It's been a long time since fans of the Carolina Hurricanes had a genuine reason to be optimistic about the present. In the six years since the Canes last appeared in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the club's fortunes have languished behind promises of past greatness, some acutely inept management, and sagging interest in a region dominated by collegiate athletics.

The issues have been well documented, and it's best to leave the lion's share of the past where it belongs – in the past. But today, with 44 games remaining in a season most experts predicted to be more of the same, the Hurricanes are poised to break out of their long-suffered slump and look on their way to becoming a force in the NHL again.

The reasons are ample but they all start with two men: Ron Francis and Bill Peters. Both began their campaigns as the respective heads of the hockey side of the organization at the same time. Francis, the franchise player-turned GM, and Peters, the first-time head coach, were charged with righting a ship that was listing as much as the Titanic after it hit that fated iceberg.

Both took their lumps in year one, with the Canes struggling mightily throughout the 2014-15 season. But three things were now abundantly clear – there would be direction, instillation of a long-term system suited for the NHL of today, and real accountability.

All it would take to bring it together was the personnel. And while the Canes aren't in prime spot 'A' just yet in that department, they sit far better than they have at any point in the past six years.

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It's hard to pin an entire outlook on one game, but if Carolina's effort in their 4-2 win against the surging Washington Capitals on New Year's Eve was any indication, the Canes are right where they wanted to be at this point of the season.

That may seem odd considering where they have been in the standings. Currently, the Hurricanes are six points out of the #8 seed in the Eastern Conference and nine points out of a top 3 spot in the Metro Division at the time of this writing. But consider that no other team in the NHL has to endure a ridiculous 7-game road trip every single October which, not to make excuses (and no one on the Canes would ever say it's an excuse), doubtlessly contributes to their annual difficulties in the season's debut month. And, a November that saw just 3 wins in 13 games didn't help matters and firmly put Carolina in or near the league's basement heading into December.

From that vantage point, getting to where we are now seems a whole lot better. Two things throughout the entire season that have been consistent is the team's effort and commitment to the system. Because of that, the fruits of their labor are now becoming ripe for the picking.

The Canes played 54 minutes of lights-out hockey against the Caps on Thursday night. If not for a late surge by a suddenly desperate Washington club in the third period, it was pretty much all Carolina throughout the game. It was easily their best game of 2015, and 'caps' a December that saw the team take six out of a possible six points against the defending Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks, Montreal Canadiens (who at the time were the hottest team in the NHL), and the aforementioned Capitals (who were riding a 9-game winning streak before taking the loss to the Canes).

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It's time to start thinking about how the Canes will shape up as we head towards the NHL Trade Deadline, which falls on the 'leap day' of Monday, February 29 this year.

January sets up well for Carolina, with six games out of 13 against teams below them in the standings and a 3-game homestand to close out the month. However, the schedule also features an unfriendly trio of back to back contests in which the Hurricanes play one at home and one on the road – the toughest being a quick midwest trip to St. Louis on January 14th for an 8pm EST tilt with a quick turnaround game at PNC Arena against Vancouver at 7pm the next night.

19 out of a possible 26 points in January (9-3-1) isn't totally out of the question and would feasibly put Carolina on the cusp of a wild-card spot in the East. A 15 to 18 point month likely keeps them where they are now (6-8 points out), and anything less probably puts them too far back to make a late-season surge.

This is the most critical month for the Hurricanes in a long time, as it will forecast how the team looks heading into next season and beyond. The most marquee player the team has had in a decade, Eric Staal, will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2016. A failed January could decidedly impact the likelihood of Staal's departure, whereas a successful month could put the stamp on a new long-term (and more cap friendly) contract in Raleigh.

This writer was thoroughly sure that Eric's time was up as this season began. However, it's become more clear to me over the last month that the Canes need Staal and they need him playing like he has been in December. Moving him for future pieces, which is the likeliest catch for the pending free agent, undoubtedly sets the team back at least a season or two. As solid as Victor Rask has been and as far as he's come in a short time, the depth up the middle just isn't there to replace a player of Staal's caliber.

No less than six other current roster players will also be unrestricted at the end of the season. Four others will be restricted free agents, with two of them looking for sizable raises (Rask, who makes $680k this year, and Joakim Nordstrom, who will earn $605k this season).

All in all, January will tell a lot about this team and whether the future is now, or still a few years away.

--Thomas Gidlow

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