body injury, but it’s not considered severe, as Alexander notes he would only be withheld from the lineup for precautionary reasons. Depth forward Tyson Jost will likely take Staal’s place in the lineup should he miss a second consecutive contest.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets benefited greatly tonight from the return of defenseman Dante Fabbro from an undisclosed injury (Tweet Link). After tallying three points in the team’s recent win against the Vancouver Canucks, Fabbro missed against the Senators before returning tonight. In an equally promising game, Fabbro scored one goal and one assist in 20:41 of ice time.
- Defenseman Dylan McIlrath has already made his presence in the Washington Capitals lineup felt tonight after engaging in a heavyweight bout with Boston Bruins’ forward, Jeffrey Viel. The only reason McIlrath is in the lineup tonight is that Matt Roy is out for familial reasons, as reported by Bailey Johnson of The Washington Post. There’s no timeline for Roy’s return.