This team is going all out to win the Cup this year. The Carolina Hurricanes are going out in a blaze of glory to win the Stanely Cup this season as they have made MASSIVE MOVES to bolster their forward core.
I think this has to be one of the Cup favorites now.
Despite already sitting in 2nd in the Metropolitan division and the Top-4 in the East, the Carolina Hurricanes are going all in this season to bring home the franchise’s second Stanley Cup as they have acquired Jake Guentzel AND Evgeny Kuznetsov from their divisional foes. And, like I said, the Hurricanes MUST be heavy favorites to win it all this season.
Do you think the Hurricanes are feeling A LITTLE desperate to win a Stanely Cup this season?
So, for those who have not seen the news, the Carolina Hurricanes have made the biggest trades of the trade deadline thus far as they brought in Evgeny Kuznetsov, the once top-line center for their rival Washington Capitals, in for a mere 3rd round pick and then Jake Guentzel, the premiere winger on their rival Pittsburgh Penguins, and defenseman Ty Smith in exchange for Micheal Bunting, Ville Koivunen, Vasily Ponomarev, Cruz Lucius, a 2024 1st round pick, and a 2024 5th round pick.
That’s a FANTASTIC deal to bring in two potential 1st-line, superstar forwards into a team that already has great talent in their lineup.
Now, I will say that these deals do have the potential of going awry, and especially the one with Kuznetsov.
On the one hand, Kuznetsov has proven in the past that he can not only play with the best of the best (ex: Alex Ovechkin, Niklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie) in the NHL on a top-line role AND also be productive (he scored 386 points in 680 games prior to this season), but he’s also won at the highest level with his 2018 Stanley Cup championship with the Capitals.
However, on the other hand, Kuznetsov has had a torrid season this year with only 11 points in 43 games, he’s been in and out of the lineup due to personal issues, he was demoted out of the Caps Top-6…despite Backstrom being out and Ovechkin slowing down, and he was waived by Washington a few days ago and no one claimed him.
If the Hurricanes can somehow bring out the 2018 Kuznetsov or even the 2022 version of him, then this team is going to be STACKED down the center with Sebastian Aho, Kuznetsov, Jordan Staal, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi all making up their starting four center spots. Yet, if the Canes can’t help Kuznetsov, then I guess that’s a 3rd round pick down the drain.
And that’s kind of the same concern with Guentzel.
Obviously, Guentzel doesn’t have any of Kuznetsov’s personal issues or anything like that, but the biggest mark against the former Penguins forward is that he’s only ever played with Sidney Crosby.
That’s clearly an accomplishment in of itself and to have scored 466 points (219 goals) in 506 games, ranked second on the Penguins in points this season with 52 points in 50 games, play with Crosby on the Penguins top line from a very young age, and win back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017 is an almost unbelievable achievement for a late 3rd round draft pick.
But can he play with anyone aside from Crosby as his center? Will he be as productive with someone like Sebastian Aho, Jordan Staal, or now Evgeny Kuznetsov as he was with Crosby? I really don’t know.
I think he will, and the Hurricanes forward core will now have Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teräväinen, Andrei Svechnikov, Martin Necas, Jordan Staal/Evgeny Kuznetsov, and now Jake Guentzel! That’s and INSANE Top-6, and more than capable of winning the Stanely Cup.
And the Hurricanes really do need to win the SC this season as the last five seasons of late playoff heartbreaks and exits (and two Conference Finals defeats) can only be tolerated for so long without a cup championship before the dam goes and the Canes need to rebuild this team.
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