NHL Power Rankings: Metropolitan Division – October Edition

Jun 26, 2015; Sunrise, FL, USA; Noah Hanifin poses with team executives after being selected as the number five overall pick to the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft at BB&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

7. Carolina Hurricanes

The Hurricanes are a team with potential to move up a spot in the Metro but I’m not ready to put them there just yet. Jordan Staal is healthy, Noah Hanifin looks like the real deal and the addition of Eddie Lack could prove to be huge considering Cam Ward‘s recent struggles.

The Hurricanes allowed the third fewest shots-against per game last season, a stat that’s surprising to most. However, they finished in the middle of the pack for goals-against per game due to poor goaltending and couldn’t score goals of their own. Did they do enough to correct those issues for 2015-16?

There is data that tells us Carolina could very well be a much improved team in the upcoming season. Consider that they ranked tenth overall in shots-for per sixty minutes of play but were a dismal twenty-seventh in the league for goals-for per sixty. So, they were generating a lot of offense but not capitalizing. If they continue to that shot pace, they’re bound to start burying some pucks, right?

Well, historically, they rank in the bottom-five for shot percentage. When a team recognizes a drastic drop for one season it’s normally an anomaly that you can count on improving the following year. That isn’t the case for the Hurricanes. The formula for success in Carolina sounds simple. Start finishing. The issue is that finishing isn’t exactly easy to do in the NHL and the Canes have proved that they’re quite incapable of doing so.

Next: Philadelphia Flyers