21014-15 record: 30-41-11 (71 points)
Missed the playoffs
Captain: Eric Staal
An outwardly disastrous start by the Carolina Hurricanes (they didn't win a single game in October) was an omen for a team that has long been a good team up front on paper, but short on production on the ice. Finishing fourth worst on offense, the Hurricanes entertained offers for much of their core, with the only real change being Alex Semin being bought out after he couldn't escape Coach Bill Peters' doghouse for much of the season. Besides that and Eddie Lack coming in to challenge Cam Ward for the starting goaltender's job, not much has changed for Carolina as they continue to stockpile talent in the pipeline, particularly on the blue line, which had been long neglected in former General Manager Jim Rutherford's time.
Where to begin? The entire offense underperformed, with key players such as Eric Staal and Jeff Skinner scoring well below where they should be while Jordan Staal missed half the season due to injury. About the only players up front that did decently were Elias Lindholm and Victor Rask, and while it's reasonable to expect more from Lindholm entering his third year in the league, Rask's production was a pleasant surprise. Defensively, they actually got better once Cam Ward got into a rhythm late in the season, and now entering his final year in the current contract, he will be pushed by Lack in an effort to improve a defense that has three solid players on the blue line in Ron Hainsey, Justin Faulk, and James Wisniewski, and not much else at the moment. Noah Hanifin and Haydn Fleury will be impact players there, but to expect either to make the team this coming season may be too much to ask. For the struggles of the offense, they actually did well on the power play, and continued to have success on the penalty kill, and those units will be counted upon to keep the team in games.
Prediction: 7th in the Metropolitan Division
Off years from many of the key players plus about a half a season of getting used to Peters' coaching style led to one of the worst seasons in Hurricanes history. There's a lot of factors that need to go right for the Hurricanes to think about the playoffs, but that's far too many ifs to contend with for a team that will have a hard time escaping the basement.
No comments:
Post a Comment