Svechnikov healthy for Hurricanes, ready for playoffs after missing out last season

RALEIGH, N.C. – Andrei Svechnikov is glad he will not be watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the press box this time around.

Unlike last season, when he missed the entire postseason because of surgery on his knee, the Carolina Hurricanes forward is healthy and will be in the lineup when they face the New York Islanders in Game 1 of the best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round on Saturday (5 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TBS, SNP, SNW, SNE, SN360, TVAS, BSSO, MSGSN).

Though Svechnikov tries not to think about missing out on Carolina’s run to the Eastern Conference Final last season, the disappointment seeps in when pressed about it.

He says he remembers the frustration and the desperation, the utter helplessness of watching his teammates -- and friends -- play game after game, laying it all on the line.

He tried to be a good support system for those playing; encouraging and congratulating them after wins and being a sounding board and friendly face after losses.

It was torture.

“Every game to be honest, every game just watching, you know,” he said after a brisk 45-minute practice at PNC Arena on Friday. “You see someone get hit from our team and it’s like I want to be there, like I want to do something. Just give me one shift.

“Every game, that was tough and you know, hopefully, I will never have an experience like that again.”

The "one more shift" wasn’t an option. When Svechnikov tore the ACL in his knee on March 11, there were 18 games remaining in the regular season. He asked about toughing it out, playing through the pain. It wasn’t an option.

“I had to get the surgery; I'm still young,” the 24-year-old said. “Maybe if I [was] like 35 or 36 maybe I wouldn't get [get the surgery], but I had to do it. I'm still young.”

The Hurricanes made it to the Eastern Conference Final, getting swept by the Florida Panthers in four one-goal games, one of which required four overtimes. In that series, which lasted 17 periods, the Hurricanes scored six goals.

Svechnikov had 55 points (23 goals, 32 assists) in 64 regular-season games before his injury. The previous season, he had 30 goals for the first time in his career. This season, he had 19 goals in 59 games after his return on Oct. 27, eight of which were game-winners.

You don’t think Svechnikov’s size (6-foot-2, 195 pounds), snarl and clutch goal-scoring ability would have been a difference in the series against the Panthers? Think again.

Don Waddell, the Hurricanes general manager, knows better. In fact, Svechnikov’s absence fueled the his aggressiveness when he added forwards Jake Guentzel from the Pittsburgh Penguins and Evgeny Kuznetsov from the Washington Capitals prior to the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline.

It was a shocking move as the Hurricanes have traditionally been conservative at the Deadline.

“[Svechnikov] was a big loss last year and, you know, that's one of the things when you talk about things you learned last year, you know, we didn't do a lot of the Deadline and then you lose [him] a week after,” Waddell said Friday. “It's one of your power forwards that can score goals for you. So having him in the lineup on a regular basis right now, I think he is probably the biggest power forward we have and the way he can control the puck down low and forecheck and then, obviously, he's got the ability to score big goals.”

It certainly gives coach Rod Brind’Amour another weapon he did not have during the run last season.

Guentzel has been in the spotlight, getting 25 points (eight goals, 17 assists) in the 17 games since he arrived, but Svechnikov has added depth to the lineup.

He is comfortable moving onto the third line and giving the Hurricanes added scoring depth among their bottom-six forwards.

“Certainly, you would hope it makes our team better,” Brind’Amour said. “Obviously, you got a really good player and that should make your team tougher to play against. Sliding guys around, we've done that all year. And I'm sure we'll have to do it a little bit here and there too. I think that's good that we've already done that.

“I mean, it's not anything earth-shattering if we move the lines around and different guys play with each other because they've done it all.”

Svechnikov says he doesn’t care about which line he is assigned or how many minutes he plays.

He is happy to be back.

He says that it will be more pleasurable to drive to the rink and navigate the sea of fans tailgating in the parking lots because he knows he will soon be lacing up his skates to help the cause. He says it will make the madhouse inside PNC Arena a little louder standing on the ice in uniform instead of in the press box in street clothes. He knows his heart will race a little faster before the puck is dropped.

“Playoffs are special so we're excited and I can't wait, to be honest,” Svechnikov said. “Just thinking about it, I got goose bumps. Hopefully, I will take a nice nap tomorrow and get here and have fun.”