Where do the Hurricanes go from here after another Eastern Conference final loss?
The Carolina Hurricanes were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Final on Wednesday night by the Florida Panthers.
After yet another Conference Final loss, where do the Hurricanes go from here? Today on Daily Faceoff Live, Frank Seravalli dives into what the future could hold in Raleigh.
Tyler Yaremcuk: Well, I want to stick to kind of the on-ice stuff here, but the question of where do the canes go from here? Rod Brind’Amour speaking after the game, oh, this past summer, he was looking at his roster, he said the mass exodus of players who left, and he said, ‘I’m worried we’re not gonna make the playoffs’. Obviously, they end up going to another Eastern Conference Final, and he didn’t really want to seem to talk negatively about losing to the Panthers again and losing in the Conference Finals. Again, he viewed it as an accomplishment. Is that the right way for them, like, we know what their message and their mission have been and that organization, but like, is that the right mindset to have?
Frank Seravalli: Of course it is. I look, that is the God’s honest truth. Internally, they were projecting like an eight to ten point drop for this team, and it was like, hey, just get in, just be a playoff team, that would be a success. Winning two rounds and getting back to the conference final again, yeah, okay, you get your doors blown off by the Panthers in five games, and it’s not really that close. So what? This team has taken their shot, they went out and got a true impact player that we have mocked them in some ways as a hockey community for not having they land that player and in the end, their team is better off as a net result.
Frank Seravalli: You look at Jack Drury and Marty Necas out the door, or a year and a half of Marty Necas, because good luck with that next contract. And you sub those two guys out for Stankoven and Taylor Hall and a couple of first-round picks. This team has a loaded prospect pool, and they’ve got tons of tap space flexibility to be aggressive. Where are they going? They’re going like this, straight up. They’re gonna be a team that’s gonna get to four, five more cup finals or conference finals in the next 10 years.
Frank Seravalli: If that’s the case, then, well, how many times are they gonna break through? How many times is the team on the other side of the Atlantic gonna be beaten up or not a good matchup or whatever it might be? Give yourself a shot. That’s been their plan, and I don’t understand anyone, particularly in whatever corner of the hockey universe your team comes from, but to get to the conference final for the second time in the three years, the third time in seven and sit there and go, hey, oh, wait, the Carolina hurricanes, you know, no big deal, they can’t win in the conference final. They’re getting just as far as the Dallas Stars. In fact, if that series ends tonight, they may get exactly as far as the Dallas Stars. And guess what? The stars are older, they’ve shot their shot, and yeah, they could get back, but they’re gonna need additional work to get there. The canes are in a way better future position than almost every other team in the league. Why wouldn’t you view it as an accomplishment?