The Carolina Hurricanes training camp has come and gone. Like the previews for the movies, the preseason is exciting and interesting, but it’s just an introduction to the regular season. After we previously took a look at some big stories to look out for in the Hurricanes training camp, what did the Hurricanes training camp show us? Let’s take a look.
The 2023-24 Carolina Hurricanes Training Camp
The Hurricanes training camp included six preseason matchups with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Nashville Predators, and Florida Panthers. The Hurricanes finished the six-game stint with a three-and-three record. Fairly expected for preseason when you play some games with NHL regulars and others with fringe players and prospects. The Hurricanes brought in a handful of players on PTOs but none of them stuck. Meanwhile, Carolina reassigned a majority of the team’s prospects by training camp’s end.
The First and Fourth Lines
The first observation from training camp is the formation of the forward lines. This is sort of the purpose of training camp itself. The first and fourth lines are particularly noteworthy here. Up front, Carolina is looking as follows assuming Andrei Svechnikov remains out to start the season:
First Line: Seth Jarvis – Sebastian Aho – Michael Bunting
Secon Line: Martin Necas – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Teuvo Teravainen
Third Line: Jordan Martinook – Jordan Staal – Jesper Fast
Fourth Line: Stefan Noesen – Jack Drury – Brendan Lemieux
The forward lines largely look similar to last season in the top nine. The major differences being the absence of Svechnikov and the addition of Bunting on the top line. Bunting has shown good chemistry quickly with Aho and Jarvis. This could become a great first line for Carolina as Bunting provides more of a shoot-first player with a little grit to compliment Aho and Jarvis. The video of Bunting’s goal below shows an example of their chemistry. Aho collects his own rebound off a shot from sort of the high slot/top of the left circle. As soon as he does, Bunting takes a step out towards the back door. Aho makes a no-look pass and Bunting fires it into the open net.
Sweet setup from Sebastian Aho, corralling the rebound and then sliding it over when many would just fire again.
The third goal of the preseason for Carolina’s new #58. pic.twitter.com/mF5PjkKcwv
— Walt Ruff (@WaltRuff) October 7, 2023
Lines two and three follow combinations that worked last season so there are no real surprises there. When Svechnikov returns he most likely fits here so Teravainen’s place becomes another question. It might depend on his progress at that point.
Line four is where the questions really arise. With all of the PTOs released, Drury and Noesen seem like locks here. Meanwhile, Lemieux will likely see some time while Svechnikov is out and will provide grit. It seemed possible that more skilled but younger players such as Felix Unger Sorum or Ryan Suzuki could have displaced Lemieux based on their training camp performances (see below). But it appears that will not be the case.
The New(ish) Guys
Sort of piggybacking on Bunting’s chemistry on the top line, the new notable additions in Bunting and Dmitry Orlov as well as the newish addition (more of a return) of Anthony DeAngelo have looked fairly good in a Hurricanes sweater. It’s preseason so you take some of the stats with a grain of salt but still, Bunting came in and performed as well as the team hoped. He led the Hurricanes in the preseason in goals with three and points with four.
Meanwhile, DeAngelo led Hurricanes defencemen in points with three while Orlov followed him with two. Both also were at the top of the pack in most advanced analytics. This backed up the eye test. DeAngelo looked largely similar to when he left Carolina. Creating offensive chances and providing scoring opportunities. Meanwhile, Orlov looked as advertised. He is a crafty skater and is able to create plays at a pace that fits Carolina’s style. His physicality is welcome as well. As a personal favourite for some time, Orlov will be exciting to watch in Carolina.
Health
As much as it is important to utilize preseason to get up to game speed, experiment with line combinations and chemistry, and see what newcomers can make a name for themselves, staying healthy is key. Losing key players during preseason is always a downer. At times you see veteran players maybe taking it a little easy during preseason due to this risk.
Luckily for Carolina, they left training camp largely unscathed. Svechnikov may not be ready for opening night, but that was due to last season’s injury. The only other injuries affected younger fringe players. Felix Unger-Sorum had some nicks but nothing major. Vasili Ponomorev fell victim to an injury early that kept him out of the preseason lineup. The most significant injury came to Ryan Suzuki, but its significance is still TBD. While unfortunate for Suzuki, Carolina was fortunate to leave training camp with no major piece subject to the injury bug.
Little Change, More of the Same
With a team in Carolina’s position, major changes were not necessary this offseason. You always want to get better and fine-tune, but Carolina didn’t blow up the core. This carried through in the forward lines as mentioned above, defensive pairings, and goaltending.
Since the forward lines have been discussed above, we will now focus on defence. The back-end’s top-four of Brent Burns, Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce, and Brady Skjei appear to remain intact. The biggest change appears to be in the bottom pairing. Orlov and DeAngelo appear to have taken that role while Jalen Chatfield is an extremely close number seven breathing down DeAngelo’s neck or pushing the coaching staff to run with a 11-7 lineup at times.
DeAngelo’s value on the power play and offensive ability seem to have slightly given him the edge (as we previously suspected could happen). Speaking of the power play, that too could be a moving target. Six preseason games and a few weeks of training camp won’t likely show the magic answer.
Bunting and DeAngelo seemed to have taken on a role in the top group with both Burns and DeAngelo coming in as the defencemen. The second pairing saw Orlov running the point which is not a bad spot for him. When Svechnikov returns to health, look for the power play combinations to continue to work themselves out. Unfortunately, for as stable as many of Carolina’s aspects are, they do not quite have that luxury on the power play like a team such as the Lightning.
Goaltending started training camp looking like Frederik Andersen, Antti Raanta, Pyotr Kochetkov, and Yaniv Perets….and in that order. While each performed fairly well, including Perets showing flashes of a potential NHL spot and Kochetkov showing flashes of brilliance, there doesn’t seem to be enough to rock the boat here. Expect Andersen and Raanta to start as the 1A/1B combination while Kochetkov falls as the 1C.
The Felix Unger Sorum Show, but Don’t Forget Suzuki…
One good thing about preseason is it allows teams to find surprise candidates to step up to the NHL plate. For Carolina, that candidate this year was none other than the youngest player in the NHL preseason and the youngest player drafted in the 2023 NHL Draft. This is the Norwegian-born Swede in Felix Unger Sorum.
Felix Unger Sorum
Carolina drafted “FUS” in the second round of the 2023 draft. While much of the buzz surrounded the electric goal-scoring first-round pick Bradley Nadeau, FUS was pegged as more of a talented playmaker. It’s rare that any players make an NHL opening night lineup their draft year, let alone someone outside of the first round. But the Hurricanes management clearly saw something in FUS as they quickly signed him to his entry-level deal. Now, in training camp, he made it through multiple rounds of cuts to the very end, was second in preseason points on the team, and forced Rod Brind’Amour to think hard about utilizing him if Svechnikov wasn’t ready to go.
He showed this preseason his ability to make plays and generate chances without much notion of looking out of place. FUS may be the biggest surprise for the Hurricanes training camp this year. If he did suit up on opening night, I’d expect Carolina to loan him to the SHL once Svechnikov came back or before his nine-game stint was over, whichever is first. Unless he makes it so, the Hurricanes don’t “need” to rush him. Ensuring Carolina manages his development appropriately is more important. Not to mention the cap helps with letting his entry-level year slide. It appears that FUS didn’t quite make it but certainly impressed in camp.
Ryan Suzuki
And while FUS has made a name for himself, his frequent linemate this preseason in Ryan Suzuki also showed progression in his skill and ability. Suzuki has looked more and more like the player that Carolina felt was worth a first-round pick in 2019. After years of injury trouble, it’s great to see Suzuki putting it all together. His preseason injury unfortunately may have kept him from earning a spot, but he has been another pleasant surprise. Even if there was some thought he could make a name for himself this year. While mostly noted more as a playmaker, the below clip from preseason shows Suzuki’s sniping ability.
Yooooooo.
What a shot! ? pic.twitter.com/tzIn4x2B3V
— Walt Ruff (@WaltRuff) September 28, 2023
Looking to the Season
As we look forward to opening night and the 2023-24 season, training camp provides a glimpse of both what is and what is yet to come. In addition to FUS and Suzuki, former Boston University captain Domenick Fensore made it to the last round of cuts as well. He has some holes in his game to fix but showed off his skating ability and work ethic in his preseason stint. Meanwhile, many players were assigned to the Norfolk Admirals in the ECHL due to Carolina’s lack of an AHL affiliate. While they do not have to have an AHL affiliate, it certainly seems like it creates some difficulties in player placement.
For the NHL squad, the team basically took shape with little surprises. The new guys fit almost exactly how expected, the goalie rotation stayed the same, and no PTOs earned a spot. Additionally, Carolina waived defenceman Caleb Jones. While some younger players knocked at the door, it appears the coaches preferred to role with the more veteran squad until Svechnikov returns. There’s a lot to look out for this year in Carolina. Hopefully, it will be an exciting one that ends at the final finish line.
Main Photo Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
