# 2015–16 Carolina Hurricanes season

The 2015–16 Carolina Hurricanes season was the 37th 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 18th season since the franchise relocated from Hartford to start the 1997–98 NHL season. The season will begin its regular games on October 8, 2015 against the Nashville Predators. The Hurricanes failed to qualify for the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.

## Standings

Metropolitan Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | p – Washington Capitals | 82 | 56 | 18 | 8 | 52 | 252 | 193 | +59 | 120 |
| 2 | x – Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 48 | 26 | 8 | 44 | 245 | 203 | +42 | 104 |
| 3 | x – New York Rangers | 82 | 46 | 27 | 9 | 43 | 236 | 217 | +19 | 101 |
| 4 | x – New York Islanders | 82 | 45 | 27 | 10 | 40 | 232 | 216 | +16 | 100 |
| 5 | x – Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 41 | 27 | 14 | 38 | 214 | 218 | −4 | 96 |
| 6 | Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 35 | 31 | 16 | 33 | 198 | 226 | −28 | 86 |
| 7 | New Jersey Devils | 82 | 38 | 36 | 8 | 36 | 184 | 208 | −24 | 84 |
| 8 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 34 | 40 | 8 | 28 | 219 | 252 | −33 | 76 |
Eastern Conference Wild Card :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | ME | x – New York Islanders | 82 | 45 | 27 | 10 | 40 | 232 | 216 | +16 | 100 |
| 2 | ME | x – Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 41 | 27 | 14 | 38 | 214 | 218 | −4 | 96 |
| 3 | AT | Boston Bruins | 82 | 42 | 31 | 9 | 38 | 240 | 230 | +10 | 93 |
| 4 | ME | Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 35 | 31 | 16 | 33 | 198 | 226 | −28 | 86 |
| 5 | AT | Ottawa Senators | 82 | 38 | 35 | 9 | 32 | 236 | 247 | −11 | 85 |
| 6 | ME | New Jersey Devils | 82 | 38 | 36 | 8 | 36 | 184 | 208 | −24 | 84 |
| 7 | AT | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 38 | 38 | 6 | 33 | 221 | 236 | −15 | 82 |
| 8 | AT | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 35 | 36 | 11 | 33 | 201 | 222 | −21 | 81 |
| 9 | ME | Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 34 | 40 | 8 | 28 | 219 | 252 | −33 | 76 |
| 10 | AT | Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 29 | 42 | 11 | 23 | 198 | 246 | −48 | 69 |

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

2015–16 Game Log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

## Player stats

Final stats

### Skaters

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Jeff Skinner | 82 | 28 | 23 | 51 | −2 | 38 |
| Jordan Staal | 82 | 20 | 28 | 48 | 6 | 34 |
| Victor Rask | 80 | 21 | 27 | 48 | −6 | 24 |
| Elias Lindholm | 82 | 11 | 28 | 39 | −23 | 24 |
| Justin Faulk | 64 | 16 | 21 | 37 | −22 | 27 |
| Kris Versteeg$^‡$ | 63 | 11 | 22 | 33 | −6 | 36 |
| Eric Staal$^‡$ | 63 | 10 | 23 | 33 | −3 | 32 |
| Joakim Nordstrom | 71 | 10 | 14 | 24 | 1 | 12 |
| Andrej Nestrasil | 55 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 4 | 8 |
| Riley Nash | 64 | 9 | 13 | 22 | −5 | 18 |
| Noah Hanifin | 79 | 4 | 18 | 22 | −14 | 22 |
| Jaccob Slavin | 63 | 2 | 18 | 20 | 1 | 8 |
| Ron Hainsey | 81 | 5 | 14 | 19 | −13 | 37 |
| Phillip Di Giuseppe | 41 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 0 | 18 |
| Brett Pesce | 69 | 4 | 12 | 16 | −7 | 16 |
| John-Michael Liles$^‡$ | 64 | 6 | 9 | 15 | −3 | 16 |
| Chris Terry | 68 | 8 | 3 | 11 | −12 | 16 |
| Jay McClement | 77 | 3 | 8 | 11 | −17 | 24 |
| Ryan Murphy | 35 | 0 | 10 | 10 | −1 | 10 |
| Nathan Gerbe | 47 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −15 | 14 |
| Brad Malone | 57 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −11 | 75 |
| Brock McGinn | 21 | 3 | 1 | 4 | −14 | 10 |
| Derek Ryan | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Patrick Brown | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Michal Jordan | 36 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −5 | 12 |
| Sergey Tolchinsky | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| James Wisniewski | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brody Sutter | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −4 | 0 |
| Brendan Woods | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Trevor Carrick | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Cam Ward | 52 | 51 | 3,038 | 23 | 17 | 10 | 122 | 2.41 | 1343 | .909 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Eddie Lack | 34 | 31 | 1,920 | 12 | 14 | 6 | 90 | 2.81 | 910 | .901 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 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.

## Awards and honours
### Awards

Regular Season :
| Player | Award | Awarded |
| J. Faulk | NHL Third Star of the Week | December 14, 2015 |
| J. Faulk | NHL All-Star game selection | January 6, 2016 |

### Milestones

Regular Season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| N. Hanifin | 1st Career NHL Game | October 8, 2015 |
| N. Hanifin | 1st Career NHL Assist 1st Career NHL Point | October 10, 2015 |
| B. McGinn | 1st Career NHL Game 1st Career NHL Goal 1st Career NHL Assist 1st Career NHL Point | October 16, 2015 |
| B. Pesce | 1st Career NHL Game | October 24, 2015 |
| B. Pesce | 1st Career NHL Assist 1st Career NHL Point | October 30, 2015 |
| C. Ward | 250th Career NHL Win | October 30, 2015 |
| C. Ward | 30,000 Career NHL Minutes | November 10, 2015 |
| N. Hanifin | 1st Career NHL Goal | November 16, 2015 |
| J. Slavin | 1st Career NHL Game | November 20, 2015 |
| B. Pesce | 1st Career NHL Goal | November 22, 2015 |
| V. Rask | 100th Career NHL Game | November 22, 2015 |
| J. Slavin | 1st Career NHL Assist 1st Career NHL Point | November 30, 2015 |
| P. Di Giuseppe | 1st Career NHL Game | December 5, 2015 |
| K. Versteeg | 500th Career NHL Game | December 8, 2015 |
| J. Slavin | 1st Career NHL Goal | December 8, 2015 |
| P. Di Giuseppe | 1st Career NHL Goal 1st Career NHL Point | December 8, 2015 |
| R. Nash | 200th Career NHL Game | December 19, 2015 |
| J. Faulk | 100th Career NHL Assist | December 19, 2015 |
| C. Terry | 100th Career NHL Game | December 26, 2015 |
| J. McClement | 800th Career NHL Game | December 27, 2015 |
| J. Faulk | 200th Career NHL Game | December 31, 2015 |
| J. Staal | 200th Career NHL Assist | December 31, 2015 |
| K. Versteeg | 300th Career NHL Point | January 9, 2016 |

## Transactions

The Hurricanes have been involved in the following transactions during the 2015–16 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 27, 2015 | To Vancouver Canucks 3rd-round pick in 2015 7th-round pick in 2016 | To Carolina Hurricanes Eddie Lack |
| June 27, 2015 | To Anaheim Ducks Anton Khudobin | To Carolina Hurricanes James Wisniewski |
| September 11, 2015 | To Chicago Blackhawks Dennis Robertson Jake Massie 5th-round pick in 2017 | To Carolina Hurricanes Kris Versteeg Joakim Nordstrom 3rd-round pick in 2017 |
| February 28, 2016 | To New York Rangers Eric Staal | To Carolina Hurricanes Aleksi Saarela 2nd-round pick in 2016 2nd-round pick in 2017 |
| February 29, 2016 | To Los Angeles Kings Kris Versteeg | To Carolina Hurricanes Valentin Zykov Conditional 5th-round pick in 2016 |
| February 29, 2016 | To Chicago Blackhawks Drew MacIntyre | To Carolina Hurricanes Dennis Robertson |
| February 29, 2016 | To Boston Bruins John-Michael Liles | To Carolina Hurricanes Anthony Camara 3rd-round pick in 2016 5th-round pick in 2017 |
| March 7, 2016 | To Vancouver Canucks Future considerations | To Carolina Hurricanes Dane Fox |
| June 15, 2016 | To Chicago Blackhawks NYR's 2nd round pick in 2016 CHI's 3rd round pick in 2017 | To Carolina Hurricanes Teuvo Teravainen Bryan Bickell |

#### Notes

* $^{Note1}$ Carolina to retain 50% ($4.125 million) of salary as part of trade.

### Player signings

| Date | Player | Contract terms (in U.S. dollars) |
| June 29, 2015 | Andrej Nestrasil | 2 years, $1.825 million |
| July 1, 2015 | Jaccob Slavin | 3 years, $2.4975 million entry-level contract |
| July 1, 2015 | Riley Nash | 1 year, $1.15 million |
| July 1, 2015 | Rasmus Rissanen | 1 year, $575,000 |
| July 7, 2015 | Zach Boychuk | 1 year, $600,000 |
| July 11, 2015 | Noah Hanifin | 3 years, $2.4975 million entry-level contract |
| July 12, 2015 | Justin Shugg | 1 year, $600,000 |
| July 15, 2015 | Brody Sutter | 1 year, $600,000 |
| August 27, 2015 | Elias Lindholm | 2 years, $5.4 million contract extension |
| October 3, 2015 | Eddie Lack | 2 years, $5.5 million contract extension |
| April 4, 2016 | Clark Bishop | 3 years, $1.875 million entry-level contract |
| April 9, 2016 | Nicolas Roy | 3 years, $1.875 million entry-level contract |
| April 22, 2016 | Joakim Nordstrom | 2 years, $2.55 million contract extension |
| June 1, 2016 | Josh Wesley | 3 years, $1.875 million entry-level contract |
| June 13, 2016 | Sebastian Aho | 3 years, $2.4975 million entry-level contract |
| June 13, 2016 | Aleksi Saarela | 3 years, $2.05 million entry-level contract |
| June 16, 2016 | Cam Ward | 2 years, $6.6 million |
| June 16, 2016 | Derek Ryan | 1 year, $600,000 |

## Draft picks

Below are the Carolina Hurricanes' selections at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, held on June 26–27, 2015 at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 5 | Noah Hanifin | D | United States | Boston College (Hockey East) |
| 2 | 35 | Sebastian Aho | LW | Finland | Oulun Kärpät (Liiga) |
| 4 | 93 | Callum Booth | G | Canada | Quebec Remparts (QMJHL) |
| 4 | 96 | Nicolas Roy | C | Canada | Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL) |
| 5 | 126 | Luke Stevens | LW | United States | Noble & Greenough (HS-MA) |
| 5 | 138 | Spencer Smallman | RW | Canada | Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL) |
| 6 | 156 | Jake Massie | D | Canada | Kimball Union Academy Wildcats (HS-NH) |
| 6 | 169 | David Cotton | C | United States | Cushing Academy (HS-MA) |
| 7 | 186 | Steven Lorentz | C | Canada | Peterborough Petes (OHL) |

### Draft notes

* $^a$ The Arizona Coyotes' fourth-round pick went the Carolina Hurricanes as the result of a trade on February 28, 2015 that sent Tim Gleason to Washington in exchange for Jack Hillen and this pick.
    Washington previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on March 4, 2014 that sent Martin Erat and John Mitchell to Phoenix in exchange for Rostislav Klesla, Chris Brown and this pick.
* $^b$ The Winnipeg Jets' fifth-round pick went to the Carolina Hurricanes as the result of a trade on February 25, 2015 that sent Jiri Tlusty to Winnipeg in exchange for a third-round pick in 2016 and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade). The condition – Carolina will receive a fifth-round pick in 2015 if Winnipeg qualifies for the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs – was converted on April 9, 2015.
* $^c$ The Ottawa Senators' sixth-round pick went to the Carolina Hurricanes as the result of a trade on December 18, 2014 that sent Jay Harrison to Winnipeg in exchange for this pick.
    Winnipeg previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on June 28, 2014 that sent a seventh-round pick in 2014 to Ottawa in exchange for this pick.