Carolina Hurricanes Veteran Line Will Play Crucial Role This Season

Over a long season, players and lines become more significant than others. The Carolina Hurricanes enter this season dependent upon team play and working every shift on all areas of the ice. Because scoring will be expected from every line, the defensive play will be important to lock down the opposition's best players and secure leads.

The forward line of Jordan Staal, Jesper Fast, and Jordan Martinook became the most consistent checking line for head coach Rod Brind'Amour the past few seasons. This year, Fast is out for the season with an injury and likely be done in Carolina with an expiring contract. Martinook was an unrestricted free agent last summer but returned to Raleigh on a 3-year deal with a salary cap hit of $3,050,000 per season. The prior summer, the captain was without a contract and re-upped for another 4 seasons.

This summer, the new general manager, Eric Tulsky, made a solid move by bringing in William Carrier from the Las Vegas Golden Knights long-term for $2 million a season. What ultimately appeared to be the final piece of this Staal line, Carrier has spent the first two games with Staal and Martinook, providing some offensive punch with solid play in the defensive zone.

Despite a dip in production from Staal and Martinook last season, the two players are the "glue" in the locker room and will be relied upon this season to not only shut down the other team's top line but get back to contributing on the offensive side of the game. The addition of Carrier will assist as he can mesh with the duo's style but provide a different wrinkle of offensive skill.

Last season, the captain saw his third-lowest goal total in the last decade and was a minus -14 to add insult to injury. Martinook scored two fewer points than the prior season but thanks to a good second half of the season came close to tying his career high in goals, finishing with 14.

Although the team has plenty of talent up front on offense, this group is younger and may take some time to find their chemistry. Because of this, the scoring can not just fall on Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, Martin Necas, and Seth Jarvis. The checking line needs to chip in offensively if this team can go deep in the playoffs.

It may be a tall ask, but the additional contribution by this line to the scoresheet will be important, but just as important will be clamping down defensively. Because the scoring may be less often for Carolina, it is that much more important to keep the puck out of their own net. This will be most important when the Canes have a lead late in the game.

Until the top line truly becomes a scoring force, the defensive assignments for the Staal line will be incredibly important. The line is making a combined $7,950,000 which is quite a lot for a group of checking forwards so it is time for them to earn their contracts.