RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The Carolina Hurricanes were working on their power play during practice when first-year coach Rod Brind’Amour pulled first-round draft pick Andrei Svechnikov aside for some quick one-on-one instruction.
“Andrei,” the coach said, “be a shooter.”
The Hurricanes likely will need plenty of shots - and goals - from Svechnikov and fellow first-round draft pick Martin Necas if they’re to finally snap the NHL’s longest active playoff drought.
But the way Brind’Amour sees it, nobody’s asking either of those teenagers to will the team to the Stanley Cup - like he did in 2006 as the team captain. In fact, to even think of the pressure in this situation as being on either of those rookies is misguided.
“I kind of view it the opposite - the pressure’s on us,” Brind’Amour said. “We’re, ’Man, we really hope he can play.’ It’s not on him.”
The Hurricanes seem confident that the 19-year-old Necas and the 18-year-old Svechnikov can handle everything being thrown their way during a critically important training camp for a franchise that has undergone a massive overhaul during the past nine months.
“The first couple of days (of camp), everything was confusing because it was new, the guys were new, bigger guys and the game is faster,” Svechnikov said. “But every day I feel better.”
They’ve changed owners, general managers and coaches while unloading some key players, including their most recent face of the franchise, popular forward Jeff Skinner. Of the top eight point-scorers from last year’s team - one that missed the playoffs for a ninth consecutive season - three were traded away during the offseason.
With Skinner (49 points) now in Buffalo and Elias Lindholm (44) and defenseman Noah Hanifin (32) shipped to Calgary , the scoring has to come from somewhere else - and the two teenagers figure to pick up at least some of that load along with 21-year-old Sebastian Aho, who scored a team-best 29 goals last season and has been moved to center from a wing.
It’s still the preseason, but both players got off to a good start, with each scoring a goal in their preseason debuts this week and Svechnikov adding an assist.
“I don’t really think about” any pressure, Necas said. “It’s important to not think about it, just play every game and try to play your best.”
Carolina spent the No. 12 overall pick in 2017 on Necas, a native Czech who played one game for the team last October before he was returned to his team back home to further polish his game as a playmaking center. Brind’Amour praised him after that successful debut, saying that “when you give him a little time and space, he can make plays.
“It’s something that we’ve just got to keep teaching him,” he added.
The Hurricanes were among the winners at the NHL Draft’s lottery, falling into the No. 2 overall pick and using it on Svechnikov , a Russian winger and pure scorer who had 40 goals in 44 games for his junior team last season.
Their connection extends off the ice: Svechnikov says he and Necas are rooming together during training camp at a hotel, where they usually keep things low-key, going out to eat together or watching movies separately. Svechnikov says Necas plays more Fortnite than he does in those rare off hours, adding with a laugh that “I don’t have time for that.”
On the ice, Svechnikov sure seems like a quick study so far - and that’s encouraging for his coach.
“I think for Andrei to be a successful player, the player we want, he’s got to make plays,” Brind’Amour said. “That’s pretty obvious, stating the obvious, but at some point we know he’s going to be able to do that. It’s just, when? Can he do that as an 18-year-old? After (preseason) Game 1, you’d say there’s definitely promising things there, and he will be able to.”
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