RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The past three seasons have seen the Carolina Hurricanes end a long postseason drought, become an every-year playoff team and win their first division championship in 15 years.
They figured they needed changes to accomplish even more.
Carolina has revamped its goaltending position and other pieces around the core led by young stars Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov along with top defenseman Jaccob Slavin for the 2021-22 season.
“We have a lot of good players,” said coach Rod Brind’Amour,
The Hurricanes’ three-year playoff run is a first for the franchise since relocating to North Carolina from Hartford, Connecticut, in 1997. They have won at least one playoff series each time — reaching the Eastern Conference finals in 2019 — since ending a nine-season playoff drought.
But last year's Central Division winner
Changes followed. The Hurricanes
The Hurricanes signed goaltender veterans Antti Raanta and Frederik Andersen. They acquired defenseman Ethan Bear from Edmonton in the Foegele deal. They
“That culture is set in stone and so all the new guys coming in are coming into a team that's well-grounded in who they are and how we play the game,” Slavin said. “They're not necessarily playing catch-up (in preseason camp) but they've kind of got to jump on the ship and move forward with us as we continue to move towards sour goal.”
Some other things to know about the Hurricanes for the 2021-22 season:
THE TOP LINE
The Hurricanes continued locking up their young talent by reaching
The 21-year-old, who was a restricted free agent, has become a fixture on Carolina's top line with Aho and Teuvo Teravainen. Both Aho (24) and Teravainen (27) are under contract through the 2023-24 season.
RETURNING TOP DEFENSEMEN
Slavin
IN NET
Raanta, 32, battled injuries last year with Arizona but had a .921 save percentage in 2019-20 and won 21 games with a .930 save percentage two seasons earlier. Andersen, 31, went 13-8 last year in Toronto with an .895 save percentage.
“You see all these guys how they work out, how they practice, what they do on the ice, off the ice,” Raanta said of his new teammates. “It's just try to match that level and get to their level and bring something to the table every day.”
NEW ARRIVALS
Brind'Amour said he expected the 21-year-old Kotkaniemi would play on the wing with the Hurricanes' center depth of Aho, Vincent Trocheck and captain Jordan Staal.
Carolina added two defensemen with offensive upside in the 24-year-old Bear and the 25-year-old DeAngelo after Hamilton signed a seven-year deal with New Jersey.
The DeAngelo signing is a one-year, $1 million gamble on a polarizing player who is one year removed from posting 15 goals and 53 points in a 68 regular-season games.
He was sent home by the New York Rangers last season following an undisclosed incident, went unclaimed by the rest of the league on waivers and had the final season of his contract bought out.
SCHEDULE WATCH
The Hurricanes open the regular season at home against the New York Islanders on Oct. 14 and close at Pittsburgh on April 29.
Noteworthy stretches include: playing 10 of 13 games on the road in November, playing 16 of 25 games at home after coming out of the Olympics break in late February, and playing six of eight on the road to close the schedule.
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