NHL Preview: Carolina Hurricanes

Can Carolina return to the Eastern Conference Finals. Charlie Boccanegra tests the wind.

Even though it seems like an eternity ago for Carolina Hurricanes fans that they were a relevant NHL franchise it has only been two years removed from their Eastern Conference Finals appearance and seven years from winning the Cup.

Carolina has done a remarkable job stockpiling the system with youthful offensive talent in a short period of time. Last year they were very close to making the postseason, just missing out on the 8th spot by one point.

Oddsmakers believe they are a borderline playoff team by setting their season point total at 91.5 as the low 90’s is generally the bare minimum required to get into the postseason. I believe they have a great chance of accomplishing that feat due to the youthful talent, which includes four forwards under the age of 25 in Skinner, Sutter, Stewart and Daipe.

Those four will be mentored by a top line which features quality veterans like Eric Staal, the teams best player, and and underrated skill forwards Jussi Jokinen & Tuomo Ruutu.

This gives Carolina tremendous offensive depth in the Hurricanes’ top nine forwards. But offensive depth isn’t enough to make Carolina a Cup contender – don’t be tempted by the longshot 50/1 NHL betting odds to win the Cup.

The problem is the defense. Even with the talent upfront many of those young forwards cannot be relied upon to play good two way hockey. Carolina doesn’t have many grinding type of defensive players to shut down opposing teams top forwards.

Furthermore, the defensive core is below average lacking a true #1 leader. It relies on Tomas Kaberle and Joni Pitkanen for offense, and Bryan Allen and Tim Gleason for more stay at home shut down duties. While those four complement each other’s style perfectly, none of them are at the elite position for their craft. And the final pairing of McBain and Faulk are rookie 2nd round draft picks under the age of 23, who don’t fair well in the NHL very often.

The only hope to hold down the fort in their own end is goalie Cam Ward. Ward is considered an average goalie in most fans’ eyes but I believe his numbers are deceiving. Think of what he brings to the ice, making tons of clutch saves that give his team a chance to win games on a nightly basis when they often could have been blown out. But he can only stop so many, so betting the overs in Hurricanes games is the way to go this season.