New Guys Giving Hurricanes Additional Edge As Playoffs Approach

Despite what the national talking heads might have said, the Carolina Hurricanes may have won the trade deadline.

Since dealing Mikko Rantanen to the Dallas Stars, the Canes are 8-2-0 (the team was 7-6-1 with him) and are on the verge of clinching a seventh consecutive playoff appearance.

The new trio of players that the team has brought in have all clicked and look to be fitting in seamlessly with the locker room and the team's style of play, which bodes well for April.

Since Taylor Hall arrived alongside Rantanen from the Chicago Blackhawks in January, he's looked like a real impact player for the Canes.

While he wasn't getting rewarded, he was constantly generating good looks, was hard on pucks and just generally all around it.

"He's been really good since he showed up here, but hadn't quite gotten rewarded for what he'd been doing," said Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour.

However, it seems like something clicked for him in mid March and since then, he's been on an absolute tear.

Hall, 33, has eight goals and 14 points in 23 games with the Hurricanes now, including having a point on each of the team's last five power play goals.

"I think I'm really starting to get there," Hall said. "You can say that you're feeling good after 5-10 games, but it's just a lot of reps and it's a lot of reading off of players and knowing. I think all three of our D pairs play different styles too. So just being able to read off of KK, Rosy, who I've been with for the last few games, it's just part of being a hockey player, being an athlete, just letting your brain do the work and you just go play. That's what I'm kind of feeling now. It's really fun to just contribute.

He's helped to boost the team's second line and is third in team scoring since arriving.

Logan Stankoven was the player the team acquired from Dallas in the Rantanen trade and while he's still just a rookie, he's been coming along.

"There's a lot of things that get thrown at you and you try to adapt as much as you can without thinking too much," Stankoven said. "It was a bit hard at times to try and not think too much. I'm trying to fit in and play hard with the guys. I'll just keep learning."

Stankoven, 22, is a hard-on-pucks type of player, who isn't afraid to go to the net or into the corners despite his smaller stature.

Since coming to Carolina, Stankoven has two goals and five points in 10 games, including scoring in his first and most recent contests.

"He's exactly what we thought that we were getting," Brind'Amour said. "He works hard and he has high skill levels. What I like is that he wants to get better and he's all in on whatever we ask him to do. That part of the puzzle fits perfectly for what we want to do here. Guys that get it, want to get better and understand what it takes to win."

I don't know if there's been a more unexpected heater than the one that Mark Jankowski has been on since arriving in Carolina from the Nashville Predators.

Jankowski, 30, has seven goals in 10 games with the Hurricanes including scoring twice in his team debut and on each of his first four shots on goal. 

"I feel like it's just coming to me right now," Jankowski said. "Playing with great players and I mean, obviously, we're a great team. We're having the puck a lot right now, we're playing well as a team, so luckily it's finding me right now and I'm able to finish them."

The journeyman center has just been on an incredible tear in Raleigh, with a 63.6% shooting percentage across his 10 games.

In fact, the only other player amongst those who have been traded this season, with as many goals as him since the March 7 deadline is Taylor Hall.

"I don't want to say it's a bonus, but those are something that we obviously didn't really expect," Brind'Amour said. "He's in a limited role, I still have to get him out there a little more because he's earned it and is contributing and that's the key."

Obviously regression is going to happen at some point, but it's clear that Jankowski has a bit more scoring touch than your average 4C.

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