This piece will be another in my series of player profiles, where I’ll give some thoughts on the performance of a member of the Carolina Hurricanes this season. This article will focus on Andrei Svechnikov.
I’ve said it before, but you really couldn’t have asked for a better sophomore season from Svechnikov. He had a breakout year, cemented by his highlight reel goals at key times, becoming a star for the Hurricanes in the process.
He boosted his production in a major way, from 20 goals and 37 points last season to a pace of 29 goals and 74 points this season. He had an excellent corsi for percentage at 56.6 per cent and he was averaging 2.7 shots per game, up from 2.3 shots per game last season. His usage was also increased, as his ice time was up by a minute on both the power play and at even strength.
He’s able to use his speed to go wide and cut to the net and has found a pretty successful spot for himself on the power play, beating goalies from the top of the circle with a wicked shot. He still makes mistakes and takes some careless penalties here and there but again, he just turned 20 years old– those problems will likely be resolved as he matures.
Svechnikov is only going to continue to round out his game and headed into a contract year, it’ll be interesting to see if he’s able to take another big step in his development. Next season, I’d expect the first line to once again make up a good bulk of Carolina’s offense, with Svechnikov as a key piece.
Here's today's poll question (results and discussion will be posted Saturday):
What is your early prediction for Andrei Svechnikov's contract AAV (based on a six-year deal)?
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