Stat Hockey’s Carolina Hurricanes 2023-24 Line Projections

This is a look at the Carolina Hurricanes 2023-24 line projections. It will cover all forward lines, defense pairings, goaltenders, and scratches.

Projected Lineup

F

Michael Bunting – Sebastian Aho – Seth Jarvis

Andrei Svechnikov – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Martin Necas

Teuvo Teravainen – Jordan Staal – Jesper Fast

Jordan Martinook – Jack Drury – Stefan Noesen

S- Brendan Lemieux

D

Jaccob Slavin – Brent Burns

Brady Skjei – Brett Pesce

Dmitry Orlov – Tony DeAngelo

S- Jalen Chatfield, Caleb Jones

G

Frederik Andersen

Antti Raanta

Forwards

The first line gets a stabilizing piece with the offseason signing of Bunting as Aho now has two capable wingers. The offense wasn’t exactly at its best for Aho, but this season should see better results. Jarvis should also up his output as well now that Bunting should be alongside them all season. There might be a little competition as Teravainen had that role last season when healthy, but the team is so deep. Aho will have constant help this season regardless.

The second line played very well last season with the duo of Svechnikov and Necas. They ran that line despite weaker center options that were changing. Kotkaniemi has taken over the role and is getting better. He should be more of a factor this season and I can see 1-2 of them pushing a point-per-game.

In contention for the best third line in the league last season is the Hurricanes’ third line. Centered by Staal who was re-signed, this group doesn’t have the most skill in the world, but are great at both ends of the ice. Fast should remain on the wing here, but if Teravainen is healthy, he can’t be lining up on the fourth line. He is a skilled player and that would bury him. Despite being the other contributing winger on the third line last season, Martinook will likely be moved down for the most part.

Although Martinook had a career year and the Hurricanes might try to replicate it on the third line, I don’t think he produces nearly as well this season. He can be a strong fourth liner until any injuries occur. Drury has to show improvement. It might be tough being stuck on the fourth line with no way of moving up, but he doesn’t have useless linemates. Noesen is also a talented bottom-six player that might find time on the third line sometimes too.

Defense

The Hurricanes have the best defense core in the NHL this season, and it might be tough to find enough playing time for everyone. Slavin and Burns were very good together on the top pairing, so there’s no reason to break them up with the addition of Orlov. Slavin and Burns will likely also eat the most minutes, but not by a ton.

Skjei and Pesce were also great together last season. Again, there’s no reason to split them up. Skjei surprised offensively while Pesce is one of the most underrated players in the NHL because of his stellar play defensively.

Related: Stat Hockey’s Calgary Flames 2023-24 Line Projections

That leaves Orlov to be paired with DeAngelo. The latter needs a strong defensive presence beside him, and they both can put up points. Nobody really thought so with Orlov until he turned into an elite offensive scorer once he got to Boston. Don’t expect nearly as much offense from him, that will be DeAngelo’s role in this pair. They should be able to feed off of each other well. Since the team has so many options defensively, they may be carrying eight defensemen even though they will only dress six. Nathan Beaulieu and Dylan Coghlan will also be in the mix for a spot on the team.

Goaltending

The Hurricanes made an interesting but smart decision to bring back both of their veteran goalies for short-term deals this summer. Andersen is the starter and should remain so as long as he’s healthy. But the team doesn’t like to overwork him. This is where Raanta’s very strong play comes in handy. He’s highly underrated and went 19-3-3 last season. Like Andersen, he’s also injury-prone. Their third-string goalie Pyotr Kochetkov will surely play a part on the team this season, but the Hurricanes are milking one more season of him being exempt from waivers. He got into 24 games last season and is the future, but is still a little inexperienced for the Stanley Cup run they hope to have.