NHL Preview - Carolina Hurricanes

Carolina Hurricanes

2015-16 season: 35-31-16, 86 points	Head Coach: Bill Peters (2014)
6th Place Metro Division	General Manager: Ron Francis (2014)
10th Place Eastern Conference	AHL Affiliate: Charlotte Checkers ECHL Affiliate: Florida Everblades
Cap Space: $16,554,169

Team News

• Traded a 2016 2nd RD pick and a 2017 3rd RD pick to Chicago for Teuvo Teravainen and Bryan Bickell

Free Agents Lost in Offseason

POS.	Player	New Team	Contract
LW	Chris Terry	Montreal Canadiens	1 year, $600,000
LW	Nathan Gerbe	New York Rangers	1 year, $600,000
LW	Riley Nash	Boston Bruins	1 year, $600,000
RW	Brad Malone	Washington Capitals	1 year, $575,000
D	Zach Boychuck	Arizona Coyotes	PTO
D	James Wisniewski	Tampa Bay Lightning	PTO

Incoming Free Agents

POS.	Player	Old Team	Contract
RW	Lee Stempniak	Boston Bruins	2 years, $5,000,000
RW	Viktor Stalberg	New York Rangers	1 year, $1,500,000
D	Matt Tennyson	San Jose Sharks	1 year, $675,000

2016 Draft Picks

RD	Pick No.	POS.	Name	Junior/College/Club Team
1	13	D	Jake Bean	Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
1	21	RW	Julien Gauthier	Val d’Or Foreurs (QMJHL)
2	43	LW	Janne Kuokanen	Karpat Jrs (Finland)
3	67	LW	Matt Filipe	Cedar Rapids Roughriders (USHL)
3	74	C	Hudson Elynuik	Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
3	75	G	Jack LaFontaine	Janesville Jets (NAHL)
4	104	LW	Max Zimmer	Chicago Steel (USHL)
5	134	G	Jeremy Helvig	Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)
6	164	D	Noah Carroll	Guelph Storm (OHL)

Top Three Picks

POS	Name	Draft Info	Current Team
G	Alex Nedeljkovic	2014 2nd RD (37)	AHL/ECHL
G	Daniel Altshuller	2012 3rd RD (69)	AHL/ECHL
G	Callum Booth	2015 4th RD (93)	Quebec Ramparts (QMJHL)

Projected Lineup

Forwards

POS	Name	Age	Nationality	Free Agent Year
LW	Jeff Skiner	24	Canada	2019
C	Victor Rask	23	Sweden	2022
RW	Lee Stempniak	33	USA	2018
LW	Joakim Nordstrom	24	Sweden	2018 (RFA)
C	(A) Jordan Staal	28	Canada	2023
RW	Andrej Nastrasil	25	Czech Republic	2017 (RFA)
LW	Teuvo Teravainen	22	Finland	2017 (RFA)
C	Elias Lindholm	21	Sweden	2018 (RFA)
RW	SeaSebastian Aho	19	Finland	2019 (RFA)
LW	Phillip Di Guiseppe	22	Canada	2017 (RFA)
C	Jay McClement	33	Canada	2017
RW	Viktor Stalberg	30	Sweden	2017

Defensemen

POS	Name	Age	Nationality	Free Agent Year
D	Jacob Slavin	22	USA	2018 (RFA)
D	Justin Faulk	24	USA	2020
D	Noah Hanifin	19	USA	2018 (RFA)
D	Brett Pesce	21	USA	2018 (RFA)
D	(A) Ron Hainsey	35	USA	2017
D	Ryan Murphy	23	USA	2018 (RFA)

Goalies

POS	Name	Age	Nationality	Free Agent Year
G	Cam Ward	32	Canada	2018
G	Eddie Lack	28	Sweden	2018

Extra Skaters

POS	Name	Age	Nationality	Free Agent Year
LW	Bryan Bickell	30	Canada	2017
C	Derek Ryan	29	USA	2017
D	Matt Tennyson	26	USA	2017

Season Outlook

• The Carolina Hurricanes were similar to the Buffalo Sabres last season in that they took another step forward in their rebuild.  They only finished two spots out of the final Wild Card spot and were in the hunt much later in the season than most thought they would be.  Although they were not good at scoring goals, head coach Bill Peters had the Hurricanes near the top of the league in possession numbers.  This is incredible considering the youth they had last season, especially on defense.  This year will also be the first season that the team will start the year without former captain Eric Staal since he was drafted by the team in 2003.  The absence of the eldest Staal brother represents the extensive turnover undergone by Carolina, but in his place, and other veterans' places, step in talented, younger, and cheaper players.

CAT.	Goals For	Goals Against	PP %	PK %	PDO	Corsi For	Corsi Against	Corsi For %	oZS%	dZS%
Stat	198	226	16.81	84.31	98.6	4668	4228	52.5	53.3	46.6
Hurricanes’ Rank	28th	19th	25th	6th	28th	8th	2nd	2nd	3rd	3rd

PDO= Even Strength Shooting Percentage + Even Strength Save Percentage

Corsi For= Shots + Blocks + Misses while in possession of puck

Crosi Against= Shots + Blocks + Misses while not in possession of puck

Corsi For %= Corsi For/(Corsi For+Corsi Against) -> Above 50% means that team controls play

oZS% = Offensive Zone Start Percentage

dZS% = Defensive Zone Start Percentage

• During the offseason, GM (and Hall-of-Famer) Ron Francis did little to dramatically overhaul the roster.  He brought in the resurgent Lee Stempniak on a two-year team-friendly deal, he re-signed goalie Cam Ward, and he made a trade with Chicago for Teuvo Teravainen and Bryan Bickell, a move that ended up being a cap-shed trade for the Blackhawks.  Carolina will benefit greatly from this move as Teravainen will provide goal-scoring abilities to a team that was in need of the them last season.  The group that drives this team, and is the most exciting, are their defensemen.  They currently have just one probable starting defenseman over the age of 25, and that's 35-year old Ron Hainsey.  Most of the defensemen were drafted by Carolina with high draft picks and are incredibly talented.  Their only potential weak spot is in net, where Cam Ward and Eddie Lack will split time.  The 'Canes have several goalie prospects that rank at the top of their system rankings and are already at the AHL level.  When Ward and Lack's contracts expire after the 2017-18 season, at least one of these goalie prospects should be ready to make the leap to the NHL.  The Carolina franchise is pointed in the right direction and will have plenty of money going forward to extend most of, if not all, of these young players.  The Hurricanes seem headed in a direction similar to that of the Tampa Bay Lightning - a young, homegrown, and cost-controlled team that will be successful for years.  I think Carolina will compete for a Wild Card spot this season and could even sneak in.  If not this year, then in the next couple of years, the Hurricanes will get back into the playoffs for the first time since 2007-08.

Breakout Candidate:

• RW Andrej Nastraisal - Last season Nastraisal played in 55 games, which was the highest total of his career.  This season he looks to be skating on the second line with Jordan Staal and will have every opportunity to succeed in Carolina.

Regression Candidate:

• C Jordan Staal - Staal has struggled in recent seasons with staying healthy, but played a full season last year.  In his 82 games, he only accumulated 48 points, which is quite a letdown considering his salary and his placement on the second line.  It's beginning to look like he will never amount to the high potential that surrounded him when the Penguins drafted him with the 2nd overall pick in 2006.

Bounceback Candidate:

• LW Jeff Skinner - Skinner actually had a productive season last year, putting up 51 points in 82 games, his first full season since 2010-11, his rookie season.  When healthy, Skinner should be a 30 goal scorer every year and if he plays a full season this year, I think that he will get back to this production level.

*All statistics and information come from: rosterresource.com, thehockeywriters.com, hockeydb.com, hockey-reference.com, and generalfanager.com