On Saturday night (Oct. 25), the Carolina Hurricanes wrapped up their six-game, 12-day road trip, going 4-2-0 over that span. After eight games into the 2025-26 season, they sit with a 6-2-0 record and are two points back of the New Jersey Devils. The Hurricanes, as a whole, have 17 of 23 skaters who have tallied at least one point over the first eight games. Out of the six who have not, five of them have played three games or fewer, with two making NHL debuts in recent days. However, one has played all eight games and has not tallied a point. Andrei Svechnikov has been struggling at the start of the season, and after eight games, it’s glaring.
Glaring Issues for Svechnikov
Following the 2025 NHL Playoffs, where Svechnikov had eight goals and 12 points, some felt like he had finally found his form. While he has been strong in the playoffs, the regular season has shown more ups and downs for the Russian forward. When diving into the stats, Svechnikov has shown that he thrives on the power play, scoring 10 goals last season on the man-advantage. However, when that translates to 5-on-5 play, he only had another 10 during the 2024-25 season. Out of those 10 even-strength goals, five were scored with an empty net. Ever since his ACL tear during the 2022-23 season, his point total has dropped from 55 to 52 to 48 last season. Svechnikov does get the assists (32, 33, and 28), but his goal total has not reached 25 or greater since 2021-22, when he had 30. Over the last three seasons, he has only scored 23, 19, and 20.
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While that is not the be-all and end-all, for a second overall pick in 2018, the hope is that he scores 30 to 40 goals a season and has around 65 or more points. 2021-22 was the last time Svechnikov had over 60 points in a season (finished with 69). So far in eight games in 2025-26, he has not scored a goal or recorded a point.
This is Svechnikov’s stat line after eight games, which includes the recent six-game road trip: minus-3, 15 shots on goal (31 shot attempts), 14:43 average time on ice (TOI), and five hits.
During the road trip, Svechnikov got demoted to the fourth line and onto the second power-play unit. While Rod Brind’Amour does not number his lines, Svechnikov’s ice time shows that, for a guy making $7.75 million a season, he is not getting the job done. Since the home opener on Oct. 9, Svechnikov has not put up more than two shots per game in the last seven games (three games with only one shot on goal). Furthermore, entering the game on Saturday against the Dallas Stars, he had five hits on the season. He left the game with five hits. His stat line after the Stars game was 15:15 TOI, 17 shifts, and one shot on goal.
Hurricanes’ color commentator Tripp Tracy brought it up on the broadcast during the Stars game that Svechnikov is struggling, and rightfully so. Svechnikov is barely putting the puck on the net, and he is not even being physical off the puck. For a power forward, they are known for scoring goals and using their body to create offense, or at least defending guys to prevent opportunities. Five total hits in eight games is a glaring problem on its own, even when you don’t include the zeros across goals, assists, and points.
Svechnikov is known to score goals and get hot at the right time; however, this particular start to the season is worrisome. Especially right now, when the Hurricanes are down six NHL regulars due to injuries. Following the call-ups of Bradly Nadeau, Charles Alexis Legault, and Joel Nystrom, it’s truly a next man up mentality for the Hurricanes, who need all the help they can get. For Svechnikov to have goose eggs in all facets of the game is glaring, and the hope is that he can turn it around soon. There has been confidence in the past for Svechnikov to turn it around; he has shown that he can, especially in the playoffs. However, it seems the lack of confidence internally from himself and the Hurricanes is growing evident as each game passes.
There is a long way to go in the season, 74 games to be exact, so there is time to right the ship. But after eight games, there have to be some conversations to see what is going on for Svechnikov to be at this level right now. Should he be traded? No, he has four more seasons left on his deal, including the 2025-26 season. He will be an unrestricted free agent after the 2028-29 season, when he is 29 years old. His contract holds a 10-team approved trade list clause as well. Trading him now does not make sense; patience should be had at this juncture of the season.
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The hope is that the struggles turn around soon because if the Hurricanes want to win a Stanley Cup, they will need Svechnikov to get rolling. Only time will tell when that will happen. Maybe being back in Raleigh will give some mental clarity and a refocus for Svechnikov, who needs to get off the schneid of being pointless after eight games. The Hurricanes still have faith in Svechnikov, and that will be tested as the games progress throughout the season.
Either way, whether it’s internal confidence issues or just unfortunate luck, the effort has to be shown. If the Hurricanes want to win the Stanley Cup, everyone has to contribute, especially with how many players are out right now. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when the Hurricanes play their first game back home following the road trip against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, Oct. 28. Hopefully, it’ll be a start to the turnaround for Svechnikov’s early-season struggles. If he does turn it around, that will be a huge boost for the Hurricanes as they continue their quest for the team’s second-ever Stanley Cup in franchise history.
