RALEIGH — The Hurricanes approach the 2023-24 midseason points having picked up points in 12 of the last 13 games with an 8-1-4 record to climb into second place in the Metropolitan Division.
Carolina — which played 23 of its first 40 games on the road — will play 10 of its next 11 games at PNC Arena over the next month with the only road game being at Boston on Jan. 24.
The season hasn’t gone exactly to plan for the Hurricanes, but the team’s recent run has put it in position to take a run at a fourth straight division title. With 40 games in the books, it’s the perfect time to look back at what went right and wrong in the season’s first half.
What went right
Special teams: The Hurricanes’ penalty kill got off to a rough start, but it has climbed into the top 10 through Monday’s games, ranking ninth at 82.8% — including killing 56 of 61 (91.8%) since the Nov. 28 game at Philadelphia.
But the real story on special teams is Carolina’s power play. The Hurricanes have converted 28.7% of their opportunities on the man advantage with at least one power play goal in the last seven games. Since going 2 for 2 on Dec. 12 at Ottawa, Carolina has gone 20 of 44 (45.5%) with a power play goal in 10 of 13 games.
Seth Jarvis has eight power play goals — tied for the eighth most in the league — and Sebastian Aho’s 16 assists are tied for fourth, including a league-best 11 primary assists on the man advantage.
Aho, Svechnikov level up: Speaking of Aho, he has 46 points in 37 games, has helped fuel Carolina’s special teams and is having his best season at the faceoff dot (54%). He’s just outside of the top 10 in league scoring and continues to be one of the more underrated defensive centers in the league.
Since returning from an upper-body injury just 16 games into his comeback from knee surgery, Andrei Svechnikov has looked like the league’s most dominant power forward. He’s been better than a point-per-game player through 25 games played. He has eight goals, 24 hits and just three penalties in the nine games since he missed time with the upper-body injury.
Depth: For a team without an AHL affiliate this season, the Hurricanes have been fortunate to have depth players step up. That starts with goalie Pyotr Kochetkov, who began the year loaned to Tampa Bay’s top minor league team in Syracuse and is now Carolina’s goalie of the present and future.
With Frederik Andersen on the shelf, Kochetkov was recalled and has gone 11-7-3 with a .2.50 goals-against average and .903 save percentage. He’s lost in regulation just four times since the start of November, and his play bought Antti Raanta enough time to regain his form and return to the team after a journey through waivers and a two-game stint in the AHL.
Having seven NHL-caliber defensemen also proved necessary (more on this below), and Vasily Ponomarev’s cup of coffee in Carolina showed the Hurricanes have another young center they can rely on when needed.
What went wrong
Defense stumbles: On paper, Carolina entered the season with what looked like perhaps the best defense assembled in the cap era. However, the third pairing of newcomer Dmitry Orlov and Tony DeAngelo, in his second tour with the team, never clicked, and Jaccob Slavin and Brent Burns both got off to slow starts.
Jalen Chatfield reclaimed the sixth spot from DeAngelo, stabilizing the third pairing, and Slavin — followed more recently by Burns — returned to form, but the defense still hasn’t yet reached its potential. The most consistent pairing, Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce have been consistent, and Skjei has evolved into an all-situations beast who is angling for a huge payday this summer.
Necas regresses: On the surface, Martin Necas remains an offensive threat. The Hurricanes’ leading scorer a year ago, Necas is tied with Michael Bunting and Svechnikov for third on the team with 26 points and is still on pace for 54 points for the season.
That would be a significant drop from the 71 he had a season ago, but the bigger issue is Necas’ 200-foot game. He’s been on the ice for 23 5-on-5 goals for and 35 against so far this year, behind only Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point (who have balanced the 37 and 36 goals given up with 40 and 34 goals for, respectively) and Calgary’s Yegor Sharangovich (19-36).
Necas’ talent is undeniable — he’s arguably the team’s most skilled player — but this is the second time he’s struggled in a contract season, and it’s hard to see Carolina making a big financial commitment to him given where things currently stand.
The flip side, of course, is the Hurricanes will have their best shot at making a deep playoff run if Necas is at his best. Unlocking his overall play should be a priority of the coaching staff in the second half.
