FANTASY STUDS

Justin Faulk: Last season, all of Faulk’s PPG came within the first 30 games of the season. An injury plagued second half of the season restricted him for having more. If you could handle the ugly plus/minus number, Faulk is an excellent source of points, PPP, and shots. He’s the first Hurricane that should be taken off the board and is a lock for 40+ points if he stays healthy. Projection: 16g 30a 46pts

POTENTIAL STUDS

Teuvo Teravainen: Teravainen is coming over to Carolina from Chicago after having 35 points in his first season as a full-time NHLer. At only 22 years old, he brings more promise to an up-and-coming forward group. Unlike his situation in Chicago, Teravainen will be relied on for more offense in Carolina. He was only given an average ice time of 15:20 per game and little powerplay time with Hawks. As the ice-time increases, so should his production. Projection: 20g 28a 48pts

Jeff Skinner: One of the slickest skaters in hockey. At 24 years old, people view Skinner as a disappointment. He broke into the league scoring 63 points en route to a calder trophy. Since then, the closest he’s gotten was 54 points in 13′-14′. Unfortunately for him, he doesn’t have a 26-year-old Eric Staal passing him the puck this year. He won’t beat his career high, but 50 points is definitely attainable. Projection: 32g 22a 54pts

Elias Lindholm: Lindholm put up almost identical back-to-back seasons. The biggest difference would be his goal output (6 fewer) and assist output (6 more). Although the sample size is small, it would appear that Lindholm is due for a shooting percentage correction. He scored on 10.8% of his shots in his first 139 games in the NHL. Last season he only scored on 6.3%. If he continued on his earlier clip, he would have scored 19 goals last season. Projection: 20g 31a 51pts

Noah Hanifin: Hanifin put up 22 points in his rookie season. He will continue to grow into a better fantasy option this season but you shouldn’t expect a huge jump in points. Justin Faulk is still the top powerplay defenceman in Carolina. Projection: 7g 23a 30pts

Victor Rask: Rask played 80 games for the Canes each of the last two seasons. Last season he had on average 16:58 TOI/game, 38 seconds more than the season prior. He also had a small increase in powerplay time. The small sample size makes it difficult to know whether the increase in points (48 last year vs 33 in 14′-15′) was due to natural age progression or a massive jump in shooting percentage. We think his value lies in the middle. Projection: 18g 26a 44pts

CONTRIBUTORS

Jordan Staal: Staal has proven to be a consistent 40-50 point player over his 10 year career. It’s not ideal for a 2nd overall draft pick, but at 28 years old, the ‘breakout’ window has passed. Staal will be penciled in as the number one centre to start the season, but the top two lines will likely get even playing time. He is what he is at this point. Don’t expect more. Projection: 17g 32a 49pts

Lee Stempniak: The Canes will be the 7th team in 4 seasons for Stempniak. Although he bounces around the league, he’s actually a quite useful fantasy contributor. Last year he compiled 51 points playing with New Jersey and Boston. This year, he finds himself as the oldest forward on his team at 33. He probably won’t hit 51, but he’ll get his points. Projection: 14g 26a 40pts

Andrej Nestrasil: Nestrasil will spend most of his season on the third line and could see time on the second powerplay unit. He’s currently not worth taking up a position on your team. Projection: 12g 17a 29pts

IS THIS THE YEAR FOR:

Sebastian Aho: (Yahoo Pre-Season Rank: None) Aho (19) is very likely to make the jump to the NHL after playing in the Finnish Elite League for the past 3 years. He finished 9th in overall scoring last year with 45 points in 45 games while ellow future NHLer Jesse Puljujarvi scored 28 points in 50 games on the same team. Aho can make an impact as early as this season. Projection: 19g 30a 49pts

GOALTENDING

Cam Ward and Eddie Lack: Cam Ward posted a .909 save percentage last year. In fact, it was his fourth consecutive season having a save percentage under .910. His goaltending partner Eddie Lack did no better – posting a .901 save percentage and a losing record. You can’t own one without the other, but ultimately the Canes will likely finish in the basement of the NHL – so you shouldn’t own either.