No superstar, no problem. The Hurricanes do it by committee, and they have a lot of solid fantasy options to choose from.

Outlook

Last season:
52-21-9, 1st Metro, 2nd overall. Eliminated in Eastern Conference final by Florida, 4-0.
3.20 GF/GP (15th), 2.56 GA/GP (2nd), 19.8 PP% (20th), 84.4 PK% (2nd)
60.38 5v5 CF% (1st), 55.59 5v5 GF% (5th), 59.85 5v5 xGF% (1st)

The Hurricanes are an elite team and a Cup contender – notwithstanding their 0-12 record in the conference final since 2006 – but boast no elite options in fantasy. This is a feature, not a bug.

Last season, no forward averaged 20 minutes per game, and in Rod Brind’Amour’s five seasons behind the bench, no player has finished with more than 83 points even though the Canes rank fourth in points percentage (.661) during that span. They’re deceptively good because they don’t boast an elite superstar nor an elite offense; they’re actually a top-tier defensive team even though none of their goalies played more than 34 games last season.

It’s always a team effort with the Canes, and Sebastian Aho is the only player under Brind’Amour to average over a point per game. He barely ranks in the top 50 in the rankings, but they also have two other forwards ranked in the top 75, and four more players ranked above 200. It truly is unusual that just about every other Cup contender – the Avalanche, Devils, Rangers, Stars, among them – has an elite fantasy player, and that the Canes do not. What they lack in high-end talent they make up for in quantity with four good lines, three solid pairs and two capable goalies (more on that later).

The most intriguing player will be Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who scored a career-high 43 points last season even though he played less than 15 minutes per game, much less than other No. 2 centers. The eight-year deal he signed is a signal the Canes believe in him, and entering his sixth NHL season at age 23, we can expect another leap forward. A 20-goal, 50-point season with 100-plus hits and close to 200 shots would make Kotkaniemi quite valuable in banger leagues, and he’s ranked a little higher in the banger league rankings for that reason.

It is also a key season for Teuvo Teravainen, who will be a UFA at the end of the season. After four straight seasons scoring at a 60-point pace, Teravainen struggled and finished with just 37 points in 68 games, taking a step back in nearly every category. The projected lineup has him on the fourth line; if he can’t move up the lineup at even strength or to PP1, he’s not a worthy fantasy asset.

Projected Lineup

Michael Bunting – Sebastian Aho – Seth Jarvis
Andrei Svechnikov – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Martin Necas
Jordan Martinook – Jordan Staal – Jesper Fast
Teuvo Teravainen – Jack Drury – Stefan Noesen

Brady Skjei – Brett Pesce
Jaccob Slavin – Brent Burns
Dmitry Orlov – Jalen Chatfield

Frederik Andersen – Antti Raanta

PP1
Svechnikov – Aho – Noesen – Necas – Burns
PP2
Bunting – Kotkaniemi – Teravainen – Jarvis – Pesce

Player Rankings

The Hockey News Fantasy Guide Top 3 Point Projections:
Sebastian Aho, 80 points
Andrei Svechnikov, 78 points
Martin Necas, 74 points

(Point projections for all players are available in The Hockey News NHL Fantasy Guide 2023-24. Get the Fantasy Guide for FREE when you subscribe today.)

Top 300 Ranked Hurricanes (Full List, including individual player write-ups):
49. Sebastian Aho, C
64. Martin Necas, C
69. Andrei Svechnikov, RW
104. Brent Burns, D
171. Seth Jarvis, C
190. Michael Bunting, LW
198. Teuvo Teravainen, LW
207. Frederik Andersen, G
215. Jesperi Kotkaniemi, C
219. Antti Raanta, G
290. Brady Skjei, D

Top 300 Ranked Hurricanes (Banger League) (Full List):
43. Andrei Svechnikov, RW
52. Sebastian Aho, C
80. Martin Necas, RW
87. Brent Burns, D
156. Michael Bunting, LW
179. Seth Jarvis, C
193. Jesperi Kotkaniemi, C
258. Teuvo Teravainen, LW
265. Brady Skjei, D
269. Jordan Staal, C
299. Frederik Andersen, G

All positions courtesy Yahoo Fantasy.

Breakout Star

Seth Jarvis scored at a lower pace in his sophomore season, yet he still managed to increasing his shooting rate and played a lot of top-line minutes, averaging 16:12 per game. He doesn’t project to be a high-end offensive player, but instead a well-rounded player who’s been the perfect complement for Aho. As long as Jarvis stays in that spot, we’re looking at a player with 20-goal, 60-point potential with some modest blocks and hit totals.

Regression Candidate

Be wary of Stefan Noesen because all of his fantasy is derived from the power play. Last season, he was a fixture on the top unit and ended up scoring nearly half his total points (36) on the power play (15), making him a viable streaming option in a pinch.

But he averaged barely over 12 minutes per game playing a fourth-line role, and there’s always a chance he gets bumped off PP1 by Teravainen, Jarvis or Michael Bunting. Noesen was not included in the rankings because of his high-risk, modest-reward proposition.

Goalies

This is a reminder that nobody cares about your fantasy team (except me). This is tongue-in-cheek, obviously, but what I mean is that the Canes are going into the season with Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta yet again, while also keeping Pyotr Kochetkov around. Kochetkov is still exempt from waivers and you assume he’d be going to the AHL to gain playing time, but remember that the Canes do not have an AHL affiliate for 2023-24.

This means we’re looking at a three-man rotation, not unlike the one the Canes used late last season. While we assume that one of Andersen or Raanta will be injured at some point, this is a classic fantasy hockey nightmare. It’s not worthwhile to roster all three goalies, and rostering just Andersen or Raanta might not capture all of the Canes’ upside. So, what to do?

The best strategy is still to roster both, actually, since you’ll get most of the wins barring some kind of injury. Kochetkov is clearly still the No. 3, and as with Kotkaniemi, Kochetkov’s contract extension is expected to provide maximum value in future seasons, not this one. Rostering Andersen and Raanta is an imperfect solution, and you live with the fact that a rival manager will get to stream Kochetkov. Just cross your fingers he doesn’t become the No. 1 this season.