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stormTRacker Podcast
Carolina Hurricanes' Power Play Overhaul: Key Strategies and Roster Predictions for the Upcoming Season
What if the key to playoff success lies in a power play overhaul? Join us as we tackle the Carolina Hurricanes' strategic challenges and opportunities for the upcoming season as we continue our Carolina Hurricanes 2024/25 Season Preview. With stormTRacker Insiders Erin Manning and Katie Bartlett, we dissect how the team plans to replace offensive stars like Jake Guentzel and Teuvo Teräväinen while maintaining their formidable power play. From analyzing last season's nearly 27% regular-season success rate to addressing the postseason struggles, we offer a comprehensive look at what might be in store for the Canes.
We explore how the Canes' power play strategy mirrors their five-on-five play, emphasizing puck possession and high-volume shots. Yet, there's a need for more dynamism and creativity to avoid predictability, especially in high-stakes playoff scenarios. Hear our thoughts on shifting reliance away from defensemen point shots to more agile puck handlers and the importance of players like Necas and Svechnikov in keeping the penalty kill units honest. We also dive into Coach Rod Brind'Amour's approach to establishing a dominant first unit power play featuring Aho, Jarvis, and Gostisbehere, and Necas' pivotal role in driving zone entries.
Our episode wouldn't be complete without speculating on the second power play unit's composition. Could rookie Bradly Nadeau make a significant impact? How will Burns, Kotkaniemi, and Drury fit into this mix? We discuss potential PTO contract players and the current center ice challenges, offering insights into the fluid team dynamics during training camp. Plus, we touch on the long-term prospects of young Russian defenseman Alexander Nikishin. Don't miss this detailed breakdown, where we blend tactical analysis with roster predictions to gear you up for a thrilling Carolina Hurricanes season.
As we look ahead to the coming season for the Carolina Hurricanes, there's some big questions that folks are asking these days, given the number of free agents that have moved on this summer, for sure the Canes are going to be challenged to score goals. They lost some big offensive contributors, particularly folks like Jake Gensel, tavo Tarabainen and others that really are going to be tough to replace. And, in addition, the Canes have seen some major changes on their power play. One of the areas that could help cover that goal differential Players off the power play. We talked about Tarabainen. He had nine goals last year. Brady Shea is no longer available to be the point man on the second unit. Jake Gensel, in just his short period with the Canes, had nine power play points. Brady Shea is no longer available to be the point man on the second unit. Jake Gensel, in just his short period with the Canes, had nine power play points. And how about Stephan Nason and his role as a net fund presence on that number two power play unit for the Canes? All of these players have moved on and that leaves the Canes in a bit of a situation trying to replace them.
Speaker 1:A lot of questions have been asked. Is this power play going to be as strong as last year's For sure. The Canes had an outstanding regular season power play number last year, hitting almost 27 percent good enough for second in the league. But things went a little bit south for them in the playoffs and folks are wondering can they get back to that strong performance of the regular season? In any case, there will be some new players on the power play. It's going to be a decidedly different look. So I wanted to take a look at the power play, how it was successful last year, some of the challenges in the playoffs and what we might expect with some of the new setups and players in the coming season. With the Kings and joining me to talk about that, stormtracker insiders Aaron Manning and Katie Bartlett. As always, great to welcome in. Aaron Manning and Katie Bartlett.
Speaker 1:Ladies, great to see you again hi well, you know that the uh, the NHL season is fast approaching us.
Speaker 1:We've heard some players are heading into Raleigh and starting to uh to get together, which is always a good sign that we're heading towards training camp, and I thought thought we would start a series on the season preview.
Speaker 1:What do we expect to see this year? How do we see the Kings playing and how do we see them in terms of playoff opportunity and potentially competing for a cup? And you know, I wanted to start with the discussion on an area that a lot of folks are concerned about, and that's goal scoring. Of course, several top goal scorers are gone and, in particular, key contributors to the power play, and so we're seeing a situation where folks are trying to figure out what's this power play going to look like and are they going to be able to cover you know, cover some of that goal shortage that could be there from some of the players gone, and are they going to be as effective as they were last year? You know, I think a good place to start is to kick this off and take a look at last year and, erin, if you'd start that off, that'd be great.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's funny because you hear people talk about the power play on social media and it's a constant refrain of oh, they're terrible, it's always bad.
Speaker 2:But last year in the regular season they had one of their highest success rates in the recent past. They were at a twenty six point ninety one almost twenty seven percent successful on the power play. During the regular season. They were second in the league, behind just Tampa Bay and ahead actually of the New York Rangers, which is pretty surprising because we don't have you know, the Carolina Hurricanes don't have a lot of those snipers and high-volume shooters on the power play. So for them to have been doing that well, they were obviously doing something you know right. Unfortunately, in the playoffs that dropped off considerably. They only had a 19.44 percent success in the power play and that put them 10th among the top 16 teams that made it to the playoffs. That's not great. That's the kind of thing that I think we need to look at how they're going to maybe fix going forward and I know, katie, you had some thoughts about all of that too.
Speaker 3:Well, definitely, you know.
Speaker 3:If you really watch the Canes power play, you will see that it is an extension of their five-on-five play.
Speaker 3:Rod Brindamore's team plays a puck possession game, a high-volume game, a game where a lot of the goals are generated on second and third chances based on dump-ins, four checks, rebounds, one-on-one battles, trying to gain possession and get it to the scrum in the front of the net and hope that the puck pops out to a Kane instead of to someone from the other team.
Speaker 3:And a lot of times that's the way that the Canes' goals look on. The power play is they pass it around the perimeter, they get it back to the D-man high, which has been Burns the past couple of seasons, shoot a puck on net as hard as he can and then hope that something good happens, that it bounces out to Jarvis in the front, or Nason last year, or it gets to Ajo where he can feed it to somebody who's open. But a lot of those goals are generated on those second and third chances and I think for the canes to have a power play that translates well into the post season, they need to start stepping up the skill aspect of the power play and and perhaps do a little bit less on puck possession and opportunity creation. Maybe not as many shots on goal, but the shots on goal are more high danger chances rather than perimeter chances.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think you mentioned Burns on the point, a lot of what we saw was the opportunity to get the puck back to the point and then try to get a quick shot in. And whether it was Burns or, to some extent, shea, neither of these gentlemen are kind of fancy puck guys back on the blue. They don't wow you with their you know acumen back there and I think that's an area that the Canes have struggled a little bit and I think it's one of the reasons why this power play has been the kind of structure it's been. I think Tony D was probably the last one that was really like that. He was kind of cerebral on the power play and really managed it extremely well, as you know, and that's been a different animal with these two gentlemen. So you've got a type of power play where folks are just trying to get it back, get a shot on that, as you say, and you know hope somebody can deflect it or they're going to be in front for a rebound or whatever.
Speaker 1:Now, in that situation of course we had Seth Jarvis was very effective. He had 13 power play goals to lead the Canes, so he did a good job there. But really, if you look at other teams' power plays, they generally have a sniper, as you'd say, on one of those wings, somebody that really gets in a position to score a lot of goals, the Stamkos guys and others like that, who just take their position and they drive the puck towards the net quickly. For the Canes that was on the second unit. Mostly it was Natchez. Marty Natchez is probably the best on the Canes at doing that, but it really limits, I think, how much you can score in the power play. And the Canes started. I think their power play softened as the year went on. I don't think they did as well at the end of the year and I think obviously it carried into the playoffs.
Speaker 2:But you know, obviously a power play that other teams figured out and as they went into the playoffs, we had challenges, right, mm-hmm, yes, you know, I think that with the playoffs, people looked at the penalty kill and the power play were both producing against New York, and then they also gave up shorthanded goals, and both of those things made the situation even worse because New York was succeeding on their power plays and also capitalizing on the Canes' power plays, and you never want to be in a situation where that's the case.
Speaker 3:You even heard some of the announcers on the games talk about oh, do the canes actually want this power play? Because, I don't know, it might end up being more dangerous against them than for them. And you know, to piggyback on what aaron said, I think a lot of their problem is they became too predictable. Their power play was very static. They would, each player would stay in one spot in the ice and there wasn't a whole lot of movement. So as soon as the puck went back to the point or over to Ajo, they were able to kind of pinpoint what was going to happen and get themselves in a position where they could block that shot or intercept that pass and send it back the other way. And that's what created a lot of those shorthanded opportunities.
Speaker 3:So the Canes definitely need to get to a point where they are not telegraphing what they are intending to do so much, especially for the playoffs, because the playoffs by definition usually have the better penalty killing teams on it. It's easy to take advantage of mid to lower level teams during the regular season. They're not equipped to take to take on the Canes high volume possession, second, third chances type of power play, because the Canes will just be better at them positionally. They'll be better at them when it comes to those one-on-one puck battles, but you can't believe that there's going to be teams that are going to give up that advantage to the Canes so easily in the playoffs. They're going to come prepared, and predictability is a dagger when it comes to special teams.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and one of the other things that we've talked about has been clearly, as they go against these teams in the playoffs, these teams are better teams. They are the better teams which you know. When you look at their outstanding numbers for the regular season, you kind of say that's great, but then you realize that they're up against much tougher penalty-killing teams and units. Plus, these teams in many cases have strengthened themselves at the deadline. So you're up against teams that are going to be a lot more challenging and, to your point, katie, I think you know, using that standard approach of just, you know, get the puck in there and hustle in and try to do something with it. You know these teams are now too strong for us to do that and, in fact, some of the challenges we faced, we're trying to force the puck into the zone. As you recall, they could pick it up and obviously head back the other way, and that's how some of those shorthanded goals were scored. And that's when you started to realize that. You know you've got to somehow cut your losses and that was part of the challenge. And, as you say, some of the announcers saying just that, hey, do we really want to put the power play out there again Because they're more dangerous against than they are for. But again, I think it was led by the usual suspects, right? So Sebastian Ajo, of course, was the key player, and you had some folks who are gone who had pretty good success on the power play. Tebow Tarabainen was very effective. He had nine goals on the power play.
Speaker 1:Last year. You had Steph Nason and Nason was always one of the stronger, you know, net front presence for the Canes. Whether he scored or not, he was out there making something happen. So again, certain players were more effective. In this case those players are gone. Even Gensel, I think he had maybe nine or ten points in a short period of time on the power play. I mean that's astounding. So they've definitely got some holes they're going to have to fill. But again, you look at last year. The regular season looked fine, the playoffs, it just didn't quite work. And all of a sudden, now you're taking a look at you know what's it going to be like this year? And as we come into the 24-25 season, it looks like it's going to be a different animal for the games Clearly different players, and it's going to be potentially a different look. And what do we think about that and it's going to be potentially a different look. And what?
Speaker 3:do we think about that? I think some of the successful players will definitely step up again. This year Ajo led the team in points. Jarvis led the team in goals on the power play. I definitely expect to see the two of them back.
Speaker 3:Ajo will be the bumper, he'll be the one trying to create the space, find those passing lanes, create opportunities for the Canes to be successful, and Jarvis is going to be his normal pesky self in there in the near the crease trying to take away the goalie's eyes. Move around, look for those rebounds that will come to him, because he just it seems like he has a puck magnet in that stick of his, that he's just always really well positioned to get possession of that puck and to get it in the goal. He just he really really thrives down there, which normally you put the big strapping monster of a forward in front of the net because he'll take up more space and also block more of the sight lines. But for whatever reason, jarvis just has a knack for it and plays like somebody who is a whole lot bigger than he actually is and has found a lot of success. So I definitely see Ajo and Jarvis continuing in that Jarvis.
Speaker 1:I mean, he's got soft hands, he's incredible with the puck in tight, as you know, and he's much stronger than he looks. So, yeah, those two guys are key. We've got a new quarterback and we talked a little bit about the you know the approach last year. Now we've got, you know, glasses bare in there. Shane's going to come in and I think he's going to make a big difference in the way that he plays the game.
Speaker 1:We did see a little bit of him a couple of years ago and he showed some really good stuff in that short period of time. But he's a guy that I think is more like the quarterback that I believe is most effective in this league. I think he really has a way to get to the center spot, get those shots on goal and make things happen. His numbers have been really strong. Last year he had an excellent year. He had two goals and 27 assists, so 29 points on the power play of a total of 56. So he had a big, big year. He's had a 65-point year. He's a guy that can really put up the points. So I think it's going to change the look and feel a little bit and maybe that's something we should discuss.
Speaker 2:I think that one of the really big things that Gossespierre brings on the power play is his movement, because, like what Katie was talking about with that first unit in the power play, you know a lot of people love to yell shoot. You know. I think Kings fans are yelling move, just move, skate a little. We want to see a lot more movement from the whole unit and when your quarterback is comfortable holding onto the puck for those few extra seconds while he skates with it, then other players can switch sides and get into good shooting positions. We've been lacking that for a while and I know, katie, you had some thoughts about what spechnikov and natchez can do as the wingers on that configuration if gossespierre is opening up the opportunity for them to switch sides and go to the side where they actually score from better.
Speaker 3:Let's definitely start with Natchez and use him as kind of our sample. If you look on, there are some really good charts on HockeyViz and one of the charts that they provide is where players score goals, either five on five or power play. And on the chart for nature's. On the power play, he has a few goals in the middle of the ice and a bunch of goals from the left face off circle. But supposedly nature's is a right winger. But on a power play, when you're able to go to your offside and really open up, you get a lot more power and opportunity to zip a pass and take that shot. And he had, I think, three or four different slap shot power play goals from that particular circle. So if he can find a way to get open and be that trigger man that was mentioned before, give Ajo, give Goss' fair an opportunity to find him. He is so good and so accurate with that shot that I think that he can really just set up shop over there and get a whole lot of goals. And then the opposite is true of Sveetch Even though he's listed as a left winger, you put him over on the right, he has that same opportunity to open up and he has a really great shot too, especially when he has confidence in that shot. He needs lots of opportunities to build that confidence and get those opportunities.
Speaker 3:If you have Natchez on the right moving to the left to get open for a shot and you have Svetch on the left moving to the right to get open for that shot, the defense, the PK, is going to have to play the Canes straight up and play them honest. They're not going to be able to cheat to one side or the other. Plus, you can't just ignore Ajo or ignore ghost or ignore Jarvie. You have to keep honest there as well. So if the PK can't cheat like the way that they were able to cheat on the Canes during this last playoff run, it will lead to more goals because there will be more passing lanes, more opportunities, more high-quality, high-danger shots that the Canes will be taking and more of those will turn into goals.
Speaker 1:I totally agree, absolutely. I think you're right and you know, if you look at some of those charts that you referred to with Hockey Biz, there's some incredible information about you know where the players are being successful. With Hockey Biz, there's some incredible information about you know where they should, where the players are being successful, and some of the other kind of metrics that give you an idea of how the Canes can be or have been successful and what they need to continue to do that.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 1:I think that's a good area to discuss as well.
Speaker 2:And one of the things that we probably want to touch on here is that if that is our first unit, we've just laid out the players, we've just kind of said where they're going to be, you know, playing, what they're going to be bringing um. I think most people assume that that is how the first unit is going to be configured most of the people that are discussing it. But the important thing that we haven't mentioned yet is that rod brindamore has said he is going to create a true first unit on the power play. We have had a balanced one a, one b, forever and ever on the canes um. And I think that's kind of natural. When you have two units that do roughly the same thing like what katie was saying, when they're both playing that same almost four, check in possession, you know, play it just like it's at five on five and try to get the goals as opportunistically as you would five on five, then it doesn't matter which unit has a minute and a half or whatever. They're both going to have a minute. They're both going to have roughly that same amount of time. But it was so encouraging to me to hear Rod Brittenmore say that he wants to create a true first unit with the players that he has now, because that means putting Natchez up on the first power play with, you know, ajo and Svechnikov and Jarvis and Gossespierre.
Speaker 2:You know Natchez is really talented on the power play. He had 26 points on the first unit last season and those points were cut in half when he was moved to the second unit this season. He only had 13 in the regular season. So it's going to be really neat to see the Canes work with that kind of mindset that these are our shooters, these are our guys that score. You know Rod will say that all the time. He'll say well, these are, you know, they're getting paid the money for that, these are our special players. Well then, let's treat them like that a little bit, you know, and get them up there and get them in the advantageous position to score. I think sorry, I was going to say a lot of people think that Sebastian Ajo you know he's never had 40 goals, he's never had 90 points I think he could get both of those if the first unit power play is eating all that time. Sorry, katie, go ahead.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. I was just going to piggyback on what you were saying with the importance of nature's being up on that first power play. He really, in my opinion, is going to be the linchpin, as goes nature's on the power play. That will be the success of the power play. He goes cold, the power play is going to go cold. He stays hot, the power play is going to stay hot. He stays hot, the power play is going to stay hot.
Speaker 3:And part of the reason I think that is because I want Natchez to sit down and do a film room on Nathan McKinnon on the power play, because I think he has two skills that scream McKinnon. One was that shot that I mentioned from the left face-off circle already. That's where McKinnon sets up shop. That's where Natchez is going to set up shop and score a ton of his goals.
Speaker 3:But the other thing that we haven't talked about is sometimes, after you start the power play, the other team will get the puck and clear it down the ice and the Canes are going to have to do zone entries and Natchez has speed the way that McKinnon has speed, and McKinnon is so fast that the PK has to respect his speed and they have to kind of fall back a little bit, turn their feet, try to anticipate.
Speaker 3:And so by pushing that defense back when you're doing the zone entries, then Natchez will create more pockets of space to take advantage of his soft hands and his great passes to get it to the other members of the power play that are charging the zone. So if he's entering on the right, because those passes will come right, he'll be able to find Svetch on the left or Aho coming down the middle or drop it back to Ghost and then create that movement and glide over to that left face-off circle and create an opportunity for his own shot to contribute to the power play as well. But that speed could really really be an X factor for him and for the entire power play.
Speaker 1:I think you're right on and I was thinking exactly the same thing. I mean, marty has a couple of key skills that are ideal for this power play. One of them is he's one of the best in the league at making plays at speed, like he can go and do a lot of different things with the puck at a very high speed, as you know, and that's a very unique talent and it's going to be key because he was the guy driving the play on the second unit last year. He was routinely the one bringing the puck up the ice and very successful at it. Now the other thing is, of course, is that he's got that shot. He's got a great shot from the wing and hopefully, I think the key here is you hope he gets more of those shots in that, in that label position where he can really fire it and put it on net. The second unit, not quite as effective with with the puck, so he didn't get as many. You know they weren't opening up the opportunities for him. I think this group, because of the roster of players you're going to have on the ice, is going to be a little bit more challenging for the pk unit. So I think it's I think rod's on to something put all your eggs into the basket as far as your top scorers Get them on. That first unit Now we haven't talked about.
Speaker 1:I mean, a significant move of this is that Brent Burns moves off the first unit. This is a key decision we're making here. What are your thoughts about that? I mean, this guy has been the go-to guy for the last few years and he's driven a number of points. What are we thinking about Burns?
Speaker 2:Well, he's really effective in the regular season. He still has been at getting those assists on the power play and a lot of times those assists come from his firing through traffic and somebody's positioned out front to get a rebound. I think Stefan Nason had a number of those. There's probably some other players that took advantage of Burns' shot and what it created. But the problem, like Katie said, is that it's too easy for the top PK units in the playoffs to shut that down. They know it's coming At least one of the times that one of the teams in the playoffs to shut that down. They know it's coming At least one of the times that one of the teams in the playoffs got a shorthanded chance.
Speaker 2:I don't remember if this one actually resulted in a goal, but it was exactly that kind of setup where Burns took a booming shot.
Speaker 2:It went awry and then the next thing, you know, the PK unit was racing up the ice with the puck in possession. So it's just. I think it's just a factor of the fact that he's not as fast as he used to be, and the fact that he's still playing hockey at his age as effectively as he is is already an incredible thing. People don't realize. But putting him with the second unit, he can still do that kind of thing, especially in the regular season, when the risk of a shorthanded goal is a little bit less, especially in the regular season, when the risk of a shorthanded goal is a little bit less, especially early on, when teams don't necessarily have all the the blueprints on what you're going to do. So but but he'd also be with players that you know aren't going to be as fast as Marty Natchez either, so that they're going to have that huge imbalance between his speed and the speed of everybody else on the unit. What do you think, katie?
Speaker 3:that that's. I was just going to say that those are all good points, and I would also add that there's been a lot of talk that burns is still an effective defenseman.
Speaker 3:He still has plenty to contribute to the case but because he he is a little bit slower and he is older, you don't want to overdo it. You don't want to push him so hard in the regular season that he doesn't have anything to give or he has less to give in the postseason. And one of the ways that his minutes can be managed effectively would be to be on that second power play, because you're taking a minute, two minutes, three minutes of ice time that he would have been playing and giving them to Ghost and saving him that wear and tear during that time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I mean he also was on the PK. So I mean, but at the end of the season and into the playoffs, as we got into the playoffs, of course, he was pulled off the top unit on the power play so there were some concerns even then that maybe, you know, maybe someone else should be patrolling, and the move to pick up Gossespierre states that very clearly.
Speaker 1:I mean they wouldn't have picked him up if they weren't going to give him the keys on that first unit. I don't believe it at all. So clearly you know they're going to try to manage his minutes. I think that's part of this too is they've got to manage his minutes more because him and I think when we talk further about some of the other players in future episodes, particularly a guy like Jordan Stahl both of those guys were showing some some wear and tear in the playoffs and you know, if they want to, if they want to go deep this year again, they're going to need both of those guys and they need them fresher for sure. So interesting story.
Speaker 1:But now you've started to craft this second unit, which is interesting. A lot of folks are sitting back wondering what is our second power play unit going to look like. I mean, we've lost several players that could have filled in there and all of a sudden we clearly see that Burns is going to be a part of it and we've got some other players that were there last year. Kokuniemi played on the second unit at times Drury did. What do we think that unit is going to look like and what can we expect from it?
Speaker 2:Well, I think that what you said Kokuniemi and Drury will probably be on the unit. I think that Kokuniemi will have the more traditional net front look that Katie was talking about when you just put a big guy out there to take the eyes away from the goalie and create a little havoc, like that Drury. I see Drury probably being in the bumper spot or whatever that equivalent is, just because of his success in the face-off circle I know that and also his defensive skills. Those are both two really good reasons to have him there. He doesn't necessarily have the shot that you know. He's going to be scoring a lot of goals from the slot himself, but his ability to distribute the puck around the unit is not in question. And then, you know, for the two wingers, I think that you know we're definitely going to see Jack Roslevic, and I think that, tom, you had some information about him. Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1:Roslevic is a guy that I'm very interested in. He's had some pretty good success. Yeah for sure, roslevic is a guy that I'm very interested in. He's. He's had some pretty good success quietly, with the with the Blue Jackets. He had one year where he scored 22 goals. So I mean he knows how to put the puck in the net. He had another year he had 34 points in 48 games. So he's definitely got some offensive capability.
Speaker 1:Wasn't used as much on the power play but he's going to be someone they could probably use for right-hand draws. I know his face-off acumen has not been the greatest, as you've said many times, erin, he's struggled a bit in the mid-40 numbers. But I think if he's focused on right-hand draws and I'm sure that Mr Brindamore will help him with his face-off work as well but I think he's going to be a nice addition. He can shoot the puck and he's definitely got skill there's no doubt about it. So he's going to be a key part of this. He's not a guy that's going to be wailing away at the puck or anything, but yeah for sure, rosle Levitt's there and we have another position. So what do we do with that?
Speaker 3:Well, a lot of people are speculating that Bradley Nadeau will be the rookie that claims a spot on the roster from a training camp. If that's the case, we all know that his main attractive skill is that he is supposed to be a sniper and a goal scorer. So I definitely think that he would take that potential last spot, provided that he makes the team. If he doesn't make the team, I wouldn't be surprised if it's a little bit of winger by committee, kind of see who fits, who sticks, who is able to develop chemistry with the rest of the unit out there and go from there. But my first guess would be Nadeau, provided he makes the team.
Speaker 2:You're not going to suggest Jordan Stahl, even though he was on the power play. What three years ago?
Speaker 3:You thought we had fun with first line, martinuk. Let's go with power play, martinuk and see what happens with first line, martin.
Speaker 1:Let's go with power play. Martin, there you go. Yep, I don't think. I don't think, uh, either jordan martin or jordan stall will be a part of that power play um, there is there is another option that we have talked about.
Speaker 1:I think for sure I'm a big fan of bradley vidoz, so I'm all over the fact that I think he's he's going to get a shot to make the team and I think he is definitely a power play specialist that can come in. And one of the big things about Bradley, of course, is he does have a great shot and he can get it off quickly. So he's someone again you want him on his off wing so he can open up and get that shot away. I think he's definitely going to be pushing for a spot on the power play the other option they have and I don't think there's any other forward options.
Speaker 1:Frankly, I think if they were going with the same cast as today, they'd probably use two defensemen. So you've got a guy like you know, sean Walker that can come in and do that. He's got some offensive acumen as well, so you've definitely got some options. I mean they could even use Jacob Slavin, for that matter, and he's played power play minutes before, so I'm not I expect that if they have an opportunity to acquire another player that could possibly help, in that case, I would not be surprised if they do that. You know, one of the interesting things that has been going on and I kind of talked about it today on X is that we're still waiting to hear about the deal with Seth Jarvis and I think most of us felt that, as these, you know, all the dominoes started to fall, particularly Marty Natchez that Seth would come right after. He would be very shortly after that to sign a long-term deal somewhere around $8 million a year.
Speaker 3:That hasn't happened.
Speaker 1:And you know there have been some discussions from Eric Tulsky and kind of the brass to say that they are looking at options. They could possibly put him on a bridge deal, which would be more in the five to six range, which would give them a little bit of money to play with. And I know you've been looking at Puckpedia quite a bit, aaron, so you know, when you start to take a look at that you realize that they have some money to play with because those numbers include players that probably won't be on the roster when they start to make in what might be available. So it looks like if they did a bridge deal with Jarvis and then if Jesper Faust remains on the IR for an extended period, they've got money to go get a real player.
Speaker 2:There's also some guys available on PTO that might be of interest to the Canes, and you never know, training camp can be such a funny time to discover that there's a player out there that really, really wants a shot. And so you know, having some of these things still be kind of up in the air and be, you know, in flux is just how it's going to be. But I think there's a good shot at Nadeau getting that role.
Speaker 3:I don't see.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think it'll be really easy for Nadeau to fit into, because while we talked about needing more dynamic play, more high skill play, moving the feed on that first unit, I think that second unit is going to be a very meat and potatoes type of power play unit.
Speaker 3:It will continue a lot of the identity of the way that the Canes play, even five on five, and that's fine. For the second unit, there'll be a possession unit, because you don't just need to think about those last 30 seconds or so of the power play where they would be coming on if the majority is going to the first unit. You also have to think about the 30 seconds that come after the penalty ends and you're back five on five. You still want to be able to create chances and have opportunities, and having a good, solid power play too that can help transition into into five-on-five will help keep the pace of the game going in the direction that what they would be designed to do, not only during the last seconds of the power play but also transitioning back into five on five hockey.
Speaker 2:I would agree with you and I would say that you know, for the second unit, it all depends on when they come out and what they're doing. If they come out on they're picking up the puck in the defensive zone and making a zone entry, then their job is basically going to be get the puck in safely and hang on to it until you know you can get a real chance. But if you can't get a real chance, at least hang on to it. Don't lose it. You know, and have that opportunity once, like you said, five on five play comes back.
Speaker 2:But if they get a face off, I think that that's where they were's where they're going to be the team that works a lot or the unit that works a lot on face-off play strategies, and they have a number of people that can do that with the people on that unit, so they may score some face-off plays, some set goals, and that would be another way that they could get some goals. I think the Canes are fond of doing that. I think that doesn't work as well in the playoffs also because your other team has plenty of video on that and, you know, with a really good PK unit, they know from the minute they see those movements start to happen on the draw, they know what's coming. They know what kind of a face-off play is underway. But in the regular season, again, you know your second unit comes out. They're usually facing one of the lower PK units. You've got, you know they take a draw and they're going to get some of those chances too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the interesting thing, if you look at the way that the power play is shaping up, two players that might have been gone in the offseason are going to be critical, and that's, of course, marty Natchez on the top one, as we discussed, but also, I think, kokuniemi. Of course Marty Natchez on the top one, as we discussed, but also I think Kokuniemi, he's going to be really critical to any success that second unit gets, because he's a guy that can make a difference and both of them are going to be challenged to step up their game. You know, they both got into kind of a strange place and I think they're going to be given an opportunity to show what they can do. And I believe you know a lot of the success the Canes have in the power play will be driven by those two guys and if they're successful, great. If they're not, there will be challenges with the power play for sure. So if we take a look at that, we say okay, uh, obviously big changes, major scoring gone. Uh, how do we feel about the canes ability to to have another solid year in the power?
Speaker 1:Claiming last year during the regular season was sensational. Do we think? Think they can do that again?
Speaker 3:I definitely think that they can have a really good regular season power play.
Speaker 3:There's no reason to think otherwise.
Speaker 3:It's just the question of whether or not they put enough what I would call elasticity into their top unit that allows them to create space.
Speaker 3:If they just feast on those lower PK units for those lower and mid-level teams and they're not practicing moving their feet and opening up those passing lanes, then it's going to be a struggle yet again and yet another postseason. So I think that's really what I want to see more than anything. I'm not particularly concerned about their power play overall, but I want to see them really trying to create that elasticity in their movements, in their setups, in their shot selection again to create those more high-danger chances so that they have a power play that they are comfortable running that will have a really good chance to be successful against those top end PK units that they will be facing once they get to the playoffs thing that we can look at too is that, um, what the at the goal of the first unit with their minute and 30 plus or so of ice time and and all of the things that they're doing, is that we have the young russian, alexander nikishin, coming as early as by the playoffs.
Speaker 2:Don't think he's going to necessarily play, because it's all very new and he's going to have to have some time to adjust, but by next season he could very well be quarterbacking that first unit. And if everything they do now to get ready for that is just going to add to that smooth transition to that type of player, that dynamically offensive defenseman being available as a power play quarterback and as good as Shane Gossespierre is I'm not by any means denigrating him at all here, but everything he's doing is going to get the unit used to what it's like to have such an offensive-minded defenseman running the power play. It's a good time to do it. It's an excellent time to get that going.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, that's an interesting comment. Of course, the addition of Nikitian would be significant. Now the Canes are very strong in the blue, but you can always expect there'll be injuries and who knows what else as the season goes on and that could affect the overall power play success as well. But but I think you know the thought of Alexander joining the Canes at some point this year is is very exciting and and you know he's going to want to play, but whether or not they put him in there, Well, we all want him to.
Speaker 2:It's not that either? Yeah, Well, you know an interesting thing, on.
Speaker 1:This was the picture of Gleb Trikosov heading to North America today.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you saw that next, but there were quite a crowd at the airport with him family, I assume, and others and he seemed like he was pretty excited about his opportunity to come to North America and I think that bodes well because clearly we're seeing those folks coming over to North America now, at a younger age, and so it should be the way. It should be paved quite nicely for Nikitian as well. But again, that's the other thing that could happen through the season. As we know, players will be in Chicago and that's something we'll talk about soon is the Chicago Wolves team. I heard today that Darren York's going to be the GM now of the Wolves, so we'll talk about the Wolves and there are some players there that through the season might find their way to the Hurricanes as well and could certainly play a part in the power play and the offense that the Canes need this year. But again, I think you know, as we wrap this up, the power play is going to be critical this year. The Canes are going to need that to drive the offense. Special teams are going to be one of the key parts of the success of this team again, and it'll be interesting to see how it plays out.
Speaker 1:As we've discussed, there will be some changes. There will be some different looks, some different views and some players that really want to stand out and prove that they're capable of the extra minutes and should be given those. So lots of excitement coming up. We have lots more to talk about when we look forward to this coming season and I think next up we'll talk about the Centre Ice conundrum, with some of the questions about Centre Ice for the hurricanes Again, a lot of questions. This year, with all the changes, it's going to be an interesting and exciting year. But once again, ladies, it's been a lot of fun and we'll look forward to getting together real soon.
Speaker 2:We'll look forward to getting together real soon and talking some more Canes hockey.
Speaker 3:Sounds good, good to talk to you.
Speaker 1:A lot of fun. Can't wait to do it again, and thanks again to Aaron and Katie for their insight and in-depth analysis of the Hurricanes power play situation for this year. We're going to be talking a lot more about the Canes in the weeks ahead. Of course, we are doing the season preview series, and coming up next will be the center ice conundrum and we'll talk a little bit about some of the challenges we can expect with the Canes with their current center ice crew. As always, if you have any comments, please feel free to leave those down below and we'll answer them just as quickly as possible. If you like this episode, please hit the like button and finally, if you'd like to be alerted of future episodes of StormTracker, please subscribe. Once again, thanks so much for joining us here and we'll look forward to catching up with you real soon right here on storm tracker. You.
