RALEIGH, N.C. — Locked On Hurricanes' Jared Ellis broke down five things every Carolina Hurricanes fan should know going into the 2022-2023 NHL season.
1. Veterans
The Canes are loaded with veteran experience now that they added guys in the off-season, acquiring defenseman Brent Burns and left winger Max Pacioretty, as well as free-agency pickups like center Paul Stastny and defenseman Calvin de Haan. Center Derek Stepan is still on a PTO (professional tryouts) so he could be back in the fold as well.
2. Stacked blue line
The Carolina Hurricanes blue line is absolutely stacked this season. Ellis mentioned the addition of Brent Burns to an already experienced blue line of defensemen Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei should prove helpful for the Canes.
"A monster position battle there on that third pairing with guys like Ethan Bear, Calvin de Haan, Dylan Coghlan and Jalen Chatfield all vying for a position there," Ellis said. "You also have Jake Gardiner who, should he be healthy enough, will be coming back and being on that third pairing."
3. Watch out for Sebastian Aho
"Sebastian Aho will have the best season of his career this year; I guarantee it," Ellis said.
Ellis referenced how he's been edging on the 40+ goal mark for a while now, and considering he had 37 goals last season, had he not been out due to COVID-19, he could have easily surpassed 40 goals.
"He's also been knocking on that 90+ point mark for quite a while now," Ellis referenced. "He had 81 points last season. He had 83 points in the previous full, 82-game season in 2018-2019."
Ellis maintains if Aho had played a full season, he would have hit the 90-point mark.
"I do not think it is out of the realm of possibility for Sebastian Aho to be the second player in Hurricanes' history behind Eric Staal to hit the 100-point mark this season, and what better season would it be to do that than the Hurricanes' 25th anniversary season?" Ellis noted.
4. Kotkaniemi will be stepping up
Center Jesperi Kotkaniemi will be taking on a bigger role with the team now that center Vincent Trocheck is a New York Ranger.
"He's going to be in that second-line center role ... so expect big things from him, and a big step forward in his progression in his NHL career," Ellis said.
WCNC Charlotte is always asking "where's the money?" If you need help, reach out to WCNC Charlotte by emailing money@wcnc.com.
5. Expect big things from Slavin and Burns
"Jaccob Slavin has consistently been one of the best defensemen in the NHL for quite some time now, and now that he's paired with a player the caliber of Brent Burns, I think he's going to get a lot more attention," Ellis said.
Ellis is looking forward to Burns being in a system that is built "just for him."
"He is going to have an absolutely monster season, arguably the best of his career," Ellis said. "He is easily going to break the point record set by Tony DeAngelo last season."
Locked On is the leading podcast network for local sports and is owned by WCNC Charlotte's parent company TEGNA.
Listen to Locked On here.
All of WCNC Charlotte's podcasts are free and available for both streaming and download. You can listen now on Android, iPhone, Amazon, and other internet-connected devices. Join us from North Carolina, South Carolina, or on the go anywhere.