The Carolina Hurricanes. And literally nobody expected it. They’re a good team. And nobody talks about it. Why are they so quiet?
Because they’re Carolina. With Florida having gone on their recent tear, and holding first place in the Metro, fans are coming out of the woodwork. Which is a great thing for what has been one of the NHL’s smallest markets. That leaves Carolina. Even though they have had some great wins this season (vs. Washington, Chicago, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Montreal, Arizona) their fans aren’t very vocal.
The team has a bright future, led by Justin Faulk, one of the top five offensive defensemen in the league, and soon to be great Noah Hanifin, maybe the second best US defenseman after Suter. Carolina has an average age of 26.133, good for third youngest in the league. And currently they are ahead of Philadelphia and CBJ in the standings, a situation no one (at least outside of Carolina) saw coming at the beginning of the season. They’re not going to make the playoffs, so they could add Auston Mathews to their already developing roster.
The Hurricanes have gotten here off of the play of aforemention Justin Faulk, who paces the team with 32 points, good for fifth in the league among defensemen. Eric Staal and Kris Versteeg are the Hurricanes’ best forwards, and each have tallied 28 points.
The one area the Hurricanes could do for an improvement in is goaltending, where should be stars Eddie Lack and Cam Ward have had unremarkable seasons, with Ward posting a 2.41 and .905 GAA and SV, and Lack with a 2.91 and a .887. None of those are good numbers, especially for Lack, who was expected to be the Hurricanes’ starting netminder going forward and who the Canes traded a 2015 third round and 2016 seventh round pick for. On a team where the defense includes Faulk, Hainsey, Hanifin, Liles, and Brett Pesce. The only awful number among those four is a -16 from Faulk and Hainsey, who play against the best lines in the NHL.
Going forward, expect the Hurricanes to continue being in contention. As the seasons pass by, look for the Hurricanes to keep improving, and by 2019 expect them to be making deep playoff runs.