Are the Carolina Hurricanes the top team in the Eastern Conference?

The Carolina Hurricanes have had another excellent start to their season, as their 22-9-2 record has them first in the Eastern Conference by a five-point margin. They look like the class of the East right now, but they also have in years past, and that has yet to translate to a Stanley Cup. Is this the season they finally take that next step and win, or even just go to the Cup Final?

Carter Hutton and Tyler Yaremchuk talked about Carolina’s Stanley Cup chances on Daily Faceoff Live.

Carter Hutton: I hate to say this because Carolina has broke my heart so many times in futures and thinking where they’re going to go, but I agree with that. I’m going to strongly agree in that [they’re a Cup contender]. I just think the road to get there for them is going to be less travelled, and I think they can do that.

And also what I do believe is I don’t think they’re done. When Elliotte Friedman the other day talked about Carolina being the other team that was in the Quinn Hughes sweepstakes, it just gives me the idea that they’re going to be proactive. They could try to find someone.

I just think the road to the Eastern Conference Final is going to be not easy, but less strenuous than some other divisions as the Atlantic starts to sort itself out. But for me, I’m still worried about Florida and Tampa, and the other teams in the Atlantic that could come knocking.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Carolina was my pick last season to make the Stanley Cup Final, and every year they’re that sexy pick that everyone goes “it’s finally they’re year”. It’s the old “fool me one time, shame on you. Fool me twice.”

Well Carolina I feel like has fooled us five or six times in the last five or six years, where we sit there and we go “trust me, they’re different this year”. And then we get to the playoffs and the same old issues sink them. A goalie gets hurt. They don’t have a true game-changer up front. I like Nikolaj Ehlers. I don’t like Nikolaj Ehlers any more than I like Sebastian Aho or Seth Jarvis. Can the depth finally push them there?

And where I’ll come around on the reason I comfortably give the take, even though they’ve hurt me in the past and they’ve made us all look foolish in the past, is they’re the number one Cup contender in the East by default. Who else are you even looking at being like “they got what it takes right now”?

Carter Hutton: Yeah, right now we say that, but if we’re in the Eastern Conference Final and Carolina’s paired up against Tampa Bay, Florida, even against Toronto. You just start to look at the superstar status of those teams and head-on-head in a seven game series, whose superstars can elevate and win a series for them? It’s really, really hard to put Carolina in that group.

You can watch the full episode here…