3 Underrated Starts for the Hurricanes to Begin 2026-27

The Carolina Hurricanes are 5-1-1 through seven games in 2026-27, after winning their last five contests. After dropping the first two games, they’ve been slowly getting back to their game, and it feels like there is no slowing down what head coach Rod Brind’Amour calls “the machine”. While most of the attention has been focused on Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, and the “Junkyard Dawg” line, who else has been playing well so far this season?

Sean Walker

For Sean Walker, he’s been someone who goes out, does his job on a nightly basis, and plays in a way that it’s just another night on the ice. Now in his third season with the Hurricanes, he has established himself as a two-way defenseman who can do it all. He can make key blocks, and break up passes in the defensive zone, throw the body when needed, get under opponents’ skins, and produce in the offensive zone when called upon. No matter the situation, Walker goes out and does his job. Whether it’s noticed or not, the Keswick, Ontario native continues to show why the team brought him to Raleigh ahead of the 2024-25 season.

Regarding the 2026-27 season, Walker has five assists through seven games. Four of them came against the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 8, which gave him a four-point night for the first time in his career. After his career night and the team’s third straight win, he was asked about the team getting back to their game at the time. “I think you’re seeing every game we’re getting closer and closer back to our style of play and how we wanted to be starting the year, but obviously it wasn’t like that. These last couple of games have been more Hurricanes hockey, and when we’re doing that, we’re really hard to play against.”

Last season, he finished with nine goals and 31 points in 81 games. His 22 assists and 31 points were career highs for him. He took on a bigger role last season as the blue line anchor due to most of the defense being out at different times in 2025-26 with injuries. So far this season, Walker is playing right where he left off.

Mark Jankowski

If anyone was asked if they knew Mark Jankowski was going to score four goals in four straight games this early in the season, they would be lying to you. However, if they were asked if they could see it happening based on his history with the Hurricanes, then they won’t steer you wrong in that capacity. After being acquired on March 7, 2025, he scored four goals on four shots in a week. It’s no surprise that he is on a scoring run during the Hurricanes’ five-game winning streak.

Jankowski’s current streak dates back to the Oct. 6 game against the Montreal Canadiens, and it seems like he has no interest in slowing down. Through seven games this season, he has four goals and five points. In 68 games last season, he had 11 goals and 21 points and is already on pace to surpass those numbers.

His career best season came in 2017-18, when he finished with 17 goals and 25 points with the Calgary Flames. Does Jankowski have a chance to reach those numbers this season? With him already up to four goals and five points in seven games, anything is possible. However it plays out, it’s never a dull moment when “Janks” gets on one of his hot scoring runs.

William Carrier

At the beginning of the season, no one saw William Carrier play on the top line with Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov. Eric Robinson started with the pair due to Seth Jarvis still recovering from off-season shoulder surgery. After the first two games, Brind’Amour swapped the lines, starting the LaSalle, Quebec native, and is now off to the best start of his career.

Over the last five games, he has four assists, two of them on Oct. 11 against the Philadelphia Flyers. On the season, Carrier has five assists in seven games. It took him until game 30 in 2025-26 to reach that mark. Last season, he had seven goals and 18 points in 70 games. Despite injuries not allowing him to play a full season in Raleigh, he’s impactful on the ice when available.

After the Hurricanes’ fifth straight win, Carrier was asked about the team’s performance during this current run. While it’s been a good one, he knows there is a ton of hockey left, and they will need to keep playing their game. “We just wanted to find our game. It took a little bit of time, a couple of games, but I think we finally got it. We roll four lines, and everyone plays hard. It’s a long season, so there are a lot of games coming up, and we need four lines to play.”

Hopefully health is on Carrier’s side as the two-time Stanley Cup Champion looks to continue his underrated start to the 2026-27 season. No matter if he’s on the first line or the fourth when Jarvis returns, he will continue making plays on both sides of the ice. Plus, he will always be what the Hurricanes brought him in to do: be physical, throw the body, and disrupt the opponent’s chances.

The Hurricanes return to the ice on Tuesday night against the Washington Capitals for the first “Frozen Frenzy” of the season, with all 32 NHL teams playing on the same day. They will seek to avenge their 5-2 loss to the Capitals on Oct. 2 as they hope to push their win streak to six games. Can they keep the winning streak alive ahead of their North Carolina State Fair road trip?