*This was written before the last two home games*
The Carolina Hurricanes just finished the West Coast swing they must endure due to the State Fair. They won 2 and lost 3. In none of those games did the team look remotely like the Canes of the last 5 years. To be sure, the offense is clicking. Goal scoring has been an issue for this club, and this was the only positive we can glean from this road trip.
I want to focus on 3 areas of concern: the center position, goaltending, and team defense.
First, the least concern of the three—the center position. The Hurricanes have four centers: Sebastian Aho, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Jordan Staal, and Jack Drury. On our podcast before the season, we discussed our concerns about the second line center spot occupied by KK. So far, he fortunately has proved us wrong. KK has 3 goals and 4 assists combined for 7 points in 6 games. He has been hot since the last half of last season and has not slowed down.
So what is the concern then? With Aho out due to injury, Teuvo Teravainen had to play center. He was serviceable in this role for maybe a game and a half. It became clear that he was not the answer to fill the center position when we have an injury.
There also is a dire need for a better center on the 4th line. I have consistently said that Jack Drury should not be the starting center for that line. He needs to be the depth piece or moved out. What’s the answer then? Who do we have to give up to get a better 4th line center? I have great news—we don't have to give up anything and we just have to sign him. The player's name is Eric Staal. He is very familiar to any Caniac who has followed this team for a long time. He is the former captain and helped bring the Stanley Cup to Carolina. Yes, he is much older now and his numbers have definitely dipped. But last season Staal had 29 points in 72 games with the Florida panthers. Compare that to Jack Drury, who had 8 points in 38 games and did not look that good during those games. Eric Staal brings the veteran presence and knows how to win in this league. He can help bring the offense needed for a 3rd scoring line, as well as play up in the lineup when necessary. That allows Drury to be that player you can bring into the lineup when an injury arises. Hopefully management can realize that this is a solid move before another franchise swoops in and signs Staal.
The second concern is goaltending. In 6 games none of the 3 goalies have looked particularly inspiring. That is not to say that we blame the goalies for the poor performances and losses because that is absolutely not the case. Freddy Andersen has been hurt since the game against the Sharks. He was looking solid, but still not outstanding. Anti Raanta is clearly lacking any confidence. He is indecisive and has allowed several easy goals. While Pyotr Kochetkov has made some outstanding saves, he has also not been able to come up with a save when the team really needed one.
Is there a fix for this situation? At this point, probably not. We could give Yaniv Perets a shot but I don’t think that would not be the best idea, given he is still in development. This situation likely will sort itself out, especially when the biggest concern this team currently has is resolved.
The biggest concern right now is team defense. Most everyone will want me to blame this all on the poor defensive play of Tony DeAngelo. I disagree. He is just one symptom of the larger problem. The real problem is that no one on this roster currently is playing solid defense. Yes, that includes Jaccob Slavin and Brent Burns. In the game against the Avalanche, the Slavin and Burns pair got abused by the McKinnon line. Our entire team defense has been wildly off. From Slavin to DeAngelo, none of them have been where they need to be on defense.
David Pagnota of The Fourth Period posted on X a list of teams who are at the bottom of the league for goals against in a period. The Hurricanes are dead last, allowing an average 5 goals a game. That is unacceptable and not sustainable for a team who wants to win a Stanley Cup.
I think the log jam on defense with 7 players and questions about who will be the bottom pairing could be causing some of the issues. It's highly possible that the competition is throwing our defensive chemistry off. The answer could be to move someone, so no one is consistently watching from the press box. I strongly believe that neither DeAngelo or Chatfield deserve to be in the press box for an extended period of time.
Given the issues this team currently faces, I believe the tough choice to bench DeAngelo should be made so Chatfield can help fix the defensive lapses Dmitri Orlov currently is having. His inability to skate with this team is starting to be a glaring issue, but you cannot bench a nearly 8 million dollar player. Therefore you need to have Chatfield next to Orlov so he can help fix the mistakes Orlov makes until he hopefully gets up to speed with the system.
The question is, how does this get remedied? The reality is the team needs to get back to their game. I am not sure how a group that is mostly the same has not been able to get things going but something is off right now. I can honestly say I do not know the remedy here. I want to believe that things will auto correct. Given this team's success under Rod Brind’Amour I believe that's the most likely outcome here.
The 4th line center, goaltending, and team defense have definitely been an issue this team has faced over the first 6 games of the season. We have gone on a journey addressing these concerns and possible fixes for them. The reality is only the center spot can be fixed by an outside source. For the other two, I have high hopes they could get fixed on their own over time as the team gels. The defense could be an issue when everyone gets healthy due to the competition. I think either Chatfield or DeAngelo being scratched for an extended period of time could end up poorly. That, however, will be a discussion for another day. One more game is left on this road trip and then they come home for two games. End the trip well, get your game going, and hopefully things move in the right direction.
By Sam Driscoll
