2015–16 Carolina Hurricanes season

2015–16 Carolina Hurricanes
Division	6th Metropolitan
Conference	10th Eastern
2015–16 record	35–31–16
Home record	19–15–7
Road record	16–16–9
Goals for	198
Goals against	226
Team information
General Manager	Ron Francis
Coach	Bill Peters
Captain	Eric Staal (Oct-Feb) Vacant (Feb-Apr)
Alternate captains	Justin Faulk Jordan Staal
Arena	PNC Arena
Minor league affiliations	Charlotte Checkers (AHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Jeff Skinner (28)
Assists	Elias Lindholm Jordan Staal (28)
Points	Jeff Skinner (51)
Penalties in minutes	Brad Malone (75)
Plus/minus	(+): Jordan Staal (+6) (–): Elias Lindholm (–23)
Wins	Cam Ward (23)
Goals against average	Cam Ward (2.41)
<2014–15	2016–17>

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 19th 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.

Schedule and results

Pre-season

2015 Pre-season game log: 4–2–0 (Home: 4–0–0 ; Road: 0–2–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1	September 21	Carolina	0–2	Washington		MacIntyre	15,955	0–1–0	Recap
2	September 22	Carolina	3–7	Pittsburgh		Ward	17,781	0–2–0	Recap
3	September 26	NY Islanders	3–5	Carolina		MacIntyre	––	1–2–0	Recap
4	September 27	Ottawa	1–2	Carolina		Ward	––	2–2–0	Recap
5	September 30	Washington	3–4	Carolina	SO	Lack	6,256	3–2–0	Recap
6	October 2	Pittsburgh	1–2	Carolina		Ward	7,986	4–2–0	Recap

Regular season

2015–16 Game Log
October: 5–6–0 (Home: 1–2–0 ; Road: 4–4–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 8 Carolina 1–2 Nashville Ward 17,204 0–1–0 0 Recap 2 October 10 Detroit 4–3 Carolina Ward 18,949 0–2–0 0 Recap 3 October 13 Florida 4–1 Carolina Lack 10,901 0–3–0 0 Recap 4 October 16 Carolina 5–3 Detroit Ward 20,027 1–3–0 2 Recap 5 October 17 Carolina 1–4 Washington Ward 18,506 1–4–0 2 Recap 6 October 21 Carolina 1–0 Colorado OT Ward 12,826 2–4–0 4 Recap 7 October 23 Carolina 0–3 Los Angeles Ward 18,230 2–5–0 4 Recap 8 October 24 Carolina 2–5 San Jose Lack 15,814 2–6–0 4 Recap 9 October 27 Carolina 3–1 Detroit Ward 20,027 3–6–0 6 Recap 10 October 29 Carolina 3–2 NY Islanders OT Lack 11,494 4–6–0 8 Recap 11 October 30 Colorado 2–3 Carolina Ward 9,345 5–6–0 10 Recap
November: 3–6–4 (Home: 3–3–3 ; Road: 0–3–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 12 November 1 Tampa Bay 4–3 Carolina Ward 9,081 5–7–0 10 Recap 13 November 6 Dallas 4–1 Carolina Lack 10,188 5–8–0 10 Recap 14 November 7 Ottawa 2–3 Carolina OT Ward 10,005 6–8–0 12 Recap 15 November 10 Carolina 0–3 NY Rangers Ward 18,006 6–9–0 12 Recap 16 November 12 Minnesota 3–2 Carolina OT Ward 9,511 6–9–1 13 Recap 17 November 14 Philadelphia 3–2 Carolina OT Ward 13,758 6–9–2 14 Recap 18 November 16 Anaheim 4–1 Carolina Lack 9,305 6–10–2 14 Recap 19 November 20 Toronto 2–1 Carolina SO Ward 10,327 6–10–3 15 Recap 20 November 22 Los Angeles 3–4 Carolina Ward 10,154 7–10–3 17 Recap 21 November 23 Carolina 2–3 Philadelphia OT Lack 18,636 7–10–4 18 Recap 22 November 25 Edmonton 1–4 Carolina Ward 17,757 8–10–4 20 Recap 23 November 27 Carolina 1–4 Buffalo Ward 18,052 8–11–4 20 Recap 24 November 30 Carolina 3–4 NY Rangers Ward 18,006 8–12–4 20 Recap
December: 8–5–1 (Home: 4–3–0 ; Road: 4–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 25 December 3 New Jersey 5–1 Carolina Lack 9,254 8–13–4 20 Recap 26 December 5 Montreal 2–3 Carolina Ward 10,687 9–13–4 22 Recap 27 December 6 Arizona 4–5 Carolina Ward 9,021 10–13–4 24 Recap 28 December 8 Carolina 5–6 Dallas Lack 18,287 10–14–4 24 Recap 29 December 11 Carolina 5–1 Anaheim Lack 17,174 11–14–4 26 Recap 30 December 12 Carolina 5–4 Arizona OT Lack 12,668 12–14–4 28 Recap 31 December 15 Carolina 3–4 Philadelphia OT Lack 18,205 12–14–5 29 Recap 32 December 18 Florida 2–0 Carolina Ward 10,511 12–15–5 29 Recap 33 December 19 Carolina 2–1 Pittsburgh Ward 18,590 13–15–5 31 Recap 34 December 21 Washington 2–1 Carolina Ward 13,228 13–16–5 31 Recap 35 December 26 New Jersey 1–3 Carolina Ward 11,654 14–16–5 33 Recap 36 December 27 Carolina 2–1 Chicago Lack 22,157 15–16–5 35 Recap 37 December 29 Carolina 2–3 New Jersey Ward 16,514 15–17–5 35 Recap 38 December 31 Washington 2–4 Carolina Lack 14,134 16–17–5 37 Recap
January: 7–3–3 (Home: 4–1–2 ; Road: 3–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 39 January 2 Nashville 2–1 Carolina OT Lack 12,149 16–17–6 38 Recap 40 January 4 Carolina 0–1 Edmonton OT Ward 16,839 16–17–7 39 Recap 41 January 6 Carolina 2–3 Vancouver Lack 18,364 16–18–7 39 Recap 42 January 8 Columbus 1–4 Carolina Ward 14,241 17–18–7 41 Recap 43 January 9 Carolina 4–3 Columbus OT Ward 16,532 18–18–7 43 Recap 44 January 12 Pittsburgh 2–3 Carolina OT Ward 13,012 19–18–7 45 Recap 45 January 14 Carolina 4–1 St. Louis Lack 19,282 20–18–7 47 Recap 46 January 15 Vancouver 3–2 Carolina OT Ward 11,657 20–18–8 48 Recap 47 January 17 Carolina 0–5 Pittsburgh Lack 18,528 20–19–8 48 Recap 48 January 21 Carolina 1–0 Toronto OT Lack 18,981 21–19–8 50 Recap 49 January 22 NY Rangers 4–1 Carolina Lack 14,102 21–20–8 50 Recap 50 January 24 Calgary 2–5 Carolina Lack 9,934 22–20–8 52 Recap 51 January 26 Chicago 0–5 Carolina Lack 14,588 23–20–8 54 Recap
February: 5–6–2 (Home: 4–3–1 ; Road: 1–3–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 52 February 3 Carolina 1–4 Calgary Lack 18,895 23–21–8 54 Recap 53 February 5 Carolina 5–3 Winnipeg Ward 15,924 24–21–8 56 Recap 54 February 7 Carolina 1–2 Montreal SO Ward 21,288 24–21–9 57 Recap 55 February 12 Pittsburgh 2–1 Carolina SO Ward 15,783 24–21–10 58 Recap 56 February 13 NY Islanders 3–6 Carolina Ward 12,665 25–21–10 60 Recap 57 February 16 Winnipeg 1–2 Carolina Lack 10,489 26–21–10 62 Recap 58 February 18 Carolina 2–4 Ottawa Lack 16,994 26–22–10 62 Recap 59 February 19 San Jose 2–5 Carolina Ward 11,756 27–22–10 64 Recap 60 February 21 Tampa Bay 4–2 Carolina Ward 10,422 27–23–10 64 Recap 61 February 23 Philadelphia 1–3 Carolina Ward 10,896 28–23–10 66 Recap 62 February 25 Carolina 1–3 Toronto Ward 18,862 28–24–10 66 Recap 63 February 26 Boston 4–1 Carolina Ward 17,917 28–25–10 66 Recap 64 February 28 St. Louis 5–2 Carolina Ward 15,128 28–26–10 66 Recap
March: 6–2–6 (Home: 3–1–1 ; Road: 3–1–5) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 65 March 1 Carolina 3–1 New Jersey Ward 14,251 29–26–10 68 Recap 66 March 5 Carolina 3–4 Tampa Bay OT Lack 19,092 29–26–11 69 Recap 67 March 8 Ottawa 3–4 Carolina SO Ward 10,743 30–26–11 71 Recap 68 March 10 Carolina 3–2 Boston OT Ward 17,565 31–26–11 73 Recap 69 March 12 Carolina 2–3 Buffalo OT Ward 19,070 31–26–12 74 Recap 70 March 15 Carolina 1–2 Washington OT Lack 18,506 31–26–13 75 Recap 71 March 17 Carolina 2–4 Pittsburgh Lack 18,455 31–27–13 75 Recap 72 March 19 Carolina 2–3 Minnesota SO Ward 19,044 31–27–14 76 Recap 73 March 22 Buffalo 3–2 Carolina Ward 10,372 31–28–14 76 Recap 74 March 24 Carolina 3–2 Columbus Lack 15,624 32–28–14 78 Recap 75 March 26 NY Islanders 4–3 Carolina OT Lack 11,636 32–28–15 79 Recap 76 March 27 New Jersey 2–3 Carolina Ward 12,792 33–28–15 81 Recap 77 March 29 Carolina 1–2 NY Islanders SO Ward 13,733 33–28–16 82 Recap 78 March 31 NY Rangers 3–4 Carolina Ward 16,336 34–28–16 84 Recap
April: 1–3–0 (Home: 0–2–0 ; Road: 1–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 79 April 2 Columbus 5–1 Carolina Lack 11,542 34–29–16 84 Recap 80 April 5 Carolina 2–1 Boston SO Ward 17,565 35–29–16 86 Recap 81 April 7 Montreal 4–2 Carolina Ward 15,120 35–30–16 86 Recap 82 April 9 Carolina 2–5 Florida Lack 18,434 35–31–16 86 Recap
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
Eric Staal‡	63	10	23	33	−3	32
Kris Versteeg‡	63	11	22	33	−6	36
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
Jay McClement	77	3	8	11	−17	24
Chris Terry	68	8	3	11	−12	16
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
Patrick Brown	7	1	1	2	4	4
Derek Ryan	6	2	0	2	1	2
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.

Roster

Updated December 7, 2015.

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
34		Phillip Di Giuseppe	C	L	30	2012	Maple, Ontario
27		Justin Faulk (A)	D	R	32	2010	South St. Paul, Minnesota
14		Nathan Gerbe Injured Reserve	LW	L	36	2013	Oxford, Michigan
65		Ron Hainsey	D	L	43	2013	Bolton, Connecticut
5		Noah Hanifin	D	L	27	2015	Boston, Massachusetts
47		Michal Jordan	D	L	33	2008	Zlín, Czechoslovakia
31		Eddie Lack	G	L	36	2015	Norrtälje, Sweden
26		John-Michael Liles	D	L	43	2014	Indianapolis, Indiana
16		Elias Lindholm	C	R	29	2013	Boden, Sweden
24		Brad Malone	C	L	34	2014	Chatham, New Brunswick
18		Jay McClement	C	L	41	2014	Kingston, Ontario
20		Riley Nash	C	R	34	2010	Consort, Alberta
15		Andrej Nestrasil	C	R	33	2014	Prague, Czechoslovakia
42		Joakim Nordstrom	C	L	32	2015	Stockholm, Sweden
54		Brett Pesce	D	R	29	2013	Tarrytown, New York
49		Victor Rask	C	L	31	2011	Leksand, Sweden
53		Jeff Skinner	LW	L	31	2010	Markham, Ontario
74		Jaccob Slavin	D	L	29	2012	Denver, Colorado
12		Eric Staal (C)	C	L	39	2003	Thunder Bay, Ontario
11		Jordan Staal (A)	C	L	35	2012	Thunder Bay, Ontario
25		Chris Terry	LW	L	35	2009	Brampton, Ontario
32		Kris Versteeg	RW	R	37	2015	Lethbridge, Alberta
30		Cam Ward	G	L	40	2002	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
21		James Wisniewski Injured Reserve	D	R	40	2015	Canton, Michigan

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		Ref
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

Notes

• ^{Note 1} Carolina to retain 50% ($4.125 million) of salary as part of trade.

Free agents acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 1, 2015	T.J. Hensick	Hamilton Bulldogs	1 year, $600,000
March 8, 2016	Andrew Poturalski	University of New Hampshire	2 years, $1.5325 million entry-level contract
April 22, 2016	Jake Chelios	Charlotte Checkers	1 year, $575,000

Free agents lost

Date	Player	New team	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 2, 2015	Ben Holmstrom	New York Islanders	1 year, $750,000
July 24, 2015	Alexander Semin	Montreal Canadiens	1 year, $1.1 million

Claimed via waivers

Player	Previous team	Date

Lost via waivers

Player	New team	Date

Lost via retirement

Date	Player
July 15, 2015	Greg Nemisz

Players released

Date	Player	Via	Ref
July 1, 2015	Alexander Semin	Buyout

Player signings

Date	Player	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
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

Draft picks

See also: List of Carolina Hurricanes 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.

References