While the Carolina Hurricanes season ended in disappointment, the team had a lot to be proud of. Now in the offseason, tough decisions will be made, and management will work to put the team in a place to succeed next season. In the meantime, we will take a look back at individual players’ seasons and see how they did. For the Carolina Hurricanes offseason grades, today we look at Stefan Noesen.
Carolina Hurricanes Offseason Grade: Stefan Noesen
Stefan Noesen came to the Hurricanes last year on a one-year, two-way deal and spent most of his time with the Chicago Wolves in the AHL. He was outstanding for the Wolves and helped them win a Calder Cup Championship. Carolina rewarded him with a two-year contract. General Manager Don Waddell stated that they saw Noesen as a player to contribute at the NHL level and not a call-up. Noesen has had an interesting NHL career but seemed to exceed expectations this season and was a pretty important piece for Carolina.
Stefan Noesen’s Regular Season
Noesen’s regular season started with somewhat of a thought that he would be on the fourth line or the 13th forward as a call-up. For a chunk of the season, he was on the fourth line. But Carolina utilized Noesen all up and down the lineup, with various combinations of players on various lines. He also spent time on the powerplay and provided Carolina with a player that was not afraid to go to the net, had a decent shot, and was also not afraid to play physical as he had 99 hits. For Hurricanes lines that played together at least 50 minutes this season, the line of Noesen, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Derek Stepan led the team in expected goal percentage at 81.6%.
Individually, Noesen tied his career best in goals with 13 and game winning goals with four, while breaking his career highs in assists and points with 23 and 36 respectively. Meanwhile, he smashed his previous powerplay totals in goals and points with seven and 15 respectively. His game winning goals were tied for third on the team while his powerplay goals were tied for second. For players playing at least 100 minutes this season, Noesen led the entire league in expected goal percentage with 69.3%.
For a team that relies heavily on shots from the point, Noesen scored almost all of his goals in tight around the net. He provided the team this much needed net front presence, especially on the powerplay where Noesen had success this year. These numbers show a big step forward for Noesen and that he fit the team system well this year.
Stefan Noesen’s Playoffs
The Hurricanes utilized Noesen mostly on the first line with Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis in the playoffs. This was due to some reshuffling after losing Andrei Svechnikov to injury. However, like the regular season, Noesen was able to provide a decently more physical and larger presence on that line at 6′ 1″ and 201 lbs. They played the second most minutes of any forward line and had the second highest expected goals for.
Noesen’s playoff performance was again largely driven by a large chunk of powerplay performance. He scored four goals and four assist with three goals and five points coming on the powerplay. Again, most of his goal scoring came in tight. He was fourth on the team in goals in the playoffs but first in powerplay goals and powerplay points. His advanced analytics mostly carried over from the regular season with a slight dip as he still had an expected goal percentage slightly over 60% for example. While Noesen didn’t explode offensively in the playoffs, his contributions on a powerplay that otherwise struggled at times definitely were a welcome sight. Having a player unafraid to go to the dirty areas is important for any team, but especially Carolina with their playing style.
The Verdict
Coming after many seasons of consistent call-up and fourth line roles, Noesen overall played very well for Carolina. He was a slightly bigger body that could contribute on almost any line he played. He was not afraid to get physical but also had somewhat of a depth scoring touch. Meanwhile, he was especially useful on the powerplay which Carolina needed. While many fans probably expected Noesen to be more of a call-up option, management seemed to expect what we saw of Noesen. For this Carolina Hurricanes offseason grade, I would say he generally played over what was expected. He will be around for one more year on his current contract and continue to provide a good depth player for Carolina next season.
Grade: B+
Main Photo: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
