The Carolina Hurricanes will have Fredrik Claesson in training camp this year, signed to a professional tryout for the time being. Claesson was left unqualified by the New York Rangers earlier this summer and became an unrestricted free agent.
The 26-year old played just 37 games for the Rangers last year, a step backwards in his pursuit of being a full-time roster player. Claesson has now played 150 games at the NHL level, but will have to hope some other team likes what they see in preseason. That’s because the Hurricanes certainly don’t have room for him at the moment after signing Jake Gardiner. Even if the team moves on from Justin Faulk and doesn’t have Trevor van Riemsdyk ready for the start of the season, it’s hard to see Claesson jumping over the likes of Jake Bean, Chase Priskie and Roland McKeown for one of the final spots.
Still, he’ll provide some extra insurance should someone else suffer an injury. In those 150 contests the former Ottawa Senators prospect has 26 points and at times has looked the part of an NHL regular. He’ll certainly get the chance to play with a strong defensive group throughout the exhibition schedule, hopefully letting him catch on somewhere around the league.
That’s a terrible fit
Carolina still collecting blueliner hockey cards, albeit on PTOs. Didn’t somebody already say this? Hmm….
some idiot, cant remember who