As a child, Christmas is full of whimsy and wonder. Every year, you write a list to Santa Claus, asking him to bring you gifts on Christmas Day. When you're really young, these gifts are simple and easier to obtain. As you get older, the gifts become a little more expensive or extravagant. When you're a fan of a hockey team chasing down the Stanley Cup, they're more akin to asking a genie for wishes.
Like every team, the Carolina Hurricanes might need to turn to Jolly Old Saint Nicholas to help them achieve their dreams this season. There are some things that not even Santa Claus can handle. Still, it might not hurt to ask him, just in case. You never know. Maybe Santa has some tricks up his sleeve to help the Canes return to the mountaintop.
1. A Christmas miracle to get Seth Jarvis on Team Canada
People might be tired of me mentioning it, but I'm really bummed about Seth Jarvis's injury. It comes at one of the most inconvenient times, with his chances to make a pitch for Team Canada's Olympic roster crashing into the goal post with him. While I still believe there is a case to be made, it might take some North Pole magic to do it.
Jarvis has asserted himself as one of the league's best goal scorers over the last two and a half seasons. With back-to-back 30-goal campaigns under his belt, Jarvis already has 19 this season. He is also one of the best two-way forwards in the game, becoming a reliable penalty killer, something Canada's roster could use. Jarvis is also incredible in the locker room, if that makes a difference.
Even if Jarvis isn't on Canada's initial roster for February's Games, he could still be named as a reserve if someone else gets hurt. We'd never wish for that to happen, though. In the meantime, he'll focus on his recovery, being placed on IR and labeled as week-to-week with an upper-body injury. If there's one thing fans would love to see, it's "Olympic athlete" next to Jarvis's name.
2. Jaccob Slavin to 100% healthy again
When you see that the Hurricanes are entering the holiday break as the top team in the Eastern Conference, you might be amazed to see that it has happened without their top defenseman for all but four games. During the team's second game of the season, Slavin exited with an injury, and he didn't return to the lineup until last Wednesday in Nashville. Just two games later, he is out again.
While his absence against the Lightning was ruled as precautionary as part of his recovery, it was revealed on Monday that Slavin had suffered an upper-body injury against the Panthers on Friday night. Like Jarvis, Slavin was deemed week-to-week with this injury. I wholeheartedly believe that the plan was for him to sit out during the Tampa game before he sustained this new injury.
I'm sure I speak for every Caniac when I say that Slavin being healthy during April and May (and potentially June) is far more important than him playing games before then. The team has done well at filling the holes, with players like Joel Nystrom stepping up and showing the team what he can do. Slavin is one of the Canes' most valuable players, so his being healthy is of the utmost importance.
3. Special teams to get back to normal
To the Hurricanes' credit, things have been trending in the right direction for both the power play and the penalty kill over the last month. Since November 21, the Canes are 11th in the NHL on the power play (21.8%; 12-for-55) and 6th on the penalty kill (85.7%; 30-for-35). It has bumped them to 23rd and 12th, respectively, for the season.
The power play has been a long-standing issue for the team. It was downright awful to begin the season, often being an active detriment to the team's chances of winning games. Seeing the puck go in with a little more regularity has been nice. They've been spreading the wealth, too. Four players have multiple power-play goals since around Thanksgiving.
The penalty kill's struggles are a little more foreign. After consistently being one of the top teams in the league, it's unusual to see them outside of the Top 10. Not having your kingpin on the back end certainly doesn't help. The team had killed its last 16 penalties entering Tuesday's game against Florida, so there's reason to cheer at them being back to some semblance of normalcy.
4. The front office to cook up a big trade
I'll probably regret this one, especially if it's a trade that I don't love, but this is another thing we've seen regularly for the Canes over the last few seasons. From Jake Guentzel at the 2024 deadline to both of the Mikko Rantanen trades earlier this year, the Canes are in on everyone and anyone that they think can help the team win.
We've already seen some notable moves around the league this season, chief among them being the Quinn Hughes trade between Vancouver and Minnesota. The Canucks are a team that appears to be open for business, and we've speculated in the past about what that could mean for the Canes. There are also teams like Buffalo or Calgary that have very valuable trade pieces.
I think the Hurricanes are destined to make a big move at some point this season, so it might not be so much that Santa can get them this as much as Eric Tulsky can. The mad scientist isn't afraid to do something big. We've seen that firsthand. I have a gut feeling that he'll try to do something huge in January, just as he did last season.
5. The Stanley Cup (or, at least, the Prince of Wales Trophy)
This feels like a bit of a no-brainer. Of course, every Caniac should be writing to Santa Claus and asking him to help the Hurricanes win the Stanley Cup. What kind of fans would we be if we weren't? This one might be outside of his control, but it never hurts to ask. Really, this one falls on the players on the ice.
If I have to go one more postseason hearing how the Hurricanes can't "get over the hump" to reach the Stanley Cup Finals, I might lose my mind. The group is one of the most successful regular-season teams in the league, yet they can't manage to put it together in the conference finals. That's why I'm almost content with them winning the conference and calling it a day.
That being said, if you're going to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals, you might as well win it while you're there. There's no better time for them to do it than during the season you're celebrating the 20th anniversary of their first win. Some fans don't think this team can do it, and I don't blame them, especially with their recent struggles. I'm of the belief that you never know until it happens.