It's a curious case confounding the Carolina crew.
On the one hand, the Hurricanes are six points out of a playoff spot with 17 games to go. Several teams ahead of them still have those pesky games-in-hand, meaning the Canes are more like six to ten points out of wild card positions. The likelihood of earning 27 points in those 17 games to hit the current projected magic number of 95 is quite low, but stranger things have happened in the NHL.
On the other hand, Carolina is 16 points ahead of the lowly Toronto Maple Leafs for last place in the league, and 11 points ahead of Edmonton and Winnipeg, both tied for the 28th. The Hurricanes sit in 20th place overall, putting their draft stock at the 11th pick, far outside the draft lottery with only a sliver of a chance to move into the #1 spot. The likelihood is low that the Canes could drop far enough to nestle themselves into the bottom three, which would guarantee them a top-six pick. But again, stranger things have happened in the NHL.
The team assembled to finish out the year isn't exactly an All-Star team. Moving out Eric Staal, Kris Versteeg, and John-Michael Liles at the trade deadline left pretty sizable holes in the lineup. Replacing them are Derek Ryan, Brock McGinn, and Ryan Murphy, three players who have done well on the farm in Charlotte.
Speculation: Murphy is likely only up to try to showcase something for an offseason trade. Trevor Carrick was the obvious candidate for a look, but as I have said in previous articles, the "10-15 game let's look at you for next season" hardly ever bears fruit and, as has been the past for the Canes, often proved to be disasterous for further development. (Boychuk, Bowman, Heerema, Welsh, etc etc etc)
Could the team play outside of themselves and put a run together? They sure could. Nothing says they have to lose games because they dealt out three key players, and in the NHL, any team can win on a given night. Bill Peters is a fine coach and although he has his work cut out for him with a pieced together roster, if Cam Ward and Eddie Lack can continue their play from the past couple of months, don't be surprised if Carolina still has enough in the tank to make some waves.
Here are the updated Eastern standings relating to the Canes.
UPDATED: Expected lines for tonight's tilt against the red hot Lightning in Tampa Bay. Justin Faulk did not make the trip to Florida, and Andrej Nestrasil is out for the year. Jay McClement is with the team but will not play tonight
(H/T @MichaelSmith).
Nordstrom - Staal - Lindholm
Skinner - Rask - Di Giuseppe
Gerbe - Nash - Malone
McGinn - Ryan - Terry
Scratches: Andrej Nestrasil (lower body), Jay McClement (upper body)
Slavin - Hainsey
Hanifin - Pesce
Jordan - Murphy
Scratches: Justin Faulk (lower body), James Wisniewski (IR, ACL)
Lack
Ward
Eddie Lack will be your starting goaltender, sporting some sweet new pads.
Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • 
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