The Hurricanes’ leading goal-scorer and points-earner, winger Andrei Svechnikov, doesn’t crack the NHL’s top 20 in goals or the top 10 in points. The Hurricanes’ current Elo rating of 1569 is not only the highest of any NHL team at the moment, but it’s also the best mark the franchise has ever carried after the first 13 games of a season - including its two Stanley Cup Final seasons (2001-06) and its days as the late, lamented Hartford Whalers.
Carolina currently leads the NHL in goal differential per game (+1.54), with the league’s sixth-best offense, No. So far, they look closer to that objective than at any point in recent memory. As we detailed going into opening night of this season, the Hurricanes were a team that badly needed to get over the hump in the playoffs and make the leap to true Cup contention this season. But the Hurricanes were ultimately outclassed in each of those postseasons, being swept by the Boston Bruins in the 2019 East final, losing again to the Bruins (this time by a 4-1 margin) in the 2020 first round and falling short against the Lightning in a five-game second-round battle last spring. Among the usual favorites - the talent-stacked Colorado Avalanche, perennial-powerhouse Vegas Golden Knights and two-time-defending-champ Tampa Bay Lightning - there’s a somewhat unexpected name atop our Stanley Cup forecast with nearly one-fifth of the regular season completed: the Carolina Hurricanes, who have won 11 of their 13 contests this year and now have a league-best 12 percent chance to hoist Lord Stanley’s Mug.Ĭarolina has been no stranger to the playoffs in recent seasons, making it each of the past three years under head coach Rod Brind’Amour.
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