Carolina Hurricanes: 2018-19 NHL Season Preview, Predictions
The Carolina Hurricanes have the longest postseason drought in the NHL. After a summer of changes, can they end it before it hits a decade?
The Carolina Hurricanes are coming off one of the busiest summers in franchise history. After they got a new owner in Thomas Dundon, he left his stamp on the franchise by making some significant changes. He re-assigned general manager Ron Francis (and later fired him) and allowed head coach Bill Peters to utilize his opt-out clause.
Replacing Francis will be Don Weddle, who is most famous for driving the Atlanta Thrashers out of Atlanta. But maybe he’s finally learned his lesson. Replacing Peters will be franchise legend Rod Brind’Amour, who got a promotion from his role as an assistant coach.
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Not only that, the Canes roster will look very different when they drop the puck in October. Usually quiet in the offseason, the Hurricanes were busy early and often this summer. At the 2018 NHL Draft, they traded for Dougie Hamilton and Micheal Ferland, surrendering Elias Lindholm and young defenseman Noah Hanifin in the process.
The Hurricanes also signed defenseman Calvin de Haan to account for the loss of the left-handed Hanifin. And to account for the departure of goaltender Cam Ward, Carolina brought in free agent goaltender Petr Mrazek. Not all of their change was necessarily good, as they sold low on Jeff Skinner. The Buffalo Sabres had three 2019 first-round picks and the Canes somehow wound up not getting any of them for a guy who’s a proven top-tier scorer.
Now, I said this about the Calgary Flames, but it applies here as well – change can be a good thing or a bad thing. The Hurricanes have long needed change, and Dundon brought it. Will the changes be good or bad? Because that’s going to determine how quickly the Hurricanes can break the NHL’s longest active postseason streak. Change has been brought in the past to the Canes and most of that change was bad.