RALEIGH, N.C. -- The fact is clear: the Carolina Hurricanes haven't made the Stanley Cup playoffs in nearly a year.

  • The Canes playoff drought is the longest in the NHL
  • Carolina has added key free agents and made several trades aimed at not just getting to the playoffs, but advancing
  • The Hurricanes will have practice off Saturday due to the potential impacts of Hurricane Florence

In fact, the Canes playoff drought is the longest in the NHL. First-year head coach Rod Brind'Amour aims to change that. As his team took the ice Thursday for the first day of training camp, Brind'Amour's message to players wasn't scientific.

"It's important to know what's been going on hasn't been good enough," Brind'Amour told reporters. "At the end of the day we've got to raise the expectation level of the group and the organization and everybody in it. It's got to be higher."

Carolina will try to turn things around, as they've added key free agents and made several trades aimed at not just getting to the playoffs, but advancing.

"I know we're going to have a great team and playoffs shouldn't be a ceiling you set for yourself, but it should be a stop along the way," captain Justin Williams declared on Canes media day last week.

The Hurricanes will have practice off Saturday due to the potential impacts of Hurricane Florence.