The Carolina Hurricanes have been one of the top contenders in the Eastern Conference in recent years, but have not been able to get over the hump and get to the Stanley Cup Final. This offseason, there were some significant departures, as well as some savvy additions to try to extend this championship window.
This past season, the Hurricanes lost in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in six games to the New York Rangers. Carolina went all in at the deadline with a big trade for Jake Guentzel from the Pittsburgh Penguins. It looked as if Jake Guentzel might be returning to the Hurricanes this season, until the Tampa Bay Lightning got into the pursuit. The Lightning acquired Guentzel's rights and signed him to a long-term deal.
We will get to how the Hurricanes plan on replacing Guentzel in a bit. With the money Carolina had, the team added defensemen Sean Walker and Shayne Gostisbehere to help remake the defensive core a bit. Those two joining players like Jaccob Slavin, Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov should be very helpful, even though it is not a flashy move like re-signing Guentzel or signing another top forward on the market.
Still, the Hurricanes need some internal improvement this season to remain contenders for a Stanley Cup. Let's get to the two players who can break out this year for Carolina.
Martin Necas, Forward
There might not have been any player in the NHL who had more trade rumors surrounding them this offseason than Martin Necas. He entered the offseason as a restricted free agent, and eventually signed a two-year, $13 million contract with the Hurricanes after a trade never came to fruition. It is possible that if Guentzel re-signed, Martin Necas would have been on the way out. With Guentzel leaving, Necas is back and presumably will have a bigger role this season.
The talent Necas has has always been apparent, and it was no clearer than the 2022-23 season, when he scored 28 goals and dished out 43 assists for 71 points, according to NHL.com. This past season, he scored 24 goals with 29 assists for 53 points, but that was playing the majority of the time on the third line and not much of a chance on the power play.
This season, Necas is in line to be in a top six role, so he should be getting more ice time with better line mates. He also should be getting a chance on the first power play unit, which would be huge.
It would be a disappointment if Necas did not get back toward that point-per-game mark.
Pyotr Kochetkov, Goalie
One of the pressing questions for the Hurricanes this offseason was goaltending, and they lost out on Jacob Markstrom to the New Jersey Devils, as well as Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators. Frederik Andersen has been in the crosshairs a bit with fans after his playoff performance, which caused him to get benched in Game 3 against the Rangers for Pyotr Kochetkov.
Pyotr Kochetkov is a young goalie who has gotten more playing time each of the past two seasons for the Hurricanes, and after playing in 42 games last season, maybe he could beat out Andersen for the bulk of the starts. Improved goaltending could go a long way for the Hurricanes, even if it is marginal, and Kochetkov could maybe be better than Andersen this season.
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