Hurricanes Notes: Svechnikov, Aho, Andersen

While he wasn’t ready for the beginning of the regular season as once expected, Hurricanes winger Andrei Svechnikov is still making positive strides in his recovery from a major knee injury sustained in March. Today, he shed the no-contact designation at Hurricanes practice for the first time, relays team editorial content producer and reporter Walt Ruff.

Svechnikov is still within the bounds of his initial six-to-nine-month recovery timeline, and while it’s disappointing he wasn’t ready to play on opening night, he hasn’t sustained any setbacks and is likely on track to make his season debut before the end of the month. Remarkably, scoring goals hasn’t been Carolina’s issue in Svechnikov’s absence. Instead, it’s been keeping them out – their 30 goals against in 2023-24 is the worst in the league by a significant margin. That’s far from what anyone expected after the Hurricanes, already revered as one of the better-structured teams in the league, added Dmitry Orlov to their blueline this summer and retained a goalie trio of Frederik Andersen, Pyotr Kochetkov and Antti Raanta that’s done well for them in recent campaigns.

Other notes from Carolina today:

• The Hurricanes have had to play their last two outings without their two best point-producing forwards, as number-one center Sebastian Aho has joined Svechnikov on the injured list for the past three games. After notching a goal and two assists in his first three contests, Aho was a full participant in today’s practice, says Ruff, and the door is open for him to return to the lineup tomorrow against the Lightning. Teuvo Teräväinen has played fill-in duty on the team’s top line in Aho’s absence, centering Michael Bunting and Martin Necas. The 29-year-old has four goals in six games after a disappointing 2022-23 campaign.
• Ruff also relays that the injured Andersen is indeed close to a return, making an appearance at today’s practice that followed the return of Kochetkov on loan to AHL Syracuse. Andersen was injured in a recent game against the Sharks after taking a puck to the face. The 34-year-old Dane has struggled in three appearances so far this year, but he’s still been the best out of the Canes’ netminders, leading the team with a .855 SV% and 4.15 GAA.