NHL Postseason Dissection: Hurricanes, Blues Turn Page On 2021-22

With the Stanley Cup Final underway, it is a good time to look at a couple of clubs that were eliminated and see exactly why their season ended.

Today we take a look at one of the Eastern Conference favorites that fell short in their pursuit of a championship, and a recent Cup winner that could not recover from the loss of their starting goaltender.

Carolina Hurricanes

What went right?

The Hurricanes upgraded in goal last summer, signing free agents Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta, and the pair ended up winning the Jennings Trophy with the best goals allowed (202) in the NHL last season. In spite of losing defenseman Dougie Hamilton in free agency, GM Don Waddell was able to replace his offense with the signing of Anthony DeAngelo (51 points) and the club ended up with the third-best regular-season record (54-20-8) behind Florida and Colorado.

What went wrong?

The Hurricanes suffered the misfortune of losing Andersen to a knee injury late in the season, forcing head coach Rod Brind’Amour to go with Raanta and the untested Pyotr Kochetkov in the playoffs. Carolina went 7-1 at home against Boston and New York in the postseason, but due to a lack of scoring depth and an ineffective power play, the Canes were unable to win on the road, going 0-6 at TD Garden and Madison Square Garden in the first-round victory over the Bruins and their second-round loss to the Rangers.

What will they do?

The Hurricanes have over $19 million in available cap space going into the summer.  While veterans Max Domi, Derek Stepan, Ian Cole, and Brendan Smith will likely be allowed to go to market, Waddell may not be able to get center Vincent Trocheck or winger Nino Niederreiter re-signed, and may face a high ask in arbitration from DeAngelo.

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St. Louis Blues

What went right?

The Blues had an excellent season overall, finished third in the Central Division behind Colorado and Minnesota, fourth in the NHL with 311 goals scored, with nine players posting more than 20 goals. After requesting a trade last summer, winger Vladimir Tarasenko led the club with 34 goals and 82 points, and the core group began to shift from veterans Brayden Schenn and Ryan O’Reilly to Robert Thomas (77 points), newcomer Pavel Buchnevich (76 points), and Jordan Kyrou (75 points).

What went wrong?

After riding goalie Ville Husso for most of the second half and the first two games of the first round, head coach Craig Berube switched back to Jordan Binnington, who led them to a victory over Minnesota. Injuries crippled St. Louis in the postseason, losing a number of blueliners (including power-play quarterback Torey Krug) and Binnington in Game 4 vs. Colorado, which forced the Blues to go back to the inexperienced Husso.

What will they do?

GM Doug Armstrong is reportedly working on re-signing pending UFA David Perron, but with $9 million in available cap space this summer and goalie prospect Joel Hofer putting up excellent numbers in the Calder Cup Playoffs, it is unlikely that they will bring back Husso unless they decide to trade Binnington with five years left on a six-year, $36 million deal. St. Louis may try to be proactive with O’Reilly, Tarasenko, Kyrou, and Thomas entering the last year of their contracts, but they will not be able to lock up all of them, which will force the Blues GM into some tough decisions.