Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho Has Chance to Rebound After Underwhelming Postseason Start

The Carolina Hurricanes finally know their opponents for the Eastern Conference Final. For the third time in franchise history, the Hurricanes will face off with the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs bested the Buffalo Sabres in Game 7 to set up a showdown with Carolina. 10 days after finishing off the Philadelphia Flyers in a sweep, the record-setting Hurricanes finally know who will oppose them. It’s already raised questions: Can Carolina’s top line wake up? Is the depth scoring sustainable? Will the Hurricanes finally get over the hump? The big key here is Sebastian Aho.

Quiet Start

It’s well-documented now, outside of an assist in Game 3 of the Flyers series, Aho has been a large non-factor at 5-on-5. He’s struggling in all three zones, and the Hurricanes are heavily relying on the rest of their lineup to atone for the shortcomings of their Finnish star. There is nothing wrong with being solid defensively if the rest of the team is finding ways to put pucks in the back of the net. You can live with that, and that is what the Hurricanes did against two other opponents who also like to play a defense-first style.

Where this gets complicated is Aho now. Montreal is a lot of things, but it is not as defensively stable as the Ottawa Senators or the Flyers. If the scoring of this series is going to increase, Carolina must have its stars be better. There is no bigger face of the Hurricanes’ offense than Aho himself, so there will be extra eyes and scrutiny on his performances. Hurricanes fans know how ferocious a competitor he is, so he’ll find ways to be helpful. However, scoring is what Carolina requires.

Aho’s Past With Montreal

Everyone remembers the Jesperi Kotkaniemi offer sheet. It’s frequently a debate between fans of the Canadiens and the Hurricanes. However, some Canadian media outlets viewed that as a retaliatory move. The Hurricanes have disputed this for years, but some will forever view it that way. Well, why did Carolina have a reason for retaliation against Montreal? In the summer of 2019, the Canadiens signed Aho to an offer sheet.

Aho has said multiple times that he used the Montreal offer sheet to just affirm his contract, rather than go through the disputes in the summer. That hasn’t stopped many Montreal fans from claiming he wanted to come to Quebec. Aho has since signed a new contract with the Hurricanes, putting to rest any rumors of him leaving Raleigh, especially given the Hurricanes’ continued competitiveness. This offer sheet might just be more motivation in a series against the team that tried to lure him away many years ago.

Past Success

In 25 games against the Canadiens in the regular season, Aho has scored 13 goals and 17 assists for 30 points. Now, this has to come with a grain of salt because this is mostly during the rebuilding years for the Canadiens. Aho is a fantastic player and tends to feed on teams that aren’t particularly well-equipped to defend. That was the case with the rebuilding Canadiens, but if that past success can spark him to wake up now in the most important series of his career to this point, it’s a positive for Carolina.

Aho has never finished a postseason with fewer than 11 points. That includes the 2020 Playoffs, held in the bubble in Toronto, where Carolina played only eight games. Aho’s at four this postseason, including being yet to beat a goaltender with a shot. He scored two empty-net goals to seal the Ottawa series and had one bounce off his skate in Game 2, also against the Senators. He had an assist in the Flyers series, but still hasn’t looked like the Aho of old.

Time to Rest and Regroup

Unlike many of the Hurricanes, Aho didn’t have the luxury of having the Olympics off. He was playing with Team Finland right through to the end, helping to guide them to a bronze medal in the Milan-Cortina Games. After back-to-back sweeps, the Hurricanes have enjoyed a long period of rest and relaxation. That could be massive for Aho, who has endured quite a long season, frequently carrying the load when the roster was dealing with injuries.

Through the season, Aho carried the weight for Carolina. The leading scorer through the regular season once again, he’s been the spark the Hurricanes have needed for almost a decade. When the Hurricanes need someone to step up in the big moments, it’s always Aho. He’s the superstar this franchise depends on. If he can play like it in this series, he may finally get the success that has eluded him. Can he return to spearhead the Canes’ relentless offense? We’ll find out Thursday at the Lenovo Center.