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The Carolina Hurricanes are looking to remain Stanley Cup contenders despite suffering a mass exodus this summer. Although Jake Guentzel was the heartbreaking departure after all signs pointed to him re-signing on July 1, the Canes also watched as Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei, Teuvo Teravainen and Stefan Noesen chose new homes during the offseason.
New general manager Eric Tulsky got right to work after longtime GM Don Waddell moved to the Columbus Blue Jackets, trying to mitigate a few key losses by bringing Sean Walker, Shayne Gostisbehere, Jack Roslovic and William Carrier into the fold. But will it be enough to take an aging roster over the hump?
The Hurricanes have had one of the best NHL rosters for years now, but have been unable to reach a Stanley Cup Final with the current core. They were swept by the Florida Panthers in the 2023 Eastern Conference Final, and suffered a similar fate — a four-game loss to the Boston Bruins — in the 2019 ECF.
Carolina was almost able to make a miraculous comeback against the New York Rangers in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, erasing a 3-0 lead and at one point having a two-goal lead in Game 6. But the Blueshirts stormed back, winning the series 4-2 and again sending fans in Raleigh home disappointed.
It was expected that this club would lose a ton of players with so many unrestricted free agents on the roster, and star forward Seth Jarvis detailed how much harder that made losing to the Rangers.
“It made the loss 10 times worse,” Jarvis told Daily Faceoff's Matt Larkin. “And I think everyone kind of knew what situation we were in and how many deals had to get done at the end of the year. That was the [feeling in] the room, that we have such a fun group, we had such a great time together, but the chance of us all coming back and all being together again, it’d be tough to do.”
It's now back to the drawing board with a revamped roster ahead of the 2024-25 season. Although they should again hover around the top of the Metropolitan Division, a couple of veterans are prime regression candidates nonetheless. Here are three such players who could be caught up to by Father Time.
Jordan Staal is approaching the end
Only four Hurricanes forwards had a negative plus/minus in 2023-24: Jordan Staal, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Martin Necas and Jordan Martinook. Staal's was by far the worst, with the 35-year-old sporting a ghastly -14 on a very good defensive team.
Add the fact that the Thunder Bay, Ontario native managed just 10 goals and 30 points — his least in a full season since joining the Hurricanes in 2012-13 — and you have a player who already looks to be regressing. Staal is a heart and soul player for Carolina, and has been for over a decade. Although he's failed to reach the peak in Raleigh, he has a championship to his name, won with Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009.
Staal is a fan favorite in Carolina, and the captain has been an incredible player for nearly two decades. There's a great chance he ends up playing 20 seasons or more. But he was just not good last time around, and he figures to be usurped by Jack Drury at the 3C position this year. That will have him centering the fourth line with new addition Tyson Jost and Martinook, which should see even less minutes for the veteran with weaker linemates.
Staal will be 36 when the new campaign starts, and he's going to have a tough time working his way back up the depth chart with Sebastian Aho, Kotkaniemi and Drury likely locked into the top-nine. He should be a strong fourth line player, and remains a great penalty killer who's good on draws, but it's obvious that Staal isn't the player he once was. He's likely to regress even more in 2024-25.
Brent Burns may be usurped on PP1
Brent Burns is as ageless and durable as they come; the 39-year-old is one of the oldest players in the league, and remains an effective top-four option on the blue line. Although his offensive totals were down in 2023-24, he still managed a fantastic +19 rating, and also played a full 82-game slate.
Burns hasn't missed a regular-season contest since he was a member of the San Jose Sharks in 2020-21, playing a full 82 in each of the last three NHL campaigns. That's extremely impressive, and goes to show how well the Canadian takes care of his body.
But after running the top powerplay unit last year, it looks like he'll have some serious competition for that job. Gostisbehere is a PP specialist, and besides that a player that often sacrifices defense to jump into the play. The Hurricanes don't mind adding a player like that with how defensively focused the rest of the blue line is, but there's a serious chance that ‘Ghost' usurps Burns on PP1.
Burns is nearly 40-years-old, and 2023-24 was one of the worst offensive seasons of his career despite his powerplay usage. Gostisbehere is terrific with the man advantage, and will probably at least get a look with the top unit. Burns will also be relied on more defensively with one of the best second pairings in all of hockey (Pesce and Skjei) moving on to the New Jersey Devils and Nashville Predators, respectively.
With a roster that isn't as strong, and considering the natural decline with age, there's a real chance Burns regresses significantly in 2024-25. This is another fan favorite and just a super fun player to watch, but his phenomenal career is winding down.
Frederik Andersen has a weaker defensive unit in front of him
After battling blood clots for much of the 2023-24 season, Frederik Andersen looked like a man possessed when he returned to the lineup. He finished the season 13-2 with a sparkling 1.84 goals-against average and .932 save percentage along with three shutouts.
Considering both that he sported a .915 SV% over his first two seasons in Carolina, and that Skjei and Pesce are no longer part of the equation, it makes sense that the 34-year-old is a regression candidate in 2024-25.
The Swede remains a fantastic goaltender, and one of the better starters in the league when healthy, but youngster Pyotr Kochetkov will be competing hard for starts. Besides that, Andersen's numbers should decline with a weaker team on paper. It will be intriguing to see if he can put together another rock-solid campaign like he did in 2023-24, but that could be wishful thinking.
The Hurricanes remain an excellent NHL team, but a lot has changed this summer, both on and off the ice. It will be intriguing to see if, with less expectations, this roster can finally make a run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2025.
