Carolina Hurricanes are going to surprise many people

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

I hear that EVERY year

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Ferland is gonna hit 30 goals and 55 points.

From 2018-2020.

 

[Hire Sather]

Every year with the Hurricanes.

 

[Roboturner913]

One of these years they're actually going to make the playoffs

and then we'll get to hear about how much of a fluke it was and how they were really a terrible team that just got incredibly lucky, a once-in-a-lifetime situation where literally every single thing that could possibly go their way did and how undeserving they are based on that.

Oh wait, you all do that anyway

 

[PunkRockLocke]

I hope they make the playoffs, because if they don't they'll join the Oilers and Panthers in sharing the longest playoff drought record of 10 seasons, and I want Edmonton to hang onto as much of that record as possible (50%) for a very long time.

 

[Addison Rae]

Agreed, Svechnikov is a Laine level prospect. If this team can get league average goaltending they make the playoffs.

Dougie Hamilton is an incredibly underrated player adding him and De Haan to an already fantastic blue-line is incredible.

 

[connormcmuffin]

I year this every year, good luck to them.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I hear that EVERY year

Every year with the Hurricanes.

As I said earlier, I did a search for "Hurricanes" and "Carolina" in this forum and was unable to find a thread title saying this. Maybe it's in a different thread. Can you guys point me to this?

Canes fans have been predicting the team would miss the playoffs for the past 4 years (at least). It was only last year that the fanbase started turning even a bit more positive and think they'd be a bubble team, but the majority of fans still predicted in our poll they'd miss. 3-4 years ago, many fans thought we'd be a bottom feeder, so I'd like to see these "every year" threads you guys are talking about to see which fan bases were predicting it.

 

[JAS 39 Gripen]

Will finish 11th in the conference

 

[tarheelhockey]

???

I agree with the goaltending, but down in the middle? They have enough quality when it comes to centers,
besides, you really can't look in to positions these days, many teams don't have positions locked in,
many players play both center and wing positions, that is with Hurricanes as well.

Eh, center definitely is the other big question mark other than goaltending.

Jordan Staal is locked in as a top-6 center, that's simple enough.
Aho would be the other guy, but he's still adjusting to the position having only played a few real games there.
Rask would be 3C, but is having hand surgery and didn't have a great 2018 season.
Therefore 3C is going to be Martin Necas, a rookie with a lot of talent but who looks like he's still getting used to swimming with the big fish.
4C is going to be Lucas Wallmark, a rookie. The backup option until Rask returns will be Nic Roy, also a rookie.

Unless Aho wrecks the learning curve, there really isn't a top-end option in that group and the bottom-6 guys are all question marks. The only thing firmly established is Jordan Staal, an underrated player but not elite.

 

[Hire Sather]

As I said earlier, I did a search for "Hurricanes" and "Carolina" in this forum and was unable to find a thread title saying this. Maybe it's in a different thread. Can you guys point me to this?

Canes fans have been predicting the team would miss the playoffs for the past 4 years (at least). It was only last year that the fanbase started turning even a bit more positive and think they'd be a bubble team, but the majority of fans still predicted in our poll they'd miss. 3-4 years ago, many fans thought we'd be a bottom feeder, so I'd like to see these "every year" threads you guys are talking about to see which fan bases were predicting it.

I have no idea if it was Canes ans who posted it or not but I've seen this thread the last couple seasons in this forum.

I'm not searching for it. You have like 10 people herr who day they've seen it

 

[KingsFan7824]

As I said earlier, I did a search for "Hurricanes" and "Carolina" in this forum and was unable to find a thread title saying this. Maybe it's in a different thread. Can you guys point me to this?

Canes fans have been predicting the team would miss the playoffs for the past 4 years (at least). It was only last year that the fanbase started turning even a bit more positive and think they'd be a bubble team, but the majority of fans still predicted in our poll they'd miss. 3-4 years ago, many fans thought we'd be a bottom feeder, so I'd like to see these "every year" threads you guys are talking about to see which fan bases were predicting it.

Maybe it's not the title of a post. Probably more in the "what team in general will surprise this year" sort of thing. The Canes do get mentioned a lot every year in threads like that. Maybe not by Carolina fans specifically, but they do get mentioned. Probably because they do and have had some talent there, but made the playoffs once since 2006.

A lot of people have mentioned Buffalo as the surprise team this year for the same reasons. Since Carolina is always missing the playoffs, they're the ultimate dark horse team to pick. They keep missing the playoffs, so if someone asks what non-playoff team from last year will make it this year, they're just on that potential list a lot.

If a Canes fan makes a specific post about them maybe surprising a lot of people, it ends up as, well we hear that every year, even if Canes fans don't say it.

 

[Mikeshane]

Carolina already surprised me the last two years, unfortunately for them their goalie would end up letting in a weak one and gifting their opponent the game.

 

[Atrusai]

I hope McBackup turns into McStarter for you guys.

 

[LakeLivin]

Yeah, Canes success this season likely comes down to goaltending.

The team has changed considerably since last season. For all those who discount the possibility that Canes might do well on the basis that similar predictions haven't come true in the past:

1. doing so without considering the changes since then is kind of lazy.
2. that's called extrapolation, and it's a logical fallacy.

Now, if you're discounting the chances of success based on questions about goaltending or unproven centers, that's another story.

 

[Paperbagofglory]

I agree, they will surprise all of us.

At how bad they are going to be.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

I like Carolina. I actually root for Carolina. They're probably only behind the Blue Jackets on teams out East I'd be most okay with seeing succeed.

But we've been hearing talk about them being on the verge of taking a giant step forward for more than a few years now, so at this point I have them essentially in the same boat as the Oilers as a team that I have a wait and see approach for. Sure, they might be good, but I'm not expecting a) success or b) sustained success until they beat me over the head and actually do some damage and force me to change my attitude regarding them.

I hope they do. Canes, I mean.

 

[rfournier103]

They’ve already surprised me by bringing back the Whalers unis...

 

[KaseMeOutside]

they're the new panthers, the last 3 years we've been waiting for them based on the fancy stats. but they seem to ignore the goaltending position completely

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I have no idea if it was Canes ans who posted it or not but I've seen this thread the last couple seasons in this forum.

I'm not searching for it. You have like 10 people herr who day they've seen it

So "every year" is really the last 2 years? I can buy that.

The first two years under Bill Peters, the team was viewed as a bottom feeder and nobody thought they'd be good (and they weren't). Two years ago and even more so, last year, yeah, I could see some people thinking they'd surprise. Most Canes fans didn't, but people tended to love their possession metrics and ignored that they weren't very talented.

I guess "every year" means the last two.

 

[Cleatus]

Maybe this is the year it turns around for them. I see them as a bubble team at least, and I always like seeing teams that haven't made it in awhile finally get over that hump.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Maybe this is the year it turns around for them. I see them as a bubble team at least, and I always like seeing teams that haven't made it in awhile finally get over that hump.

Thing is, in prior years we at least had a feel for what the team was, good or bad. This year, we have:

A rookie head coach
Two new assistant coaches
5 Rookies
2 goalies coming off terrible years
1 center on the team with NHL experience (Staal)
11 players that weren't on the opening night roster last year: Hamilton, Ferland, de Hann, Martinook, Mrazek, Di Guiseppe, Foegele, Necas, Svechnikov, Wallmark, Zykov

I expect them to struggle because of the goaltending and lack of C depth, but there are so many unknowns, I really don't have a clue.

 

[kp61c]

nope, they are a perennial bottom-dweller and cap floor team. it is sad svech ended up out there

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

Does any other team in the NHL have a worse combination of centers and goaltending? My honest answer to that is probably, but I still think Carolina is comfortably in the bottom-3. And I don’t think that a team who is bottom-3 in the NHL in those important categories can make the playoffs.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

nope, they are a perennial bottom-dweller and cap floor team. it is sad svech ended up out there

So sad.