Better luck next year: New year, same result for Carolina Hurricanes

They keep running into a postseason wall.

Welcome back to Better Luck Next Year, a series that will focus on each team as they get eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention and the Stanley Cup Playoffs. What went wrong, why it went wrong, what (if anything) went right, and what is next. We continue today with the next team to be officially eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention: The Carolina Hurricanes.

Before I get into offering some thoughts on what went wrong for the Carolina Hurricanes this season I just want to offer an apology for not writing over the past week-and-a-half. My mental health has not been in the best place and I have taken some time away from work to try and get myself right again. I am still not where I want to be. I am just taking it day-by-day and working my way back. It is a process, but I am doing the best I can. The important thing is I am safe.

With that out of the way, let’s talk about the Hurricanes who once again ran into an Eastern Conference playoff wall and were eliminated in the second round by the New York Rangers.

I really thought this season was going to be different for the Hurricanes. Not only because they were again one of the best teams in the league and rated favorably in most statistical and analytical models, but because they stepped out of their comfort zone at the trade deadline and went all in on some big additions, including one of the top rental players available.

Getting Jake Guentzel from the Pittsburgh Penguins seemed like a perfect fit for everything the Hurricanes needed to get over the hump.

They already had a rock-solid team from top-to-bottom with few weaknesses, but they were really lacking more high-end finishers that could help turn more of their territorial dominance into goals. Offense tends to be one of their biggest weaknesses in a lot of these playoff exits, and Guentzel came in with a track record for not only being one of the best all-around wingers in the league, but also a big-time playoff performer.

For the most part, he provided exactly what the Hurricanes hoped he would. He produced a ton of offense.

But it did not make a difference in the team results as they again fell short of the Stanley Cup Final.

Since the start of the 2018-19 season when this run of postseason appearances began for the Hurricanes their 278 regular season wins are the fifth-most in the NHL. And while they have had some strong postseason success, winning at least one round in five of those six years and making two trips to the Eastern Conference Final, they have been able to get to the Stanley Cup. Of the top-seven teams in wins since 2018-19, Carolina and Toronto are the only two teams that have not made at least one trip to the Stanley Cup Final. Three of those top-seven teams have won it all.

The Hurricanes are not quite as bad as the Maple Leafs when it comes to postseason disappointment because they at least win a round each year and have reached the league’s final four two times recently. While that is not the ultimate goal, it is still better than losing in the first round every season and not even getting close to a championship.

But this team is too successful and too talented to not have at least one trip to the Stanley Cup Final here.

So what has been holding the Hurricanes back from getting through to that next step?

Let’s talk about it, because I have at least one theory on it.