STORM Stats – The Curious Case of Sebastian Aho

By Katie Bartlett

Note: All stats are obtained from free content available from Natural Stat Trick and HockeyViz via their sites and/or content posted on Twitter/X.

If you want to measure the pulse of the Carolina Hurricanes, a good place to start is to look at Sebastian Aho. He is the face of the franchise and plays a key role in all facets of the team’s game – 5v5, power play, penalty kill, and 3v3 overtime. While he has had a good season, there has been a sense that he has taken a step back this season and that he has something more in the tank to give.

Big picture

Overall, Sebastian Aho has been almost a point-per-game player so far this season. As of the writing of this article, he has scored 26 goals and 39 assists for a total of 65 points in 68 games played. That’s a touch better than two seasons ago when he had 67 points in 75 games, but a noticeable step behind last season and three seasons ago when he had 89 and 81 points in 78 and 79 games, respectively.

Breaking down the scoring

Sebastian Aho’s production in different situations looks like this:

The Good

Sebastian Aho’s best numbers, not surprisingly, are during 3v3 overtime and on the penalty kill. For the 3v3 overtime, he is scoring a goal in just under 3 minutes of ice time. That is crazy good! On the penalty kill, where the team is alre

ady at a numbers disadvantage, he is not only helping to shut down the other teams’ top players, but also producing offense. With his six points, he is helping to create a goal for every 18 minutes of PK time that he puts in.

The Bad

Sebastian Aho’s 5v5 numbers are quite concerning. Overall, the 39 even-strength points do not seem that bad until we remove the “special situation” points (3v3, empty net) and see that he has only 26 points  (12 goals and 14  assists) at 5v5. That means that he has only scored 40% of his points during 67% of his ice time. That’s just not good enough for a player of his caliber.

The Ugly

We all know about how awful the Canes’ power play has been in 2025, and Sebastian Aho has been right in the middle of those struggles. In 2024, he had 139:36 of PP time and scored 2 goals and 13 assists, which means th

at he has only 1 goal and 4 assists in 108:01 of power play time in 2025. To put that in perspective, Aho is tallying a point on the power play for every 21.6 minutes of PP time. That is a lower rate than that at which he is scoring on the penalty kill. He’s the leader of that top unit and the power play as a whole is not going to find its way without him leading the charge.

Moving forward

There is no magic pill to help Sebastian Aho start producing better at 5v5 and on the power play, but there are some ways to provide more opportunities to increase scoring. The first is to give him consistent linemates. Aho is not a plug-and-play type player that works well with just anyone on his wings.

It’s a good sign that his current line with Blake and Jarvis is putting up good possession numbers, but they are still struggling to convert those chances into actual goals. What the magic formula is for the line is still a bit of a mystery, but hopefully it’s one that will be solved before the start of the playoffs.

The second way to try and jump start Aho’s offense is to make him a rover on the power play. He spends too much time holding the puck. Make him move around and let the other guys on the power play find him for the shot. His one-timer is sneaky good and he is adept at finding the soft spots in the defense.

Finally, Aho and Jarvis together need to channel the attack mentality that they have on the penalty kill into their 5v5 game. They’re both very good at creating turnovers in their own zone that they need to be more intentional about creating rushes the other way and using their aggressiveness to put defenses on their heels.

Sebastian Aho still has plenty left in the tank when it comes to providing a consistent scoring touch for the Carolina Hurricanes. Hopefully, he will tap into it most effectively soon, just in time for the playoffs.