Carolina Hurricanes Player Power Rankings: Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce Surge Ahead

This was a week all to familiar to Carolina Hurricanes fans as the team only managed a single win. Few Canes stood out in a positive way and the overall stock of the team continues to dwindle.

The common thread of a Bill Peters Carolina Hurricanes team is having a brutal October. The previous two seasons saw some better Novembers, but that hasn’t materialized yet in 2016.

As poor as the goaltending has been, the Hurricanes received decent netminding for stretches this week. For some reason though, the goals weren’t coming. The Hurricanes managed only 4 goals in 3 games this week. Hopefully, this was just an anomaly and not signs of what’s to come.

Not many Canes made positive impacts throughout the whole week, so many guys retained their position on this list because everyone around them was just as inconsistent. Anyway, these are the update rankings.

The Best of the Canes: 1-3

Jeff Skinner

10GP, 6G, 6A

Last week: 3GP, 1GLast rank: 1

Now the only Hurricane averaging better than a point per game, Jeff Skinner continues to be the offensive force Carolina desperately needs. His goal against Nashville was a thing of beauty and helped propel the team to an overtime and shootout it probably had no business being a part of. Both Rask and Stempniak have cooled off of late, so Skinner hasn’t been as productive as previous weeks. However, no one on the Canes and few players in the league can rival Skinner’s offensive capabilities.

Jaccob Slavin

11GP, 1G, 2A

Last week: 3GP, 1G, 1 Shootout WinnerLast rank: 3

Looking at his stat line, its incredibly easy to overlook Jaccob Slavin. That’s a pity, because Slavin is Carolina’s best defenseman and a woefully underrated NHL player. Slavin tallied his first goal of the season against Ottowa and, in the words of John Forslund, ‘looked like Bobby Orr’. Then, in the next contest against Nashville, he made Pekka Rinne look like an amateur in the shootout. As always, he is still Carolina’s rock at the back and will continue to be.

Victor Rask

11GP, 4G, 6A

Last week: 3GPLast rank: 2

As was alluded to, Victor Rask cooled off this week. He failed to even register a point, but was key in the set up to Skinner’s goal against the Predators. What’s important though is that Rask is still doing all the little things right. If we were told Rask would have 10 points after 11 games, we’d probably not believe you. So, despite the slow offensive week, Victor Rask maintains his spot in the top three.

The Middle of the Pack: 4-6

Lee Stempniak

11GP, 4G, 2A

Last week: 3GPLast rank: 4

Like Rask, Lee Stempniak has gone from sky high back down to Earth. Also, like Rask, the 33 year old made a good play (a screen) on Skinner’s talley but wasn’t rewarded with a point. So far this season, Stempniak has brought some two-way consistency to Carolina’s group of forwards. His team high +5 rating is evidence of that.

Brett Pesce

11GP, 2A

Last week: 3GPLast rank: 9

The biggest mover this week is Brett Pesce. Paired with Jaccob Slavin, Pesce is proving to be a quality compliment to his defensive partner. He leads the team with a tremendous 22 blocks after only 11 games, 6 of those blocks being down a man. Excluding Klas Dahlbeck, the 2nd year pro has the best plus/minus ratio among defensemen. We covered Pesce’s great play in an article earlier this week.

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Sebastian Aho

11GP, 5A

Last week: 3GPLast rank: 8

It’s now been 11 games this season and rookie Sebastian Aho still remains goalless. It has also been 6 games since the teenaged Finn has registered an assist. Yet, he moves up the rankings because both he even more defensibly capable than anticipated and the others ahead of him had rough weeks. With Stempniak slowing down, maybe throwing Aho up in his place so he can get a goal and some more confidence.

The Others: 7-10

Justin Faulk

11GP, 3G, 3A

Last week: 3GPLast rank: 5

Like so many Hurricanes, Justin Faulk went pointless this week. Not ideal for an offensive defenseman. With very few Canes producing offense right now, having Justin Faulk bombing shots from the point is needed more than ever. So, it doesn’t look good on the former All-Star when Carolina went scoreless on the powerplay this week. He did get injured on Sunday, so hopefully he is okay. The Canes need him.

Jordan Staal

11GP, 3G, 1A

Last week: 3GP, 1ALast rank: 6

Many have tapped Jordan Staal to be the Canes next captain. After 11 games, that argument is losing traction. It isn’t his fault his line mates have given him no support offensively, but for a player paid as much as he is and with so much riding on him, 4 points in 11 games is weak.

Noah Hanifin

11GP, 7A

Last week: 3GP, 1ALast rank: 7

It was likely to happen to one of Carolina’s three sophomore defensemen. Noah Hanifin is in a noticeably bad defensive slump. He was particularly bad against New Jersey. Luckily for him, his team high 7 assists is keeping him on these player rankings.

Andrej Nestrasil

6GP, 1G, 1A

Last week: 3GP, 1GLast rank: Unranked

Recovering from a nasty injury takes lots of energy and patience, so its great for Canes fans to see Andrej Nestrasil out on the ice and playing again. What’s even better is seeing him score. That was probably the only positive from an awful game against New Jersey. Nestrasil led the team with 8 shots in that contest.