Regarding the Carolina Hurricanes, the preseason is officially over. No more tuneup games, they start to count in four days on Oct. 11 at home versus the Tampa Bay Lightning. After their last preseason game on Oct. 5 versus the Nashville Predators, they signed Bryce Montgomery and Skyler Brind’Amour to contracts through at least the 2024-25 season with the former being signed on Sunday, Oct. 6. As the day progressed through Sunday, the Hurricanes announced that they will be sending 15 players to the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League (AHL) amongst a plethora of other moves. By the afternoon, they trimmed the almost 50-player training camp roster to 25. Who are the 15 players and where is everyone else going after the roster was reduced?
Sweet Home, Chicago
The Hurricanes on Sunday afternoon announced that they will be reassigning the newly signed Brind’Amour and the following 14 players to the Wolves:
Forwards:
• Skyler Brind’Amour • Noel Gunler • Juha Jaaska • Bradly Nadeau • Justin Robidas • Gleb Trikozov • Felix Unger-Sorum
Defensemen:
• Domenick Fensore • Aleksi Heimosalmi • Charles-Alexis Legault • Scott Morrow • Ronan Seeley
Goaltenders:
• Ruslan Khazheyev • Spencer Martin • Yaniv Perets
It comes as no surprise that most of these players were going to be reassigned to the AHL after training camp and the preseason concluded. The names who stood out the most from the forward core were Noel Gunler and Gleb Trikozov who both had a really good showing at the Rookie Showcase in Nashville back in September scoring five points each unofficially. Coming into camp, it seemed that Bradly Nadeau and Felix Unger-Sorum were in the mix to make the opening night roster, but as the weeks went on, there was a good chance they would be going to the Wolves.
Related: Hurricanes’ Gleb Trikozov Spurs 6-Goal Third Period in Rookie Showcase Win
In the end, that is the right move for the Hurricanes and the players in their development by having their first full season as pros in the AHL and the Wolves with head coach Cam Abbott and his staff. Nadeau is coming off his freshman season at the University of Maine and Unger-Sorum is in his first pro season in North America. If the Hurricanes thought this was a good time to let them develop in the minors, this is the season to do it with the team in transition. Regarding development, it makes more sense for them to start the season in the AHL and get top-six minutes there and develop instead of getting bottom-six minutes or even healthy scratched. The same case can be made for defenseman Scott Morrow who will be joining the Wolves as the second-best defensive prospect in the organization behind Alexander Nikishin.
Morrow was destined for the AHL after only playing in the last two preseason games after dealing with an undisclosed injury throughout camp. Furthermore, the defense was pretty much locked in since the signings of Shayne Gostisbehere and Sean Walker were announced during the first day of free agency. It makes sense to give Morrow the chance to have proper minutes in the AHL instead of being slotted as the seventh defenseman with the Hurricanes. It won’t be long before we see Morrow in the NHL alongside the likes of Unger-Sorum, Nadeau, and others.
Related: Hurricanes’ Jackson Blake Growing His Stock Throughout Preseason & Training Camp
The other notable moves that the Hurricanes made on Sunday afternoon was loaning defenseman Anttoni Honka to HC Ajoie of the Swiss National League along with releasing Sam Gagner and Rocco Grimaldi from their professional tryouts (PTOs). Also, Josiah Slavin, Ryan Suzuki, and Ty Smith have been placed on waivers to be reassigned to Chicago to round out the multitude of moves to trim the roster down to 25 players.
Decisions, Decisions Before Friday’s Home Opener
One name that fans took notice of was Jackson Blake avoiding the first round of cuts after having a stellar preseason and training camp. Does that mean he made the opening night roster? That remains to be seen with the team still having to trim the roster to 23 players to be cap and roster-compliant. Another player was Riley Stillman who was in a yellow no-contact jersey for most of camp. Curious to see how the Hurricanes will address that situation, especially with Joakim Ryan making the 25-man post-camp roster. While the roster isn’t all set and final, there are still decisions to be made ahead of Friday, Oct. 11 for the start of the regular season in their home opener versus the Lightning.
