<p>While the <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/carolina-hurricanes/line-combinations">Carolina Hurricanes</a> are off to a hot start this season, a couple of their bigger names have struggled early on.</p>



<p>The Hurricanes kicked off the 2025-26 campaign by winning each of their first five games, including sweeping their trip through California last week. However, the team ultimately fell to the <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/vegas-golden-knights/line-combinations">Vegas Golden Knights</a> on Monday night, coming up on the losing end of the contest for the first time this year. </p>



<p>While it’s not worth firing off alarm bells regarding the team after just one loss, there’s a growing concern with two of the team’s top players and their underwhelming performance so far. </p>



<p>Carolina signed forward Nikolaj Ehlers to a big six-year contract this past July, paying him an AAV of $8.5 million. However, the former <a href="https://jetsnation.ca/">Winnipeg Jet</a> has just one assist so far this season. Andrei Svechnikov hasn’t been great, either, as he’s been held pointless in six games.</p><div class="injected-ad injected-video" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="0" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="154"></div>



<p>On <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEN6px9pIvw">Tuesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE</a>, Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton discuss whether there should be panic regarding the absence of production from Ehlers and Svechnikov.</p>



<p><strong>Tyler Yaremchuk:</strong> &nbsp;he is sliding way down that depth chart in Carolina. Is this just early-season struggles? The knock on them has always been that they do not have star power. They will get through the regular season. They will be a good team. They’ll get to the playoffs. And they don’t have that game breaker that can push them over the edge. Ehlers was kind of supposed to be one of those guys that would help in that department. Both him and Svechnikov have been, let’s put it bluntly, brutal to start</p>



<p><strong>Carter Hutton:</strong> You got to hope that this is something that they can grow into as the season goes their leadership group. Ehlers…I’m not as worried. He’s a veteran guy. He’s been around a long time, and he can play when it matters most. Svechnikov one is the one that worries me. Playing under Rod Brind’Amour, a guy who demands it from you every single night, and he’s created a culture there where you are accountable and their leadership group, whether it’s [Jordan] Stahl or [Jordan] Martinook or [Jaccob] Slavin, the guys that have been there for a long time that kind of pull this train in that direction, demanded from you. </p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="1" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="233"></div>



<p>Svechnikov…he’s just a player that can be on a perimeter and he cannot have that grind. We’ve seen it so many times with star players like them. Sometimes the Russians can be a little bit softer when it comes to the regular-season grind. They’re going to be big players when it matters, but what I worry about is the relationship in the room with the head coach, a guy who is on you every single day. To play Carolina Hurricanes hockey, it gets exhausting after 82 games, and guys can check out. So, this early in the season, there’s a bit of a message. These are guys that want power plays. They want points. That’s what keeps them going. It’ll be interesting to see how he burns his way back into his good books if his game keeps sliding like this.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="2" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="141"></div>



<p><em>You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…</em></p>



<iframe loading="lazy" width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YEN6px9pIvw?si=KHNavn6UzoNEnSB0&amp;start=286" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
