The Hurricanes are in a familiar position as they regroup after the All-Star break. They are on the outside looking in at the playoffs, sitting in tenth position in the standings with 58 points in the Eastern Conference, two points out of a playoff berth. The Hurricanes are close enough to where they could leap frog a couple of teams into sixth place.
The month of February will decide whether the Hurricanes are contenders or pretenders in the race to the Stanley Cup playoffs. They have 13 games in the month of February, eight of those at home. The Hurricanes lost the first game in of the second half to the Calgary Flames 4-1 and rode a four goal first period to a 5-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets in the second game. The Hurricanes face the Montreal Canadiens this afternoon in the final game of a three game road trip.
If the Hurricanes fall out of the playoff picture, will they be willing to deal at the trade deadline? The most marketable players they have are Eric Staal, who is in a contract year, Jordan Staal, and Kris Versteeg. If it comes to that point, hopefully the Hurricanes would not be willing to deal Justin Faulk or any of their other young talent.
