After clearing waivers a few days ago, beloved forward Jordan Martinook is back up on an NHL roster with the Carolina Hurricanes. Evidently, the team has made the salary cap moves necessary to accommodate him on the active roster.
In a corresponding move, the team assigned forward Jamieson Rees and goalie Pyotr Kochetkov to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.
Waiving Martinook and temporarily assigning him to the AHL allowed Carolina to optimize their cap space as much as possible prior to placing defenseman Jake Gardiner on long-term injured reserve to start the season. With Gardiner and his $4.05MM cap hit now on LTIR, the team now had the flexibility to recall Martinook.
He’ll likely reprise his role as the team’s fourth-line left wing, with AHL superstar Stefan Noesen serving as the team’s 13th forward for the time being. He’ll likely flank Derek Stepan and Ondrej Kase, making for a dynamic fourth line.
No way Martinook should play over Noesen.
Or Drury for that matter