Last season, the New Jersey Devils emerged as surprising playoff contenders, and while they got quickly booted from the first round by the Tampa Bay Lightning, it was still a fairly remarkable season.
Taylor Hall led that surge. He closed out the year with 39 goals and 93 total points, almost singlehandedly dragging his Devils team into the postseason. That effort earned him the Hart Trophy for the NHL’s most valuable player.
Is a similar story in the works with the Carolina Hurricanes and Sebastian Aho?
There are a lot of similarities between the two.