The 2023-24 NHL season is quickly approaching, with opening night just 40 days away. The Carolina Hurricanes will enter the season with lofty expectations after advancing to the Eastern Conference Final last season. They clinched a playoff berth for the fifth straight season in 2022-23, and one key reason for their quick turnaround under the leadership of head coach Rod Brind’Amour has been the consistent play of their star center Sebastian Aho.
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Aho is entering his eighth season in Raleigh, and finished with 67 points (36 goals, 31 assists) in 75 games played for the Hurricanes last season. If they can bring home the Stanley Cup for the first time since 2006 they will likely need a career-year from their Finnish superstar. Let’s take a look at three of my predictions for Aho’s 2023-24 season.
Career-Best Shooting Percentage
Aho has finished with a shooting percentage above 16 in each of the past four seasons, and his shooting skills were on full display once again last season as he led the team with a shooting percentage of 16.5%.
Among active players, Aho ranks 14th in the NHL with a career shooting percentage of 15.03%. A few of the notable players ranked above him are Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Brad Marchand, Brayden Point, and Leon Draisaitl.
As he continues to mature and improve his skills, I would not be surprised if we see his shooting skills reach another level over the next few seasons. I fully expect Aho to put on yet another impressive shooting performance this season. I look for him to find the back of the net at an even higher rate, leading to a career-best shooting percentage in 2023-24.
Prediction: 19.2% shooting percentage
Career-High in Points
Aho’s current career-best points performance came in the 2018-19 season when he produced 83 points in 82 games. While my previous prediction of him finishing with a shooting percentage of 19.2 this season is one reason that I expect him to set a career-high in points, it is not the primary reason I expect this increase. The primary reason is due to the added potential for additional assists generated by the addition of Michael Bunting to the Hurricanes’ top line.
Bunting excels at attacking the crease and creating opportunistic chances in front of the net. Adding him to Aho’s wing on the first line is likely to lead to quite a few more assists for the 26-year-old center this season. Aho has shown the ability to generate assists at a very high level, finishing with a career-high 53 assists in 2018-19. If Bunting is indeed placed as the left winger on the Hurricanes’ top line, the odds of Aho setting a career-high in points this season will skyrocket.
Prediction: 94 points (42 goals, 52 assists)
Improvement in Power Play Production
One area that Aho and the Hurricanes struggled in last season was on the power play, as they finished 19th in the NHL in power play percentage (19.76%). Aho’s power play numbers exemplified this struggle as he produced a career-low 15 points (seven goals, eight assists). I would be very surprised if he doesn’t bounce back in a big way this season, helping lead the Hurricanes to a much-improved power play unit.
I expect Brind’Amour to pull out all the stops to solve the power play issues. I expect them to finish in the top half of the league in power play percentage in 2023-24, with Aho leading the charge on the first power play unit.
Prediction: 27 power play points (11 goals, 16 assists)
It will be interesting to follow Aho and the Hurricanes this season as they look to contend once again for the Stanley Cup after coming up short in the Eastern Conference Final last season. They begin the season on Oct. 11 as they host the Ottowa Senators at PNC Arena.
