10 reasons Carolina Hurricanes can win Stanley Cup in 2017-18

10. Potent talent on the blue line

While the top defensive pairing of Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce had their rough instances over the past two weeks, they’ve been the backbone of the Canes defense. The emergence of players like Noah Hanifin and Haydn Fleury are promising.

If the Canes figure out the best way to maximize all this young talent on the blue line, they’ll really start to take command of their own climb in the Metropolitan Division. Carolina really does have one of the best blue lines in the NHL overall.

When the Canes won the Stanley Cup in 2006, they had some veteran voices in the locker room to command the defense. Now, the Canes have a much younger group of defenders that could also use a veteran voice.

The effort has been there most nights for the Canes defense. However, it seems like they are just missing a step once in a while. Get that problem ironed out and the rest of the team will be much better because of it.

9. Jeff Skinner is eager to finally breakthrough

Not to say that Jeff Skinner has not already established himself across the NHL as a legitimate goal scoring threat. However, Skinner has not established himself like that in the playoffs yet. Mainly because he hasn’t gotten the chance to.

Players like Skinner get more impatient than most when it comes to really competing for a championship. However, Skinner has not come even close to having the supporting cast needed to think that the Canes could win the Stanley Cup in the past.

The addition of some players who have been there and done that, like Justin Williams from the Washington Capitals and Marcus Kruger from the Chicago Blackhawks, should help out. Skinner needs more secondary scoring from this team.

Some more trust from head coach Bill Peters would help Skinner out as well. He’s played alongside Williams and Derek Ryan on the third line for most of the season, and he should be on a better line which could happen soon.

8. Underrated offensive forces on the top lines

One huge key to success for the Canes will be getting both Elias Lindholm and Victor Rask going . Rask went through such a downturn in the past few weeks, that he was even a healthy scratch in favor of Phil Di Giuseppe.

Lindholm’s production has been better than Rask’s but getting both players to contribute more would be huge. Right now, Lindholm is tied with Ryan and Brock McGinn for on the team in points with 12. Rask has just seven through 21 games.

If Lindholm and Rask start to come through, along with other under the radar forwards like McGinn and Ryan, the Canes are going to take opponents by surprise. Those four players are incredibly important to the Canes success.

When secondary scoring chips in for the Canes, they usually either win or push the opponent as far as they can go. One of the biggest parts of both the 2002 and 2006 squads were the scoring depth apparent on the team.

7. Sebastian Aho’s development

It’s starting to become habit for Sebastian Aho to get off to slow starts to the season. It took him 16 games to get his first goal of the season in his sophomore campaign. And, it took him 14 games to get his first of what would amount to 24 goals last season.

After scoring his first goal of the season, Aho became red hot with five consecutive games with goals. Through 23 games, Aho has five goals and 18 points, good for second on the team.

Not only has Aho become a fan favorite for the Canes, he has contributed significantly to a better run for the Canes through November than he had in October. Continued development and improvement from Aho would also be huge.

The first line for the Canes is highlighted by the skill and creativity coming from Aho. He’s just as good as Skinner at creating in the offensive zone and setting up his line mates and himself as Skinner.

6. Teuvo Teravainen is ready for the best season of his career

While leading the team in points at this point in the season, Teuvo Teravainen was also named as the NHL’s 1st Star of the Week last week. Teravainen is primed for the best season of his career yet. But, no one expects to keep up what he did on November.

Just keeping up a consistent stream of points would help steady the production of the first line for the Canes. Teravainen and Aho have some newfound chemistry between them and feed off each other. Few opposing defensemen can keep up.

A few of the milestones that Teravainen achieved in the month of November included his first career hat trick and the most points he’s scored in a single month in his NHL tenure. He’s on an electric pace that could see him rack up more than 80 points this season.

The Canes needed someone other than Aho and Skinner to step up and start producing at a high level on offense, and Teravainen has given them just that. A big season from Jordan Staal would not hurt either.

5. Scott Darling brings playoff experience to the locker room

It’s not been the start that Scott Darling was hoping for in his tenure with the Canes. He owns a record of 7-6-5, and a save percentage lower than that of Cam Ward’s. Yet, Darling did perform admirably in the last two starts, both resulting in shootouts.

One of the most valuable things that Darling brought to the Carolina locker room was the overall playoff experience from Chicago. Darling got to see a multiple Stanley Cup winning starting goalie with the Hawks in Corey Crawford.

Now, Darling gets to play with another goalie that played a huge part in winning their team a Stanley Cup. Ward won the Conn Smythe Trophy back in 2006 and knows what it takes to get on a path to success with this team.

It just seems like Ward is not able to find that same success himself in the better part of the last five seasons. If Darling can start to feed of Ward’s reliable presence as a backup and find some consistent confidence, he’ll establish himself as a true starting quality goalie in the NHL.

4. Cam Ward and Justin Williams have already been there

Acquiring Williams was another huge part of the off-season. He’s producing at a good level, despite not scoring too many goals in the first two months. Yet, Williams is still third on the team in points with 17, behind only Teravainen and Aho.

Ward and Williams were two of the most emphatic pieces for the Canes in the only Stanley Cup in franchise history. Williams has also won two Stanley Cups since then and consistently contended with the Capitals.

Wherever Williams seems to go, success follows. Ward’s level of success has not been quite the same since Williams left Raleigh. However, they’re both some of the few players on this roster that have even been to the Stanley Cup Finals.

The experience and mentality to tell the rest of their teammates what has to be done for this team to break the eight season playoff drought and 11 season Stanley Cup drought is exactly what the Canes need from Williams and Ward.

3. Peters needs to save his job

Peters has his back against the wall and is not a fan favorite. A few possibilities for the Canes at head coach this season includes having Peters find some spark for this team or him getting fired and the new coach creating a spark.

The start to the season in 2017-18 is the best Peters had since he took over for Carolina. Patience is a virtue with this coach since there does not seem to be a method for a lot of his madness. If it works, it will be great. But, if it doesn’t, he could be out of a job soon.

All the line shuffling and head scratching roster and scheme moves from Peters makes it hard for him to find traction. He does not look to instill a sense of charisma, energy, or excitement with this team. But, the Canes do consistently out shoot opponents.

Most games have the Canes outplay their opposition, especially in the shot department. But, Peters needs to find a way to help his team start to convert on some of those scoring chances. You can tell the Canes are knocking on the door, they’re just not quite there yet.

2. Slavin and Pesce are a championship pairing

To elaborate off all the young talent that the Canes have on the blue line, it’s hard to believe that Slavin and Pesce do not get more recognition. A lot of that will probably go along with more success from the Canes as an entire team.

However, picturing Slavin and Pesce leading any team through a good playoff push is easy to do. They’re both lock down defenders that Peters can confidently matchup with some of the biggest superstars in the NHL.

Even though Slavin and Pesce could pick up their play a bit right now, they’re still the top defensive pairing, by far, for the Canes. They can also make up for a slow start to the season for fellow defensemen Justin Faulk.

When Pesce missed time while going through concussion protocol, you could easily see the effect it had on the entire defensive unit. He makes a difference each game even if some fans don’t notice it.

1. Canes don’t have target on their backs

Not having any pressure on their shoulders or expectations should be something that the Canes are used to. Yet, the Penguins and Capitals are slipping up to start the season since both those teams get opponent’s best effort always.

Every time the Canes have made a good playoff run, whether they actually make it to the Stanley Cup Finals or get eliminated before that, expectations have been low. But, the franchise has not experienced a playoff drought like this yet.

With ownership continually changing and the head coaches and front office personnel rolling in and out, something has to give. Carolina should find some stability soon with how good this team can be.

Next: 3 bold predictions for the Carolina Hurricanes in December

The Columbus Blue Jackets, New Jersey Devils, and New York Islanders lead the Metro right now. And, few expected that to happen, possibly outside of just the Jackets. No one should be surprised if the Canes get into the top three by the start of 2018.