Why the Carolina Hurricanes could win another Stanley Cup

Coaching

First off, the Carolina Hurricanes coaching is tremendous.Rod Brind’amour and company have did wonders last season. With the recent addition of Jason Muzzatti as the goaltending coach, the high standards set last season look to be continually upheld. Rod should definitely be in contention for coach of the year this year.

And judging by the talent in front of him, he could very well win it. He was snubbed out of the award last year after all. His team also thinks very highly of him which goes a very long way in helping them better themselves on the ice.

Now he’s entering his second season as the head coach of the Hurricanes. He knows what it takes to get his players to do what they need to do. There is also a large group of players returining from last year.

These guys have already bought into what Rod is selling and they know what he wants. That should help the team get off to a good start. As well as help the new guys adapt to their new home.

Speaking of the new guys…

The New Guys

The Hurricanes added some heavy hitters to their forward group this off-season when they traded for Erik Haula and picked up Ryan Dzingel in free agency. Both have shown themselves to be able to play at a fast pace like the Canes like to do.

As well most importantly as put the puck in the back of the net. Both guys have been seeming to mesh well with the rest of the team. While Haula did have brief injury scare with his knee, he appears to be fine now.

The Hurricanes were also able to pick up veteran netminder James Reimer in a trade with Florida. He looks to be a valuable back up to Petr Mrazek. Reimer will also be able to provide veteran wisdom to a team that has an average age of just 24 years old.

Late into free agency, the Carolina Hurricanes surprised everyone and signed defenseman Jake Gardiner to a four year contract. Garidner is a fantastic addition to an already extremely deep blue line. He will also add some life to the Hurricanes power play. Which let’s be honest, isn’t the best.

And there were other new additions made during the off season like Anton Forsberg, Gustav Forsling, and Max McCormickto name a few. As well as picking up prospects Chase Priske and Ryan Suzuki in free agency and the draft. All of these guys add to a deep roster that should be ready to contend with the best of the best.

Now  that we’ve looked at the new guys, what about the returning  ones?

The Old Timers

In a very well documented offer sheet situation with Montreal, they locked up star Sebastian Aho for another five years. Aho is ready to continue to make his climb into the upper echelon of players in the NHL. He has continually improved season after season and that is for sure to continue.

Andrei Svechnikov is sure to follow Aho as one of the rising stars in the league this season. He is also poised to have a breakout second season this year. And with some experience under his belt as well as some playoff success, I don’t see anything stopping him.

There are also veteran players like Jordan Staal, Justin Faulk, and Tuevo Teravainen coming back. Two of those guys have one Stanley Cups and know what it takes to get there. Coming off that Eastern Conference Final run last season, the other guys in the locker room finally get what they were saying all along about how hard it is to get to the top. An now everyone knows what it takes and will for sure do everything they can to get there.

Speaking of championships, what do they say wins them? Oh yeah, defense.

The Blue Liners

Hamilton, Gardiner, Pesce, Slavin, Fleury, van Riemsdyk, and Faulk. Those are just a few names in the insanely deep pool of defensemen the Carolina Hurricanes have at their finger tips right now.

Once he develops some more chemistry with the team, Garidner should add that extra punch on the power play that the team needs. He did say the the reason he came to the Hurricanes was because he felt he had the best chance to win a Stanley Cup here. So expect to see his play to back up his own expectations.

Trevor van Riemsdyk will be back from surgery before we know it.  And that will put the defense back at full strength. He recently started practicing again and he’s been looking good. Give a few games to get back in the swing of things and he should look like he never left to begin with.

If training camp is anything to go by, these guys will be ramping up their physicality this season. That goes for the rest of the team as well. Fluery even stated that he wants to be a more intense player this season. And so far, he’s been backing up every word.

The Carolina Hurricanes do find themselves in a great position this season. They have an incredibly deep roster of young players as well as some vets that have been around for a while. And some of the other teams in the Eastern Conference didn’t address their issues this off-season.

Which in turn leaves the door open that much wider for the Hurricanes to take the conference and then go on to win another Stanley Cup.

Question for CC readers: Do you think the Hurricanes have what it take to win the Cup this year?