First off, Happy Election Day! No matter who you are voting for (and please keep the political opinions out of the comments) if you haven’t already taken advantage of your ability to vote, make your voice heard!
One thing you won’t have to worry about if you have to vote later in the day is the start time for the Hurricanes’ game, as the Canes are in central time visiting Nashville for the only time this season.
The Predators made news on Sunday by completing a rare one-for-one trade with Seattle.
They sent Matthew Wood out to the Pacific Northwest in return for Shane Wright, and all indications are Wright will make his debut against the Hurricanes tonight.
There’s a bit of a similar arc playing out with Wright as with another high draft pick that’s playing tonight—Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Both were top five picks in the draft, and both saw early success and then saw a bit of a drop off to the point where they felt a change of scenery was needed. He saw a dip in his goals and overall points last season after a great first full season in 2024-25, but as we all know when you’re a high draft pick and you’ve shown potential, you’ll get multiple chances.
Nashville could use the spark—as of today they are just barely out of a wild card spot, which is arguably a stronger position than many felt they would be at the start of the season. That said, they look like they may be this year’s “beneficiaries of the overtime points system.” They’ve only played fourteen games so far and have five overtime losses. Thus, the record looks respectable at 5-4-5 until you realize that means they’ve actually lost nine times. This game is the last of a five game homestand for them, one that started amazingly with a 6-2 thrashing of Colorado, and since then has mirrored the rest of their season with ups—a 5-4 shootout win over Tampa—and downs—a 4-3 shootout loss to the Islanders. One could argue they caught Tampa at the right time considering the atom bomb that was dropped on them as they flew over, but still, you have to win the game.
It’s appropriate as the trip to Finland is around the corner that they face the Finnish goalie that they are familiar with: Juuse Saros. He’s played ten of their fourteen games so far, and doing so with a .902 save percentage. The 31 year old netminder looks to be someone who’s going to consider to play what’s becoming “Old school.” He’s going to play the vast majority of the games with only the occasional backup popping in. The team knows what to expect when they play in front of him, so it’s likely he’ll be there tonight.
Tonight also will have the Canes see two former teammates—Brady Skjei and Jack Drury. They were likely both thrilled at their Cup result in June and envious they weren’t there. Drury is the other part of the Martin Necas trade to Colorado, and he’s going to be in Nashville for a bit. Colorado decided they needed to save some cap room for other contracts that were running out and traded him to Music City, giving them the rights to negotiate a new deal. They clearly viewed Drury as a foundational player as he quickly signed a five year $22.5 million deal before the start of Free Agency. Stats-wise he’s off to a bit of a slower start with a sub-50 faceoff percentage and only three points on the young season, but he also now wears a letter on his sweater as an alternate captain which means they view him as part of the growth of the club.
The other former teammate is Skjei. Now in year three of his seven year deal, the numbers he’s put up for the Predators likely aren’t what they were hoping for when they signed him. He only has 13 goals for them in his two plus years, none so far this year, only two power play goals all told, and has been a minus player for them. A lot of that, of course, speaks to the teammates he has there versus what he had in Raleigh. With a 15-team modified no trade clause, if the Predators are ready to move on. even if his number doesn’t look as high as it used to—it’s less than K’Andre Miller after all—they probably aren’t going to get much value for it.
There’s very little doubt with the time to stay the night there is some catching up that’s happening with Drury and Skjei, you just wonder how much longer those two will be teammates.
As for Carolina, what else can you say? Coach Rod Brind’Amour rewarded the Canes for their thrashing of the Jets with a day off on Monday, and so morning skate will be the first we know of any changes. That said—don’t expect any changes. Pyotr Kochetkov has won his first ten, all four lines and three pairs operated at their peak on Sunday, and if tehre is one thing Brind’Amour doesn’t like to do it’s upset the apple cart unless he has to. One would think Brandon Bussi will get a start for one of the games this week, but with the Canes set to play on Long Island Thursday you wonder if it would make more sense to play Kochetkov tonight, Bussi Thursday, and then Kochetkov back in Raleigh on Saturday.
One other thing—and it’s something that bit the Canes last year. The Predators are honoring yet another Finnish Goalie from their past, Pekka Rinne. Renne was elected into the Hall of Fame this summer and his induction is next Monday. So Tuesday is going to be a “send off ceremony” for him, so expect there to be something pregame for him. It’s also Nashville’s Hockey Fights Cancer night, and that’ll be the only road one the Canes will be at. For the record theirs is their first game back from Finland in the Eastern Conference Finals rematch, November 17th, versus Montreal.
If you aren’t in Music City tonight to watch, here’s how you can catch the action.
Time: 8 PM Eastern
Location: Bridgestone Arena — Nashville, TN
TV: Hurricanes Hockey Network. Hanna Yates will handle the pregame duties at 7:30, and then Mike Maniscalco handles play-by-play with Tripp Tracy providing color—You can catch HHN on Spectrum, DirectTV, and Fubo.
Streaming Video: Hurricanes Hockey Network on Prime Video in the Hurricanes Footprint. If you’re outside the Canes’ footprint, you can watch the game with an ESPN+ Subscription—either through Plus or Ultimate.
Radio: The pregame Storm Watch with Adam Gold on 99.9 The Fan starts at 7:30 PM, At 8 PM radio (consisting of 99.9, 730 The Game in Charlotte, ESPN New Bern 107.5/1490, and ESPN Greenville 107.5/1570) will pick up the Mike Maniscalco and Tripp Tracy TV simulcast.
Lines: (Per DraftKings) Hurricanes -192, -1.5 (+130) /Predators +160, +1.5 (-155). O/U 6.5 +105/-125
