RALEIGH, N.C. — The Hurricanes’ philosophy since Tom Dundon took over as owner has been to build a perennial playoff team with enough talent that, if the breaks go their way in the postseason, a Stanley Cup championship will follow.
The added talent on this year’s team — most notably the offseason signing of Dmitry Orlov, along with the deadline additions of proven playoff performers Jake Guentzel and Evgeny Kuznetsov — coupled with a returning roster full of established and emerging stars, take some of the chance out of the equation.
Without a doubt, Carolina enters the playoffs with its best lineup since the team pulled itself out of hockey purgatory and returned to the NHL’s second season in 2019.
“We’ve been waiting a long time for this chance, especially with the team we’ve got now,” right wing Seth Jarvis said following Wednesday’s practice. “We’re ready for whatever.”
Other than a handful of depth players, the Hurricanes’ roster is full of players with playoff experience. A dozen players have 29 or more playoff games with Carolina, while Kuznetsov (87 career playoff games), Orlov (81) and Guentzel (58) have Stanley Cup rings to go with their experience.
“No question, this is this is the deepest we’ve ever been in my career here,” defenseman Brett Pesce said. “I think experience is a heck of a thing in the playoffs. We got kicked down there a bunch of years in a row — last year still still stings, honestly, until Game 1 this year.
“I think that all just builds confidence in the group we have, and you take those things where you feel like maybe you could do better and put it toward this year. I think experience is huge, and we have a lot of that in this room.”
One thing Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour made clear Thursday was that past failures, successes or opponents — Carolina will face the New York Islanders for the second consecutive year in the first round, and third time overall in the past six seasons — won’t matter when the NHL postseason starts with Saturday’s Game 1 at PNC Arena.
“Every year’s a fresh, new start,” he said.
So what makes this year’s team different from the past five, which all won at least one playoff series — including twice being Eastern Conference finalists — but failed to reach the Stanley Cup Final?
For one, special teams.
The Hurricanes’ penalty kill has been, well, deadly since Brind’Amour took over as coach. Carolina has killed off 85 percent of its penalties the past six regular seasons, tops in the NHL. That includes a league-leading 86.4 percent this season — the fourth-best by any team since 2018-19 (the Hurricanes’ 88 percent in 2021-22 was the best of the last decade).
Carolina’s penalty-killing success is no surprise. The efficiency of its often-maligned power play, however, has been.
Other than 2020-21, when it ranked second in the league at 25.6 percent, the Hurricanes’ power play has ranked tied for 19th, 13th, eighth and 20th in Brind’Amour’s four other seasons behind the bench. Collectively, the power play converted on 21.1 percent of its opportunities the last five seasons, 13th in the NHL.
This year, the Carolina converted 25.6 percent of its power plays — the best in franchise history — and scored 67 times. The Hurricanes’ penalty kill allowed just 35 goals.
It wasn’t just the power play that was clicking offensively for Carolina. The 2023-24 season marked the first time since relocation that the franchise has had two players score 33 or more goals, with Jarvis hitting that total and Sebastian Aho finishing 36. The Hurricanes’ 277 goals are tied for the second-most since the team moved to North Carolina in 1997 — only the penalty-filled 2005-06 season had more.
The added firepower helps, but make no mistake: the Hurricanes’ success starts with the defense.
The addition of Orlov — who has fit perfectly alongside Jalen Chatfield on Carolina’s third pairing — bolstered a top six that already included Jaccob Slavin–Brent Burns and Brady Skjei-Pesce tandems that are worthy of being top pairings on most NHL teams.
“(The Orlov-Chatfield) pairing certainly is a good pairing for us, and we know the other four guys what they can do,” Brind’Amour said. “So there’s no question that if it’s not the strength of our team, it’s got to be considered one of the strengths that we have.”
But the biggest motivating factor for these Hurricanes might be what lies ahead.
Eight roster players will be unrestricted free agents after the season, and three more will be restricted free agents. While Carolina believes it has maintained a prospect pool that can replenish its roster and also has managed its salary cap in a way that will allow it to remain competitive, there’s no denying that next year’s team will look dramatically different from this one — and many of the previous five postseasons.
“Obviously, no one wants to talk about that,” said Pesce, one of the players whose contract is expiring. “But it’s the nasty part of the business, and obviously there are going to be some guys leaving next year. It’s just the way it is.
“So, yeah, I think there is a little sense of the final run here with the whole group here. We’ve been together a long time and the core hasn’t really changed. So hopefully we can get it done this year.”
It can be an unsaid motivator for a team trying to get over the top.
“I don’t think I have to,” Brind’Amour said of using the impending roster overhaul as a postseason motivator for his players. “I mean, we’re all big boys. We understand that, but we’re not focused on the what-ifs after. We’ve got to focus on trying to do our best (in) the day right in front of us, not worrying about what’s down the road.”
The clock is also ticking on the careers of several players trying to win their first title. Burns and Frederik Andersen are both in the twilight of their careers, and players such as Jordan Martinook and Stefan Noesen — both among the pending UFAs in their early 30s — aren’t guaranteed to be on another contender.
“You always think that — I mean, you should no matter what age you are,” said Brind’Amour, a two-time Stanley Cup Finals bridesmaid who finally won a title in 2006 as a 35-year-old veteran of 16 NHL seasons. “I think that’s what you want to impose upon them. … You’ve always got to think that this could be your last one.”
It will surely be the last time for this group of players.
“We’ve got all the skill, all the talent in our team,” Andrei Svechnikov said. “We know we can do this.”
(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
