Carolina Hurricanes: What went wrong this season?

For what seems like the 10th consecutive season of this discussion, here’s a long look at what went stale for the Carolina Hurricanes this year.

For anyone that watches Carolina Hurricanes hockey, this is a question that comes across the mind at least once a month, if not more. What went wrong this season that caused the Canes to miss the playoffs again? For a couple seasons during this now-to-be nine year stretch of missing the NHL Playoffs, it just took this team too long to get things going. Even though they got hot down the stretch, it was too little too late.

Now, the Canes were in playoff position, actually holding a wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference before the turn of the calendar year. In their last 13 tries, the Canes have won less than five games and have not managed to win more than two games in a row during that time. Facing essentially a season defining stretch of back-to-back matchups on March 12 and 13 saw the Canes fall short to the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins by a combined score of 12-7.

This type of meltdown in the final months of the regular season signals another struggle of a stagnant franchise that will continue to frustrate the fan base. Carolina is in the midst of a league-high playoff drought. If it continues into 2019, it will be a full decade since the Canes made the playoffs last.

At this moment, the Canes have 71 points in the standings, and sit well behind the Columbus Blue Jackets, New Jersey Devils, and Florida Panthers in the playoff picture. With the current situation at hand, it’s only a matter of time before the Canes are mathematically eliminated. Here’s a look at what went wrong this season for the Carolina Hurricanes.

Unreliable defense

With the amount of depth the Canes defense has, between the actual team and the Charlotte Checkers, should have meant a better product on the ice. Some games had the Canes blue line looking like it could fulfill its max potential.

Other times, this was a different story. Of late, fans have witnessed the worst that the Carolina defense has to offer. In three of four very recent games, the Canes have given up six goals each try. Losses to the Bruins, Rangers, and Minnesota Wild directly resulted from the inability to play solid defense for three straight periods.

The blame falls on multiple players, not just one single name. Whether it be co-captain Justin Faulk, first-time All-Star selection Noah Hanifin, rookie Haydn Fleury, or first-year Canes defender Trevor van Riesmdyk, the blame goes different places in different losses.

Carolina has not been able to put a solid defense in front of their goaltender for even half of an 82-game season for quite a while. There’s portions of the defense building up that show promise. The entire blue line is so young that it’s tough to rely on them every single night.

Secondary scoring fell through

Every successful team in the NHL can rely on their secondary scoring come the stretch run of the regular season, and throughout the playoffs. Take a glimpse at the two teams that participated in the 2017 Stanley Cup Finals and see how they continue to have a solid source of secondary scoring.

Both the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators are positioned well in the standings once again. Pittsburgh and Nashville also have three forward lines that are threats to put the puck in the net each game.

Beyond the Preds and the Pens, there’s other teams that the Canes could learn from. Yet, Carolina does not get much in the way of scoring this year from Derek Ryan, Victor Rask, Elias Lindholm, Brock McGinn, Justin Faulk, Joakim Nordstrom, or Phil di Giuseppe.

While you cannot put the blame on players like Nordstrom or di Giuseppe for producing at a low rate, it’d be nice if they came up big at times. Even the scoring from Jeff Skinner is down, after his career-high 37 goal mark last season.

Scott Darling’s confidence dropped

Cam Ward is having a decent year as the starting goalie for the Canes. The story with Scott Darling does not ring as true. Carolina brought in Darling to take over as the long-term No. 1 goaltender, and serve as one of the faces of the franchise.

Making a big commitment to a potent backup goalie always serves as a risky move for any NHL team. However, the Canes, and the fan base, were ready to move on from the Ward tenure. Eddie Lack appeared as a failed attempt in net too.

As the season went along, Darling continued to decline. At this point, he’s carrying a save percentage well below .900, and also posted a goals against average well above the league average. There is still a chance for him to right the ship, but that clock is ticking too.

In total this season, Darling registered a record of 11-17-7, .888 save percentage, 3.08 goals against average, and zero shutouts. He’s nearly .200 percentage points below Ward’s save percentage, and the same can be said for his goals against average.

Losses when it mattered most

Stating that the Canes have choked down the stretch, when they were in good playoff position entering the February slate of games, does not even come close to describing the way the fans feel. The frustration boiled over a long time ago and it’s getting worse now.

Over the past 14 contests, the Canes have only won three. Their most recent loss, coming on March 17 against the Philadelphia Flyers, was yet another home loss at PNC Arena where the Canes blew a lead in the third period.

The embarrassing home collapse against the Bruins was just a microcosm of what the Canes showed on the ice over the past two months. Some stretches of time passed where the Canes showed an added jump in their step with nothing ever lasting beyond two or three games in a row.

Only a few days could remain before the Canes are officially eliminated from the playoffs for the ninth season in a row, still the longest active streak in the league. This is a vastly different trend for the Canes than the last few years, where they collapsed in the final weeks instead of getting red hot and just falling short.

Disconnect between Bill Peters and the locker room

The continuously lacking effort could be it’s own point here, but we’ll package it all together with the issues from the perspective of head coach Bill Peters. Some changes were made to the lineup in January, when Peters searched for a spark from the offense, but nothing changed for good.

The lack of motivation from this team on a regular basis is a sign that something is wrong with the chemistry, coaching staff, and the locker room culture. Every time the Canes make a successful run through the playoffs, the team chemistry and energy were very fluent and noticeable from a fan’s point of view.

Now, the team has constantly changing lines, two captains that have not led them effectively, and dips in effort that are completely inexcusable and difficult to solve. Letting up four goals to the Flyers on the March 17 loss was yet another instance of collapsing over a span of just minutes.

This is a very concerning trend that is not improving over the course of Peters’ tenure in Raleigh. The outcry to move in a different direction in terms of the head coach for the organization is getting louder and louder as the losses pile up.

Inactivity at the Trade Deadline

Most of these topics are well covered for the Canes as the seasons pass. Former Carolina general manager Ron Francis did little to nothing on the trade market during his four years in the front office. Commanding change seemed to discomfort Francis and his view of the team’s future.

With Tom Dundon making some pretty massive changes to the franchise, a GM hire that makes a much bigger impact on the roster is a good fit given the team’s situation. Carolina is largely regarded as a stagnant franchise around the league, and this is a big move to spark change.

Shaking up the roster, coaching staff, and front office are all significant steps to seeing a better on ice product for the Canes. Apparently demoting Francis was the first step in that process. His only 2018 Trade Deadline deal coming by way of acquiring Greg McKegg from the Pens could have sealed his fate.

The Canes do still have a ton of time to make some improvements to the roster, filling some gaping holes before the puck is dropped on the 2018-19 season. Since this season should be left for dead at this point, the focus is already turning toward the future.

Massive letdowns over short periods of time

We hit on this talking about Peters’ disconnect with the locker room and the players themselves. However, having so many collapses for a team that was in wildcard playoff contention in March is completely unacceptable.

Really the only other team in the league with the same narrative as the Canes is the St. Louis Blues, out in the Western Conference. The New York Islanders could also be a comparable situation, in the Metropolitan Division.

The two most notable performances of late that bring about this discussion of all the massive letdowns included giving up five goals in less than 10 minutes against the Bruins, and losing final period lead against the Flyers in an even shorter span of time.

Mark Armstrong, of the local ABC-11 News Channel in Raleigh, put a good spin on things with a very entertaining “homercast” to recap the Canes defeat at the hands of the Bruins. That kind of positive spirit did shed a light on how poor the circumstances of this team are right now.

Seldom used pipeline of prospects

Of all the frustrating roster moves pulled off by the Canes since the summer of 2017, calling up and sending down upstart forward Valentin Zykov in a matter of just 24 hours might have been the worst. Zykov sat out of the only game he could have played in, coming against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

Carolina also called on defenseman Roland McKeown at one point to fill in for an injured Brett Pesce. McKeown showed a ton of potential and even contributed some offensively during his time with the big club. Whenever the Canes have called on someone from the Charlotte Checkers to join the roster, things have worked out pretty well.

However, for some reason, the front office and coaching staff don’t trust players from the Checkers all that much. Zykov seemed like a sure move that would help out the offense, and provide some depth on the top forward lines. Another player the Canes should have called up at some point is forward Warren Foegele.

Next: 5 reasons Bill Peters has outstayed his welcome with the Carolina Hurricanes

Moreover, the fans hope to see some of these potential stars in the NHL get their chance in the spotlight next season. For now, the Checkers get the benefit of a loaded roster while the Canes don’t take full advantage of all the resources available to them.