The Carolina Hurricanes saw their season end officially on Saturday night, as the Washington Capitals defeated the Florida Panthers to clinch the Southeast Division. The Hurricanes' only hope was for the Caps to lose.
The upcoming offseason should be very interesting, because several older veterans could be pushed out by young players. Several veterans missed significant time down the stretch, and the team played very well with them out. Jim Rutherford and Peter Laviolette will have to decide if the young players are ready for the NHL, or if they just caught lightning in a bottle.
Laviolette will likely have some questions to answer as well, simply because of the team's less-than-stellar finish. They had several "win and you're in" games, and didn't win them. I have already seen several people question the wisdom of inserting players coming back from injuries into the lineup, while taking away players who had contributed greatly to Carolina's playoff push. Loyalty to players is a good thing, in moderation...but with a handful of games left in the season, you don't have time for guys to "get their legs back."
Everyone has plenty of time to think about things, unfortunately.
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