About Last Season: Joakim Nordstrom Performance Review and Grade

Joakim Nordstrom: 2017-18 By The Numbers

• Age: 26
• NHL Seasons:
• Scoring: 2g—5a—7 points
• Ice Time: 10:34 all situations, 8:48 ES, 0:04 PP, 1:43 SH
• 5-on-5 Stats: 51.9% CF, 38.1% GF
• Contract Status: RFA; completed 2 year, $2.55 million contract

Making the Grade

At one point, after scoring the opening goal of the 2017-18 season for the Carolina Hurricanes, Joakim Nordstrom was on pace to score 246 goals. Spoiler alert: he didn’t.

The 26-year old Swede and penalty killing specialist managed only 7 points (2G, 5A) and finished -11 for the year. Granted, Nordstrom isn’t wearing the Hurricanes sweater to light the lamp, as he is known more for his defensive prowess, but his continued place on the team is a perfect encapsulation of “good but not good enough”. Players like Nordstrom are what separates Carolina from other teams and not in the most positive way you might think.

When players like Sebastian Aho are on the ice, they are often forced to line up against the team’s best players. This often cancels out the production of each team’s better scorers. What is left for a team to rely on is its bottom-six scoring, and that’s when you start to see the disparity between good teams and teams that are playing golf in late April. Nordstrom has a Stanley Cup ring on his mantle, earned by playing three games in 2015. Since coming to Carolina, he has contributed little offensively and this season was a key part of a penalty kill that ranked just 24th in the league.

Bottom-six forwards are incredibly valuable in today’s NHL where depth and speed become paramount. If Nordstrom can elevate his game, then it’s possible he opens up play for players above him on the depth chart as well. Despite being a Bill Peters favorite, Nordstrom does not seem to be the type of player that Tom Dundon will want to bring back - and with his contract expiring, this all may be a moot point. Either way, in another disappointing comparison, it was more of the same for Joakim Nordstrom this year and that meant more of the same for the Canes. Problem is, when you’ve been out of the playoffs for nine years, more of the same is the last thing the fans want.