While he saw the tail end of the dark days, Sebastian Aho has largely been around the Carolina Hurricanes while they've been at their best over the last decade. He's already their most prolific scorer in the playoffs, and he's starting to become the same in the regular season. A lot of the team's turnaround in the late 2010s can be attributed to Aho's emergence as a star.
His best season came in 2023-24, putting up a career-high 89 points. However, the 2024-25 season was a bit of a disappointment. While Aho put up a respectable 74 points in 79 games, his goal total dropped below 30 for the first time since the pandemic. Getting back on track would be paramount for the team's most productive player.
Aho was a point-per-game player, while lacking his usual dominance
A nine-game point streak to begin the season allowed Aho to hit the ground running. As is often the case, he found ways to get on the scoresheet just about every night. However, his moments of dominance came in waves. His best stretch of the year was from mid-December (12/17) to mid-January (1/19). Anchored by his second five-point game, Aho had 26 points in those 18 games.
Aho represented Finland at the Olympics, putting up strong numbers and bringing home a bronze medal. When he came back, he kept up his pace. By the end of the season, Aho was atop the team in assists (53), tying his career high, and points (80) for his fifth point-per-game season. However, his goal total (27) fell for the second consecutive year, and he won just 50.5 percent of his draws.
The postseason wasn't as great for Aho. He posted just about as many points (12) in 19 games as he has in runs that ended much sooner than this one. He finished the first round with three goals, but two of them were into an empty net in Game 4 against Ottawa. While the team was still winning games, Aho wasn't making a considerable impact on the outcome.
His game finally turned around late in the Montreal series, picking up points in the final two games. Aho saved his best for the Stanley Cup Final. He recorded points in Games 2 through 5, adding two assists in Game 3 and scoring a gorgeous goal in Game 5, which served as the game-winner. His 47.3 win percentage in the dot was a little unsightly, but Aho was a Stanley Cup champion.
Team history is great, but a big season from Aho matters a little more
There is a high likelihood that Aho will reach two more of Eric Staal's Hurricanes records at some point this season, needing 13 goals and 65 points to set new benchmarks. He's 53 assists away from being the new king in that respect, and Aho has hit that three times in his career. He's also likely to play in his 800th game midway through the year, and there's an outside chance he hits 800 points.
All of these milestones are worth celebrating, but Aho is the type of player who revels more in his team's success than his individual success. His insistence on letting Taylor Hall hoist the Stanley Cup before him is a great example of that. Aho is the most important forward in the lineup, as most teams' first-line centers are. The team is at its best when he is producing and impacting the game.
One particular area that needs to be better is his performance in the dot. I highlighted his numbers during both the regular season and the postseason for a reason. His win percentage dropped by nearly five percent during the season. I want to see him get back to the level of dominance that we're accustomed to seeing. Maybe a subpar postseason, by his standards, is the perfect motivation.
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