I've been saying for a few years the Canes are playing a gimmicky system that inflates Corsi stats. I'd argue that the Canes are an outlier, because playing to optimize Corsi isn't the way to play, and they're the only ones doing it to this degree. Rather the best team playing a particular system will probably have the best Corsi of teams playing that system.
The reaction of "Their corsi stats are amazing, they just don't get results because players and goalies suck" is fine. But the other half of that is "If the players suck, how are they putting up better corsi stats than the teams with great players?"
If the system isn't gimmicky, that means the Canes consistently have a top possession roster in the NHL because of the players on the roster. Is there anything about the Canes roster that makes anyone think they are the reason their Corsi numbers are so amazing?
The system is rooted philosophically, not in Corsi itself, but in the same core idea that underlies Corsi: that the single best thing you can do to win a hockey game is to win the possession battle.
That’s actually a pretty good approach to winning at hockey, which is one of the few sports that never guarantees you will even get to play on offense at any point in the game. Simply having possession of the puck requires a small victory, and consistently keeping it away from the opponent wears them down and forces them to beat you just to get it back (let alone score).
The major confounding factors here are the possibility of random bad luck (it’s hockey, so this is always a factor) and the possibility that your opponent is so much more skilled at both scoring and preventing goals that they can capitalize on a smaller number of higher-quality opportunities at a higher rate than your guys can.
The Carolina Hurricanes are widely regarded as having one of the lowest-octane forward groups in the league, with only two forwards (Skinner and Aho) commonly seen as top-60 talents and neither of those seen as top-30. The Hurricanes are also considered to have one of the worst goaltending tandems in the league. They are, in almost every game they play, less skilled than their opponents at both scoring and preventing goals. (Evidence: currently the big argument in this forum is whether Derek Ryan or Lucas Wallmark should have been playing top-6 minutes, and we are excited to see Cam Ward (.911) in goal because it means we don’t have to deal with the other goalie who sucks much, much worse. )
And yet, this team is currently tied for the exact-average record in the East. That would seem to confirm that the system works, elevating a group that is below average at scoring and preventing goals to an average record.
The problem, therefore, most likely lies in confounding factors. I don’t know if we’ve had particularly bad luck this season... it doesn’t feel that way to me but I could be missing something. The other option left on the table is that we simply don’t have the personnel necessary to be a good team.