RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — There’s been plenty of disappointment for the Carolina Hurricanes after falling short in another Eastern Conference final. General manager Eric Tulsky and coach Rod Brind’Amour view that as a positive.
The franchise that went nine straight years without a playoff berth has nearly matched that with seven straight seasons of winning at least one postseason series, with this year’s loss to the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers marking a third trip to the Eastern final in that span. Now Tulsky faces a familiar challenge after taking over as GM last summer: improving the roster so it can punch through its roadblock amid higher expectations.
“We set the bar very, very high,” Tulsky said Tuesday during an end-of-year news conference with Brind’Amour. “Every year we expect to be at least competing for a Cup and our goal is to win one or more. … I love that we are where we are and we’re going to keep pushing to get to where we want to go.”
Carolina’s 519 regular-season points over the past five seasons is tied for the NHL’s best with the Colorado Avalanche. Its 35 postseason wins in that span trail the Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers, the last two playoff teams standing for a second straight year.
Carolina has top players locked up to long-term deals in forwards Sebastian Aho (through 2031-32), Seth Jarvis (2031-32) and Andrei Svechnikov (2028-29), and top defenseman Jaccob Slavin (2032-33).
They also recently reached an extension with trade addition Taylor Hall (through 2027-28) and goaltender Frederik Andersen for another year. And forward Logan Stankoven, who thrived in the postseason after being the primary return from Dallas in the Mikko Rantanen deadline deal, has another season before becoming a restricted free agent.
Additionally, the Hurricanes are projected to have roughly $28.4 million cap space for next season, according to PuckPedia, which is most among playoff teams and fifth overall.
The Hurricanes have fallen to the Panthers twice in three seasons in the Eastern final, this time in five games after ending a 15-game skid in that round dating to 2009. In theory, the Hurricanes have enough assets in money and draft picks — Carolina acquired two first-rounders and two third-rounders in the Rantanen/Stankoven deal — to boost the roster.
“You take a step back and you’re like, ‘Wait a minute, there’s four teams playing left,’ and we’re feeling like crap because we lost,” Brind’Amour said. “This is where you want to be. This is the level of standard you want to have as an organization.”
Blue-line look
Defensemen Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov are unrestricted free agents. Burns, 40, routinely got top-pair work with Slavin, while the 33-year-old Orlov worked with Jalen Chatfield as second pair.
Carolina also returns Chatfield, offensive threat Shayne Gostisbehere and Sean Walker (signed to a five-year deal last summer), while top prospect Alexander Nikishin drew in for four playoff games as his NHL debut and is projected to be among Carolina’s regulars next year.
UFA forwards
Carolina has unrestricted free agents among its regular forwards lines in Eric Robinson and Jack Roslovic. Both joined Carolina last summer on one-year deals.
Robinson posted career-highs of 14 goals and 18 assists while playing all 82 regular-season games for the first time in his career. He also scored a critical goal in Game 4 of the second-round series against Washington, helping Carolina maintain control of that series from the fourth line.
Roslovic finished third on the team with 22 regular-season goals, though he was a healthy scratch for multiple playoff games.
Banged-up Jarvis
Jarvis is again dealing with a lingering shoulder injury. He opted against surgery last summer in favor of rehabbing and strengthening work, then said last week he quickly aggravated it in the regular season.
Jarvis — who led the team with 32 regular-season goals and 16 postseason points — plans to stick with rehab and strengthening work again instead of surgery.
“It’s not an organizational decision, it’s a personal decision,” Tulsky said. “It’s his medical care. And he’s going to do what’s best for him and the team. If he wants to rehab it and strengthen it and keep playing, he was very effective this year and I’m optimistic that’ll continue going forward, and that he’ll keep helping us compete for a championship.”
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
