One of the greatest revelations from last year's team was rookie Jackson Blake. After debuting during the season finale of the 2023-24 season, Blake was the surprise name on the Carolina Hurricanes' Opening Night roster last October. As the team's lone rookie, the forward with an NHL bloodline showed all of us how he did it.
Over the next nine months, Blake turned in one of the best rookie performances in team history. Not only were his numbers solid, but the coaching staff showed a lot of faith in him, especially during some high-leverage situations. The result was a massive payday this summer that Blake will enjoy beginning next season.
Last season: 17-17-34 in 80 games/3-3-6 in the playoffs
Blake wasted no time making a lifetime memory, scoring the game-winner with a beautiful redirection in the team's second game of the season, a 4-2 victory against the Devils. He added another goal during the next game in Pittsburgh, kicking off a solid October. Blake recorded a point in five of the team's nine October games. As it does for many rookies, the scoring dried up a little from there.
From November until mid-January, Blake scored just nine points in 39 games. However, he was sensational down the stretch. He recorded his highest point output in March, scoring eight points (1-7-8 in 14 games), including his first three-point game against Montreal on March 28th. He finished his first full season with five goals in April and rested during the final two games of the campaign.
Tasting postseason action for the first time, Blake kept churning in the 1st round against the Devils. He recorded his first postseason point in Game 2 with an assist, added two more helpers in Game 4, and scored his first goal during the team's massive comeback in the second period of Game 5. He only had two more points the rest of the way, both goals.
By point production alone, Blake's rookie season is one of the best in team history. Finishing 9th in Calder voting, his 17 goals tied Seth Jarvis for fifth-most, his 34 points were eighth-most, and his six game-winning goals tied Shane Willis for the most by a rookie in organization history. Blake's six postseason points were also the fifth-most in Hurricanes history.
Bold Prediction: Blake finishes in the Top 5 in scoring for the Canes
With the abundance of talent on this season's roster, Jackson Blake finishing in the Top 5 would be a huge deal. It would also ease many minds about the team committing to him for eight years after just one season. For reference, Shayne Gostisbehere was fifth last season with 45 points, and the bar is usually somewhere from the mid-40s to low-50s over the last several seasons.
With Seth Jarvis's rookie campaign being comparable to Blake's, with only a few more assists, I'm interested to see how their sophomore seasons stack up. Jarvis took a step back during his second season, scoring fewer points in 82 games than he had during his rookie season. Clearly, it didn't matter much, seeing as he's scored 30+ goals in consecutive years.
This could go hand-in-hand with helping Jesperi Kotkaniemi cement his status as the team's 2C. The only slight issue is that Blake could just as easily start the season on the Canes' fourth line as he could the second or the first. Fewer minutes would likely hamper his production, and Blake must get meaningful minutes with his extension starting next season.
Honestly, I'm not too worried about Blake getting his chances this season. He'll likely end up on the team's second power-play unit. He did a fair amount of damage on the man advantage, scoring five times during the regular season and twice more in the playoffs. As his role within the organization starts to grow, those expectations will, too. I think Blake will handle them just fine.