It’s never too early for the Hurricanes to look to next season. Especially this year.
The Carolina Hurricanes have never conducted their end-of-season interviews in August but times, as they say, have changed with a novel coronavirus that has been relentless in 2020.
On Monday, president and general manager Don Waddell and Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour took to Zoom — another sign of the times — to assess the disjointed 2019-20 season and its end last week in the playoffs in Toronto while looking to a new season and what might come.
Some quick news items:
▪ That awful looking injury to forward Andrei Svechnikov proved to be a high ankle sprain and he should be ready for preseason training camp.
▪ No one can say what veteran winger Justin Williams’ plans are for next season.
▪ No decisions have been made on re-signing other unrestricted free agents: defensemen Joel Edmundson, Trevor van Riemsdyk and Sami Vatanen.
▪ There are still plans to play the Stadium Series outdoor game next season and the jerseys have been ordered but the game also could be pushed back a year.
Brind’Amour said he did not know if Williams will decide to retire or look to play a 20th NHL season. A member of the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup champions, Williams returned to Carolina in July 2017 with the stated goal of again making the Canes a playoff team, one that made others in the league take notice.
Williams has done that. But the winger will be 39 when the 2020-21 season begins. He’s still physically fit but he’d be facing an 82-game grind, plus the playoffs, if he signed for a full season.
Brind’Amour said the Canes’ final game, the series-ending playoff defeat to the Boston Bruins, was an emotional one given it might have been Williams’ last.
“To me, he epitomizes what we’re all about. Class, team first, then coming and doing your job every day,” Brind’Amour said. “He did everything right, being here, taking on a leadership role. And, I think, helped put this place back on the map and get us back on track to where we all want to be. He helped right the ship.
“If he doesn’t play anymore he left everything out there and that’s something not many guys can say, or leave on those terms. He has absolutely nothing left in the tank. He gave it all.”
Will the NHL play an 82-game season?
Waddell said with or without Williams the Canes probably will not be making “wholesale changes” to a team that was 38-25-5 when the NHL season was paused in March because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We think we’ve taken big strides here and our young players have taken another big step this year,” Waddell said.
Sebastian Aho took that step, as did Svechnikov. The Russian forward took a nasty spill in the Boston series as he battled with defenseman Zdeno Chara in front of the Boston net, but Waddell said X-rays and an MRI revealed only a sprain.
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The defensive group will continue to be a strength, Waddell said. That includes defenseman Brett Pesce, who had shoulder surgery in early March, is skating again and should be good to go at training camp, Waddell said.
“We want to keep our group together as best as we can.,” Waddell said, referring to the pending UFAs.
No one can say or predict how the 2020-21 NHL season will unfold. Can the league get in 82 regular-season games and the playoffs? And what about fans in the stands?
Brind’Amour said Monday there was a degree of normalcy, in terms of hockey, being in the Toronto bubble the past month. That won’t be the case when the new season begins and teams travel from city to city.
“Whenever we start we know it will be a condensed schedule and it might run into the summer again next year before we all get back on track,” Waddell said. “I don’t think the bubble idea is something that would work for the regular season. The economics just doesn’t work if you not playing with some fans, let alone all the fans.
“What we went through was fine for trying to get this season in but I don’t think it’s something you can look at next year.”
Hurricanes’ revenue loss due to coronavirus
Waddell said the Canes took a financial hit last season — a “big number,” he said — in having the last eight regular-season home games canceled by the NHL. Waddell said the TV contract with Fox Sports Carolinas was fulfilled when the regional network carried the Canes’ qualifying round games in Toronto but the lost home revenue was substantial.
Waddell said the Canes’ local revenues alone have been about $70 million to $75 million a year. Carolina was 22nd in the NHL in average home attendance at 16,906 before the pause.
“If we don’t play at full capacity the losses are going to be big,” Waddell said. “These are tough times for everybody.”
At the same time, Waddell said the team plans to spend close to the NHL salary cap, which will remain flat at $81.5 million in 2020-21.
“We are not talking about this team just making the playoffs anymore,” Waddell said. “We’re talking about how we’re going to build a team to go deeper in the playoffs and eventually get to where all our goals are, and that’s winning the Stanley Cup.”
