For the last 19 years (12 with The Hockey News) Dobber has reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.

The 20th annual review will appear here on DobberHockey throughout the summer/fall. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings, but in the realm of fantasy hockey both for the season ahead as well as the foreseeable future. Offensively, will the team perform? Are there plenty of depth options worthy of owning in keeper leagues? What about over the next two or three years? These questions are what I take into consideration when looking at the depth chart and the player potential on that depth chart.

Enjoy!

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Gone – Nino Niederreiter, Vincent Trocheck, Max Domi, Steven Lorentz, Josh Leivo, Tony DeAngelo,  Ian Cole, Brendan Smith, 

Incoming – Max Pacioretty, Ondrej Kase, Ryan Dzingel, Brent Burns, William Lagesson, Dylan Coghlan

Impact of Changes – After a few straight years of regular season success, followed by playoff short-comings, the Hurricanes opted to make some pretty big changes this offseason. Their top core remains intact, but they have dramatically changed some of the key supporting staff and the team should definitely have a different looking heading into next season. They lost a lot of their grittiness up front with both Trocheck and Niederreiter finding new homes in free agency. Perhaps the most surprising part of their offseason was when they traded away DeAngelo to the Flyers. It seemed like DeAngelo had found a nice home in Carolina, but the Canes organization most likely knew they wouldn't be able to re-sign him or they wouldn't have pulled the trigger on that deal. 

They were certainly proactive though, as they made a pair of reasonably big trades to land both Pacioretty and Burns. Both of these two have a much higher offensive ceiling then the players who opted to sign elsewhere. For the past handful of years, the Hurricanes have consistently been one of the most well-balanced teams in the league. While it wouldn't be fair to say they are unbalanced now, with these two trades they can definitely be more offense-oriented. These deals also come with the caveat that these guys need to stay healthy. Pacioretty has had a slew of injuries throughout his career, and Burns is going to be 38 next season. 

Ready For Full Time – While there aren't a ton of prospects knocking on the door for promotion in Carolina, there is one player who stands out and could challenge for a spot on the team in camp this fall. Jack Drury is a 22-year-old American-born center who just enjoyed a breakout campaign last season with the Chicago Wolves. In his first year as a pro, he recorded 20 goals, 32 assists for 52 points. He even added 61 PIM, so you're getting a bit of everything from him. He got a quick look in the NHL last year, and scored two goals in the two games he played for the Canes. If he doesn't make the team out of camp, look for him being a mid-season call up if Carolina runs into injury problems. 

One other center of note is Ryan Suzuki, the younger brother of Montreal Canadiens star Nick Suzuki. A year younger than Drury, Suzuki is entering his third season with the Chicago Wolves. He has been praised for his good vision and hockey IQ, but so far, his point totals have been a bit lackluster. He will need to keep developing and prove to the Canes management team he is ready for a call-up, but currently the Hurricanes have a pretty deep pool of forwards so there's work to be done for Ryan.

Fantasy Outlook – Carolina was one of many teams this offseason who made some pretty hefty changes to their active roster. Both Trocheck and Niederreiter brought a lot of diversity to the team and both play a solid 200-foot game. DeAngelo leaving was also somewhat of a surprise, so to lose all three is a pretty big blow. Carolina's front office made a couple really nice trades to get some big assets without giving up much in return, but in my mind Burns and Pacioretty are very high-risk, high-reward.

Max Pacioretty is a certified Band-Aid Boy through and through, and was acquired to provide a much-needed boost of offense to the top-six of the Canes. Unfortunately, he is expected to be out until the new year after surgery to repair a torn Achilles. It's still early to know how the lines will look, but look for Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen could all still see an uptick in their offensive production once Pacioretty returns. As stated earlier, the Hurricanes have always been an extremely balanced team who play good two-way hockey. But with that being said, the defense will be bad by any means, but watch for the balance to shift a bit more towards offense this year. 

A big problem with Carolina forwards is that they are so damn deep with talent up front. Seth Jarvis emerged last season as a great young player, and that's terrific for him and for the team. But he is in turn cannibalizing the production of a player like Martin Necas, who also has been touted as a future cornerstone piece of the franchise for quite some time now. Then you have Jesperi Kotkaniemi who just signed an eight-year extension with the club. They are an extremely talented team, but be wary of drafting Hurricanes for this reason.

On defense and in net, there shouldn't be a ton of change in the grand scheme of things. Burns should slide into all the roles that DeAngelo filled, so it's unlikely other players’ ice time will be affected in that sense. Between the pipes, both Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta will be returning to share the crease. The two make a formidable duo when healthy, and are worth drafting again this season. They should net you decent averages and get a solid win total. 

Fantasy Grade- B (last year was B+)