On Tuesday, the Carolina Hurricanes assigned 13 more players to the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League (AHL). After sending down seven players over the last two days, the Hurricanes have now trimmed their roster down to 26 players. Who are the 13 additional players who are on the move to Chicago from Carolina?
Eight More Wolves on the Move
On Tuesday morning, the Hurricanes assigned Nikita Quapp, Bradly Nadeau, Justin Robidas, Ivan Ryabkin, Gleb Trikozov, Felix Unger Sorum, Bryce Montgomery, and Joel Nystrom to the Wolves. Additionally, they placed Noel Gunler, Tyson Jost, Josiah Slavin, Ryan Suzuki, and Gavin Bayreuther on waivers for the purpose of sending them to Chicago.
It was a surprise to see Nadeau and Robidas automatically assigned to the Wolves after a strong prospect showcase, a solid training camp, and playing in five of six preseason games. Of the two, Nadeau was more likely to crack the Hurricanes’ roster as he showcased his NHL-ready shot, plus his ability away from the puck. His two-way game and physicality also improved significantly over the offseason.
After Nadeau was cut, Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour said, “It’s tough because, yeah, we’d love to keep him here, but we also have to figure out what makes sense. You can see we have lots of forwards, so it wouldn’t really make sense at this point with the way the schedule worked out. (We’d rather) keep him going and keep him playing. Plus, he’s developing really well. We’ll obviously keep our eye on him. He did everything he needed to do.”
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Nadeau has made his case to be one of the first call-ups this season if the Hurricanes need a winger. After scoring 32 goals last season for the Wolves, he is ready at only 20 years old. Robidas tallied 20 goals and 55 points in 70 games for the Wolves in 2024-25, and looks poised to take the next step.
He could fight for the first-line center position this season, along with Suzuki, after a strong camp and preseason. Robidas is heading into his third professional season after a strong sophomore campaign in the minors, his first with the Wolves. Expect him to reach the 60-point mark this season.
After a shaky 2024-25 season, where the Hurricanes tried to play him at center, finishing with five goals and 20 points in 61 games, Unger Sorum looked more comfortable back on the wing this preseason. He was mainly a winger during his time in Sweden, going through Leksands IF’s system. However, in his first season in North America, he was tried out at center, but it didn’t work as the season progressed. He could be another player to take the next step in his development this season.
It will be worth keeping an eye on Gunler and Suzuki, who must clear waivers before they are assigned to the Wolves. The deadline to claim either of them is 2 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, Oct. 1. Gunler finished last season with 13 goals and 26 points in 58 games. After playing one season in Finland in 2023-24 with Kärpät of the Liiga, where he scored eight goals and 18 points, he returned to the Wolves with a noticeable step forward in his development.
In 2022-23 with the Wolves, he scored eight goals and 18 points in 31 games in his first full season with the team. His season was cut short due to injury, but he took a step forward in his second run with the team. Now, he looks ready for his second consecutive full season with the Wolves.
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Suzuki finished with 12 goals and 59 points in 69 games in 2024-25. Last season was by far his healthiest since being drafted 28th overall by the Hurricanes in 2019. After dealing with injury after injury, he finally stayed healthy last season. The hope is that he carries it over heading into the upcoming season to build off his best professional year in hockey following 2024-25. He could be battling Robidas for the first-line center spot, but he will rise to that occasion and be one of the first center call-ups to the Hurricanes.
Outside of the players being assigned to the Wolves, the Hurricanes released Oliver Kylington and Kevin Labanc from their professional tryout contracts (PTO). Labanc was a surprise. He showed a ton of promise during the five preseason games he played.
The two PTO releases and the 13 assigned players have trimmed the Hurricanes’ roster to 15 forwards, eight defensemen, and three goaltenders as they head into their final preseason game on Saturday, Oct. 4, against the Nashville Predators.
