In a THN web writers poll, the Carolina Hurricanes received 21 votes to make the Stanley Cup final but only nine votes to win. Adam Proteau examines if they have what it takes to go all the way.

In THN.com’s pre-season web writers poll, one of the questions focused on the teams predicted to make the Stanley Cup final, and who will win. 

The team favored to come out of the East and win the Cup are the Carolina Hurricanes, with 21 of 34 votes going to them to win the East, and nine of 34 votes pegged them to win the Cup, which tied them for first with the Edmonton Oilers. The Hockey News' Yearbook also has Carolina as the Stanley Cup favorite for the second year in a row. And it’s easy to see why.

For one thing, the Hurricanes added to what already was a top-tier defense corps by signing veterans Dmitry Orlov, Tony DeAngelo and Caleb Jones in free agency. Carolina’s top six D-men are more or less flawless, and Jones and Jalen Chatfield are there in the wings waiting to step in and help out should injuries take a bite out of the Canes’ back end.

Carolina also improved at forward this summer, boosting its grit factor by signing wingers Michael Bunting and Brendan Lemieux. Bunting projects to be on the Hurricanes’ first or second line at left wing, while Lemieux probably won’t be an everyday player, but he too can serve as a depth performer if health problems befall the Canes. 

The Hurricanes only have about $920,000 in salary cap space, but they’ve got no holes in the lineup, and GM Don Waddell can enter the season with no urgent cause to attend to. Meanwhile, coach Rod Brind’Amour is our pick to win the Jack Adams Award as the league’s top bench boss. There’s so much to like here that you can’t help but think there are great things ahead for the Canes.

The reason this writer didn’t get on the Hurricanes train in this year’s poll – and we were very high on them last season – was because of their goaltending. This is not to suggest netminders Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta are subpar players, but both are up there in age – Andersen will be 34 when the regular season begins, while Raanta turned 34 last May. If there is an area that’s got the potential for concern for the Hurricanes, it’s their netminding.

This may be why 12 THN web staffers picked Carolina to lose in the Cup final next spring. (This writer picked the New York Rangers to win the East, but then lose to the Dallas Stars in the Cup final.)

From our perspective, the fact the Hurricanes have won their division for the past three regular seasons yet were eliminated twice in the second round, followed by an Eastern final 4-0 loss to the Florida Panthers, is why there’s still some lingering skepticism about their potential for post-season success. Carolina’s young core of forwards has yet to put it all together to be a leviathan against the truly elite teams of the East, and though they may finally get over that hump this season, it’s a show-me, don’t tell-me situation.

There’s little doubt the Hurricanes will do very well in the regular season. But their competition in the Metropolitan Division is going to be fierce, with the Rangers and New Jersey Devils breathing down their collective neck. And to be perfectly honest, the Blueshirts and Devils both have better goaltending than Carolina does, while each of their ‘D’ corps are also of very high quality. It’s going to be a tough task to get out of the first couple of playoff rounds, but that’s the challenge for Brind’Amour and Waddell.

It’s definitely unwise to sleep on the Hurricanes in 2023-24, but it certainly won’t be a cakewalk for them, either. As is the case with every eventual Cup winner, they’ll need good fortune on the health front, good puck luck and next-to-perfect defensive play to outlast the rest of the teams in their way of a championship. And if they can’t get it done, Waddell will have serious roster questions in front of him at this time next year. 

For now, though, opponents definitely have to be aware of the threat the Canes pose. Their best days are yet to come, and that fact ought to terrify the rest of the league.