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It marked the third straight season that Carolina had lost a series despite having home ice and the third straight trip to the Eastern Final to end in a sweep going back to 2009. STRENGTHS: The core group has been through Carolina's multi-year journey from playoff newbie to perennial Cup contender. The Hurricanes have an aggressive forechecking style and surrendered the fewest goals in the league in 2022 and the second-fewest in 2023.

Carter Hart finished with 34 saves.

As one would expect for a team with multiple established NHL-ers whose contracts have expired, the Hurricanes are not without room to maneuver under the salary cap this summer.

Next summer will be an interesting one for the Hurricanes. They have around $25M at their disposal but need to fill half a roster with that money.

Total: $7.03M The way Ottawa’s cap situation is structured, there is going to be a prominent player coming off an ELC on an annual basis which, from a long-term planning standpoint, is a good way to stagger things.  Tkachuk then becomes the one to watch for in the coming months as he’s eligible for an extension now.  He’s not near the top of the scoring charts but power forwards tend to get paid quickly which makes his case intriguing.  The Sens have tried to bypass bridge contracts with the players they perceive to be long-term core assets and Tkachuk is certainly in that category ...