Carolina Hurricanes are going to surprise many people

[JPeeper]

Ferland is gonna hit 30 goals and 55 points.

He could play with Aho and Teravainen and he'd still be lucky to break 20 let alone 30.

Preseason is meaningless.

 

[613Leafer]

Their goaltending can make or break their season.

I think they finished 10/16 last season in the conference, but that was with the league's worst team save % for their goalies. If that jumps to average, or even slightly below average, all else being equal they'd probably have an extra 4-5 wins last year.

Though with Skinner/Lindholm gone, and Williams turning 37 next week (I'm assuming has a decent chance to be worse this year), that's a pretty solid hit to their already thin offence. A lot will also be riding on if the young guys can hit the ground running.

 

[All Mod Cons]

If only I had a dollar.........

 

[Go Wings]

By not making the playoffs yet again?

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

I've been watching some of their pre season games and I can say that they now have an incredible young offensive group led by a seasoned veteran cup winner.

Already established Aho, Staal and Teravainen are joined by an insanely skilled addition of Svechnikov, Necas and Zykov who have been putting up points in pretty much all of the pre season games.


Their newest acquisition to the defense in Hamilton establishes the Hurricanes defensive crop as pretty solid having top talent in Slavin, TVR and Faulk.

The only questionable position is goalies. It's pretty weak, to be honest, but if Mrazek plays well, the Canes are going to battle for a play off spot.

Lee Stempniak leads the Bruins in scoring and is top 5 in the league so far this preseason....that tells you all you need to know

 

[ffh]

if only they had a proven 30 goal scorer also. could have gotten as much for skinner a deadline and had a 30 goal scorer to boot this year. they miss playoffs again

 

[Blueline Bomber]

if only they had a proven 30 goal scorer also. could have gotten as much for skinner a deadline and had a 30 goal scorer to boot this year. they miss playoffs again

If the scuttlebutt is true, trading Skinner is addition by subtraction. Do you really think they didn't realize they could have gotten more if they waited until the deadline? But that meant keeping him on the team until the deadline, and apparently that wasn't even an option in their minds.

As far as the OP goes? No chance. They did nothing to address either weakness from last year, and while it looks like the offensive troubles from last year were likely a coaching issue, goaltending is still garbage.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Just for reference, in our pre-season poll, the majority (~60%) of HF Canes fans think we'll miss the playoffs. And most of 40% that think they'll make it think they'll squeak in as a bubble team.

So other fan bases thinking we'll "surprise"isn't consistent with the Canes HF fan base.

 

[TCNorthstars]

It's risky to try to extrapolate any sort of meaning from preseason games.

See Red Wings, Detroit

 

[tarheelhockey]

I don't think they'll surprise anyone with their place in the standings.

What might open some eyes is how much they have changed from one season to the next. Ferland, Svechnikov, and Foegle are three guys with serious wheels who play a heavy game. Martinook isn't as fast, but he also plays a gritty forechecking game. All of these guys are the kinds of players who force opponents to make quick, sloppy decisions. Zykov is less of a forechecker but he's a highly disruptive presence in front of the net, sort of a poor man's Holmstrom. None of these 5 forwards were on the roster last season -- that's nearly half the forward group turned over to become more physical.

It's also very clear that Rod Brind'Amour wants them to initiate that kind of contact and push back physically, which is a 180 degree change from the Bill Peters coached team which deliberately pulled back from hits in order to maintain positioning. I don't know about RBA's ability with Xs and Os, line matching, that sort of thing. But he's not going to have a soft team, that's for sure.

Combine that with an even better defensive unit (subtract Hanifin, add Hamilton and De Haan) and two very good defensive centers in Staal and Aho, and you've got a team that should be a major pain to play against. They'll probably still lose fairly often due to a lack of top-tier forward talent, having a couple of question marks down the middle, and having arguably the worst goaltending tandem post-lockout. But they'll not be a walk in the park to play against like they have in the past few years. Something similar to the Columbus and Nashville teams which became very competitive very quickly once they hit their window.

 

[KingTux]

If only they had decent goalies...

 

[Ole Gil]

People keep saying 'rookies' like the Canes are bringing up a bunch of scrawny mid 1st 19yo's being asked to carry the team.

Zykov and Foegele, who between them, led the AHL in PP goals, Non PP goals, and Total goals, are 22 and 23, and are 6'1 225, and 6'2 190. Zykov having 8 points in 12 NHL games, and Foegele 3 points in 2. And both playing PPG+ in the preseason. They are very very well-seasoned rookies who are clearly NHL'rs, it's just a matter of how good.

Svech is a beast, and the top forward in his draft. Since 2006, Stamkos had 23/23, jStaal had 29/13, and Reinhart stunk. Every other top forward played at a 50 point pace or higher. There's nothing to suggest he's going to be the next Reinhart.

Necas is the only traditional Rookie, in that he's a mid first, it's his draft +1 year, and he might be a bit over his head. But he'll be playing protected minutes (if he needs them) on the 3rd line with 2 good wingers. And he looked more than fine in the preseason, but I'd be nervous if they had more than one of his type they were counting on. But he's the only one, and everything is trending positively for him.

Point being that these guys are almost certainly better than the type of guys most teams are filling out their rosters with, and it will be the teams strength, rather than weakness that they are icing Zykov/Foegele rather than Leivo/Ennis.

 

[featherhawk]

that goaltending though....

 

[Dbrownss]

Didn't Montreal go lights out in the preseason a few years ago? Yea......

 

[Tripod]

Here is the issue with the "if the goaltending is better" talk.

NJ and Philly both had awful goaltending too from their starters....and they finished with 96 and 97 points....Canes had 84. To make up 12-14 points AND leapfrog Florida will be tough. But as we all know, the game is played on the ice and what teams look like on paper means little.

 

[mccabe2424]

I bet they will go on a run from January on and miss playoffs by a couple of points which would surprise no one

 

[LeonDraisaitl]

I read this thread every year for the past 4 years

 

[tarheelhockey]

Here is the issue with the "if the goaltending is better" talk.

NJ and Philly both had awful goaltending too from their starters....and they finished with 96 and 97 points....Canes had 84.

NJ had a .908
Philly had a .903
Carolina had a .893


The only two teams who were even close were Buffalo (.896) and Ottawa (.895) and those teams had 62 and 67 points. Carolina had 84 with worse goaltending.

 

[Bonzo111]

I've been watching some of their pre season games and I can say that they now have an incredible young offensive group led by a seasoned veteran cup winner.

Already established Aho, Staal and Teravainen are joined by an insanely skilled addition of Svechnikov, Necas and Zykov who have been putting up points in pretty much all of the pre season games.


Their newest acquisition to the defense in Hamilton establishes the Hurricanes defensive crop as pretty solid having top talent in Slavin, TVR and Faulk.

The only questionable position is goalies. It's pretty weak, to be honest, but if Mrazek plays well, the Canes are going to battle for a play off spot.

Every time I've watched them the past year or two I've been thoroughly impressed with their speed and skill and possession game. Its only a matter of time before they take that next step. Is Mrazek the starter now? Darlings a dud

 

[tarheelhockey]

Every time I've watched them the past year or two I've been thoroughly impressed with their speed and skill and possession game. Its only a matter of time before they take that next step. Is Mrazek the starter now? Darlings a dud

Darling actually looked better than Mrazek in the preseason. In the offseason he pretty much just fessed up that he stopped trying last summer, got completely out of shape, possibly relapsed a bit on the substance stuff, and fell apart. This summer the Canes basically had a film crew follow him around and document his efforts to clean up, lose 30lb, and get back in the good graces of the organization. He's looked like an NHL-quality goalie so far.

Also he got injured yesterday so **** us.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

Depends if they're able to turn good play into results. It's not just goaltending either, but having the killers instinct and skill to put the puck in the back of the net when you have the momentum. Often helps the goalies too when they know the team in front of them can score goals if you just keep them in the game.

NJ had a .908
Philly had a .903
Carolina had a .893


The only two teams who were even close were Buffalo (.896) and Ottawa (.895) and those teams had 62 and 67 points. Carolina had 84 with worse goaltending.

And i'd imagine both Philly and NJ miss the playoffs if their best scorer had 65 points, instead of 102 and 93.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

NJ and Philly both had awful goaltending from their starters too.....

ES Sv%, Philly was 13th in the League, NJ 25th, and Carolina 30th (ahead of only Ottawa). Flyers were dead last in Sv% on the PK, which I think is where your perception comes from. Don't know exactly how NJ flourished with their 25th spot, want to say the Hart winner but don't have time to check.

"If goaltending is better" was achieved under Bill Peters. He's gone now. HCRB'A has these guys playing like it's Game 7 in the preseason, not surprising it turned out for a 93% points percentage. As a 'Canes fan, the game against Nashville yesterday was the most intense preseason game in....since I've been following the team, anyway.

 

[Pi]

That goaltending is going to make or break their team. They have a great D and an okay offense but goaltending is a big question mark. If they make it, it will likely be in the last week of the season as a wild card team.

They can be out of the running by mid November though if their goaltending is bad again.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

Necas is the only traditional Rookie, in that he's a mid first, it's his draft +1 year

Nitpick: "Draft year" is the year leading up to, not following, a players first eligible draft, so this is Necas' D+2 year.

But you're right, this isn't Buff/Isle "fill the last three spots with warm blooded AHL'ers", it's applicable to the Leafs, save the 'Canes have 2 hyped rookies rather than 3.

 

[tarheelhockey]

And i'd imagine both Philly and NJ miss the playoffs if their best scorer had 65 points, instead of 102 and 93.

And I'd imagine either of them would win the President's Trophy if they had Carolina's defense.

Funny enough, teams can win games with different approaches. But nobody wins games with a .893 in net.