As we approach the first month of Carolina Hurricanes hockey in 2024, the team sits on top of the Metro Division and is on a 7-game winning streak and winning 9 of 10 games after the opening night 4-1 defeat to the Tampa Bay Lightning at Lenovo Center. For the most part, the team is clicking on all cylinders for Rod Brind'Amour's group, but can they sustain this level of play as we approach the holidays?
After losing some key players last summer, new general manager, Eric Tulsky, focused on replenishing the blue line and adding some low-risk, high-reward forwards to compete for a spot on this roster. The departures of Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei, Tony DeAngelo, Evgeni Kuznetsov, Jake Guentzel, Teuvo Teravainen, and Stefan Noesen hit the fan base hard in the warm months of the summer. Replacing these players and what they have done for the franchise was near impossible.
Instead, Tulsky went after specific players who could fill roles and succeed in Brind'Amour's system.
Just 11 games have been played in this, still, a young season but the success has been undeniable. To say the Canes will never lose again, to quote the great hockey show, Shoresy is quite silly.
Although this was unexpected for most experts, the Canes still have a similar group that was solidified with strong signings on defense in Shayne Gostisbehere and Sean Walker. The next step for this team was always going to be decided by the progression of the young stars like Seth Jarvis and Martin Necas. Right now those players are leading the way while the rest of the team plays consistent hockey in all zones.
Players like Guentzel and Kuznetsov were not with the team for long last season so production would not be difficult to replace. A player like William Carrier has the potential to be better than Noesen, although, Noesen is off to a hot start in New Jersey. Replacing Skjei and Pesce was obvious and the fact that Gostisbehere was familiar with the team made this a smooth transition.
The dynamic start from Necas makes the potential for this team out of this world. Andrei Svechnikov has been quietly racking up the points with 5 goals and 7 assists. Sebastian Aho is as consistent as you can get while emulating the identity of Canes hockey.
Jack Roslovic has been hot in the scoring department with 7 goals and rookie Jackson Blake has been a strong addition to this team, adding a new dynamic of scoring prowess with aggressive play. These two players present the biggest question mark for their production being sustained. Roslovic has the talent but never put it all together in his prior stops around the NHL. Blake will hit a wall as every rookie does and it is a matter of when.
If those two players are the biggest question marks moving forward, Jesperi Kotkaniemi is as close behind as they come. Kotkaniemi has been using his size on the ice and making the simple, smart play. This has led to him producing more than last season with 8 points. He has been inconsistent the last few years to put it politely.
The defense has been wonderful chipping into the offensive side of the game and maintaining solid play on their end. Gostisbehere has been far and away better on the man advantage for this team and has provided a dangerous weapon that has been missing the last two playoff runs. Dmitry Orlov has contributed to the offense more than normal in a Carolina uniform with 3 goals and 7 points.
Although the defense has been phenomenal offensively, I do not see this cooling off a bit during the remainder of the season. The one concern would be that they lack consistency on their end to create more offense.
The goaltending can only get better with Pyotr Kochetkov playing inconsistent but getting the job done. He keeps this team in the game and provides a spark with great, athletic saves. Frederik Andersen has been stellar when healthy, but that is the unpredictable part of his game and the season for the Canes.
In short, this team will be fighting for the division this season and will need players like Necas to maintain this production to get over the hump and win the Stanley Cup.