Some teams across the league are going to really benefit from this break, if and when the season does resume. The Carolina Hurricanes are one of those teams.
As we know, injuries to both Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce forced the Hurricanes to make some moves at the deadline. They acquired both Brady Skjei and Sami Vatanen to help bulk up their defense, however, now with the season delayed, we can stop and consider what the lineup is going to look like with some pieces added back in.
The break has given Dougie Hamilton a chance to recover and as soon as the season picks back up, he’ll be ready to go. There’s more uncertainty with Pesce, who was said to be out for 4-6 months at the beginning of March. With the season potentially starting back up in July, however, at that point it’ll be four months from when we got that timeline and there’s a chance we see him return, especially if the Hurricanes go deep in the playoffs. It may be a stretch, but there's a chance!
Without Pesce, here’s what Carolina’s defense could look like:
Slavin - Hamilton
Skjei - Vatanen
Gardiner - Edmundson
Extras: Fleury, van Riemsdyk
Now add in Pesce:
Slavin - Hamilton
Skjei - Pesce
Edmundson - Vatanen
Extras: Gardiner, Fleury, van Riemsdyk
Even without Pesce, the Hurricanes are stacked on the blue line, with eight NHL defenders. Joel Edmundson could finally take on a smaller role which would suit him better and there wouldn’t be a concern for how Haydn Fleury may perform in the playoffs with a lack of experience.
With Pesce, however, you’ve probably got the best defense corps in the league. It would be a mix of defensemen who are both defensively reliable but can also add in offense and if someone’s not doing their job, there are three other players who can take their place. It also means the Hurricanes would avoid the playoff version of Jake Gardiner, which, coming from someone who followed the Toronto Maple Leafs closely throughout my undergrad, was not a great sight. I often think people are a bit too hard on Gardiner but it’s also fair to be less lenient in the playoffs. Carolina would already have enough defenders who could add offense, while not needing to sacrifice defense in return and they could avoid putting Gardiner in the lineup.
I suppose this article was just basically summarizing what the Hurricanes’ current defense corps looks like, so... I’m sorry? But at least I for one never really stopped to take a look at what the blue line could look like for the playoffs if the team was actually fully healthy because I never figured it would happen. As we actually near a potential return though, it’s pretty darn exciting to see where the team’s defense could be at.
***NOTE: We've launched a HockeyBuzz Hurricanes Twitter account! For anyone interested, you can follow @HB_Canes for updates on articles, Hurricanes news, etc. We're starting right from scratch, so any followers would be appreciated!***
Here’s today’s poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
If Brett Pesce were to return in the playoffs, who would be scratched?
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