Andrei Svechnikov Close to Returning

The Carolina Hurricanes dropped last night’s preseason matchup with the Nashville Predators 5-1; the lone Carolina goal came from Ryan Suzuki; it was his second goal of the preseason. The Hurricanes will play the Predators again tonight in their last preseason game before the season begins next week, and they will start it by taking on the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night. This morning, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour gave some encouragement to the starting lineup for opening night as he said Winger Andrei Svechnikov is “so close” to returning; Svechnikov will be tested again on Monday to see if he will be available for the season opener against the Senators.

Andrei Svechnikov By The Numbers

Svechnikov in the Hurricanes lineup is always a positive for them; he missed the playoffs last season after suffering a knee injury on March 11^th in Carolina’s 4-0 loss to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights. Svechnikov played in 64 games last season, recording 55 points coming off 23 goals and 32 assists; he was a plus-six and had 16 power-play points. In his career, he has played five seasons, appearing in 347 games, and had a career 264 points on 112 goals and 152 assists, with 80 of those points coming on the power-play; in his career, he is a + 35.

Bottom Line: Hurricanes need Svechnikov in the lineup

The 2023-24 season for the Carolina Hurricanes is expected to be an exciting one with a lot of hope of hoisting the Stanley Cup when all is said and done, and that is due to the off-season acquisitions that have bolstered their blue line. However, they retained both goalies and still have a solid young goalie in Pyotr Kochetkov. Still, they added Michael Bunting, who is expected to start on the first line, moving Svechnikov to the second line to play alongside Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Martin Necas. The Hurricanes have a lot of depth from top to bottom, which has helped build up the hype around this season, and getting Svechnikov back for the Opener would be a massive boost to this team.