Hurricanes’ Andrei Svechnikov gets 8 chances to beat his older brother this season
Andrei Svechnikov is a dreamer.
The Carolina Hurricanes forward, in fact, says he has dreamed often about lining up against his older brother, Evgeny Svechnikov, in an NHL game. And that might come true this unusual NHL season.
Svechnikov will be entering this third year with the Hurricanes and has been described in many ways: powerful, skilled, intense and workaholic as well as cheerful, funny and charismatic. Many believe he is on the verge of NHL stardom at age 20.
“He’s going to keep getting better and better,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said on a Tuesday media call. “He came in as a kid and is still a young man but his willingness to get better is why he’s going to continue to get better.”
It has been a much slower go for Svechnikov’s brother. Like Andrei, Evgeny, 24, is a former first-round draft pick. Unlike Andrei, the forward has played only 20 games for the Red Wings, his development stalled by an ACL tear in October 2018 that required reconstruction surgery on his right knee.
Brother vs. brother
The newly formed NHL has brought the Canes and Red Wings into the same, now newly named division for 2020-21 -- the “Discover Central Division.” The NHL announced Tuesday that each of the four divisions would have a naming sponsor, also bringing about the Honda West, MassMutual East and Scotia North.
The Canes and Red Wings will meet eight times in the 56-game regular season, starting with the Jan. 14 opener. That’s eight chances for Andrei and Evgeny, if he’s on the Wings roster, to face each other -- Svechnikov injured an arm in a Wings scrimmage Tuesday.
“Every day I start going to sleep I start thinking about that,” Andrei said on the media call. “It’s going to be so much fun. It’s always been our little dream to play against each other and it’s going to be so much fun. If I’m on a shift against him I’ll try to hit him or something. We’ll see.”
The Canes-Wings games will also mean Staal vs Staal as the Canes’ Jordan Staal renews his NHL rivalry with defenseman Marc Staal, who was traded by the New York Rangers to Detroit. Nothing new there for the Staal brothers.
But Svechnikov vs Svechnikov would be a first. The two, who both wear No. 37, have not gone up against each other at any point in their hockey careers, Andrei said.
Andrei Svechnikov is more comfortable in the NHL now
Svechnikov could become a point-per-game player, if not better, this season for the Canes. The ability is there. He had 61 points in 68 games last season, scoring 24 goals, before the NHL regular season was suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Svechnikov established himself on the power play last season, scoring six times and adding 14 assists. As a rookie in 2018-19, he did not score on the power play, missing 18 shots. With Brind’Amour using him more last season, he had 54 shots.
It was feared Svechnikov might have been severely injured in the 2020 NHL playoffs against the Boston Bruins, with thoughts of an Evgeny-type knee injury initially flashing through some minds after he tangled up with Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara and fell backward. But it was an ankle sprain, a disaster of an injury dodged.
Svechnikov said he’s more comfortable, more confident after two years in the NHL. Case in point: the two lacrosse goals last season. At 6-2 and 195 pounds, he said he’s stronger. A next step for him, Svechnikov said, would be in becoming more of a team leader.
“All his skills are there and now you add the strength and to me the confidence he’s gained,” Brind’Amour said. “It will continue to grow.”
This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Hurricanes’ Andrei Svechnikov gets 8 chances to beat his older brother this season."
