Hurricanes 'harder to play against' in playoffs this time, Tracy says

The Carolina Hurricanes are more hardened, experienced and mentally tougher in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season than in previous runs, including three that ended in the Eastern Conference Final since Rod Brind'Amour became coach in 2018-19, according to analyst Tripp Tracy.

The longtime Hurricanes broadcaster joined this week's episode of the "NHL @TheRink" podcast, recorded Wednesday, to give his impressions on Carolina, which is 6-0 this postseason and leads the Philadelphia Flyers 2-0 in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference Second Round.

"The core of this group has learned some really difficult, hard lessons in all of Carolina's playoff journeys," Tracy said. "I see physically a team that is harder to play against, which I think they needed to take those steps.

“And I see a team that has more mental toughness than I've ever seen certainly in Rod Brind'Amour's tenure. I think both of those things were on display to be able to value ending a series in short fashion like they did against a very good Ottawa team (in the first round). In the past, Game 4, the way especially things went in the second period, I think Carolina would have said, 'OK, we're going to go quietly into the night and we'll be ready for Game 5 back in our building.' I just thought that represented a lot of growth."

That growth, Tracy told co-hosts Dan Rosen and Shawn P. Roarke, has to again be on display when the series shifts to Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia for Game 3 on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).

"I want to see them go on the road and whistle to whistle play a really mentally and physical hardened game," Tracy said. "Whistle to whistle."

Tracy broke down many of the reasons why the Hurricanes are perfect through six games in the playoffs. He cited the forward line of Taylor Hall, Jackson Blake and Logan Stankoven. He referenced the goaltending of Frederik Andersen, which he believes is a continuation from the end of the regular season. He discussed the importance of forward Nikolaj Ehlers and defenseman K'Andre Miller, each in his first season with Carolina.

But Tracy said there is further optimism because Sebastian Aho (three goals), Seth Jarvis (one goal, three assists), Andrei Svechnikov (one assist) and defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere (no points) have each lagged offensively, yet Carolina has won six in a row to start the playoffs.

"It's remarkable that they're 6-0 and Sebastian Aho hasn't found his offensive confidence," Tracy said. "I'm optimistic that Seth Jarvis, who puts a lot of pressure on himself, that he's going to gain some freedom from scoring that game-tying goal (in Game 2). Svechnikov I thought was really good against Ottawa, when you think about the top end of the 2018 (NHL) Draft and the matchup he had with Brady Tkachuk, he just didn't get rewarded. He's fallen off here in the last couple of games.

“These penalties have got to stop. Of course I'm thinking about at some point Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, Seth Jarvis, and I'm going to put Shayne Gostisbehere in that mix because he was just stellar this year and offensively it's been a tardy start for him so far in the playoffs for the former Flyer. So, I'm thinking about those individual stories."

In addition to their discussion with Tracy, the co-hosts went deep into the past few days in Toronto, where on Monday the Maple Leafs introduced John Chayka and Mats Sundin in a press conference that got contentious and then on Tuesday won the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery and the right to select No. 1 in the 2026 NHL Draft.

They talked about the Western Conference Second Round series between the Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild (the Avalanche lead 2-0) and previewed the Eastern Conference Second Round between the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres.

The "NHL @TheRink" podcast is free and listeners can subscribe on all podcast platforms. It is also available on NHL.com/multimedia/podcasts and the NHL app.