Hurricane’s lineup revamp raises special team questions – Hockey writer – Carolina Hurricane
In 2024-25, the Special Team of Carolina Hurricanes is a mixed bag. Special teams are the core essential elements of our sport, often deciding on close games and playoff series. It’s rare to see a team having one of the best power games and the best penalty kicker in the same season, which isn’t a big success on the Hurricanes roster. Despite dominance in one aspect, the other is the downfall of the crutch at a critical moment. They are factors that determine the outcome of hurricane season. They have had some success in the 2024-25 playoffs, but the new season brings new challenges.
After another changing summer, the Hurricane will seek equally excellent results for a new bunch of faces. They will look for growth and development in special teams. Carolina’s unique approach to the game will transition some new features to the transition of the new system, and the departure list will significantly change the way the organization queues on special teams.
Fine to kill
Hurricane Killing has been the best in the NHL for years. This is the best in the league in three of the last five seasons, including the first two. It is no less than fourth in the league since 2019-20. Under Rod Brind’Amour, the free throw kill never made the top ten in the regular season. This is the strength of the Hurricane and is usually more effective than a strong game. It often offers sparks to turn the game around.
To maintain its elite status as a short-circuit unit, Hurricane will face a large roster turnover. Senior fines killers like Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov find a new home in the Western Conference. It follows players like Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce leaving the Elite Close Division last offseason. Veterans like Sean Walker and Shayne Gostisbehere are taking their place, but this season has different approaches. To replace Alexander Nikishin and K’andre Miller, to replace Burns and Orlov.
Both Miller and Nikishin can be great defensive players, but they are not suitable for playing. Miller can do that and do it with the Rangers, but Nikishin will be the rookie. Is it worth the fire test in the best closed departments in the league? If it goes well, it looks like a genius move, but if his pain grows, it could damage the crutches that hurricanes rely on.
As for the striker’s short distance, it was mostly the same unit as last season. Jordan Staal, Jordan Martinook, Seth Jarvis, Sebastian Aho and Eric Robinson killed 83% of the league-leading troops last season. It’s not 90% of the seasons, but it’s going to be another year of learning under the Hurricane’s tim tim gleason. Young people like Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake are becoming more and more reliable, and the killing striker should be OK.
Power plays out
If PK has always been the power of a hurricane, then the power is to be used to exert force. Although the Hurricane ranked 25th in the last season, the Hurricane’s strong match ranked 25th in the 25th season. Part of that is due to the number of talent left behind by the forward core, as Teuvo Teravainen, Jake Guentzel and Stefan Noesen are all key parts of Carolina Power Play, and they have found new homes elsewhere. Now, Hurricanes don’t have Martin Necas, Mikko Rantanen or Jack Roslovic have similar problems. Roslovic doesn’t seem to be a big mistake, but he had more 5-on-5 points last season than anyone else’s, so that could be a miss. His talent struggled to play a role in the power play last season, but he was also primarily a second unit.
Rantanen was just a few weeks into the hurricane, but after the hurricane tried to accommodate him, this disconnected powerrace method began to look up. Losing the area entry for NECAS is another problem, so maybe a preseason for the gel and having the same wavelength as the unit, can help the Hurricane units start to get to know each other again. Last season, Carolina’s power play was expensive in poor performances. Changing this could change the fate of the playoffs.
Related: 3 Bold Carolina Hurricane Forecasts 2025-26 Season
To replace the missing thing, Carolina landed a Big Fish free agent in Nikolaj Ehlers. It will also be Taylor Hall and Stankoven’s first preseason with the Hurricanes, so the adjustment period for both may be helpful. When it comes to unit lineups, it doesn’t matter. Hurricanes like to fuse their combinations together, and those who missed in the top unit get shots everywhere. Carolina missed NECAS’s regional entries after trading with Colorado avalanche in January, so it would be the time when the Hurricane came up with a solution to enter the area.
For the back end, the power quarterback from last season has disappeared. Burns is the top pick for the Hurricane Power race, so there will be an opening now. The logical solution is Shayne Gostisbehere tied Reins to the first unit, but left a gap on the second unit. With Miller and Niksing’s current roster, both have a reasonable case to take a second slot. Nikishin is an offensive monster for Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), but the pressure on the power play department may be unnecessary early in his NHL career. Miller was in New York as a second unit, so maybe it was the Carolina option.
Jaccob Slavin and Sean Walker had time to compete in the power last season, which could be harder than both programs. Ultimately, the hard power game comes down to the problems Carolina has encountered in scoring. Adding more high-end talent is the ultimate solution, but that won’t stop the cane from trying to get more from what you already have.
Overall, Hurricanes’ special teams should all move toward an average level than last season. Carolina’s suffocating defensive lineup has turned to a more balanced approach to the 2025-26 campaign. Whether the Hurricanes can be based on success over the past few generations will be a key factor in their upcoming playoff success. As long as they make the playoffs, no one cares about Carolina’s regular season. Will the modified special team change the pressure on the playoffs? Only time will prove it.
