Examining the potential Achilles heel of each Metro Division team - Part 1

I highlighted red flags that could prevent Carolina, Columbus, New Jersey, and New York (I) from hitting their ceilings in 2025-26.

Follow along on Twitter @ToddCordell | @InfernalAccess

Be sure to join the Discord channel to talk hockey with our writers and subscribers.

---

The return of hockey, mercifully, is not far off. With that in mind, it’s time to ramp up season preview content here at Infernal Access.

As I do every year, I’ll be looking at one potential weakness that could prevent each Metro Divison team from hitting its ceiling in 2025-26.

Even though no team is otherwise perfect, I am going to label each red flag as the Achilles heel.

Let’s get right to it.

Carolina Hurricanes: Centers

The Hurricanes have a very solid roster with few holes to poke. One of the exceptions is their depth chart at center.

Sebastian Aho has clearly proven to be capable of playing atop the lineup and getting results. There is zero meaningful offense behind him, though.

As it stands, Jesperi Kotkaniemi is the team’s projected No. 2 center. He has scored more than 12 goals once in his career and produced just 60 total points over the last two seasons.

Believe it or not, 3C and defensive specialist Jordan Staal actually out-produced Kotkaniemi – in goals and points – this past year.

The Hurricanes have plenty of talent on the wings, an excellent defense core, and play one of the most finely-tuned systems in the league.

There are a lot of great things about their team that can help compensate for a lack of talent down the middle. In particular, at 2C.

However, teams that win are generally loaded at center, be it with an elite 1-2 combination up top, great depth, or a combination.

The Hurricanes lack that and it could prove problematic.

Columbus Blue Jackets: Team defense