Carolina Hurricanes 2013-14 Season Primer

• Team Outlook from McKeen’s Hockey Guide:

  Carolina’s first season with Jordan Staal and Alexander Semin didn’t go as well as expected, though the blame didn’t rest with the newcomers. They actually performed largely as advertised. Instead, it was a number of key injuries, including one to goaltender Cam Ward, that ultimately sank the Hurricanes’ chances of making the playoffs.

  Adding goaltender Anton Khudobin over the summer should help. Dan Ellis and Justin Peters weren’t able to step up after Ward went down in 2013, but Khudobin seems better equipped to do just that following a successful campaign as Tuukka Rask’s backup in Boston. Under more ideal circumstances, he’ll be trustworthy enough to provide Ward with regular breathers to keep the starting goaltender fresh.

  Up front, Jeff Skinner remains a big X-factor. His late season struggles in 2013, combined with his concussion history, have emerged as serious concerns. He still has plenty of untapped upside, but it’s hard to feel confident about his chances of living up to that potential in the short term. There are also questions as to whether Jiri Tlusty can maintain the standard he set for himself with his breakout performance in 2013 – or if Semin’s significant struggles are truly behind him.

  On top of that, their defensive depth is an area of concern given Joni Pitkanen’s injury history. Before the 2013-14 campaign even began, there were questions about his availability due to a heel injury.

  The Hurricanes are one of those teams that already possesses all the pieces necessary to be successful, but aren’t often talked about in the same breath as the elite clubs because they haven’t demonstrated an ability yet to put it all together.

  Team Fantasy Outlook from Dobber Hockey’s 2013-14 Fantasy Guide – Over a 150 pages of fantasy goodness:

• Dobber’s lowdown on: Jiri Tlusty – Patience pays off so often in hockey, both real and fantasy. Tlusty is an example of a young prospect with high upside, whom keeper owners bailed on by the time he was 22. At that point, he had shown signs in Toronto with the Marlies (a point per game in 2009), but only brief flashes with the Maple Leafs. After his trade to Carolina, the numbers were underwhelming. And even one year later, the more patient keeper owners were bailing after he managed just 12 points in 57 games as a 23-year-old. But in January of 2012 things started to turn around for him. Those astute fantasy owners (or buyers of this Guide) were aware that he had 22 points in his last 35 games once he was getting ice time with Eric Staal. Last season, he played almost exclusively with Eric (and most of the time Semin was with them) and he took the next step. In all, he tallied 60 points in his last 83 games, but 36 in his last 39 (76-point full-season pace). If he’s not being treated like a near 70-point player in your league, then that’s an opportunity for you.

  Last year I made a note that Ruutu put up much better numbers when Skinner was out of the lineup. The same was true in 2012-13 for Skinner when Ruutu was out of the lineup. He had 18 points in 24 games without Ruutu around, but just six in 16 with him. For whatever reason, these two are less productive when they’re both healthy at the same time. Cannibalizing each other’s linemates and ice time.

  Sekera ended the 2010-11 campaign with 17 points in his last 20 games, including five straight two-point efforts. That’s no fluke, the guy has offensive talent. However, the Sabres then added Christian Ehrhoff in the summer and Sekera was never put in an offensive role again. The same will go for Carolina, but the differences is – Pitkanen is a Band-Aid Boy and if he misses a big chunk of time again I can see Sekera setting career highs. But if not, it will be more of the same.

  Faulk was actually more productive with Pitkanen around. When Joni was hurt, Faulk managed just eight points in 26 contests. When Joni was healthy, Faulk had seven points in12 games. So a healthy Pitkanen should mean a more productive Faulk…but an injured Pitkanen should mean a more productive Sekera.

  Skinner has 44 points in 76 games since returning from a concussion during the 2011-12 season.

  GM Jim Rutherford said he would be ‘shocked’ if Lindholm doesn’t start the season with Carolina.

Follow link for more info and stats

Additions: D Matthew Corrente, D Mark Flood, F Nathan Gerbe, D Ron Hainsey, G Anton Khudobin, D Mike Komisarek, F Aaron Palushaj, D Andrej Sekera, F Sergey Tolchinsky.

Subtractions: D Marc-Andre Bergeron, F Joe Corvo, G Dan Ellis, D Marc-Andre Gragnani, F A.J. Jenks, D Justin Krueger, F Chad LaRose, D Jamie McBain, G John Muse, G Andreas Nodl, F Luke Pither, F Jerome Samson, D Bobby Sanguinetti, D Joe Sova, F Tim Wallace.

Promotion candidates: D Ryan Murphy, C Victor Rask, LW Brock McGinn.

Player salaries: $63,265,000 (22)
Cap Number: $64,265,333
Bonuses: $1,310,000
Cap Space: $1,046,667
Forwards: $38,775,000 (12)
Defensemen: $17,663,333 (8)
Goalies: $7,100,000 (2)
Source: CapGeek

Forwards
Jiri Tlusty – Eric Staal – Alexander Semin
Jeff Skinner – Jordan Staal – Elias Lindholm
Tuomo Ruutu – Riley Nash – Patrick Dwyer
Drayson Bowman – Jeremy Welsh – Zac Dalpe
Nathan Gerbe – Kevin Westgarth

Defensemen
Tim Gleason – Justin Faulk
Andrej Sekera – Ron Hainsey
Jay Harrison – Mike Komisarek
Brett Bellemore

Goalies
Cam Ward
Anton Khudobin

2013 Carolina Hurricanes Draft Results

Carolina Hurricanes Top Prospects

2012-13 Carolina Hurricanes Player Stats

Some info, stats and video taken from NHL.com’s 30-in-30 series.