# 2018–19 Carolina Hurricanes season

The 2018–19 Carolina Hurricanes season was the 40th season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on June 22, 1979 (following seven seasons of play in the World Hockey Association), and 21st season since the franchise relocated from Hartford to start the 1997–98 NHL season. For the first time since 2009, the Hurricanes reached the playoffs, clinching a playoff berth with a 3–1 win against the New Jersey Devils on April 4, 2019. In the playoffs the Hurricanes reached the Conference Finals where they were swept by the Boston Bruins.

## Standings

Metropolitan Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | y – Washington Capitals | 82 | 48 | 26 | 8 | 44 | 278 | 249 | +29 | 104 |
| 2 | x – New York Islanders | 82 | 48 | 27 | 7 | 43 | 228 | 196 | +32 | 103 |
| 3 | x – Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 44 | 26 | 12 | 42 | 273 | 241 | +32 | 100 |
| 4 | x – Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 46 | 29 | 7 | 44 | 245 | 223 | +22 | 99 |
| 5 | x – Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 47 | 31 | 4 | 45 | 258 | 232 | +26 | 98 |
| 6 | Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 37 | 37 | 8 | 34 | 244 | 281 | −37 | 82 |
| 7 | New York Rangers | 82 | 32 | 36 | 14 | 26 | 227 | 272 | −45 | 78 |
| 8 | New Jersey Devils | 82 | 31 | 41 | 10 | 28 | 222 | 275 | −53 | 72 |
Eastern Conference Wild Card :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | ME | x – Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 46 | 29 | 7 | 44 | 245 | 223 | +22 | 99 |
| 2 | ME | x – Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 47 | 31 | 4 | 45 | 258 | 232 | +26 | 98 |
| 3 | AT | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 44 | 30 | 8 | 41 | 249 | 236 | +13 | 96 |
| 4 | AT | Florida Panthers | 82 | 36 | 32 | 14 | 33 | 267 | 280 | −13 | 86 |
| 5 | ME | Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 37 | 37 | 8 | 34 | 244 | 281 | −37 | 82 |
| 6 | ME | New York Rangers | 82 | 32 | 36 | 14 | 26 | 227 | 272 | −45 | 78 |
| 7 | AT | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 33 | 39 | 10 | 28 | 226 | 271 | −45 | 76 |
| 8 | AT | Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 32 | 40 | 10 | 29 | 227 | 277 | −50 | 74 |
| 9 | ME | New Jersey Devils | 82 | 31 | 41 | 10 | 28 | 222 | 275 | −53 | 72 |
| 10 | AT | Ottawa Senators | 82 | 29 | 47 | 6 | 29 | 242 | 302 | −60 | 64 |

## Schedule and results
### Preseason

The preseason schedule was published on June 12, 2018.

### Regular season

The regular season schedule was released on June 21, 2018.
2018–19 game log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

### Detailed records

Updated as of April 6, 2019
Eastern Conference :
| Atlantic | GP | W | L | OT | SHOTS | GF | GA | PP | PK | FO W–L |
| Boston Bruins | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 118–99 | 10 | 10 | 2–12 | 3–11 | 102–107 |
| Buffalo Sabres | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 89–109 | 14 | 10 | 1–6 | 1–8 | 83–104 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 130–77 | 7 | 9 | 3–10 | 1–7 | 95–101 |
| Florida Panthers | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 90–99 | 12 | 7 | 3–11 | 2–8 | 84–99 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 93–118 | 8 | 8 | 0–5 | 0–10 | 96–98 |
| Ottawa Senators | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 100–83 | 10 | 9 | 4–8 | 1–7 | 67–89 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 95–89 | 6 | 13 | 0–11 | 5–12 | 82–133 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 112–85 | 10 | 7 | 3–7 | 1–9 | 84–95 |
| Division total | 24 | 14 | 8 | 2 | 827–759 | 77 | 73 | 16–70 | 14–72 | 693–826 |
| Metropolitan | GP | W | L | OT | SHOTS | GF | GA | PP | PK | FO W–L |
| Carolina Hurricanes | | | | | | | | | | |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 143–100 | 8 | 10 | 0–8 | 1–10 | 104–114 |
| New Jersey Devils | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 122–122 | 7 | 7 | 2–15 | 1–13 | 121–130 |
| New York Islanders | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 136–90 | 7 | 11 | 2–11 | 2–11 | 126–98 |
| New York Rangers | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 153–105 | 14 | 13 | 1–11 | 4–13 | 118–101 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 121–123 | 17 | 9 | 4–10 | 4–12 | 118–134 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 174–146 | 12 | 12 | 1–10 | 0–6 | 126–123 |
| Washington Capitals | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 110–110 | 9 | 16 | 3–11 | 2–9 | 125–112 |
| Division total | 28 | 13 | 13 | 2 | 959–796 | 74 | 78 | 13–76 | 14–74 | 838–802 |
| Conference total | 52 | 27 | 21 | 4 | 1786–1555 | 151 | 151 | 29–146 | 28–146 | 1531–1628 |
Western Conference :
| Central | GP | W | L | OT | SHOTS | GF | GA | PP | PK | FO W–L |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 74–73 | 7 | 5 | 3–4 | 0–2 | 56–46 |
| Colorado Avalanche | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 76–60 | 4 | 3 | 0–6 | 1–7 | 69–45 |
| Dallas Stars | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 58–57 | 6 | 0 | 2–4 | 0–5 | 43–72 |
| Minnesota Wild | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 90–48 | 10 | 5 | 1–11 | 3–9 | 63–71 |
| Nashville Predators | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 66–57 | 11 | 6 | 4–10 | 0–8 | 43–64 |
| St. Louis Blues | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 63–43 | 6 | 6 | 1–7 | 1–7 | 60–61 |
| Winnipeg Jets | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 72–55 | 2 | 11 | 0–5 | 2–4 | 65–66 |
| Division total | 14 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 499–393 | 46 | 36 | 11–47 | 7–42 | 409–425 |
| Pacific | GP | W | L | OT | SHOTS | GF | GA | PP | PK | FO W–L |
| Anaheim Ducks | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 70–48 | 5 | 3 | 0–10 | 0–8 | 57–61 |
| Arizona Coyotes | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 78–48 | 6 | 4 | 0–11 | 1–5 | 65–54 |
| Calgary Flames | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 72–57 | 5 | 7 | 0–6 | 1–9 | 55–73 |
| Edmonton Oilers | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 61–62 | 10 | 5 | 1–3 | 1–7 | 71–53 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 68–58 | 6 | 3 | 1–5 | 0–5 | 62–67 |
| San Jose Sharks | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 81–46 | 5 | 8 | 1–5 | 3–5 | 79–58 |
| Vancouver Canucks | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 67–51 | 10 | 5 | 1–8 | 2–6 | 62–72 |
| Vegas Golden Knights | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 66–50 | 5 | 5 | 0–6 | 1–6 | 55–61 |
| Division total | 16 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 563–420 | 52 | 40 | 4–54 | 9–51 | 506–499 |
| Conference total | 30 | 19 | 8 | 3 | 1062–813 | 98 | 76 | 15–101 | 16–93 | 915–924 |
| NHL total | 82 | 46 | 29 | 7 | 2848–2367 | 249 | 227 | 43–247 | 44–239 | 2446–2548 |

### Playoffs

The Hurricanes faced the Washington Capitals in the First Round of the playoffs, and defeated them in seven games.
The Hurricanes faced the New York Islanders in the Second Round of the playoffs, sweeping them in four games, which was the first best-of-seven series sweep in Hurricanes/Whalers franchise history.
The Hurricanes faced the Boston Bruins in the Conference Finals, and were swept in four games. They played against each other in the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs, where the Hurricanes defeated the Bruins in the Conference Semifinals in seven games.
2019 Stanley Cup playoffs :
Legend:
  Win
  Loss :

## Player statistics

As of May 16, 2019

### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Sebastian Aho | 82 | 30 | 53 | 83 | 25 | 26 |
| Teuvo Teravainen | 82 | 21 | 55 | 76 | 30 | 12 |
| Justin Williams | 82 | 23 | 30 | 53 | −4 | 44 |
| Micheal Ferland | 71 | 17 | 23 | 40 | 13 | 58 |
| Dougie Hamilton | 82 | 18 | 21 | 39 | 0 | 54 |
| Andrei Svechnikov | 82 | 20 | 17 | 37 | 0 | 62 |
| Justin Faulk | 82 | 11 | 24 | 35 | 9 | 47 |
| Jaccob Slavin | 82 | 8 | 23 | 31 | 0 | 18 |
| Nino Niederreiter$^†$ | 36 | 14 | 16 | 30 | 7 | 20 |
| Brett Pesce | 73 | 7 | 22 | 29 | 35 | 24 |
| Jordan Staal | 50 | 11 | 17 | 28 | 6 | 26 |
| Lucas Wallmark | 81 | 10 | 18 | 28 | −8 | 36 |
| Brock McGinn | 82 | 10 | 16 | 26 | 10 | 20 |
| Jordan Martinook | 82 | 15 | 10 | 25 | 1 | 38 |
| Warren Foegele | 77 | 10 | 5 | 15 | −17 | 20 |
| Trevor van Riemsdyk | 78 | 3 | 11 | 14 | −4 | 10 |
| Calvin de Haan | 74 | 1 | 13 | 14 | 1 | 20 |
| Greg McKegg | 41 | 6 | 5 | 11 | −2 | 8 |
| Saku Maenalanen | 34 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 20 |
| Victor Rask$^‡$ | 26 | 1 | 5 | 6 | –3 | 4 |
| Phillip Di Giuseppe$^‡$ | 21 | 1 | 3 | 4 | –2 | 8 |
| Clark Bishop | 20 | 1 | 2 | 3 | –3 | 6 |
| Valentin Zykov$^‡$ | 13 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −1 | 0 |
| Martin Necas | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Haydn Fleury | 20 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| Nicolas Roy | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Janne Kuokkanen | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –2 | 4 |
| Trevor Carrick | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 5 |
| Jake Bean | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Sebastian Aho | 15 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 3 | 2 |
| Jaccob Slavin | 15 | 0 | 11 | 11 | 5 | 0 |
| Teuvo Teravainen | 15 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 2 |
| Jordan Staal | 15 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 8 |
| Warren Foegele | 15 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 6 |
| Justin Faulk | 15 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 4 |
| Justin Williams | 15 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 18 |
| Dougie Hamilton | 15 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 10 |
| Brock McGinn | 15 | 2 | 4 | 6 | –1 | 6 |
| Brett Pesce | 15 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 0 |
| Andrei Svechnikov | 9 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 9 |
| Lucas Wallmark | 15 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 6 |
| Nino Niederreiter | 15 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 12 |
| Jordan Martinook | 10 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
| Greg McKegg | 14 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Calvin de Haan | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Saku Maenalanen | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Micheal Ferland | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −3 | 18 |
| Clark Bishop | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aleksi Saarela | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Haydn Fleury | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Patrick Brown | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Trevor van Riemsdyk | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Petr Mrazek | 40 | 40 | 2,386:51 | 23 | 14 | 3 | 95 | 2.39 | 1,104 | .914 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Curtis McElhinney | 33 | 33 | 1,977:31 | 20 | 11 | 2 | 85 | 2.58 | 968 | .912 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Scott Darling | 8 | 8 | 485:34 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 27 | 3.34 | 233 | .884 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alex Nedeljkovic | 1 | 1 | 60:00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2.00 | 26 | .923 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Petr Mrazek | 11 | 11 | 659:43 | 5 | 5 | 30 | 2.73 | 282 | .894 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Curtis McElhinney | 5 | 4 | 268:25 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 2.01 | 128 | .930 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
$^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Hurricanes. Stats reflect time with the Hurricanes only. $^‡$Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Hurricanes only. Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

## Transactions

The Hurricanes have been involved in the following transactions during the 2018–19 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 23, 2018 (2018-06-23) | To New York RangersVGK's 7th-round pick in 2018 | To Carolina HurricanesBOS' 7th-round pick in 2019 |
| June 23, 2018 (2018-06-23) | To Calgary FlamesNoah Hanifin Elias Lindholm | To Carolina HurricanesDougie Hamilton Micheal Ferland Adam Fox |
| August 2, 2018 (2018-08-02) | To Buffalo SabresJeff Skinner | To Carolina HurricanesCliff Pu 2nd-round pick in 2019 3rd-round pick in 2020 6th-round pick in 2020 |
| January 17, 2019 (2019-01-17) | To Minnesota WildVictor Rask | To Carolina HurricanesNino Niederreiter |
| February 25, 2019 (2019-02-25) | To Florida PanthersCliff Pu | To Carolina HurricanesFuture considerations |
| April 30, 2019 (2019-04-30) | To New York RangersAdam Fox | To Carolina Hurricanes2nd-round pick in 2019 Conditional 3rd-round pick in 2020 |

### Free agents

| Date | Player | Team | Contract term |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Jake Chelios | to Detroit Red Wings | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Petr Mrazek | from Philadelphia Flyers | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Joakim Nordstrom | to Boston Bruins | 2-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Derek Ryan | to Calgary Flames | 3-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Cam Ward | to Chicago Blackhawks | 1-year |
| July 2, 2018 (2018-07-02) | Dan Renouf | from Detroit Red Wings | 1-year |
| July 3, 2018 (2018-07-03) | Calvin de Haan | from New York Islanders | 4-year |
| July 9, 2018 (2018-07-09) | Jeremy Smith | to Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL) | Unknown |
| August 9, 2018 (2018-08-09) | Keegan Kanzig | to Idaho Steelheads (ECHL) | 1-year |
| September 11, 2018 (2018-09-11) | Tyler Ganly | to Kalamazoo Wings (ECHL) | 1-year |
| September 27, 2018 (2018-09-27) | Michal Cajkovsky | from Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg (KHL) | 1-year |
| October 10, 2018 (2018-10-10) | Brenden Kichton | to SaiPa (Liiga) | Unknown |
| April 17, 2019 (2019-04-17) | Jacob Pritchard | from UMass Minutemen (Hockey East) | 1-year |

### Waivers

| Date | Player | Team |
| October 2, 2018 (2018-10-02) | Curtis McElhinney | from Toronto Maple Leafs |
| November 30, 2018 (2018-11-30) | Valentin Zykov | to Edmonton Oilers |
| January 1, 2019 (2019-01-01) | Phillip Di Giuseppe | to Nashville Predators |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Contract term |
| June 26, 2018 (2018-06-26) | Phillip Di Giuseppe | 1-year |
| June 29, 2018 (2018-06-29) | Valentin Zykov | 2-year |
| June 30, 2018 (2018-06-30) | Andrei Svechnikov | 3-year |
| July 5, 2018 (2018-07-05) | Trevor van Riemsdyk | 2-year |
| July 12, 2018 (2018-07-12) | Greg McKegg | 1-year |
| July 12, 2018 (2018-07-12) | Lucas Wallmark | 2-year |
| January 21, 2019 (2019-01-21) | Teuvo Teravainen | 5-year |
| March 21, 2019 (2019-03-21) | Stelio Mattheos | 3-year |
| May 28, 2019 (2019-05-28) | Jesper Sellgren | 3-year |

## Draft picks

Below are the Carolina Hurricanes' selections at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 22 and 23, 2018, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 2 | Andrei Svechnikov | RW | Russia | Barrie Colts (OHL) |
| 2 | 42 | Jack Drury | C | United States | Waterloo Black Hawks (USHL) |
| 4 | 96$^1$ | Luke Henman | C | Canada | Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (QMJHL) |
| 4 | 104 | Lenni Killinen | RW | Finland | Blues U20 (Nuorten SM-liiga) |
| 6 | 166 | Jesper Sellgren | D | Sweden | Modo Hockey (Allsvenskan) |
| 7 | 197 | Jake Kucharski | G | United States | Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL) |
Notes:
* The Arizona Coyotes' fourth-round pick went to the Carolina Hurricanes as the result of a trade on May 3, 2018, that sent Marcus Kruger and a third-round pick in 2018 to Arizona in exchange for Jordan Martinook and this pick.