Mailbag #74: Ended The Year Hot

RALEIGH, NC. - Whether you're reading this on the final day of 2023, or the first day of 2024, a happy and healthy new year to you and yours.

Additionally, thank you.  Thank you for your support of the franchise in one of its best calendar years to date.

2023 was another stretch of 365 days with more wins than losses for the Carolina Hurricanes, who produced a record of 48-28-7 in 83 regular-season contests. The sixth-most points of any NHL club, the ultimate prize was not brought home in the spring, but 2024 will provide another opportunity.

There were more sell-outs (41 including playoffs) than any other year in Raleigh, as the team earned points in 31 out of 41 regular-season home games. The fan base, and passion, continue to grow.

Who could forget Saturday, February 18 at Carter-Finley Stadium? Over 56,000 showed up to see a victory over the Washington Capitals in the team's first outdoor game, a memory that many had waited a long time for.  It felt like the perfect celebration for the organization's 25th anniversary season.

Brent Burns produced more goals (20) than any other defenseman in the NHL this calendar year, an amazing accomplishment for someone set to celebrate his 39th birthday in March.

Sebastian Aho, who was going to become an unrestricted free agent in 2024, instead became the latest young star locked up long-term by the team, signed to an eight-year extension through 2032.

The team flexed its muscles in a major way in free agency this past summer, landing two of the biggest available fish in Michael Bunting and Dmitry Orlov.

Lastly, and most importantly, the team and the Centennial Authority reached a 20-year lease extension agreement, solidifying the Canes' presence in Raleigh through 2044.

Let the good times roll, y'all.

Reflection complete, let's get to the questions you all were kind enough to send in via X.

What has allowed Jack Drury to just catch absolute FIRE as of late, in your opinion? - @Nolan\_4\_Wilson

Confidence, communication, and opportunity.

After a trying start to the season that saw his goal-scoring drought reach 39 games (including playoffs), Drury finally got the monkey off of his back on November 22.

Since then? 12 points in 20 games.

I say confidence because as we all know, when it starts to go your way, things can snowball quickly. When things aren't going your way, things can snowball against you quickly. It's been evident as of late that #18 has been playing with some real juice and the puck is finding him more.

On November 24, the very next game after he finally snapped his goalless streak, he made this slick pass to Stefan Noesen for a goal.

Four days later, with Andrei Svechnikov out of the lineup due to an illness in Philadelphia, Drury got the promotion to the power play. Albeit on a different unit, he's remained on the man advantage for the majority of the time since.

Rod Brind'Amour has said several times this season that he thought Drury has played well, it's just that the puck wasn't falling for him to start the year.

I say communication too because the young center is always one of the last, if not the last players to leave the ice every practice. He puts in the extra time working on his game every single day.

In last week's mailbag, he gave a lot of credit to Assistant Coach Jeff Daniels, for helping him in always working on things.

From my perspective, he goes about things the right way, and he's been getting rewarded for it as of late.

How's Freddie doing? - @Canuck_Grump

The Canes got some good news just before the holiday break when it was shared publicly that Frederik Andersen has been cleared to resume skating after being diagnosed with a blood clotting issue in November.

Although he hasn't been on the ice with the team just yet, the word is that it will be at least a month or so from then when he could be ready to return to game action.

With the team's All-Star break beginning in less than a month, I would be very surprised if we see him in a contest before then, but there seems to be hope that he'll be back as a full participant in practice before that point.

So much of goaltending is timing, so, understandably, the best practice is for Andersen to have as much time as he needs to get back to game speed before returning to the crease for real. If it is in February though, that could be a nice pre-trade deadline, in-house acquisition.

It's no secret that goaltending has been a hot topic for the team lately, but if "Zilla" can return to last year's form (21-11-1), let alone the 2021-22 edition of himself (.922 save percentage in 52 games), that would be a very welcomed addition.

What happened to the other goalie that was signed on a PTO? - @AnnieGoldman

Aaron Dell, brought in by the Canes on a free agent tryout just before the holiday break, had been playing in Switzerland at the Spengler Cup for the last week.

He recorded a 30-save shutout in his first of four games for Team Canada in the tournament and stopped 77 out of 85 shots faced in total.  The Canes were aware that he was going to be playing overseas for a few days before bringing him in.

It's a no-commitment insurance policy for Carolina, who still hopes that Antti Raanta can continue finding his game back.

As much as Don Waddell and Brind'Amour have said that they'd be comfortable with Yaniv Perets between the pipes for a game, the team still wants to ensure they're doing the right thing for the young prospect long-term. It's a big ask to go straight from the ECHL to the NHL. Is he capable of succeeding at the highest level right now? Maybe. But one would think that some more seasoning would be best for him.

Should Dell return to the Canes following today's conclusion of the tournament, he'll get back to practicing with the team and we'll see what comes from there.

As it stands today, who are your team MVP candidates for this season? - @MrEd315

I am glad you asked for candidates and not for me to just pick one, Ed.

As of December 31, I'd go with Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, and Jaccob Slavin.

Aho's case is largely obvious. He leads all forwards in ice time, playing an average of just under 20 minutes per night. He's the top line center, in the dot for the team's first power play unit, and an integral part of the penalty kill.

In terms of a player's value to a team, there just aren't many guys around the league like that. He leads the team in scoring and that's despite a bumpy start to the month of December.  Thanks to 11 points in his last three games, he currently sits 15th among all NHL skaters with his 42.

Someone out there reading this right now is thinking, Svechnikov?

The team is 14-7-2 when he's in the lineup this season. They're 6-6-2 when he's not.

He's now up to 21 points in 22 games despite returning from a major injury and suffering another just a month later.

Did it take some time for him to find his goal-scoring after returning from his ACL issue? Yes. But he had 11 points in 16 games before then suffering the upper-body injury in Winnipeg. Now he appears to be back in business with nine points in his last four games, including his hat trick on Wednesday against Nashville.

To put it bluntly, the team just looks like it has another layer of weaponry when #37 is on the ice. His release when shooting the puck is among the very best in the league. He's likely going to hit 20 goals for a third consecutive season. He's a team-altering player.

And to round out my trio, I can't help but think how different this team would look without Slavin on the blue line.

The Hurricanes are a better unit when Brent Burns' offense is unlocked. In order for him to have the freedom to use his full offensive skillset, he has to be paired with someone who can hold it down at the other end of the ice. That's Slavin.

What if you replaced him with someone who was just average on both ends of the ice? There would be challenges.

Number 74 also had a marvelous start to the season offensively. Yes, it's slowed down, but he's also not counted on to be a point-producing blueliner every night.

Despite the slight step back in scoring, he's on pace for 42 points this season, which would match his career-high.

Caniacs know he's one of the best defenders in the league, and one of the top penalty killers too. That's worthy of being a team MVP in my books too.

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