Carolina Hurricanes: The evolution of Andrei Svechnikov

With Micheal Ferland’s injury, Carolina Hurricanes rookie Andrei Svechnikov has been promoted to a top six role. His two-goal, three-point night against the Colorado Avalanche showed how far the youngster has come in his debut season.

When the Carolina Hurricanes selected Andrei Svechnikov with the second overall pick of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, few Canes fans could have predicted that Svech would have made the team out of camp, and become such a well-rounded and valuable contributor to the team before his rookie season was even done.

That is precisely what has happened, and the Canes’ 3-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Monday showcased exactly how far Svech has come since making his NHL debut back in October. That debut, at home to the New York Islanders, saw Svechnikov play 11:48 on the team’s third line and register three shots on goal in a 2-1 loss.

His next game was a road game in Columbus, where he picked up the primary assist on the Canes’ opening goal. His third NHL game was even better – Svech scored his first goal, the game-winner, and added another assist in the team’s wild 8-5 win over the New York Rangers.

After opening the season with so much promise, Carolina Hurricanes fans were already desperate to see Svechnikov receive more ice time, and a promotion to the team’s top six. However, Rod Brind’Amour has clearly been able to see the long game – he kept Svechnikov’s minutes down, kept him on the team’s third line, and gave the young Russian a thorough grounding in how to win battles, build up the stamina required for a full 82-game season, and how hard you need to work to be a success in the NHL.

Rod Brind’Amour has clearly had a plan for Svechnikov, and he’s been following it to the letter. He obviously didn’t want Svech to be given easy assignments, hence the rookie only receiving 54.1% offensive zone starts, and he’s been mainly paired with Jordan Martinook. Is it then a surprise that Marty has had a career year for goals? They have meshed well together, with Martinook creating space for Svech and the youngster taking a leaf out of his mentor’s book with several thunderous hits and a very pleasing-on-the-eye playing style.

Even when things were tough for Andrei Svechnikov, and he was in the midst of scoring droughts of 8 games (October-November) and 9 games (January), he didn’t change his game. He continued to work hard, to play a team game, and not to get too caught up in his own head. While many other rookies would have folded under the pressure of being a #2 pick and being expected to score, Svech has simply gotten his head down and played hard-nosed hockey, all season long.

With 13 games left to play this season, Svech has 17 goals and 15 assists in 69 games. He’s not missed a single game, and he’s not played badly enough in any game to be benched. He has a positive Corsi For of 56%, is only a -3, and is now working his way back into a Top 5 finish for the Calder. It’s also easy to forget that he’s never played more than 48 games in a season yet, in his first season playing in the world’s toughest league, he’s already played the full 69-game schedule.

Andrei Svechnikov is just 18 years old. He turns 19 on March 26th and by the time he does, he’ll have a wise and experienced head on his very young shoulders. He’s already having the 48th-best season for an 18 year-old in NHL history, and by the time the season is over could be looking at anything from 29th to 42nd on that list. Players he’s already passed, or will inevitably pass, in their age 18 NHL season, include: Patrick Marleau, Mark Messier, Vincent Lecavalier, Ryan O’Reilly, Brendan Shanahan, Alex Barkov and Gordie Howe.

Just wait until Svech really gets going. He’s going to tear the NHL apart.

Andrei Svechnikov is an exciting talent, and will undoubtedly be a significant contributor to the Carolina Hurricanes for many, many years. He’s having a very good rookie NHL season, and having Rod Brind’Amour as his Head Coach is paying huge dividends for the young Russian. Canes fans should be excited at the prospect of an all-firing Andrei Svechnikov playing post-season hockey – he is a real dark horse on this team, and will be our secret weapon if we make the playoffs.