Carolina Hurricanes: 5 players who need to step up in Aho’s absence

The Carolina Hurricanes are missing a top talent in Sebastian Aho after his injury on Jan. 14. Who can step up in his absence?

With a Jan. 20 road battle looming against the Detroit Red Wings, out of the Atlantic Division, head coach Bill Peters and the Carolina Hurricanes need to figure out a way to deal with the injury to possibly the best player on the roster. Sophomore left wing Sebastian Aho suffered a lower-body injury and concussion on a hit from Calgary Flames captain and defenseman Mark Giordano.

It’s time for the Canes to turn their attention beyond the Aho hit and figure out a plan of attack. Defeating the Red Wings this weekend is necessary to keeping in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race. Carolina already sits in last place in the Metropolitan Division.

As the team leader in points, Aho is a tough loss to undergo. With 37 points and 16 goals, Aho actually leads the team in both categories. This injury also breaks up the top forward line. Jordan Staal and Teuvo Teravainen will find themselves with a new line mate.

The five day break the Canes have between the 4-1 defeat against the Flames and the matchup with the Wings is much needed. Detroit is a manageable opponent, even without Aho. Then, the Canes have a much tougher contest on their hands.

On Jan. 21, the Vegas Golden Knights travel to Raleigh to face the Canes. While Carolina did defeat Vegas in the first contest, the Golden Knights are sure to come with their best performance. Marc-Andre Fleury is leading a team in first place in the Western Conference right now.

Here’s 5 players who need to step up in the absence of Sebastian Aho.

The value that Derek Ryan brought to the Canes this season comes with his ability to find the net in tough spaces. Ryan provided the team a boost in a fashions that’s gone under the radar. He easily fits in the top 10 in points on the team.

However, for being a consistent center on the top three lines, Ryan could also step it up a bit with the role he’s currently in. Through the 45 games played this season, 23 points is around what any team would expect out of a second or third line center.

With all the line juggling coming from Peters, Ryan does not just sit in a single role. But, most of the time he does center the third forward line. He’ll likely center Justin Williams and possibly Lee Stempniak, who recently returned after being activated off injured reserve.

Keeping up his current level of production would be good for Ryan. Adding to his nine goal total would also help out a ton. His improvement is also notable as well since Ryan could easily set a career mark this season in both goals and points.

Elias Lindholm could find himself in a much bigger role now. His 25 points are sixth on the team and he has floated between all three forward positions, filling in wherever Peters needs him to. He’s been playing alongside Victor Rask and Brock McGinn on the second line.

Most of Lindholm’s value does come from his playmaking ability, something that is much needed in Aho’s absence, that could help out Staal and Teravainen a lot. We’ll see if Peters has the trust in him to be able to plug that hole on the first line now.

There’s a lot of potential in players like Lindholm and Rask. It seems like a lot of that potential is still untapped since the production comes in waves. Lindholm has two points in the last five games, a trend that hopefully picks up soon.

This could be the second consecutive season that Lindholm sets a career mark in points. Putting the puck in the net is not the strongest aspect of Lindholm’s skill set, but he’s doing well in that department right now, as he has 12 goals. That’s good for fourth on the team.

While Lindholm is a strong playmaker, and usually has a good number of assists by season’s end, Rask tends to be the opposite. With 15 points and 11 goals, Rask could really be the x-factor for the Canes with Aho out of the lineup.

Rask is a natural goal scorer that could be in store for his second career 20-goal campaign. However, he has not eclipsed (and might not this season either) his 21 goal mark that he posted in the 2015-16 season.

Numerous Canes fans have waited for the Rask breakout, since he could truly be a star scorer in this league. But, he’s found himself stay steady around 40-50 points. No opportunity has been better for Rask to make his mark than it is now.

Rask has not seen playoff hockey since entering the league during the 2014-15 campaign. A strong contribution from him would go a long way to helping Carolina’s playoff push. He’s one of the many young talents that the Canes need to rely upon now.

There might not be a more talented goal scorer on the Canes roster than Skinner. Eclipsing the 40-goal mark might be out of reach for him, at this point, but that does not takeaway from him putting together another strong stat line.

It would be great to see Skinner creep up to start taking command of the team lead in points, something he’s gotten used to in recent years. But, Peters has kept Skinner on the third line for a good portion of the season, which definitely affected Skinner’s level of production.

If Peters does put Skinner on the first line, aside Staal and Teravainen, not much would be lost in terms of offensive efficiency and overall talent on the first line. This actually seems like the obvious move for Peters and his staff.

Skinner currently sits at third on the team in points and second in goals, with 14. His production could pick up since he was the only player to score in the embarrassing loss to the Flames. More of the same would be great against the Wings.