Hurricanes' biggest surprise, disappointment to start 2024-25 season
11/23/2024 03:58 PM
Despite a couple of offseason subtractions, the Carolina Hurricanes are looking like one of the premier teams in the National Hockey League in 2024-25. The Canes are 14-5 through 19 games, good for first place in the Eastern Conference. This is looking like a true President’s Trophy threat in the early going; just six points separates Carolina from the league-leading Winnipeg Jets.
The Hurricanes lost their first game of the season to the Tampa Bay Lightning, and have been on a terrific pace ever since. The team is fresh off winning three games in a row and have triumphed in four of six dating back to November 11. Pyotr Kochetkov has stepped up in Frederik Andersen’s absence, although his standout play is not surprising — he’s been solid throughout his tenure in Raleigh.
And the offence has been terrific, managing 3.89 goals per game — that’s good enough for third best in the league.
Hurricanes are scorching hot in 2024-25
The Hurricanes are firing on all cylinders in the early going, with multiple players hovering around a point-per-game pace. Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov have been solid, managing 17 points each through 19 contests. Seth Jarvis is at 11 points in 13 games, although he’s been sidelined with an injury for the last handful of games.
Shayne Gostisbehere has also looked excellent in his return to the team; the 31-year-old is quarterbacking the top powerplay unit, and is leading the blue line with 14 points in 19 games. But the biggest surprise for the Hurricanes in 2024-25 — and the best player on the team so far, period — has been Martin Necas.
Martin Necas has surprisingly gone nuclear
The Hurricanes almost traded Necas in the offseason, and there were reports that 28 of the other 31 teams were interested in the Czech forward. And how happy general manager Eric Tulsky must be that he didn’t move the 25-year-old in his first summer on the job.
In 2024-25, Necas has gone nuclear. Fans in Raleigh know that this is a great player, but through 19 games, he has found a completely new gear that has him challenging for the league lead in scoring. Necas is up to 11 goals and 31 points, and he’s looking poised to shatter his career highs across the board.
Necas is playing some of the best hockey of his career, and it’s helped the Hurricanes vault to the top of both the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference. It’s a shame he won’t be participating in the 4 Nations Face-Off in February; Necas is emerging into a true superstar player in the NHL. Now third in league scoring behind two Hart Trophy favorites in Nathan MacKinnon and Kirill Kaprizov, Necas has certainly been Carolina’s biggest surprise in 2024-25.
On the flip side, there have been two big disappointments for a powerhouse Canes team: the declining play of Brent Burns and the long-term injury to Frederik Andersen.
Brent Burns is finally showing signs of age
Burns has been a heart and soul kind of player throughout his fantastic career, first as a member of the San Jose Sharks and now with the Hurricanes. But at 39-years-old, the regression was beginning to show in the defenseman’s play last season. Burns managed just 43 points in 82 games last year, which certainly isn’t bad, but it’s the lowest total of his career in a full campaign since 2011-12.
And this season, he’s been even worse offensively. Burns hasn’t scored a goal, and has managed just five assists over 19 games. Although he’s still playing well overall at plus-five, he’s been relegated to the second powerplay unit, with Gostisbehere continuing to quarterback PP1. Burns has been a great offensive defenseman throughout his career, but it’s clear that age has caught up to the Barrie, Ontario native.
While Burns does still help to make up one of the league’s best blue lines, his days being a significant offensive contributor seem to be over. He’s probably been the biggest disappointment on a team that doesn’t have too many thus far — at least on the ice. But losing Andersen to a long-term ailment for the second consecutive campaign has also been quite disappointing for Hurricanes fans.
Frederik Andersen’s injury is hugely disappointing
Andersen has been terrific for Carolina whenever he’s been on the ice — but that’s becoming less and less frequent. The Swedish netminder missed a huge chunk of last season with a blood clotting issue, although he was lights out in his regular-season return. Although the Canes were beat in Round 2 by the New York Rangers in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Andersen performed well in the crease in the postseason.
And he was superb to begin the 2024-25 campaign, winning three of his first four starts while playing to a sparkling 1.48 goals-against average and .941 save percentage. Those were league-leading numbers at the time. But Andersen suffered an injury and has been out of the lineup since October 26.
The Hurricanes announced earlier this week that Andersen underwent knee surgery, and will be expected to miss 8-12 weeks. For the second straight season, the effective veteran will be out long-term. Although Kochetkov is a great goalie and has handled the crease well over the last two seasons, it’s an extremely disappointing update.
Andersen has proved that, despite being 35-years-old, he is still one of the best goalies the NHL has to offer. But he’ll now be on the shelf until well into the New Year, meaning it’ll be Kochetkov and Spencer Martin handling goaltending duties for the foreseeable future.
Despite Burns’ declining offensive play and Andersen’s unfortunate injury, the Hurricanes continue to surge in 2024-25. Necas is leading the way, but all four lines have been coming through for Carolina, while the blue line has never been an issue. There were slightly lowered expectations heading into the season, and the Hurricanes have shattered them in the early going. Once again, this looks like a contender to come out of the Eastern Conference.
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