While the Carolina Hurricanes season ended in disappointment, the team had a lot to be proud of. Now in the offseason, tough decisions will be made, and management will work to put the team in a place to succeed next season. In the meantime, we will take a look back at individual players’ seasons and see how they did. For the Carolina Hurricanes offseason grades, today we look at Andrei Svechnikov.
Carolina Hurricanes Offseason Grades: Andrei Svechnikov
Andrei Svechnikov is one of the foundational players for the Carolina Hurricanes. The former second-overall pick is an effective power forward with good hands and a great shot. Svechnikov provides the Hurricanes with a scoring punch that they look to rely on from time to time given their high shot-generating style of play.
Andrei Svechnikov’s Regular Season
Svechnikov started the season off on fire in the goal-scoring department. He scored 19 of his 23 goals in the season’s first three months. However, when the goal-scoring slowed down, he put up 17 assists in January and February. Unfortunately, Svechnikov went down with a season-ending injury in early March and ended up only playing in 64 games. In that time frame, he still finished third on the team in goals and assists, and fourth in points with 55. His expected goals percentage of 65.2% was also second on the team for players playing over 100 minutes. On the powerplay he was fourth on the team in goals and third in points while he was fourth on the team in game-winning goals. Notably, Svechnikov also was second on the team in hits with 140.
His totals this year were not too far behind his personal best in only 64 games played. However, while his points and goals per game were pretty close to last season, they took a slight dip. Overall, he showed his finishing ability and power forward prowess with his play this season. Without much a of a true sniper on the team, and with Max Pacioretty missing most of the season, Svechnikov was a top player Carolina leaned on for goal scoring. The beginning of the season he was scoring non-stop. At the end of his season, he seemed to be setting up other guys more. Either way he was fairly effective. Had he played a complete season, he very well may have hit the 30-goal mark.
The Verdict
Unfortunately, for Carolina and Svechnikov, he did not have an opportunity to contribute in the playoffs. Had the Hurricanes had a healthy Svechnikov in the playoffs, would they be playing in the Stanley Cup Finals? It’s hypothetical but it surely would not have hurt. Svechnikov provides any line he plays on with a mix of energy, power, physicality, goal scoring and skill. Because of that he can create space for others and put the puck in the net himself. While his average stat totals per game dipped, the team certainly is hoping to see Svechnikov progress in his development to become a star caliber player. He is a player that will be a foundational piece for Carolina for the foreseeable future. In fact, he just signed a long term deal that keeps in Raleigh for the long haul. Missing Svechnikov certainly affected the team in the playoffs. From his physicality and his scoring touch, Svechnikov is a difference maker in that regard. His injury was some bad luck so we can really only look at what he did when playing and, to a lesser degree, maybe how it affected the team when he was gone. Flip the script and run it back next year.
Grade: B
Main Photo: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
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