Each day in the month of August we’ll be examining a different NHL team -- from looking back at last season to discussing a player under pressure to focusing on a player coming off a breakthrough year to asking questions about the future. Today we look at the Carolina Hurricanes.
2017-18
36-35-11, 83 pts. (6th in Metropolitan Division, 10th in Eastern Conference)
Missed playoffs.
IN:
Dougie Hamilton
Micheal Ferland
Adam Fox
Jordan Martinook
Calvin De Haan
Petr Mrazek
OUT:
Noah Hanifin
Elias Lindholm
Marcus Kruger
Jeff Skinner
Derek Ryan
Klas Dahlbeck
Cam Ward
Joakim Nordstrom
Lee Stempniak
RE-SIGNED:
Trevor van Riemsdyk
Phillip Di Giuseppe
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The Carolina Hurricanes now sit in the aftermath of one heck of an offseason storm.
A full-blown shake up from top to bottom has the Hurricanes now heading into the 2018-19 with a new head coach, a new general manager and under the direction of a new owner (who took over midway through the season) who appears determined not to let what’s happened for nearly the past decade to continue -- missing the playoffs.
Indeed, Bill Peters (who left for Calgary) has been replaced with franchise legend Rod Brind’Amour behind the bench. Don Waddell has taken over Ron Francis’ post (after the latter was relieved of his duties). Tom Dundon, the architect behind the winds of change, became the owner midway through the 2017-18 season. And some of the team’s most well-known names -- Cam Ward, Jeff Skinner, Noah Hanifin -- won’t be wearing Carolina red this coming season.
[Building off breakthrough | Under Pressure | Three Questions]
The Hurricanes haven’t graced the playoffs since 2009, and while they put up a bit of a fight down the stretch last season, they never really found the extra gear they needed, eventually finishing sixth in the Metropolitan Division and 10th in the Eastern Conference.
Dundon has employed a hands-on approach to the team he now runs, which perhaps scared away prospective coaches and general managers during searches for both. Brind’Amour is a household name in the franchise, but unproven behind the bench and Waddell... well his track record with other teams isn’t exactly glowing.
That said, Carolina was handed a gift and then some when they moved up from 11th to 2nd in the NHL Draft Lottery and got their hands on Andrei Svechnikov, who scored 40 goals in 44 games in the Ontario Hockey League last season.
Waddell then went out and traded for defenseman Dougie Hamilton to bolster their backend, gaining gritty forward Micheal Ferland and top prospect Adam Fox in exchange for Noah Hanifin and Elias Lindholm. He also signed defenseman Calvin de Haan in free agency and traded away Jeff Skinner just last week for a few picks and a prospect.
While the Skinner trade seemed like a major loss given the return, the Hurricanes do have a bevy of young talent ready to try and make their mark this season. Svechnikov should inject the offense and Martin Necas looks slated to become a top center within the club. Hamilton and de Haan are fine additions on the backend. Ferland adds a little bit of everything. And there’s the wave of youth that’s exciting for any team.
“I don’t want to say it’s a new team, but it will be,” Brind’Amour told NHL.com. “We’ll potentially have 12 new players, so I think everyone’s just excited. There’s been a lot of change, but we’ve done a pretty good job of keeping the pieces we wanted to keep and build around, and then we have a couple young players we’re excited to see, new rookie players that I think will be exciting to watch.”
Prospect Pool
• Andrei Svechnikov, RW, 18, Barrie Colts (OHL) - 2018 first-round pick
Svechnikov is the type of elite talent any team would be lucky to have. He has size (6-foot-3), an elite selection of shots, and is crafty both inside and on the perimeter. It’s likely that he steps in right away and begins to contribute offensively this season. Svechnikov had 40 goals and 72 points in 44 games with Barrie this season -- name the OHL’s rookie of the year -- had four goals and eight points and the world under-18 championships and five assists during the world juniors.
• Martin Necas, C, 19, Brno Kometa (Czech) - 2017 first-round pick
Necas has spent the last two seasons playing pro hockey in his native Czech Republic with Brno Kometa, which also features former NHLer Martin Erat. Necas is expected to move into the Hurricanes lineup next season, possibly as the team’s second-line center. Necas had 11 points in seven games at the World Juniors this past year and then five more in the same number of games during the world championships this past spring.
“His game has gotten better, he’s gotten a little bigger, and he’s a lot more confident than he was last year,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour told NHL.com. “I think he’s a night-and-day player already from a year ago.”
• Adam Fox, D, 20, Harvard University (NCAA) - 2016 third-round pick (Calgary Flames)
There are several players who fit the mold here: D Jake Bean, F Valentin Zykov and F Warren Foegele -- but its Fox, who the Hurricanes inherited in the Hamilton trade, that’s intriguing. Fox is widely regarded as one of the top defensive prospects in the NHL, so it’s a good get for a team that gave up quite a bit going the other way. Carolina has amassed quite the stable of defenseman this summer, and Fox fits right into that. He’s spent the last two seasons playing in the NCAA with Harvard where he’s been a point-per-game player on the backend and had five points in seven games for Team USA in a bronze-medal showing at the 2018 World Junior Hockey Championships.
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Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck
