The Carolina Hurricanes head into their State Fair road trip riding a six-game winning streak, but not everyone in the room is surfing the same wave.
That’s what makes this stretch so interesting. The top end has been cooking - Sebastian Aho has 6 goals and 7 assists, Andrei Svechnikov has 6 goals and 5 assists - and Tuesday’s 4-2 win over the Capitals gave the group a useful measuring-stick result. But with five games on the schedule and a trip that runs through Winnipeg, Calgary and beyond, there are still a few players who need to find their rhythm fast.
Nikolaj Ehlers is at the top of that list.
He’s actually off to a better start than he was a year ago, though only by one assist, and his early-season line still looks a lot like the one he’s posted before. Through eight games, he has four assists, with three of them coming on the power play.
That means he has just one point at 5-on-5, which says plenty about where the third line has been offensively. Ehlers has also put just 15 shots on net.
He didn’t score his first goal last season until his 12th game as a Hurricane, so there’s no reason to hit the alarm yet, but the Hurricanes could use a little more pop from him sooner rather than later.
The timing of Jordan Staal’s and Taylor Hall’s injuries adds another layer here. Hall’s timeline is still unknown, while Staal will be out for the next month or two.
That could open the door for Ehlers to be used in different spots, and if Hall can’t play, a look alongside Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake would make sense. However it shakes out, Carolina needs Ehlers to wake up.
Brandon Bussi is another player worth watching closely on this trip.
The goalie starts have been split evenly to open the season, and Pyotr Kochetkov has looked outstanding. Bussi, meanwhile, has had a more uneven ride.
In four starts, he’s 2-1-1 with a sub-3.00 GAA and an .871 save percentage, but that only tells part of the story. He’s delivered two strong performances and two that didn’t quite hold up.
His most recent outing - 22 saves in Chicago - was the good version.
That game could be the kind of reset Bussi needed. Kochetkov is starting to look like the guy taking command of the crease, though, and the next few starts should tell the story of how this workload gets divvied up.
The team’s schedule in Winnipeg and Calgary should offer a clue: the goalie who starts in Winnipeg is likely lined up for three starts, with games against Vancouver and St. Louis presumably on deck, while the other would get Calgary and Edmonton.
Nothing is guaranteed, but this trip should say plenty about where things are headed. Carolina needs the Bussi who flashed last season - and showed hints of it again against Florida and Chicago - to show up consistently.
Then there’s Bradly Nadeau, who officially joined the Hurricanes on Wednesday.
Fans had been waiting for either Nadeau or Felix Unger Sorum to break through from training camp, but neither made the cut. Nadeau began the year in Chicago, and with injuries piling up in the forward group this week, he was the first prospect to get the call.
The Chicago Wolves have stumbled out of the gate, losing all four games while scoring just five goals, and Nadeau has a goal and a -6 rating so far. It hasn’t been a great start for him there, but now he’s with the big club.
This is another chance that comes with a little baggage, since his previous NHL cameos over the last two years never gave him a real chance to settle in. The Hurricanes didn’t practice Wednesday after a stretch of five games in eight days, so there’s still some uncertainty about exactly where he’ll land in the lineup.
Power-play time seems likely, and beyond that he could wind up anywhere in the Bottom 9. Either way, the opportunity is real now.
Nadeau earned it, and Carolina needs him to make it count.
In Other News...
Hurricanes Perfect Road Start Faces Its Biggest Test Yet
Carolinas perfect road start will be put to work on a five-game swing through Western Canada and St. Louis, and the early test now looks a lot less like a soft landing than a measuring stick. The Hurricanes have been sharp away from home to open the season, but this trip folds in a little of everything, from a back-to-back to the kind of atmosphere that can expose any slow start or sloppy shift.
Winnipeg opens the schedule with an extra layer of intrigue because of its unsettled crease, while the stop in Vancouver brings a rematch with a familiar opponent. Carolina handled the Canucks convincingly in Raleigh earlier this season, and the rematch should tell a little more about whether the Hurricanes road edge is simply a strong opening stretch or something they can keep carrying into a tougher part of the schedule. [Read more 🡒]
Hurricanes Suddenly Have A Forward Problem At The Worst Time
The Hurricanes forward group got a jolt this week when Rod BrindAmour said Taylor Hall is now considered week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Hall left Tuesdays win over Washington in the first period, and his absence adds another layer of uncertainty to a Carolina attack that has already been juggling availability and recovery issues early in the season.
There is at least one encouraging sign on the horizon, though, as Seth Jarvis is traveling with the team and continues to edge closer to a return from June shoulder surgery. He recently shed his non-contact jersey in practice, a meaningful step for a player the Hurricanes are hoping to get back by late October or early November, even if the exact timing still remains a little murky. [Read more 🡒]
Hurricanes' Hot Start Just Ran Into A Tough New Test
Carolinas blistering start has already pushed the Hurricanes through some early adversity, and the next stretch arrives with more of it. Even after opening the year with six straight wins and sitting at 6-1-1, Rod BrindAmours team is still juggling the kind of lineup uncertainty that can test a deep roster, especially with key forwards already unavailable.
BrindAmour said Taylor Hall is dealing with an upper-body injury, while Seth Jarvis, who has been working back from offseason shoulder surgery, is nearing a return. Jarvis is expected to travel with the team on the upcoming road trip, and his presence alone gives the Hurricanes a possible lift as they head into a five-game swing and try to keep the momentum rolling. [Read more 🡒]