Top 5 Carolina Hurricanes Who Could Have a Breakout Season in 2019-20

The Carolina Hurricanes have more depth than ever, and more than a few players are poised to have a breakout season in 2019-20. Read on to find out who!

For the first time in what seems like decades, the Carolina Hurricanes have depth at just about every position. The logjam at defense has been an issue for awhile within the team, but the Hurricanes are experiencing an ever-so-slight potential logjam at both the forward positions, and in the crease.

Don’t get me wrong, having too many good players worthy of a spot on an NHL roster is never a bad thing. In fact, it could be a major factor in the Hurricanes’ success going into the 2019-20 season. Lack of roster spots breeds competition. Competition, in turn, breeds production at all levels.

With more than a few rookies and players from the Charlotte Checkers chomping at the bit to secure their spot in the 2019-20 Carolina Hurricanes lineup, we are going to see production like we haven’t seen from this team since 2006, even in the bottom-9 forwards.

Along with this added competition, quite a few players are poised and fully capable of having breakout seasons, especially with the new players Waddell and Co. have picked up as of late. Before we begin, I am going to set a brief expectation for what I mean when I say ‘breakout season’. To me, a breakout season is a vast improvement upon last season’s performance by an individual player, in regards to goals, assists, and points in total.

For example, Sebastian Aho going from 30 goals to 35 wouldn’t necessarily qualify as a ‘breakout season’ in these terms, but a player like Andrei Svechnikov going from 20 goals to, say, 35 would absolutely qualify in my book. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get started, shall we?

5. Warren Foegele

Warren Foegele notched 10 goals and 5 assists in 77 games played during the 2018-19 season. Most of his scoring came in the first few games of the season, and the last few games of the season. Weird, right?

Foegele will forever be known as the guy who scored that insane goal against Braden Holtby and the Washington Capitals on home ice, and that’s not a bad mantle to have, if I’m being honest. That goal was insane. As was his playoff performance; Foegele managed to scored 5 goals and 4 assists in the 15 playoff games the Hurricanes played.

The kicker with all of this is that Foegele has the skill to make performances like that commonplace in his game, even during the regular season.

Paired with Jordan Staal and Justin Williams (if Captain Clutch decides to grace us with his presence for one last run at the Cup), Foegele will be dangerous next season. Foegele’s breakout might not be a massive one, but I wouldn’t put it past #13 to score 20 this coming season.

4. Erik Haula

Erik Haula is a special addition to this list. After sustaining a knee injury against the Toronto Maple Leafs in November 2018 that had him sidelined for the remainder of the 2018-19 season, Haula is poised and ready to make a comeback.

Haula scored 29 goals and 26 assists for a combined 55 points in 76 games played in the 2017-18 regular season. In the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs, Haula scored 3 goals and 6 assists in the 20 playoff games the Vegas Golden Knights played on their path to the Stanley Cup Final.

Haula is a dynamic, intelligent player who has both playmaking and scoring skill in droves. I personally believe Haula is the coveted 2nd Line Center that the Hurricanes seem to have been searching for since 2009.

Coupled with players like Nino Niederreiter, Andrei Svechnikov, Ryan Dzingel, or Teuvo Teravainen, Haula has both the skills and the opportunity to open the scoring floodgates and let the goals pour in, especially on the powerplay.

3. Ryan Dzingel

What do you get when you combine a hard-nosed, gritty young player who can score goals at east and a work ethic that would make Rod ‘The Bod’ Brind’amour tear up in pride? You guessed it! Ryan Dzingel.

Ryan Dzingel is a perfect fit for the Carolina Hurricanes organization, and more specifically, Rod Brind’amour’s ‘Earn It’ system that ensures each player earns every opportunity they’ve been given both on and off the ice. The man worked out with Hurricanes’ trainer Bill Burniston his first day in Raleigh, for Pete’s sake!

https://twitter.com/NHLCanes/status/1152241141527601158

Dzingel has mentioned that he has had to earn everything he’s ever been given. If you look at his track record, this is true. Dzingel was drafted 204th overall in the 7th Round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators. He worked his way up to a Top-6 level forward, and has cemented himself in that role permanently with both his physical style of play, and his nose for the net.

Dzingel is definitely going to be a player to watch. I, for one, am excited to see just how much he earns from Head Coach Rod Brind’amour, and what he does with the opportunities he’s inevitably going to be given. If you ask me, Dzingel is a shoe-in for a 20+ goal performance this season, especially if he sees time on the 1st Powerplay unit.

2. Martin Necas

Martin Necas is finally ready to take a full-time NHL roster spot. After a relatively lackluster 2 point performance in his 7 games played with the Hurricanes in 2018-19, Necas is looking to lock down a spot in the lineup for good.

Necas, despite being one of those hungry young players we talked about earlier, is almost guaranteed to be a highly impactful player right out of the gates this season. Necas, although mainly a center, will more than likely play wing his first season or two in the NHL, but should still see success either way.

Necas scored 16 goals and 36 assists for a combined 52 points in 64 regular season games played with the Charlotte Checkers last season. Necas’ scoring touch was also a huge reason the Checkers went on to win the Calder Cup; Necas scored 5 goals and tallied 8 assists for a combined point total of 13 in 18 playoff games played.

Necas could see minutes on either the 3rd or 4th line this season, as well as the 2nd Powerplay unit and various other special teams situations. Necas is on his way to being a superstar, and I feel like this season will finally be the season he takes the first step in getting there if he can crack the Hurricanes’ roster out of training camp.