On January 1st of this year, the Carolina Hurricanes sat tied for 13th in the Eastern Conference standings with a 16-17-5 record, good for just 37 points, three points ahead of the last place Ottawa Senators. After an incredible finish to the season to grab the 1st Wild Card spot, they are now just two wins away from the Eastern Conference Final and an opportunity to play for the Stanley Cup.

After a disappointing 2017-18 season that led to head coach Bill Peters resigning and general manager Ron Francis losing his job, there were few expectations for the Canes in 2018-19. Head coach Rod Brind'Amour, a former captain and 2006 Stanley Cup champion for the Canes, has been instrumental in this team's run to the playoffs and past the first round. The fact that he was a player in the not so distant past allows for him to relate to the players more and see the ice in a way that coaches who didn't play at the NHL level cannot.

Carolina's run to the playoffs has been led by 21-year-old forward Sebastian Aho, who finished the regular season with 83 points. Aho is a restricted free agent this summer and will be paid handsomely, probably in excess of $8.5 million per year. Forward Teuvo Teravainen had 76 points as the second leading scorer for the Canes, and he was rewarded mid-season with a contract extension worth $5.4 million per year until 2024. Top defenseman Dougie Hamilton scored 18 goals in his first season in Raleigh after a trade from Calgary over the summer. The defensive core of Hamilton, Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce, Justin Faulk, Trevor van Riemsdyk, and Calvin De Haan has been solid all season long.

The goaltending duo of Petr Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney, castoffs from the Flyers and Maple Leafs, have both been very good in net, with 0.914 and 0.912 save percentages respectively. Both are unrestricted free agents this summer, so they will expect a raise if Carolina wants to bring them back. Mrazek is 27 while McElhinney is 35, meaning McElhinney is expendable.

In the first round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Canes were significant underdogs to the defending Stanley Cup Champion Washington Capitals. After losing the first two games in DC, giving the Capitals a 2-0 series lead headed back to Raleigh, many thought the series was nearly over. Carolina responded with a dominant Game 3 win followed by a close Game 4 victory in which Mrazek was sensational. Washington dominated Game 5, putting them just one win away from moving on. The Canes came back in Game 6 to tie the series, followed by another comeback that sent Game 7 into overtime and then a second OT, where forward Brock McGinn scored the series winner to send the Canes to round 2.

At this moment, the Hurricanes lead their second-round series against the New York Islanders 2-0, after thrilling one-goal victories on the road in each game. Forward Jordan Staal, whose regular season numbers have been underwhelming in recent years, scored the OT winner in Game 1 to give Carolina a 1-0 victory, while forwards Warren Foegele and Nino Niederreiter scored in quick succession to begin the third period to give the Canes a 2-1 lead they would not relinquish.

Regardless of what happens the rest of the playoffs, the Canes have incredible promise in the near future. Assuming the projected $83 million salary cap next season, the Canes will have approximately

$29 million in cap space to resign Aho, Mrazek, and make other decisions on other free agents. With such flexibility, another trip to the playoffs is certainly within reach in 2020.