Even Strength Struggles Plaguing Hurricanes Top Players

The Carolina Hurricanes, losers of three straight, are struggling to find their footing as of late and a big part of those struggles falls upon their top players.

Following the team's 4-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday, coach Rod Brind'Amour called out his top players.

"There's a lot of top players here that weren't good tonight and if we're going to win, we're going to need those guys being top guys," Brind'Amour said. "They have to look the part and it just hasn't been there."

The season is over a quarter of the way in and the Canes have gotten only five 5v5 goals from its three highest paid forwards combined — Sebastian Aho (2), Andrei Svechnikov (1), Seth Jarvis (2).

The one top forward who's been really pulling his weight at 5v5 is Martin Necas who has seven 5v5 goals and 19 5v5 points.

Past him, it's been mostly depth guys that are pulling the load. Jack Roslovic has 12 5v5 goals, Eric Robinson has seven, Jordan Martinook has six and Jackson Blake five.

That's great to have, but the guys making the big bucks can't be getting outproduced like that. It just can't happen.

Related: 'I Always Believed In Myself': Martin Necas Leading Hurricanes, League In Breakout Season

Things have been especially tough for Svechnikov, who looked poised for a breakout season after the way he closed out last year.

Through 25 games, Svechnikov has just one goal and seven points at 5v5 despite averaging 12:53 5v5 time per game.

It's not like he isn't getting chances though as he leads the team in individual chances per 60 (19.36), but the goals just aren't coming.

"I don't know really," Svechnikov said when asked if he had any ideas on why the 5v5 scoring struggles have crept in . "But I got to figure out that. I've gotta play better and find those ways to score 5v5 and just create more chances in general. Whenever you have more chances, the goals will come for sure. To get those goals, that's my goal. I think things are going to get easier once I do that."

Svechnikov currently has scored -3.7 goals above expected, but the only way to work through a funk is to just play your way through it.

"It's no secret," Brind'Amour said. "You have to work through it, but you also have to pay attention to the details and sometimes you just get caught up thinking, 'Oh, I need to score,' but you forget that it's all the other stuff that allows you to score. We have to get back to a little more basics there. He'll get his chances that way and then the goals will come."

Related: Boston Bruins Captain Brad Marchand Excited To Play With Seth Jarvis On Team Canada

It's been suggested that part of the struggles has perhaps been due to the team's consistent line juggling as of late.

The Canes have gone to the blender over the past month and I'd imagine it's hard to build chemistry and confidence with linemates when things are constantly in flux, although Svechnikov pushed back on that thought.

"I don't really think about it to be honest," Svechnikov said. "Sometimes I like line switches. It's good and can give energy sometimes and all that stuff. But I don't think it's hard to find momentum and all that stuff."

Beyond scoring though, a bigger worry is that the Canes' top players have also been surrendering high-danger chances and goals at a higher rate than the rest of the team.

5v5 Goals Against
• Aho - 26
• Necas - 20
• Svechnikov - 19
• Jarvis - 15

"You start hedging because you haven't scored and now you start doing things not quite right and that opens things up the other way," Brind'Amour said. "That's what you just can't do. I've been there, we've all been there. There's no easy way to do it. You have to put the work boots on and get after it."

Related: Hurricanes Put Up Pitiful Effort In Loss To Kraken

Brind'Amour is hoping to get his team back to the basics and playing a simple game and once that happens, he's hopeful that the goals and points will start showing up again.

"You have to play to your identity and we have not," Brind'Amour said. "That's essentially what's happened here. It's hard to work that hard every night and be on top of it. When you do, it looks a certain way and when you don't it looks a certain way and you can see the difference. Sometimes it's just a little bit from each guy and then things start looking a little different. There's no secret to it."

Carolina has been fortunate to be where they are standings-wise and that's a credit to Necas, who leads the league in scoring and is emerging as a superstar talent, a hot power play and some consistent depth scoring.

The power play, ranked sixth in the league, has been a consistent strength for the Hurricanes this season and it's been there that a majority of the Canes' top-end goals have come from.

Power Play Points
• Svechnikov - 9 (5 goals)
• Aho - 11 (2 goals)
• Jarvis - 9 - (3 goals)

"Neci has been really good there and has been creating the space for the partners and some division," Svechnikov said. "We're just trying to shoot more and obviously even the last game's goal, it was a great breakout and we had speed. That's what we have to continue doing."

So it's not like their top guys have gone completely dry and they luckily have something to hang their hats on, but the majority of the game is played at 5v5 and that's usually Carolina's bread and butter.

If the Hurricanes want to be as good as they're capable of being, they need their top guys to start producing at 5v5. Bottom line.

"You have to execute," Brind'Amour said. "Working after games and doing things after games is great, but you have to do it during the game. You have to do it right during the game and then all that extra stuff will help you. We sometimes lose sight of it. It's your 15 to 18 minutes a night that matters and you have to do it right when the time comes."