Carolina Hurricanes 2009-10 Fantasy Hockey Preview

We are now less than a month away from the start of the 2009-10 NHL regular season, and I think it's a great time to start publishing my fantasy preview articles for each NHL team.

When looking at a player and predicting how he will fare offensively this season, there are many things to consider: Is the player at an age where he will improve or decline? Is he playing with new line mates this year? Did his team acquire some players who may push them down the depth chart?

Those are just a few of the questions needed to be asked and I believe I can accurately predict a player's point totals for the upcoming season. Of course, things like injuries are impossible to predict, so these are best case scenarios.

2009-10 Depth Chart

Forwards

Ray Whitney-Eric Staal-Erik Cole
Sergei Samsonov-Jussi Jokinen-Tuomo Ruutu
Chad Larose-Matt Cullen-Zach Boychuk
Tom Kostopoulos-Rod Brind'Amour-Scott Walker

Defense

Tim Gleason-Joe Corvo
Joni Pitkanen-Aaron Ward
Andrew Alberts-Niclas Wallin

Goalies

Cam Ward
Michael Leighton

Sure Bet: Eric Staal

Only 24 years old, Staal has scored 153 goals in the last four years combined. He is also very durbale as proven by the fact that he has played all 82 games in a season for the last four years.

Dark Horse: Erik Cole

Struggled last year after being traded to Edmonton, but picked up his play after being traded back to Carolina before dropping off in the play-offs. He should have a good year playing with Staal the entire season.

2009-10 Scoring Projections

Player                    GP-G-A-P

1. Eric Staal            82-44-45-89

2. Ray Whitney        80-22-43-65

3. Tuomu Ruutu       76-20-32-52

4. Erik Cole             79-24-26-50

5. Matt Cullen          77-19-27-46

6. Jussi Jokinen        80-15-27-42

7. Joni Pitkanen        78-9-31-40

8. Sergei Samsonov   77-14-24-38

9. Joe Corvo            78-10-25-35

10. Rod Brind`Amour  63-12-22-34

11. Chad Larose        82-17-15-32

12. Tim Gleason        80-3-19-24

13. Zach Boychuk      42-6-16-22

14. Tom Kostopoulos  76-7-14-21

15. Scott Walker       60-5-15-20

16. Niclas Wallin        74-2-11-13

17. Aaron Ward         76-1-11-12

18. Andrew Alberts    80-1-8-9

Goalies

1. Cam Ward 37-24-7 .918 SVP 2.39 GAA

2. Michael Leighton 5-6-3 .903 SVP 2.86 GAA