Carolina Hurricanes: Preseason vs. Geographic Rivals

The preseason schedule has been released for the Carolina Hurricanes. The teams the Hurricanes will see are all close to Carolina in terms of a map, but are the Hurricanes close to them in terms of skill and a successful reputation?

In the 2018-19 season, the Carolina Hurricanes had the same opponents and they actually did very well. They swept the Tampa Bay Lightning, swept the Washington Capitals, and split the series with the Nashville Predators. Their entire record was 5-0-1 in the preseason, losing their last game in overtime to the Predators at home.

Their success in the preseason does matter, it develops a winning culture and momentum early before the start of the grand regular season. This was the same for the 2018-19 regular season, after the Hurricanes’ success in the preseason, they went on to go 4-0-1, a five game point streak in their first five games, the last game being against the Minnesota Wild with a comeback win.

In four out of six of the preseason games, they limited the opposing team to only one goal, while scoring 4-6 goals. It’ll be interesting to see who comes in on the roster for the Hurricanes, lots of questions to be answered by then. For example, will Petr Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney be the duo? Will Micheal Ferland even play in a Hurricanes sweater by then?

Although the Capitals, Predators, and Lightning are making moves for the most part, compared to the Hurricanes, such as the Capitals trading away Matt Niskanen or the Predators acquiring Connor Ingram from the Lightning, the Hurricanes have a young core, including the players on the recent Calder Cup winning Charlotte Checkers.

By the time the preseason comes, we will be past the NHL Entry Draft that starts this Friday on June 21st and the Free Agency period which starts July 1st, maybe the Hurricanes get a big name like Artemi Panarin or Mitch Marner on their roster.. or they don’t.

Last season, the offseason and preseason gave us skepticism with losing home names like Jeff Skinner, Cam Ward, and Noah Hanifin, but we haven’t lost any fan-favorites… yet.

The preseason won’t be easy, the Hurricanes will have the Tampa Bay Lightning for the first two games, who won the President’s Trophy and they will be looking to rebound off their devastating loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round in a sweep.

The Washington Capitals will seek revenge for Brock McGinn‘s Game 7 double overtime winner, which dethroned the champions. The Nashville Predators will look to rebound from a mediocre loss to the Dallas Stars in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Hurricanes have their work cut out for them.

Question for Cardiac Cane Readers: Who will the Hurricanes have the most trouble with in the preseason?