Carolina Hurricanes winger Teuvo Teravainen has been a consistent scoring threat within the team’s top six for the better part of the last six seasons. However, this past season was one to forget for the 28-year-old left winger. Missing 14 games in the regular season due to an upper-body injury, he was never able to gain much momentum offensively finishing with 37 points (12 goals, 25 assists) in 68 games played. More adversity struck when he was sidelined for the majority of the Hurricanes’ playoff run after suffering a broken hand early in the first-round series against the New York Islanders.
Fast forward to today, and with the offseason addition of Michael Bunting, many people are expecting Teravainen to drop down to the third line this season. While some might think that not being alongside star center Sebastian Aho will hurt his chances at bouncing back in 2023-24, I believe the change of scenery could be just what he needs to get back to his consistent level of play that allowed him to produce 76 points in 2018-19.
Staal Line Getting Stronger?
The Hurricanes’ third line, also known as the Staal line, has been a force in shutting down the opposing team’s top lines while also producing points at a fairly consistent rate. If Teravainen does indeed drop down to the third line alongside Jordan Staal and most likely Jesper Fast, you could make the argument that the Hurricanes’ most consistent line will get much stronger.
Related: Carolina Hurricanes’ Projected 2023-24 Forward Lines
The shooting ability Teravainen possesses should present the opportunity for Staal and Fast to set him up for a lot of scoring chances throughout the season. If he’s able to find the back of the net consistently I would not be surprised at all to see him bounce back with a big 65-plus point season for the Hurricanes.
Confidence Is Key
If Teravainen is going to have a bounce-back season in 2023-24 it is imperative that his confidence improves from last season. He looked a bit hesitant and out of sync at times after returning from his upper-body injury last year. It was evident that his confidence appeared to be hindered by the lack of action and his difficulty getting back to form. This feeling lingered as he struggled to produce consistent results for the majority of the season; January was the only month he produced double-digit points on the season.
Now with a full offseason of rest and training, I believe he is primed to gain his confidence back quickly this season. All it will take is the puck hitting the back of the net a few times before we see the Finnish winger producing at the level we’ve become accustomed to seeing out of him.
Hot Start Needed
This goes hand in hand with the confidence factor, but Teravainen must get off to a hot start early into the season. By a hot start, I just mean a few good performances within the first two weeks of the season; he doesn’t need to go out and produce a hat trick within the first ten games. It will be interesting to see where he’s at to start the season, and if he is, in fact, on a different line I’ll be intrigued to see how he meshes with his new linemates and how quickly that chemistry develops. I expect him to score a few goals early on and build off of that early momentum to allow his confidence to skyrocket.
The production of Teravainen will be a fascinating storyline to follow throughout the season, as the Hurricanes look to contend for the Stanley Cup once again this season. If they want to make another deep run they’ll need someone like Teravainen or Seth Jarvis to have a much improved season than what they produced in 2022-23.
