This is a very hypothetical situation, and it's dependent upon a few factors - but let's play along, because why not?
1. I would have to think Rod Brind'Amour's name would be among the short list of head coaching candidates. He's served as an assistant coach with the Canes for the last seven seasons, at first acting as the "eye in the sky" communicating with the coaches on the bench and then moving down to the bench under head coach Bill Peters. If there's someone who would know how to get the most out of his players, it would be Brind'Amour.
2. I think this would be the ultimate decision of the hypothetical new head coach (or perhaps the new general manager, if he felt strongly about a particular assistant). Otherwise, I'd imagine all names and positions are up for discussion.
3. Should Peters opt out of his contract with the Canes, I think he'd do so in order to take a head coaching job elsewhere in the NHL. At the moment, that leaves just a few options. Calgary would indeed make the most sense, considering his hometown of Three Hills, Alberta, isn't but a hop, skip and a jump from Calgary. He also has a coaching history in that region with the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League (the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL are owned by the Flames and play in the same building).
Tweet from @Lexi_Jordan12: Who���s playing in worlds?
To my knowledge, the Hurricanes currently have no confirmed participants in the 2018 IIHF World Championship, but that could change in the next week or so as team rosters are announced.
Team Canada, led behind the bench by Peters, does not feature any Hurricanes on its roster. Team USA, other than naming Patrick Kane its captain, has yet to release its roster. I wouldn't be surprised to see Noah Hanifin on that list, but don't expect to see Justin Faulk (upper body) or Brett Pesce (shoulder) join him, due to their injuries that sidelined them late in the regular season.
Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen are two names to watch for Team Finland. Elias Lindholm, Victor Rask and Joakim Nordstrom each captured a gold medal with Team Sweden last year. Rask had shoulder surgery, so he won't participate, but Lindholm could be a name to watch; with that said, he could opt out due to the fact that he does not yet have a contract for the 2018-19 season (restricted free agent). (UPDATE: Both Lindholm and Nordstrom have
declined their invitations
due to being restricted free agents.)
We'll be keeping an eye on any and all Hurricanes participants in the World Championship, which will take place May 4-20 in Denmark.
