There is little doubt that in hockey, a team’s even strength, or five-on-five game is the most important. It is the situation in which most of the game is played, and a poor five-on-five game will sink most teams. That has certainly been true recently for the Carolina Hurricanes, who missed the playoffs for an eighth straight season, the longest such active drought in the NHL. Last year, the Canes, were outscored by 26 goals at even strength, a large culprit in their narrow miss.
The hope is that the additions of goaltender Scott Darling, defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk, and forwards Justin Williams, Josh Jooris and Marcus Kruger will boost that differential into the green for Carolina and ensure the playoff drought does not hit nine.
However, while the Canes do need to improve at even strength, getting better at other areas of the game will help as well. Having good special teams can help a team with deficiencies at five-on-five. The additions to the roster, along with internal growth from the young players already on the team, should give the Canes a strong penalty kill and power play this season, which would also go a long way in a return to the postseason.
In terms of a good penalty kill, it’s all about maintaining a strength, or perhaps making it even stronger for the Hurricanes. Assistant coach Steve Smith has run one of the best shorthanded units in the league in his time with the Canes. Carolina finished sixth in penalty-kill percentage last year at 84.2 percent, and has finished in the top 10 in every season of Smith and head coach Bill Peters’ tenure.
A group of good penalty killers at both forward and defense has allowed the Hurricanes to amass one of the best shorthanded units in the league. The rock-solid top four on defense of Brett Pesce, Jaccob Slavin, Justin Faulk and Noah Hanifin allows the Canes to fill two PK units with a good backstop, and continued growth on the defensive side of the puck, particularly from Hanifin and Faulk, should make them even better in their own end while shorthanded. The newly-acquired van Riemsdyk should be capable of helping out on the PK as well.
Up front, it’s a similar story. The team is littered with two-way forwards that help keep opposing man advantages off the score sheet. Center Jordan Staal is one of the best penalty killers in the league. Backing him up are the likes of Joakim Nordstrom, Victor Rask, and Elias Lindholm, and, starting last year, youngster Sebastian Aho.
Adding Kruger to that group makes it downright suffocating. Widely regarded as one of the best defensive-minded, penalty-killing centers in the league, Kruger adds to an already stacked group. Williams and Jooris are defensively responsible forwards as well.
Adding Darling in net will help the team out when down a man as well. One of the most parroted sayings in hockey is that your best penalty killer has to be your goaltender. Add the PK to the list of areas the Canes are getting an upgrade by switching their starter from Cam Ward to Darling, then.
Among goalies that made 25 appearances or more last year, Ward ranked 21st with a .874 save percentage with the Canes down a man, while Darling finished five spots higher at 16th with a .882 save percentage, despite the Blackhawks ranking 24th on the PK. It’s certainly not inconceivable for the Canes to finish the year with at least a top-three penalty kill, if not the best in the NHL.
While the Canes already had a good penalty kill, the power play, on the other hand, could use some work. The Canes’ man advantage ranked 21st in the NHL last year at 17.7 percent, and probably need to work their way into the top half of the league to make it to the postseason.
There is hope there as well. The Canes already had some strong pieces in place for a good power play, with Aho, Staal, Lindholm, Rask, Teuvo Teravainen and 2016-17 leading scorer Jeff Skinner up front, along with Faulk and his cannon of a shot from the point.
Continued development from Aho and Teravainen should help the team up front, and continued offensive development from Slavin, Hanifin and Pesce should help give Carolina more weapons from the point. Adding Williams will help the man advantage as well, as he put up five goals and ten points on the power play for the Washington Capitals last season.
The additions general manager Ron Francis has made to the Canes’ roster this offseason should help the team in numerous areas, special teams chief among them. If the Canes’ penalty kill and power play live up to their potential this season, it will go a long way in bringing playoff hockey back to Raleigh for the first time since 2009.
