The great start to the season by the Carolina Hurricanes has been the talk of the NHL heading into the holiday season. Rod Brind'Amour and the company have set a culture in Raleigh that allows newcomers to step right in and have the chance to succeed. The loss of players from Carolina to other organizations this summer brought concern to the fan base, naturally.
The defense, in particular, took a big hit in July after the defensive pairing of Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei signed elsewhere. Skjei and Pesce were a strong presence together for the Canes under Brind'Amour. The number of young players requiring contracts made it impossible for Carolina to remain home for Skjei and Pesce at the cost they commanded.
In two swift and important first moves for general manager, Eric Tulsky, he signed pending unrestricted free agent Jalen Chatfield to a three-year contract and extended the contract of defensive stalwart, Jaccob Slavin. This would allow some stability to the blue line while replacing the departures in the summer.
Shayne Gostisbehere and Sean Walker came to Raleigh and have been strong assets to this team, but the development of Chatfield and Dmitry Orlov into a shutdown pairing will ensure stability to the group for the remainder of the season. Slavin and Brent Burns have worked well and the two newcomers continue to build chemistry but the Chatfield/Orlov line is one that Brind'Amour can go to in any situation.
Orlov was a question mark entering the final year of his contract. After a disappointing start to his Canes career, the $15.50 million man was brought to Raleigh to provide a different dimension to this strong group of defensemen. Instead, the top defensive signing of two offseasons ago was inconsistent at best. Once paired with Chatfield last season, Orlov became more reliable and stable. This season he has 9 points to go along with an impressive plus-15 rating to lead the team.
After Shayne Gostisbehere was brought back to Carolina, it was assumed that Brind'Amour would pair him with Chatfield as they had two seasons before. The coaching mastermind, Brind'Amour has further proven to be the biggest asset to the organization.
Chatfield and Orlov are a combined plus 27 and leading the way to being second in the league in goals against with 41. The injury to Frederik Andersen has put pressure on Pyotr Kochetkov, but the defense has shown up in front of the young Russian.
After Burns and Slavin playing massive minutes, Orlov has averaged 19:18 and Chatfield 18:14 which has been enormous for the defensive group as a whole. These minutes will need to increase as the season progresses to take some wear and tear off of Slavin and Burns, more specifically.