With star Seth Jarvis sidelined, the Hurricanes are molding versatile centerman Logan Stankoven into their next shorthanded weapon to maintain Carolina’s relentless defensive dominance this season.
The Carolina Hurricanes have a penchant for creating extremely successful penalty killers and it seems like they're trying to work their magic once again.
Heading into the season, the team had a major absence looming over them, as star winger Seth Jarvis is on the shelf following shoulder surgery he underwent over the summer.
And as Jarvis is one of not only the team's best penalty killers, but also arguably one of the best shorthanded players in the league, the Hurricanes needed to find someone to step up and fill that spot.
Enter fourth-year pro Logan Stankoven.
The right-handed centerman took massive strides with the Hurricanes last season, moving to center for the first time as a professional player and it didn't take him long to become a driving factor on one of the NHL's best lines, which ultimately led the team to a Stanley Cup.
And when this season presented a new opportunity for Stankoven to continue growing his game, he jumped all over it.
"I mentioned trying it in practice kind after the end of last year," Stankoven told The Hockey News. "I think it's about just trying to add different pieces to your game and I think if you can have versatility and just learn how different special teams are played, I think that's huge. So far, I've really enjoyed it and the coaches have thrown me into it and I've been trying to pay attention to video and learn as much as I can."
For Stankoven, Tuesday's season opener against Florida was only his second game killing penalties and the first in an actual full-stakes one, however, the centerman performed admirably, allowing zero shots on goal in his 3+ minutes of shorthanded ice time.
"We're missing a really good player and you don't replace that player," said Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour. "You have fill in and Jarvy is a big penalty killer. Looking for someone to step up in there and I thought Logan did a great job."
The 5-foot-8 center is certainly not the biggest body and with virtually no shorthanded experience anywhere on his hockey resume, one wouldn't necessarily pick him to have been the one to step up.
However, the relentless centerman has proven he has what it takes to be one of the league's best and adding another element to his game will only take him that much further.
"You don't want to be a one-dimensional type of guy," Stankoven said. "I think you want to add different pieces to your game. That can get you to spend a lot of time in the league and that's what I want to do. Have a long career and contribute in whatever way they need me to."
Despite being a somewhat foreign role for him, as Stankoven described his own penalty killing experience as an "on-and-off thing in juniors," it hasn't been too hard for him to pick up.
For one, as a power play guy, the young forward already has a good understanding of what opponents are trying to do.
"I think you can learn and pick apart both sides," Stankoven said. "Being on the power play, you understand what they're trying to do and what kind of seams and plays they're trying to run. As a power play guy, when you do penalty kill, you understand what areas are tough for the penalty killers and where you can expose them."
Second is the fact that a lot of Hurricanes, regardless of being a routine PKer or not, participate in the pre-game penalty kill video sessions and so Stankoven already had a pretty good idea of what he was jumping into.
Now it's just about performing on the ice.
"You have to be able to understand the situation and execute," Brind'Amour said. "He's been in all the meetings, has been for a long time. That's part of the learning curve, and now you have to get the reps in. We'll continue with that."
Stankoven's going to have some ups and downs as most every player in a new situation does, he already had a big one in the preseason against Nashville where Jaccob Slavin had to remind him he was responsible for the other side of the ice, but the way he performed in Game 1 against the Florida Panthers was certainly promising.
The Canes are opting to pair him alongside Sebastian Aho and the pair should be able to easily continue being one of the preeminent shorthanded threats.
"He's been very helpful and obviously he's a big leader on the team," Stankoven said on the Finnish center. "It's nice to go out there with him. Him and Jarvy have been good for a lot of years, so I'm just trying to do my part and make sure we don't get scored on first, but if there's a chance to attack and create a chance, I think both of us have the skill to do that."
"He’s smart," Aho said. "He can adjust. I have no worries about him at all. He's a good skater, long stick, and like I said, smart player. He can read the game and so I'm sure he'll be good on the PK as well."
While Jarvis may not be out for as long as initially thought, the star winger has been an active participant in nearly every drill since the start of training camp, continuing to develop Stankoven's game will go a long way for the organization.
Being able to deploy the team's only right-handed centerman in more situations and just overall having more two-way threats you can toss over the boards will make the Canes that much more of a deeper and dangerous team.
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