Wrapping up the decade, I thought it would be fun to do a list of the top-10 Carolina Hurricanes from the 2010s. Here’s my list (and I’d love to see yours in the comments section):
SEBASTIAN AHO When Aho joined Carolina in 2016, he was a sign of hope for a team that didn’t have much going for them. He’s now a star in the league and one of the best players to wear a Hurricanes jersey in a long time.
DOUGIE HAMILTON I’ll admit there’s definitely some recency bias here, as Hamilton has been one of the top defensemen in the league this year. But even considering that, Hamilton makes the list anyways and the blockbuster trade that sent Noah Hanifin and Elias Lindholm to Calgary for Hamilton will go down as one of the most memorable deals of the 2010s.
JACCOB SLAVIN He’s one of the franchise’s most defensively sound defenseman in recent history. Now in his fifth season with the team and adding more of an offensive element to his game, Slavin is one of the best pure defensemen the Hurricanes had this decade.
ERIC STAAL Eric Staal was Carolina’s last real franchise player before the likes of Sebastian Aho came along. He played with the Hurricanes in parts of 12 seasons and started the 2010s scoring at least 70 points per 82. The long-time captain of the franchise certainly deserves a spot.
ANDREI SVECHNIKOV Alright, yeah, it’s only his second year in the league. But have you watched him!? Maybe it’s cheating to say he’s top-10 of the decade but I tried leaving him off in the original draft and it just feels wrong. It may only make up one-tenth of the decade but his 2019 alone has been good enough to get him on the list as far as I’m concerned.
CAM WARD It’s fair to not look at Ward’s last few (or several) seasons in Carolina very fondly. But don’t forget that way back at the start of the decade, he was one of the NHL’s best goalies. In 2010-11, he played a ridiculous 74 games, posting a .923 save percentage in the process.
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OTHER HURRICANES ARTICLES FROM DECEMBER