RALEIGH, N.C. — The more things change, the more things stay the same.
The Carolina Hurricanes saw several key players leave via free agency in the offseason, but the top of their lineup looks very familiar. Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and Jaccob Slavin remain the franchise’s cornerstone players, with Seth Jarvis joining them after signing an eight-year contract extension.
So while nearly a third of the opening-night roster could be comprised of newcomers, the players driving the bus will still be the same. With camp underway, here’s a glimpse at the early returns and what still might be to come.
Forwards
Coach Rod Brind’Amour started camp with his three thoroughbreds together on the top line. Aho has centered Svechnikov and Jarvis — the Hurricanes’ three highest-paid forwards — during the first couple of practices.
After that, things get interesting.
It’s no surprise to see Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook paired up on a line, but with Jesper Fast expected to miss the 2024-25 season with a neck injury, someone else will need to play right wing on Carolina’s shutdown line.
Camp opened with William Carrier — signed to a six-year, $12 million contract this summer — in that spot, but the 29-year-old came up lame at the end of the first day of camp.
After saying Friday that rookie defenseman Scott Morrow “should be fine” after missing the second day of on-ice camp sessions, Brind’Amour didn’t seem as optimistic about Carrier.
“His, we think, might have a little more sting to it,” Brind’Amour said of Carrier’s lower-body injury. “So he’s getting checked out today. Hopefully that’s not serious.”
Carrier’s early-camp injury changes an already interesting dynamic up front.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi is again starting as the second-line center, a role he couldn’t hold a year ago. Martin Necas has been on his right wing with Jack Roslovic — signed to a one-year, $2.8 million contract a handful of days into free agency — on the other side.
While Necas is a lock in the top six, both Roslovic and Kotkaniemi will need to battle to hold onto those spots. Kotkaniemi will face pressure from Jack Drury, while Roslovic should have one of the middle-six right wing jobs.
With Carrier hurt, however, there could be an opportunity for one of the Hurricanes’ rookie forwards to steal a job.
“There’s always opportunity,” Brind’Amour said Friday. “And when you have the youngsters that we have, that obviously we think highly of, maybe you’re going to give them a little more of a look and see what could be. But they’ve got to kick somebody out, right?”
Any of Bradly Nadeau, Felix Unger Sorum and Jackson Blake could win a spot, and there are early-camp arguments to be made for all three.
Nadeau has the best scoring potential and could also boost a second power-play unit that otherwise lacks some oomph. Unger Sorum is the headiest of the trio and was impressive at last year’s camp, despite having just turned 18. Blake is a high-energy player with skill who was a Hobey Baker Trophy finalist as the top player in college hockey last season at North Dakota.
For any of them to make the team, however, they’ll likely have to do enough to play in the top nine. Otherwise, they’re probably better served playing big minutes with AHL Chicago.
Drury will hold down a spot, but the rest of the forward group is up for grabs. Brendan Lemieux returns and adds toughness. Eric Robinson brings size (6-foot-2, 200 pounds) and speed, along with the ability to be a pesky forechecker and penalty killer.
Camp invitees Sam Gagner and Tyson Jost also both have things to offer.
Gagner, 35, is at the end of a career that never lived up to expectations but still had its high points.
Brind’Amour has shown an affinity for skill players who have redefined themselves as role players, like Paul Stastny and Derek Stepan did for Carolina in recent years.
It also doesn’t hurt that Gagner has a four-goal, eight-point game in 2012 on his resume.
“That’s certainly a nice thing to hang your hat on,” Brind’Amour said.
Jost, like Gagner, was a lottery pick once upon a time, but he has never managed more than 26 points in a season during his eight-year NHL career. Still, he’s a speedy player who can help on the penalty kill, play center or wing, and will give an honest effort every shift.
Defense
Brind’Amour started camp with two familiar pairings and a third made up of a pair of free-agent signings. But he only committed to Jaccob Slavin and Brent Burns as being set in stone.
“We know one pair probably is not going to move,” Brind’Amour said.
Dmitry Orlov and Jalen Chatfield, who spent much of last season together on Carolina’s third pairing, are currently elevated to a bigger role with the exit of Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce.
Sean Walker signed a five-year, $18 million contract with the Hurricanes after his breakout season in Philadelphia and Colorado in 2023-24. Like Chatfield, Walker went undrafted and made himself into an NHL regular. He scored a combined 10 goals last season.
Walker’s been skating with Shayne Gostisbehere, who is on his second tour of duty with Carolina after coming over at the 2023 trade deadline from Arizona. He and the Hurricanes tried to hammer out an extension last summer but couldn’t come to terms, so Gostisbehere signed with Detroit and finished with 10 goals and 56 points.
He’s back on a three-year, $9.6 million contract and has started camp quarterbacking the top power-play unit. He played with Chatfield during his previous stint in Raleigh, leaving the door open for a reunion and perhaps more minutes for Walker alongside Orlov.
Joakim Ryan, Ty Smith and Riley Stillman all have more than 100 games of NHL experience, giving the Hurricanes — and AHL Chicago — good depth. Morrow is the wild card, but chances are he’ll log big minutes with the Wolves for as long as needed.
Goalies
The trio that ended last season as the Hurricanes’ goaltenders returns for 2024-25. Frederik Andersen — soon to be 35 and trying to shake off a disappointing Game 6 performance in Carolina’s elimination game against the Rangers last year — and emerging Pyotr Kochetkov will battle to be the No. 1. Health figures to play a role, and I wouldn’t expect either to play more than 50 regular-season games.
Spencer Martin, who performed well after being claimed off waivers a season ago, figures to be a reliable No. 3 as long as the Hurricanes can sneak him through waivers.
Beyond that, the depth chart is thin. The only other two goalies in camp are Yaniv Perets and Ruslan Khazheyev, and neither has ever played in an AHL game. Perets did play 13 minutes in a Carolina game last season while on an emergency recall, making one save, but one of them will need to be the No. 2 with the Wolves.
(Photo of Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov from May: Grant Halverson / Getty Images)
