Are the Carolina Hurricanes legit contenders?

Game five is getting ready to kick off between the Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Islanders. Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk took to the #AskDFO inbox question to discuss whether or not the Hurricanes are legitimate contenders and if they can put the series away tonight as they hold the 3-1 chokehold over the Islanders. 

Tyler Yaremchuk: Tonight, Frank, we got game five between the Hurricanes and Islanders. This one has felt a lot like the Canes have stepped on the right pedal. The question today “Are the Canes going to put this away, and do you maybe view them differently after this series?” 

Frank Seravalli: I don’t, but I do think they put the series away and, like I said about the Oilers, just making life easy on themselves. The Canes could get some significant rest here, too, especially as the Rangers and Devils looks like it may go the distance. So, I think it’s been impressive what they’ve been able to do, but I also think the Islanders are a very average team. You know the fact the Canes have been able to do it without Terravainen and Svechnikov, and obviously, in a different case, Max Pacioretty has been impressive, but because those guys are out and not coming back, I don’t view them as a legitimate contender in the sense that you might be able to win this round, but the next one we will see. Do they have the firepower to keep up with either of New York or New Jersey? I tend to not think so. Everything else begins to ratchet up then as well; it’s not going to be an easy out because they compete and are consistent. But they’ve also, at times, speaking of their road record in the playoffs, which they seemed to have slayed, they don’t make life easy on themselves. They had multiple chances to make short series in the past, and they let it slip away from them. It would be real nice for them if they can clean this up in game five and move on. 

You can watch the full episode here…