How Do the Carolina Hurricanes Improve in 2021-22?
The Carolina Hurricanes have a lot of room for improvement despite competing for the President’s Trophy a majority of the season, alongside finishing with the 3rd most points in the league. The Hurricanes far exceeded expectations in the 2020-2021 season after finishing 4th in the Metropolitan division and losing in the 1st round in the 2019-2020 season.
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Now that the Hurricanes have exceeded expectations, there will be new expectations for the Canes going into the 2021-2022 season. For Carolina to get where they want to go, Carolina will have to improve in the off-season before stepping foot on the ice.
The playoff matchups vs the Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning brought to the surface the flaws of the Carolina Hurricanes, and it is something that can no longer be glossed over. The roster does not need a complete overhaul, but there are issues that need to be addressed.
The roster for the Carolina Hurricanes needs tweaking, elite talent in addition to what the Canes have, and veterans with a championship pedigree. Without further ado, the areas that the Canes will have to address:
Top 10 Forward
Once the Carolina Hurricanes re-sign their respective free agents, a Top 10 forward is an absolute must. Sebastian Aho , Andrei Svechnikov, and Teuvo Teravainen are great in their respects, but as we saw in the playoffs they can’t be the only ones scoring for the Hurricanes.
The 2nd line for the Canes is strong, but can be stronger if one or two are moved to the 3rd line to help round out the offense and a top 10 forward is brought in to provide more scoring. Rod Brind’Amour can shuffle players like Svechnikov or Teravainen between lines one and two with the flexibility of another elite player on the team.
Gabriel Landeskog is exactly what the Hurricanes need if they are going to push a team like Tampa Bay to their breaking point. Landeskog brings leadership, heart, energy, and most importantly he can put the puck in the back of the net.
Landeskog scored 20 goals and had 32 assists in 54 regular season games, while accumulating 4 goals and 9 assists in 10 games in the 2021 playoffs. The trick will be luring Landeskog away from the only place he has known in the NHL, something GM Don Waddell will have to prove he can do if the Carolina Hurricanes are going to improve.
Taylor Hall had a tumultuous 2020 season, that much is evident. However, at 29, he still has elite talent. Hall is an elite forward that needs a coach that can bring the best out of him. Rod Brind’Amour, fresh off winning the Jack Adams Award, is more than capable of getting the best out of his players.
The long-time Boston Bruin David Krejci could very well be wearing a different sweater when the 2021-2022 season begins. The Carolina Hurricanes could use Krejci and all that he brings to the table. Krejci is not quite the elite player that Landeskog or even Hall is; what Krejci does bring, however, is experience, a championship pedigree, physicality, and an ability to bring the best out of his respective line.
Paul Stastny is similar to the aforementioned David Krejci, but cheaper contractually. Stastny brings toughness, a veteran presence, an ability to slot to the LW if needed, and most importantly the ability to win faceoffs.
The Carolina Hurricanes struggled against the Tampa Bay Lightning on faceoffs in the postseason. Paul Stastny does the little things that do not go on the stat sheet; he brings the intangibles, and is a short-term commitment for the Hurricanes with him being 35 years old.
Role Players
Role players might be more vital than the aforementioned bringing in of an elite player. The role players did not step up in the playoffs and it ultimately doomed the Carolina Hurricanes’ chances at a Stanley Cup.
For everything the Hurricanes do well, it’s clear role players on the roster as a whole just are not cutting it. The 2006 Carolina Hurricanes championship had role player after role player step up and a championship doesn’t happen without the 3rd and 4th lines chipping in.
Blake Coleman is a high energy forward that knows how to find the back of the net (two 20+ goal seasons with NJD). If the Hurricanes can lure Coleman away from the Lightning, Coleman would slot right in on the 3rd line and immediately boost the scoring prospects for the 3rd line.
Tomas Tatar might not be a name that is highly sought after, however, he has had success in his career reaching the 20 goal plateau (5x).
Tatar’s salary is just south of $3 million with the Montreal Canadiens. If the Carolina Hurricanes can sign a 20 goal scorer for roughly $3 million to slot onto the 3rd or even 4th line, the Canes struggles with role players producing would theoretically be solved.
Backup Goalie
The backup position to Alex Nedeljkovic is a touchy subject amongst Caniacs. An argument can be made that Petr Mrazek played extremely well in relief of Ned in the regular season, however, an argument can be made that Mrazek is what we saw in Game 4 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
A solid goalie from time to time, but when the games matter he is overmatched by great teams. Where does Carolina go for the backup goalie position? Petr Mrazek and James Reimer are UFA while Reimer’s days specifically appear to be numbered in Carolina.
Pekka Rinne appears to be out in Nashville and seems destined for a backup spot at this stage in his career, Carolina could bring in a proven veteran that could win games when called on and help mentor Alex Nedeljkovic in the process.
Devan Dubnyk and Henrik Lundquist are two other goalies that would bring size, a veteran presence, and reliability to spell Ned from time to time.
Any of these three veteran goalies would be a huge benefit to function as a mentor to Ned, who is very quickly looking like he’ll be the Carolina Hurricanes’ franchise goalie down the line.
Offensive Defenseman
Something that has gone under the radar after the Carolina Hurricanes season came to a screeching halt is the lack of firepower on the blue line. Dougie Hamilton (10 goals, 32 assists) more than holds his own in the offensive zone, however, the other 5 defenseman collectively do not pose as much of a threat.
The Tampa Bay Lightning played aggressively on the forwards of the Carolina Hurricanes in round two of the playoffs, daring the Hurricanes’ defenseman to beat them.
Brett Pesce, Jacob Slavin, and Brady Skjei combined for 10 goals in the regular season. If the Hurricanes are going to open up room for their best players, they need threats at the blue line.
Should Alec Martinez (33) leave the Vegas Golden Knights and hit free agency, he could come cheaper than most defensemen. Alec Martinez had 9 goals and 23 assists in 53 regular season games for the Knights, 1 goal behind Dougie Hamilton and tied for 8th among defenseman.
Tyson Barrie (29) will be highly sought after as well, and will come at a price. If the Carolina Hurricanes are to make an offer to Barrie they surely will have to pay up. Barrie scored 8 goals and had 40 assists to respectively lead all defenseman in points while playing for the Edmonton Oilers. Tyson Barrie would surely fit on the first or 2nd defensive pairing and would open things up for the talented forwards for the Canes.
At the end of the day, the Carolina Hurricanes have more than a few holes to fill, the biggest being the theoretical hole left by Dougie Hamilton’s potential departure, but there should be a multitude of options with which to fill them.
Only time will tell how the Canes choose to address these issues, but Don Waddell and Co. haven’t quite led us astray just yet.