Carolina Hurricanes preview: storylines, players to watch and more
As the Carolina Hurricanes prepare to open the NHL season on Friday against the New York Islanders, there are still plenty of unknowns.
The Hurricanes have missed the playoffs for five straight years, and there are likely no quick fixes under new head coach Bill Peters. If it's rebuild time, that's fine -- as long as it works. But this is largely the same roster that missed the playoffs last year and alternated between looking like a potential playoff team and looking like one of the worst teams in the league.
This year's team is going to have a harder time with that than last year's, in theory, unless the team -- and some individual players -- can take some steps forward.
Fresh start
With Peters at the helm -- a first-time head coach himself -- the players seem to have bought in to his style, more regimented than under the previous regime of Kirk Muller. Peters isn't discouraged entering this season, in spite of all the speed bumps that the team has hit already, including two key injuries (in the preseason, center Jordan Staal broke his leg and forward Jeff Skinner is out indefinitely with a concussion). He wants his team to be hard-working, accountable and efficient, and there's nothing coming out of PNC Arena in Raleigh so far to indicate anything else is happening. But the games haven't begun yet, and this team is going to have to work as hard as it ever has to scrap out wins.
Goaltending
To use a football analogy, Cam Ward is like the long-time starting quarterback who has been struggling in recent years, while Anton Khudobin is his popular backup. Although that analogy doesn't really work as well, because the fans have seen what Khudobin can do. They saw it last year, when he posted a .926 save percentage. Khudobin isn't much younger than Ward -- he's 28 -- but he hasn't been around the league as long, and while it's possible his great season last year was a flash in the pan, it's also possible he's finally making the most of his opportunity. Ward has been trying to recapture the 2006 magic for the last few years now, but it hasn't seemed to be happening.
Ward is still one of two active goalies in the league to have won the Conn Smythe Award, and he's only 30 years old. By all accounts, he came to camp energized and refreshed after years of beating himself up mentally (and getting hurt physically). Peters announced today that Ward will be the starter on Friday, and since Peters has said he wants a "stud" that can handle the work himself rather than a rotation, it could be a sign that Ward is the guy after training camp and the preseason have concluded. But there are plenty of uncertainties, and all it will take is a few bad games before the fans start clamoring for Khudobin.
Injuries
Staal and Skinner, both injured in the preseason, are big blows to this team. Staal in particular, as he is expected to miss 3-4 months. If the Hurricanes can't replace Staal, that's going to be a problem. Skinner and Staal were two of the top six goal-scorers for the team last year (Skinner led the team).
The Hurricanes are excited about Staal's potential replacement Victor Rask, who has spent the last two seasons playing for Carolina's minor league team in Charlotte and has played well in the preseason. But it's hard to replace him. And frankly, injuries have been a problem for the Hurricanes almost every year. All it seems to take is one to a key player to completely derail any momentum the team might have built up.
Andrej Sekera
He'll be part of the top defensive pairing for the Hurricanes (alongside Justin Faulk), and he's coming off of a breakout season a year ago (44 points, his most in an NHL season). He was also second on the team in +/- at +4. He needs to continue playing like that, as he was a pleasant surprise a year ago and one of the only consistent parts of the team last season.
Elias Lindholm
A baby-faced rookie last season, Lindholm showed flashes -- and maybe more than flashes -- of being really good. He scored nine goals in 58 games, but he left plenty to be desired on the defensive end and isn't quite as physical as he needs to be yet. Still, this team needs all the offense it can get and if he can continue to progress, he can help provide it.
Eric Staal
This is a big year for Carolina's 29-year-old captain, the face of this team and the heart and soul of the franchise. He played hurt last year, which was probably not the best idea as his quality of play suffered and fans started to turn on him a bit. He still led the team in points and ranked third in goals, but his -13 +/- was his worst since 2011-12 and second-worst of his career. Even if this team can't make it back to the playoffs -- though Staal desperately wants to lead them there -- it would help if he had a big year statistically if nothing else.
What needs to happen: The Hurricanes need to play better at home. They finished last season 36-35-11, and went 18-17-6 at home. Home-ice advantage can be overrated in the NHL, but it's supposed to mean something. And it really didn't for the Hurricanes last season, as they turned in often some of their most disappointing performances at home. Attendance is declining some, and even if this team is in a rebuild mode, the need to give the fans a reason to keep showing up. There are plenty of transplant fans in the Triangle area, and they make their presence known on a weekly basis when their favorite team (usually a northern team) comes to town. That hasn't helped any home-ice advantage, either.
Simply put, the Hurricanes need to make sure that they keep the fans engaged. If they do what Peters wants them to do -- out-work the other team more often than not and keep improving -- then they will. But with very little roster change to a mediocre team from a year ago, there is already some restlessness settling in.
What will happen: The Hurricanes will inevitably struggle this season, particularly early on as they adjust to life without the younger Staal. Maybe they will feel less pressure to win under a new regime, but that's doubtful. They all want to go back to the playoffs, and they feel enough internal pressure as it is. That much is evident. Peters, try as he might, may not be able to change the culture of the entire organization in a year, and the Hurricanes will probably have a rough start to the season (when they play seven of their first nine on the road), maybe settling down again towards the end of 2014 before going on a winning streak at some point and then finishing outside the playoffs, if only just.
This team does seem to be on a better trajectory, and some of the old energy is gone. But the old narratives from the past few seasons -- teams "out-efforting" them, slow starts, injuries derailing a season, etc. -- have to become a thing of the past.
