With the Winter Classic on New Year's Eve, the NHL began the unveiling of their NHL Quarter-Century teams. Retired players, executives, and media personnel voted to determine the best players for each franchise from 2000 to 2025. Each team will be comprised of six forwards, four defensemen, and two goalies.
The Carolina Hurricanes' teams will be announced on January 17, and here is who I believe should be on them. In making my selections, I took stats and awards into consideration, while also noting their longevity and overall impact on hockey in Raleigh during their time as a Carolina Hurricane.
Just Missed the Cut
Forwards: Picking five of the six forwards was easy, but the sixth spot was tough. There are players from all three "eras" of the team that I felt bad leaving off. For starters, I didn't include Ron Francis because most of his work was pre-2000 with the Whalers, thus his limited time with the Canes crest. There's also plenty of guys from the long runs and dark days, like Ray Whitney, Cory Stillman, Chad LaRose, Erik Cole, and Jeff O'Neill, that I omitted. I heavily considered Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen, too.
Defensemen: Glen Wesley's number is retired, making him a potential candidate, but there are others with more impactful numbers. Selfishly, I'd love to see Niclas Wallin on this list, solely for his three overtime winners, accounting for all three of his playoff goals. There also a handful of defensemen from the 2006 and 2009 runs that I would give heavy consideration toward.
Goalies: There is one very obvious selection who will be on the first team, leaving a few good options for the second team. Full transparency, I believe Arturs Irbe will be the consensus selection, given his role in the team's run to the 2002 Stanley Cup Final, but he wasn't my pick.