Stanley Cup champion Hurricanes? Here are 3 big things that would help the cause

April 25, 2024

The Hurricanes’ end goal is clear — win the Stanley Cup. With a grueling 82-game season ahead and the playoffs more than half a year away, there are several hurdles to leap before any team can even begin to think about its ultimate goal.

To accomplish the feat, however, a team must have much go its way. Overcoming injuries, reliable goaltending, overachieving players and a bit of luck all play a part.

Having these three things break their way could help the Hurricanes be the last team standing.

An improved power play

Carolina’s 19.8 percent power play was the second-worst of coach Rod Brind’Amour’s tenure as coach, only besting the 17.8 percent it had in his first season behind the bench in 2018-19.

Last season, the Hurricanes’ power play ranked tied for 19th in the regular season, and only the Jets (19.3 percent, T-22nd) and Islanders (15.8, 30th) were lower among teams that reached the postseason.

In the playoffs, Carolina slipped further, converting at 17.7 percent to finish 12th among 16 playoff teams with nine goals in 15 games.

Many have griped that the Hurricanes’ power play has been poor throughout Brind’Amour’s five-year run, but in 2020-21, Carolina ranked second at 25.6 percent, behind only Edmonton. It was a by-committee approach with six players finishing with double-digit points on the power play, led by three different players with seven goals.

The current Hurricanes also can’t count on one player to fuel the power play. Sebastian Aho’s 13 power-play goals last season marked the first time since 2015-16 that a Carolina player hit double-digits in the statistic (Justin Faulk, 12), and a Hurricanes player hasn’t scored 15 power play goals since Eric Staal and Brind’Amour both had 19 in the power play-happy 2005-06 season.

Carolina will need a collective effort from its power play to move into the top 10 of the league this season. The last five seasons, the league’s 10th-ranked power play has finished with success rates of 22.8, 22.9, 21.9, 21.3 and 21.1 percent, and the Hurricanes’ power play has converted at 21.1 percent through Brind’Amour’s five seasons.

Carolina’s power-play opportunities hover at right around three per game during the Brind’Amour era, so the team can expect about 250 chances for the season. With power-play conversions on the rise, the Hurricanes will probably need to finish at 23 percent to guarantee being in the top 10. That’s 57 or 58 power play goals, and the Hurricanes finished with 50 last season.

The additions of Tony DeAngelo and Michael Bunting should help. DeAngelo — who has been running the point on the top unit during camp with Brent Burns moving into more of a shooting role — had 19 power-play points last season in Philadelphia and 20 the year before with Carolina. Bunting had a career-best seven power play goals a season ago on Toronto’s second-ranked power play, and he picked up one already in his first two preseason games with his new team.

“We have good pieces,” Brind’Amour said. “Our execution last year was spotty. We’d look good at times and then, you know… But we’ve got to make sure that’s a priority. And hopefully adding Tony there into the mix will help us.

“You’re talking a goal a month, or maybe two, and that’s the difference of being a 20 percent power play and a 24 percent power play. … One or two a month is a big difference, and it doesn’t sound like a lot. So it’s just getting a little sharper in that area.”

A bounce-back season for Teravainen

Teuvo Teravainen would probably just like to forget last season. Coming off a 65-point campaign in 2021-22, in which he scored a career-high nine power play goals, Teravainen had just 37 points last year — the fewest since coming to Carolina outside of 2020-21, when he was limited to just 21 games.

He then suffered a broken thumb on a slash from Islanders center Jean-Gabriel Pageau in Game 2 of the first round of the playoffs, knocking him out of that series along with the next against the Devils.

The Hurricanes’ run to the Eastern Conference finals allowed Teravainen to return for that series against the Panthers, albeit with a gruesome-looking thumb that would make Frankenstein’s monster cringe. Carolina was swept by Florida, and Teravainen — who had a goal in the deciding Game 4 — entered the offseason with one year remaining on his deal.

The 29-year-old has often played alongside Aho, but his struggles a year ago, the emergence of Seth Jarvis and the addition of Bunting have Teravainen shuffled down the lineup. During training camp, he has slotted on Jordan Staal’s right side and also alongside Jesperi Kotkaniemi in Andrei Svechnikov’s spot should the Russian winger not be ready for the season.

Regardless of where he winds up — Brind’Amour always has a reunion with Aho ready in his back pocket — Teravainen should have extra motivation with free agency on the horizon next summer.

While he’s currently not on Carolina’s top power-play unit, the second group looks more formidable with newcomer Dmitry Orlov running the point and Martin Necas trying to build on a breakthrough season.

Overall, a return to form for Teravainen would be a big boost to the Hurricanes.

“That’s the better question because he is so crucial,” Brind’Amour said early in training camp when asked about Teravainen’s importance. “If you look at what he does, as far as the role he plays and the amount of key times he’s on the ice, whether it’s special teams — both, on the kill and everything. If he’s doing what he does at a high level, that can only help us.”

While reaching 60 points — as he’s done in four of his seven seasons in Raleigh — might be a stretch if he remains in a lesser role, a 50-point campaign should be attainable and provide Carolina with much-needed depth scoring.

Andersen becomes a Vezina finalist

Frederik Andersen struggled with injuries and consistency in last year’s regular season, making just 33 starts and finishing with a .903 save percentage after winning 35 games and posting a .922 save percentage the year before.

Carolina won’t have to lean heavily on Andersen this season — the return of Antti Raanta and the continued emergence of Pyotr Kochetkov means the Hurricanes can balance the workload in net. But Andersen remains the team’s best path to success, and a return to 45 to 50 starts seems both reasonable and prudent.

Furthermore, the number of workhorse goalies in the NHL is dwindling — especially with Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy out for at least a couple of months — and many of the ones who remain are on teams that will have to battle just to reach the playoffs.

The two New York goalies, the Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin and Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin, enter the season as the Vezina Trophy favorites. But after them are Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck, Nashville’s Juuse Saros and the since-injured Vasilevskiy rounding out the top five, according to BetOnline.ag.

Interestingly, it’s Kochetkov at 40-1 who has the best odds among Carolina goalies. In all, 25 goalies have been given better or equal odds to Andersen’s 50-1. Those odds are certainly factoring in Kochetkov’s promise and Andersen’s history of injuries. But if Linus Ullmark was able to win the Vezina last season with just 49 appearances, Andersen can surely do the same for the team considered the Presidents’ Trophy favorite.

If Andersen can parlay his playoff performance — 5-3-0, .927 save percentage, 1.83 goals-against average — into a solid regular season, there’s no reason to believe he won’t be in the running to be one of the three finalists for the Vezina at season’s end.

(Photo of Teuvo Teravainen: James Guillory / USA Today)

ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57k3Jqa2lnZnxzfJFsZmpoX2WDcK%2FAq6aloZ6WeqnB0augnJmemsBuv9OapaWdqWKwtryMa2Y%3D