Five pressing questions for the Hurricanes looking ahead to the 2020-21 season
The Carolina Hurricanes left Toronto on Thursday, headed back to Raleigh and an offseason break that will be brief, with questions quickly to be answered.
The NHL Draft, free agency, contract negotiations, prospect camp, training camp — much will be packed into a tiny window before the 2020-21 season begins in early December.
The Canes will attempt to do what has not been accomplished since the franchise moved to North Carolina in 1997 — reach the Stanley Cup playoffs three straight years. They believe they have the right foundation of players, the right coach and the proper support from management to do it.
The Canes again were ousted from the playoffs by the Boston Bruins, a bigger, more talented team that won in five games despite having their leading goal-scorer, David Pastrnak, miss three games with an injury and goalie Tuukka Rask opt out of the Toronto bubble and postseason. The games were close but the Bruins again too good.
“We’ve closed the gap from the elite teams,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said Wednesday after a 2-1 loss in Game 5 that ended the first-round series. “I think we’re closing in.”
That remains to be seen on the ice, and with a flat salary cap for next season the options for change might be limited. But here are five pressing questions leading up to the 2020-21 season:
1. WHAT WILL JUSTIN WILLIAMS DO?
Yes, we’ve all been through this before, last September. Williams mulled over retirement after the 2018-19 season and then hedged on his decision, saying he wouldn’t be at training camp or start the season with the team but might return at a later date. Which he did, in January.
Canes ownership and management was fine with that arrangement. Williams will be 39 when a new season begins but should be fresher for it because of the gaps in the past season — the first his choice, the second because of the coronavirus pandemic. He only played 27 games total, so little wear and tear.
Brind’Amour said Wednesday that he would not guess about Williams ‘ plans but added, “I can’t say enough good things about Justin Williams.” The coach clearly would like his friend and former Canes teammate back to be the wise old head in the room, a calming influence on the group and someone always willing to stand up for his team.
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2. WHO WILL THE CANES RE-SIGN?
Williams will be an unrestricted free agent but so will three defensemen: Joel Edmundson, Trevor van Riemsdyk and Sami Vatanen.
The Canes will go into the 2020-21 season with a strong defensive core group of Jaccob Slavin, Dougie Hamilton, Brett Pesce, Brady Skeji and Jake Gardiner. Haydn Fleury is a restricted free agent but the team and player should be able to reach an agreement — Fleury has arbitration rights according to CapFriendly.com, which tracks player contracts.
Vatanen was a trade-deadline pickup brought in as playoff insurance when both Hamilton and Pesce were out with injuries. Van Reimsdyk has given the Canes dependable play but was used sparingly in the postseason.
It’s possible the Canes could look to re-sign Edmundson, a physical type with more offensive upside than first believed, if there are agreeable financial terms and if Edmundson wants to stay.
One side note: General manager Don Waddell said Thursday the Canes would give up a third-round 2020 draft pick to the New Jersey Devils, a condition of the Feb. 24 trade for Vatanen should he play more than 70 percent of the playoff games.
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3. WHAT ABOUT THE GOALTENDING?
A year ago the Canes had two goalies, Petr Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney, who were both UFAs, making life interesting for Waddell. Mrazek was re-signed but McElhinney bolted for Tampa Bay.
Mrazek and James Reimer both have one year remaining on their contracts — at a combined $6.525 million. Both are coming off moderately successful seasons: Reimer was 26th in the NHL in goals-against average (2.66) and 29th in save percentage (.914) while Mrazek was 28th in GAA (2.69) and 47th in save percentage (.905).
Will the Canes look to upgrade? It would involve a trade and the Canes did that last year, bringing in Reimer from Florida while sending goalie Scott Darling to the Panthers.
Among the UFA goalies who could be available are Robin Lehner of the Vegas Golden Knights and a former Hurricanes goalie, Anton Khudobin of the Dallas Stars. But Lehner would be costly and cause cap issues, and would someone like Khudobin be a major upgrade?
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4. WILL SVECHNIKOV BE READY?
When Andrei Svechnikov was sent spinning to the ice by Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara, the torque on the forward’s right leg and ankle was substantial. It appeared to be the kind of injury that might require a long stretch of rehab and perhaps keep him out of the lineup early next season — if not longer.
But as Brind’Amour said, the Canes “dodged one.” The injury apparently was not as severe as first feared and Svechnikov was an observer at Scotiabank Arena later in the series, seen wearing a walking boot.
The Canes are no longer in Toronto, but they left with a sigh of relief over their talented young forward, an emerging star in the league. Svechnikov did not have the boot on Thursday when the team got back to PNC Arena.
5. WILL THE FANS BE BACK?
Interesting question. A quick-reflex answer is that minus a vaccine for the virus, there will be no fans initially at any indoor arena.
Waddell has said the team has looked at various options, from no fans to having, say, 5,000 in the arena, to a full house again for games. The Canes have until early December, when the 2020-21 season is scheduled to begin, to figure that out.
As for Stadium Series outdoor game at Carter-Finley Stadium, Waddell has said the Canes still plan to host the game but that the date of the game — Feb. 21, 2021 — might have to be moved. And again, how many fans could attend?
The NHL wants to play a full 82-game regular season. But so much is unknown for now. Maybe too much.
This story was originally published August 20, 2020 at 3:34 PM.
