Hurricanes expecting huge Andrei Svechnikov boost vs. Canadiens
03/28/2025 02:28 PM
The Carolina Hurricanes host the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night. They have been blistering hot since they traded Mikko Rantanen at the NHL trade deadline, winning six of the eight games since. Now, they get a forward back to help fill the role Rantanen left vacant. Hurricanes winger Andrei Svechnikov has missed the last nine games with an upper-body injury but will return on Friday.
“It’s going to be hard,” Svechnikov told NHL.com’s Kurt Dusterberg. “I missed two-and-a-half weeks. I’ll just go out there and have a first couple shifts, play pretty hard, and we’ll see.”
Dusterberg also caught up with Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’amour, “It’s a physical presence,. And if we can get him on the other stuff — the scoring, being a factor on the offense — that’s a home run for us. With (William Carrier) being out, there’s a heaviness to our group that we’re missing there.”
Svechnikov has 43 points in 63 games this season, among the lowest totals of his seven-year career. The Hurricanes traded for Rantanen partly because Svechnikov had not developed into the elite goal scorer they were hoping for. Now, they have no choice but to rely on the 24-year-old for the rest of this season and moving forward.
The Hurricanes need to answer playoff questions
The Hurricanes have never missed the playoffs in Brind’amour’s tenure as the coach. Since 2018-19, they have been in the dance every year and advanced to the Eastern Conference Final twice. But in both of their trips to the conference final, they have been swept. First, it was by the 2019 Bruins, and then it happened again last year against the Panthers.
The Hurricanes need to get over the hump with this core or it could end in significant moves. Without Rantanen or Martin Necas up front, they need an elite goal scorer. They hope Logan Stankoven can become that, but at just 22 years old, he is still going through some growing pains.
In the short term, Svechnikov is coming back just in time for the Hurricanes. They have consecutive games that can decide the Eastern Conference Wild Card and help them clinch their playoff spot. After hosting the Canadiens on Friday, they play the Islanders at home on Sunday. Montreal currently holds the final spot, with New York close behind. The Hurricanes are 16 points clear of the playoff line with 11 games to play. Their clinching scenarios are coming soon, but a first-round matchup against the Devils is all but assured.
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