Talk about a bad start to a season. The Carolina Hurricanes found themselves winless for most of the early season. The Canes ended up 30-41-11 and were significantly more competitive in the months after the New Year. In fact, January and February saw them string wins together but in the end it was too far a hill to climb.
Looking at their special teams’ performance over the season they were middle of the pack in the power play with an 18.8% success rate. At 84.7%, their penalty killing unit was fourth in the league and showed improvement over the second half of the season.
The problem, well one of the problems, was their inability to hold a lead after 20 minutes where they were dreadful.
As with most teams in the league, they were able to hold a lead after 40 minutes of play.
Trailing after the second period and within the third period had the Canes in a decent positive position.
But most of these stats are difficult to track to the club with the long list of injuries and call-ups from the Charlotte Checkers in the American league.
The Hurricanes are getting old and quickly and the AHL is not a harbor of NHL-ready talent. In fact, the Checkers’ season mirrored the Canes’ almost by the month with the club out of the post season contention run as early as December.
As our Charlotte beat writer, Tom Nelson, described late in the season, “the Checkers just want the season to end.”
So the quick answer for Carolina needs to come from the draft as a supplement to any trade benefits the team can find in the likes of the Staal brothers.
There are all sorts of needs in the Carolina locker room but one hole that may be filled more quickly than others is on the right wing with the addition of a strong, offensive talent.
The London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League have what may be the best option for the Hurricanes if Mitch Marner were to be available for the Canes.
In the 2014-15 OHL season, Marner played in 63 games for the Knights and collected 44 goals and 126 points. That was a 67-point increase over the previous season with London.
Marner is a bit diminutive at 5’11” and 184 pounds but at that size the 18-year old was the second leading scorer in the OHL.
His 82 assists on the season suggest an unselfish player looking to set-up his linemates rather than score himself; though his ability to put the puck in the net is also unquestioned through his second year in juniors.
His play on the bigger stage this season was productive as well with two goals and seven points and a +5 rating in the world juniors this year where Canada captured gold.
Central Scouting and other services have listed Marner as a center but we have kept in at the right wing where he has been for some of his career.
The stickhandling ability and ice sense for his linemates are two qualities that can be used by the Carolina Hurricanes. Where some other services have downgraded Marner is in his skating strength but what 18-year old cannot use a strength and conditioning coach to improve their skating?
Pro Hockey News sees big upside potential for Marner and the Carolina Hurricanes in this position.
And so, we believe on NHL Entry Draft day we will hear the following,
“With the fifth pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, the Carolina Hurricanes are pleased to select, from the London Knights, right wing Mitch Marner.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.