The Carolina Hurricanes are 80 days from their home opener and the season’s first game. They are scheduled to play the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday, Oct. 11, to kick off another season of Hurricanes hockey. However, there are still questions about the team that need to be answered. From the roster to the season outlook and overall schedule, where do the Hurricanes stand as of July 23? In this edition of the Hurricanes Mailbag, we will dive into it all.
Questions, Questions, and More Questions
What is your outlook for this coming season? What is the ceiling and what is the floor? Do you think Marty will take the next step in RBDs [Rod Brind’Amour] system? – @CzechCaniac
First, the “Marty” in question is Martin Necas. Based on his last two seasons under the Rod Brind’Amour system, he’s done pretty well. Two seasons ago, he had a career year, finishing with 28 goals and leading the team with 71 points in 82 games. However, some would consider the 2023-24 season a letdown, with only 24 goals and 53 points in 77 games. The first half of the season did start slow for the 25-year-old Czech forward who seemed to have regressed to his 2021-22 self who had 40 points in 78 games.
However, Necas’ start to 2024 was halted after suffering an injury during practice in the first week of January after a hit from defenseman Dmitry Orlov. Once he came back, despite the slow start, he picked up the pace in the second half, showing flashes of the season before when he was decimating opponents night in and night out.
The question now is whether he will be with the team to start the season. Elliotte Friedman, on his 32 Thoughts Podcast, indicated that Necas wants to leave. Some say he wants to play center while others believe he wants to be deployed more. During the 2022-23 season, he was on the top power-play unit, while last season, he was on PP2. Brind’Amour wants his centers to be defensively sound, two-way players, and unfortunately, Necas is not particularly good defensively.
Related: 2 Trade Destinations for Hurricanes’ Martin Necas
It’s not clear if the Hurricanes want to move on from the restricted free agent (RFA) this offseason. Necas filed for arbitration, so it will be interesting to see where that leads. Both sides are still far apart in contract negotiations (both in terms of salary and term). This will be something to keep an eye on in the weeks ahead.
The goal this season will be for the Hurricanes to make the playoffs for the seventh straight season. On paper, the team has taken a slight step back. However, they are still better than most of the Metropolitan Division. While the New Jersey Devils brought in a lot of players, can the team as a whole stay healthy? The New York Rangers also took a slight step back, but we’re talking about the reigning Presidents Trophy winners. The New York Islanders got Anthony Duclair who is still a solid pickup, but are they that much different? Overall, the Hurricanes have a legitimate shot to finish top three in the division, despite the Devils loading up.
Unless injuries plague the team, at worst, the Hurricanes will be in a wild-card fight with a Metro or an Atlantic Division team that surprises everyone. If by some weird luck, there are significant man games lost to injury, like the Columbus Blue Jackets, they could miss out on the playoffs for the first time since Brind’Amour became head coach. However, that will be a wild circumstance, and at worst, the Hurricanes will be in a wild-card spot come the playoffs.
Is this current Hurricanes roster stronger than the one a year ago at this time? – @MrEd315
I would be lying if I said the team did not take a slight step back this offseason. In my conversation with Mike Maniscalco on Monday’s episode of Locked On Hurricanes, losing Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce hurt because that was their second defensive pairing. Maniscalco even stated that they could be a top-line pair on half the teams in the league. Having to replace them was going to be a task. However, bringing in Shayne Gostisbehere and Sean Walker were solid replacements at a better annual average value (AAV) than what the former pair signed for with the Nashville Predators and Devils.
Related: Maniscalco Discusses the Hurricanes’ Offseason Moves, Management & More
However, the forward core still needs some work. Losing a top-six player in Teuvo Teravainen and not replacing him right away makes things more complicated. While the Hurricanes brought in right-shot center Jack Roslovic, a positional need the team addressed at the end of the season press conference, there is more to be done with the top six. The Hurricanes added depth forwards Tyson Jost, Eric Robinson, and Josiah Slavin and re-signed Ryan Suzuki, but will that be enough?
The team is still dealing with Necas and his contract situation. Furthermore, they are still trying to find the right AAV and term to extend the 22-year-old rising superstar, Seth Jarvis. Once those are taken care of, the Hurricanes could add another scoring touch to the top six. Overall, are the Hurricanes stronger now than this time last season? No. They’re not worse, and they are known to make late summer moves, so I don’t think they are done.
Do you think the Canes are done with personnel moves after Necas and Jarvis are signed? – @ksuvet68
I don’t think the Hurricanes are done making moves after hopefully extending both Necas and Jarvis. The Canes have $13.856 million left in cap space, and I won’t be surprised if they have something already in the works. It could be that top-six winger to replace Teravainen. Or, it could be the second-line center management has had trouble replacing since Vincent Trocheck went to the Rangers in free agency a couple of summers back.
Related: Hurricanes 2024 Offseason Wishlist Item #2: Re-Sign Seth Jarvis
No one knows for sure who, or if, a move will be done but I think there will be more changes after one or both players are extended by general manager Eric Tulsky. Management will leave no stone unturned, so don’t be shocked if something else happens before training camp in September.
What is your outlook for the Canes schedule overall? Which month should be their easiest? Which month has the stiffest competition? Why? – @AvsCanesFan
The Hurricanes have a ton of back-to-backs on the 2024-25 regular-season schedule. There also seems to be a good number of home-and-home back-to-back games to boot. At this point, though, hand-wringing about the NHL schedulers is useless. The schedule will never make sense, and we just have to accept the fact that every season, we’ll be scratching our heads.
I don’t mind the schedule, especially when the home opener is the first game of the season again. Despite that, it’s a home-and-home set versus the Lightning. It’ll be fun to see the new Utah HC come to town on Nov. 13. Also, it’ll be strange to see Pesce and Stefan Noesen in Devils sweaters at PNC Arena for the first time as well.
Regarding the “easiest” part of their schedule, there is no such thing when it comes to the NHL. Every team has great players for the most part, and anyone can beat anyone. October and April are the best for the Hurricanes since they will mainly be home for those two months. There’s also not a lot of travel to start and finish the season compared to 2023-24. March has the Canes playing at home for only five games.
The stiffest part of the schedule is at the end of 2023 when they have to face the Rangers and Predators in a back-to-back with start times of 12:30 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, Dec. 22, and then 8 p.m. Eastern on Dec. 23. That is followed by a back-to-back against the Devils in a home-and-home set at the end of the week. Those four games will make the last couple of weeks of 2023 very interesting.
At least we now know what the Hurricanes’ schedule looks like, and fans can figure out who they will want to see at PNC Arena and plan accordingly.
Send Them Questions
A huge thank you to everyone who sent in their questions. If you want your questions featured in a future Hurricanes Mailbag, make sure to send them in on X whenever we take questions for the next mailbag. We hope to do more of these this offseason and during the 2024-25 season as well. It’ll be interesting to see how the rest of the summer plays out. We look forward to receiving your question for the next Mailbag.
