Whatif…..Two Recent Hurricanes Whatifs Tackled
By Chris Baker
In a recent social media poll, we asked “Who/What is the biggest Carolina Hurricanes whatif?” We got a lot of really interesting answers. Many of the old standards, and several new ones too. You can never change history, but you can certainly see the consequences and aftermaths of particular events. I tackled a couple of the great “whatifs” that intrigued me most.
The most interesting whatif, at least in trying to game out, is the idea that the Hurricanes had a healthy Max Pacioretty and Andrei Svechnikov last season for the playoffs.
Pacioretty, in 74 career games, has 25 goals and 49 total points. That’s a point in 66% of the games he’s played, and a goal in 33% of them. Assuming he plays that average, that is a point in 9.9 of the 15 games Carolina played in the 2023 Playoffs. He would, all things being average, have scored a goal in 4.95 of the 15 games. When, and where those would have played out you can never know BUT given the fact the Canes lost all four of their games to Florida by a point, it is safe to say that a Max Pacioretty goal in that series wouldn’t have been helpful.
And the same should be said for Andrei Svechnikov perhaps to a lesser extent. If only for a smaller sample size. Svechnikov only has 40 career playoff appearances and 13 goals with 25 points. That’s a goal in 32.5% of his games and a point in 62.5% of those. Playing to his average he would have had a goal in games. He would have had a goal in 4.87 of the 15 games and a point in 9.37 of those games. Again that is playing to both Svechnikov’s and Pacioretty’s averages. Had they played up it could have been more. But we’re left with whatif.
Another whatifs I found interesting was Jeff Skinner.
Skinner was a crowd favorite in Raleigh. He’s a crowd favorite in Buffalo. In nine seasons with the Hurricanes he played in 579 games and scored 194 goals. That’s an average of a goal in 33.5% of his games in red and black. Maybe the most impressive stat Skinner put up as Cane was his 28 game winning goals. He had at least one in all but one season with Carolina and his career best thus far was his 2015-16 season with Hurricanes. Since heading north, he’s also notched at least one game winning celly in all but one season. Skinner and Necas in the clutch. I’m here to hear that all day and twice on Sunday.
In Buffalo, Skinner has put up career numbers. He’s had career highs in goals, FO% and his shooting percentage has never been higher. Last season’s +15 was the highest he has ever been, though that is not saying much. He has finished the year above 0 just twice.
One thing is certain, Hurricanes fans are missing out having Skins host “Between Two Stalls” with PK. Just imagine that. Whatif!
It’s hard to know what would have happened if something had gone differently. Or maybe whatif something else hadn’t happened. Any sports team and fanbase loves to play the game of whatif but at the end of the day things, at least in my opinion, work out like they should. Maybe the Hurricanes have a health Pacioretty, Svechnikov or both for the playoffs last year and they win it all on the back of two extra goals from each. Canes fans might be paying $13 for a Storm Brew at PNC instead of just $8. Maybe Skinner stays in Raleigh, never meets his SO in Buffalo and Canes fans suffer Taylor Swift dating him and crowding us regular folks out of games. I for one can afford $8 for one Storm Brew but not $13 and frankly I am sorta glad Swifty isn’t directly involved with anything I’m a fan of.