Unprecedented playoffs could produce unexpected stars for Hurricanes
Warren Foegele went into the Stanley Cup playoffs last year as a rookie forward, not knowing what to expect.
When the first round ended, the Carolina Hurricanes had knocked the Washington Capitals, the 2018 Cup champions, out of the playoffs and Foegele was a big reason why. He scored four goals in the seven-game series and it was his hit on T.J. Oshie that knocked the Caps’ power forward out of the playoffs.
“You’re just trying to win, you know, and I’m a pretty competitive guy,” Foegele said this week in a media call. “I just want to win, so you try to do whatever you can to help the team win. That might not be too friendly to the other team but that doesn’t matter.”
That Game 7 against the Caps was won by the Canes’ Brock McGinn in the second overtime only underscored the fact that in the playoffs the unexpected always should be expected.
So what about this year, 2020, the year of the unexpected? The Canes would need to win five series to win the Stanley Cup in the Return to Play format, starting with the best-of-five qualifying round against the New York Rangers.
“Whoever wins it is going to earn it,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said in a Zoom interview this week. “You talk about a team victory or a team earning a Stanley Cup, that’s what it’s going to take to pull this off.”
Yes, the Canes need consistently productive play from Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen and Andrei Svechnikov, their top line. They need the leadership of Jordan Staal and Justin Williams. They need a healthy Dougie Hamilton on defense. They need good goaltending from Petr Mrazek and James Reimer, regardless of who’s the starter.
But here are five players who could play — and may need to play — pivotal roles:
Martin Necas
Necas could be this year’s Warren Foegele. He’s a rookie. He has speed that’s disruptive. He can score.
Necas’ 16 goals in 64 games ranked fourth among NHL rookies and he often showed off a booming one-timer on the power play. The Czech wasn’t in the Calder Trophy conversations for NHL rookie of the year but Brind’Amour said he doesn’t think that bothered Necas.
“He’s one of the most talented young players in the game,” Brind’Amour said. “He’s becoming a dynamic player, which was what we all hoped him to be, and he’s still a young kid and still learning the game.”
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Necas, 21, doesn’t have Stanley Cup playoff experience but he was a big part of the Charlotte Checkers’ Calder Cup playoff championship run in the AHL last season. That could help.
“Different kind of animal but same concept, playing for real, playing for something,” Brind’Amour said.
Ryan Dzingel
The Canes signed Dzingel last summer expecting the forward, another speedy type, to bring instant offense to the lineup.
It didn’t happen. Dzingel, coming off a 26-goal season with Ottawa and Columbus in 2018-19, had eight in 64 games before the pause as his shooting percentage dipped from 16.4% to 8.2%.
“I didn’t think Ryan had a bad year,” Brind’Amour said. “He just had some bad luck. I think if we’re going to get where we need to, he’s going to be a part of it.
“If guys have a good season or bad one to this point it’s all forgotten. It’s about the next day and win-the-day philosophy.”
Morgan Geekie
Talk about making a great first impression. Geekie made his NHL debut March 8 against Pittsburgh and had two goals and an assist in a 6-2 victory.
The forward was named the game’s first star. The next time out, he scored again in a road win at Detroit, earning a place in franchise history as the only player to have three goals in his first two NHL games.
Then came the long NHL pause. Geekie, 22, rejoined the Canes for postseason training camp and has been used at both fourth-line center and on a wing, giving Brind’Amour more to ponder in looking at the forward position.
“He’s interesting because he came up and played really well, but that’s a lifetime ago, almost,” Brind’Amour said. “We’re going to get to that point where now we’re going to have make a decision. Until then, just throw him out there and give him everything he can handle. He definitely showed in that small sample size that he can be part of something for us, for sure.
Nino Niederreiter
Niederreiter did not have a very good regular season. Says who? Nino.
“I definitely was not very happy about my season, personally,” Niederreiter said this week. “Definitely it’s huge for me to hit the reset button.”
Niederreiter did that when he was traded to the Canes by the Minnesota Wild in January 2019. His 14 goals and 30 points in 36 games for Carolina, and his scrappy, physical play around the net, helped spur the Canes to their first playoff berth since 2009. Some reset.
But Niederreiter hit a lull in the 2019 playoffs — one goal and four points in 15 games. He then sputtered this season, going without a goal in the first 10 games and finishing with 11 goals and 29 points in 67 games. But he now has another playoff chance and is eager to get started.
“The biggest thing for us is we’re a very highly motivated team,” he said.
Sami Vatanen
Vatanen has not been on the ice and in a hockey game since Feb. 1, when he played for the New Jersey Devils against the Dallas Stars.
Vatanen soon was placed on injured reserve by the Devils after taking a puck off a leg. The Finnish defenseman was traded to the Canes on Feb. 24 but never played. He came to the postseason training camp saying he was healthy and ready but needing to show it in practice.
“I have a chance to start with a new slate,” Vatanen said during camp.
With Dougie Hamilton’s absence Thursday, Vatanen found himself in the top defensive pairing with Jaccob Slavin. He took over Hamilton’s spot on the power play. Until something definitive is known about Hamilton’s availability — the team is not allowed to provide information on injuries — his role could grow exponentially.
Vatanen is due to become an unrestricted free agent after the season, adding a financial incentive to things. But there’s a hunger to win, he said. It’s for the Cup.
