State of the Hurricanes: Three Potential Deadline Acquisitions

The Lede

On a shorter week, the Hurricanes looked more dominant than ever going against the Minnesota Wild and New York Islanders, as they posted a 2-0-0 record and won 5-2 in both games.

However, Pacioretty’s aforementioned injury highlighted the Hurricanes’ week. Even beyond him, though, the Hurricanes remain a bit banged up in their defense as well.

Defenseman Jaccob Slavin missed the game against the Islanders with a lower-body injury, and it looks like the Hurricanes plan to keep him out against the Dallas Stars this upcoming week.

While Slavin’s injury seems far less severe, his absence may prove crucial in the games he missed. Luckily, the team did not skip a beat without his presence versus New York, and if the team continues to play that way, he should get to heal fully.

However, this short week extended beyond injuries. Here are some of the tidbits that stood out from this week’s games.

Sebastian Aho’s scoring picks up

Last week, Aho’s quiet scoring led the way as a discussion. This week, his scoring got a lot louder against the Islanders.

Despite having a quiet game against the Wild, Aho put up three goals against the Islanders to make him this week’s leader in goals.

That game also has Aho right up against the team lead in goals, as his 17 goals land him right behind Martin Necas’ 18 and Svechnikov’s 19.

One highlight of Aho’s week is how he scored, though. On two of his goals against the Islanders, he beat Islanders defenseman Sebastian Aho. From that perspective, maybe this game proved to be a revenge game for the Hurricanes’ Aho.