Carolina Hurricanes: 5 MVP’s of the 2017-18 season
A ninth year in a row of no playoff hockey in Raleigh, NC, puts a lot of pressure on a few players for the Carolina Hurricanes next season.
Looking back at the 2017-18 NHL season is likely to not bring back the fondest memories for fans of the Carolina Hurricanes. That does not mean that zero positive moments came out of this season. Moreover, even though there’s still some games left on the regular season slate, most of the impact made for any player on the roster is all said and done.
Some of the players mentioned on this list will include guys that have the ability to make an impact for the Canes for years to come. The body of work from this season is the only thing that matters as it pertains to the players mentioned, but a good portion of Carolina’s roster features promising talent.
Since Carolina is very likely to miss another round of the NHL Playoffs, determining the final players that were most valuable to the success the team did see this season becomes easier to conclude near the end of the March slate. Following a March 20 home matchup with the Edmonton Oilers (rematch of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals in Raleigh), the Canes have less than 10 games remaining before their season is over.
For a good portion of the season, the Canes did look like real contenders in the Metropolitan Division. Winning just four of the last 15 games killed any chances of contention. That is thanks to a few different negative factors, but the five most valuable players this season were largely positive pieces of the team.
Here’s the five MVP’s for the Carolina Hurricanes through the 2017-18 regular season.
Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Goalie. Carolina Hurricanes. Cam Ward. 5. player. 109
It’s weird to say that any goalie that posts a save percentage sub .905 at this point in the season could be considered an MVP for a team. However, given the Scott Darling situation (.885 save percentage), Cam Ward is extremely important for a limited amount of team success.
Ward provided a solid backbone between the pipes for Carolina for most of the season. He led the team to a 19-13-4 record when he’s in net. Yet, even Ward saw a dip in his performance of late. Carolina’s defense is partly to blame for that recent trend.
In a time where the Canes were planning on phasing Ward out of Raleigh, due to some declining production in recent years, the opposite actually happened. A long-term commitment to Darling means Ward’s presence is that much more significant. He’s needed now more than in the past few years.
If the Canes continue to try for Darling to be the long-term answer between the pipes, they’ll need Ward to provide a safety net of sorts. However, the best solution for this team, at least to start off next season, is to use Ward as the starting goalie. He earned that role after this season’s efforts.
Right Wing. Carolina Hurricanes. Justin Williams. player. 109. Scouting Report. 4. Pick Analysis
Bringing in veteran right winger Justin Williams was the best move of the 2017 off-season for former Carolina general manager Ron Francis. While Darling and Marcus Kruger were the two that have not gone as planned thus far, Williams is the team’s third leading scorer.
Although Teuvo Teravainen and Sebastian Aho are far ahead of Williams in the points department, he’s still crucial to what offensive success the Canes have experienced. Up to this point, Williams tallied 15 goals and 45 points. He’s four points ahead of Jeff Skinner, who’s been his line mate for the bulk of the season.
Keeping Williams on board with building the Canes up toward a playoff run is key for next year. It’s scary to think of the amount of hope lost from the Canes fan base if they miss the playoffs for a 10th consecutive season.
Moreover, the Canes do not have another veteran voice in the locker room that quite matches that of Williams. He’s been there and done that with multiple teams in the league, including the Canes when they won the franchise’s only Stanley Cup in 2006.
109. Pick Analysis. player. Defenseman. Carolina Hurricanes. Jaccob Slavin. 3. Scouting Report
The offensive contributions are one of the least significant portions of what Carolina’s top defensive pairing of Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce bring to the table. Slavin is the team’s third leading scorer, among all defensemen. However, he’s most valued in the other end of the ice.
Pesce and Slavin are counted on by head coach Bill Peters to lock down the opposition’s top offensive threats night after night, and they’re great at what they do. However, both Slavin and Pesce have contributed a bit more offensively from the blue line this season too.
Of both of those two valuable defensemen, the Canes really could not do without Slavin. He does have six more points than Pesce this season, and he’s played in more games. A concussion earlier in the year sidelined Pesce for a bit of time, and that can happen to any player.
Yet, the durability and overall reliability that Slavin provides the Canes on a game-to-game basis brings value that is matched by no one else on the team. With a down season from co-captain defenseman Justin Faulk, Slavin’s positive contributions mean that much more.
Scouting Report. Carolina Hurricanes. Pick Analysis. Right Wing. Teuvo Teravainen. 2. player. 109
These top two choices are far away the most valuable players for the Canes. When you talk about the ability to facilitate and always find teammates in scoring areas, Teravainen is the very best for the Canes. He leads the team in assists, and is now tied for the team lead in points.
On the season, Teravainen has 22 goals and 37 assists, good for 59 points. He’s on pace for his first career 65-point season. Although saying that does not do him justice since he’s already set a career mark for points in a single season.
Teravainen’s potential with the top forward line for the Canes seems limitless at this point. The creativity and shooting ability he displays week after week give a glimpse into what he will be able to do for the Canes when he’s entering his prime years of production.
Lastly, Teravainen sits behind only defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk in the plus/minus category. Considering van Rimesdyk isn’t even a top defender for the Canes, that is an interesting way for that particular stat category to fall, but it still shows the value of Teravainen’s presence on the ice.
Left Wing. Sebastian Aho. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. 1. player. 109. Carolina Hurricanes
The player with the overall brightest future on the roster for the Canes should be Aho. A two-point effort for Aho, in the March 20 home loss to the Edmonton Oilers, put Aho in a tie with Teravianen for the team points lead. He’s got 26 goals and 59 points on the season.
Aho’s skating ability and natural nose for the net is likely to be what sets him apart as a star across the league. In just his second year in the league, Aho could rack up more than 110 points on his career. With the way Aho and Teravainen are playing recently, that could get even better.
Building the Canes up for the future starts with the featured duo of Aho and Teravainen. Those two forward are just too talented for the Canes to not build something special around them. Yet, that plan did not work out the way it was supposed to this season.
Next: What went wrong this season for the Carolina Hurricanes
The first line trio of Jordan Staal, Aho, and Teravainen should be kept together entering the 2018-19 campaign. Those three players have the potential to eclipse the 180-point mark if everything goes well next season. We’ll see how Aho can develop specifically after a huge 2017-18 season.