The Carolina Hurricanes officially opened up training camp today, starting with the C1 group, which is made up primarily by the anticipated NHL starters.
There really isn't too much to glean from the first day of camp as it's mostly a time to go over drills and get your feet back under you, however, here's how the group was lined up:
Andrei Svechnikov - Sebastian Aho - Seth Jarvis
Jack Roslovic - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Martin Necas
Jordan Martinook - Jordan Staal - William Carrier
Brendan Lemieux - Jack Drury - Tyson Jost - Eric Robinson
Jaccob Slavin - Brent Burns
Dmitry Orlov - Jalen Chatfield
Shayne Gostisbehere - Sean Walker
Frederik Andersen
Pyotr Kochetkov
The Canes also ran out some preliminary power play units and this is how they were broken up:
PP1: Gostisbehere, Aho, Necas, Svechnikov, Jarvis
PP2: Burns, Orlov, Roslovic, Drury, Kotkaniemi
Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour loves to say to not read too much into the lines, but I can almost guarantee that this is how the team will look come opening night.
However, everything wasn't perfect in the first day as it seemed that Carrier left with an apparent injury following the conditioning skate.
In what seemed more like pain than fatigue, Carrier hunched over on the bench before heading off early.
We didn't receive any update on Carrier, so it will be a wait and see situation heading into tomorrow.
Following the C1 group, the C2 group, primarily composed of prospect and PTOs took the ice for their session.
Here's how that group was aligned:
Bradly Nadeau - Felix Unger Sorum - Jackson Blake
Gleb Trikozov - Ryan Suzuki - Noel Gunler
Juha Jaaska - Skyler Brind'Amour - Rocco Grimaldi
Josiah Slavin - Justin Robidas - Sam Gagner
Domenick Fensore - Scott Morrow
Ronan Seeley - Charles-Alexis Legault
Antonni Honka - Aleksi Heimosalmi
Riley Stillman - Bryce Montgomery
Spencer Martin
Yaniv Perets
Ruslan Khazheyev
It was cool to see Nadeau, Unger Sorum and Blake all on a line because they're the three most likely to make the opening night roster with the Canes.
Unger Sorum was playing center, which he also did in the 2024 Prospect Showcase.
He told The Hockey News that he hadn't played center since he was 14, primarily being a right winger, but that he felt "it was fun to try new things."
With his vision and playmaking ability, it's no wonder the Canes are seeing if they can land a right-handed center with him.
Following practice, the C2 group did the bag skate too and while only two failed to complete it within the time limit, they did not handle it as well as the NHLers did.
Between the two groups, Brind'Amour spoke with the media. Here's what he had to say:
Head Coach Rod Brind'Amour
On thoughts from first day of camp: I thought it was good. The guys, they all come ready to go. They work so hard in the offseason, it's almost like it's just a regular practice day. You want to start right away and obviously it'll take some time for the new guys to understand exactly what's going on, but I felt like it was real positive.
On how hard the offseason was with losing guys that had been in Carolina for so long: Not good. We put a lot of pride into the people we bring in here and people know that. That's why they like our players. It's just hard. It's just the nature of the business. You have a little mourning period but then you move on and look at the pieces we brought in and you're real excited about what we're able to bring into the group. Every year it starts with a real excited feel because there's opportunity and there's a lot of expectations and everyone just wants to get going.
On having a healthy Andrei Svechnikov to start the year: You miss out on some pieces, but really now, we're relying more on guys you would expect to have that and there's other guys, this younger group of, I don't want to call them superstars, but they're stars, and it's going to really be their time to step up now because maybe we don't have as many go-to guys to go to, but we certainly have enough. I think they're excited about that.
On his chances to talk to the new players and potentially introduce them to the team's play style: You're not really allowed a lot of communication in the offseason, so you definitely welcome them. Today is the first day where you can actually show them stuff. In some cases, like [Gostisbehere] has been here before so there's some familiarity, but most guys understand how we play just from playing against us and with what's expected. The details... I think most teams play the same way. There's very few variances. There's a couple of ways teams do D-zones or different ways they do the neutral zone, but realistically, everyone's playing the same game. It shouldn't be that hard to pick up, but it's all in the little details that'll probably take a little time.
On his relationship with new general manager Eric Tulsky: We definitely spend a lot more time talking then we did in the past, that's for sure. Obviously it's a different role. I think he's done a great job. There's a lot put on him, but what I appreciate is that I think we're both coming from a lot different backgrounds and that's been there always, but because of the role he was in, there wasn't as much communication, but now it's daily almost. I think there's a good learning curve for me to really appreciate his side of things, but in my opinion, more importantly for him to get a feel for the every day stuff that we're talking about and he's done a great job of being willing to listen and understand what goes on at this level. So I'm excited about that.
On if he feels there's any differences in Shayne Gostisbehere in the year he's been gone: I don't think he's changed at all. We really loved him as a player when he was here and that's why we went and got him. We definitely tried to keep him back when he was here. It was great that he was available and I think it was a great pickup. We lost some really good D and I think with the additions of him, I think [Sean Walker] will be great too. There was a big blow [to our blueline] and like I said, I had my little mourning period, but now we move on and I'm excited to see what these guys can do.
On having his son at training camp: That's good, exciting. A good opportunity for him. I know how hard he's worked his whole life so it's nice to be able to coach it for at least a training camp to see what happens, but that's been kind of nice too.
On if he thinks there's room for Jack Drury to have a breakout year: I thought last year he had a really good year. It's tough because of the roles and certain things, but I thought when we asked more of him, he did a great job with it and that's the key. It's not so much what you're capable of doing, it's what we ask you to do and he's been willing to do whatever. That's huge.
On if he's reflected in the offseason about changing anything this season: Well you do that every offseason. You try to get better, try to listen. I need to be a better listener so I'm definitely trying to take in a lot of views, but I know what works and if you believe in what works, then you don't want to deviate too much from that. We definitely obviously want to get to that next level and reach that next height, but like I told the guys yesterday, the magic really is in the trying, in trying to get there and I think we do that. I appreciate that with this group.
On if he feels there will need to be any adjustments with the new forwards brought in: I think there's an identity that we play with that you don't want to deviate from, so I think it's more just getting those guys up to speed on what that is and on how hard that is. Everyone can talk about it, but until you actually get involved in it and visualize it and see how it actually works... those are the things we talked about new guys having to really appreciate. But I don't think we're going to have too much deviation. It's more getting these guys to get right on it as soon as possible.
On his goaltending: What I'm excited about is that there's no question marks. We know what we have. The key to any team, really, is goaltending as we know. Obviously we worry about the health. That's always been a question for what seems like a while with these guys, so we have to manage that as best we can, but any team would worry about that. If you just took that out of the equation, I think we have two of the better ones and that's what makes it exciting.