Shortly before tonight’s game against Chicago, the Carolina Hurricanes shared several who won’t play: Jalen Chatfield, Jaccob Slavin, Jordan Staal, Jordan Martinook, Seth Jarvis, Sebastian Aho, and Andrei Svechnikov.
A laundry list, it’s enough to raise some eyebrows, but the main motivation of doing so is rest against a bottom-ranked team. The Hurricanes already locked up their divisional title, as they await their first round opponent, currently projected to be Ottawa if the playoffs started today.
Only one of the bunch is known to be injured, Chatfield, who left Tuesday’s action and is not 100%, head coach Rod Brind’Amour told the media, including Walt Ruff, team reporter.
Yesterday the club recalled Skyler Brind’Amour, Bradly Nadeau, Josiah Slavin, and Charles-Alexis Legault from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, and sure enough each of them are in the lineup tonight. It’s perfect timing considering they’re able to join the Hurricanes right across town, in time to play the nearby Blackhawks with limited disruption.
Brind’Amour’s presence is impossible to miss on name alone, as he’ll play with his father behind the bench for the first time since last year. No stranger to such April call-up duty, he found the back of the net for his first NHL goal late last season. The local product has become a respectable AHLer in his own right, sixth on the Wolves in scoring with 34 points in 66 games this year.
Slavin also carries a name synonymous with the Canes, as the brother of Jaccob. The 27-year-old is making his team debut, with first NHL action since 2021-22. A respected veteran at the AHL level, the winger is the captain of the Wolves, putting up 25 points in 66 games.
With the sentimental call-ups aside, Nadeau stands out as a promising youngster. The 20-year-old was a first rounder of the Canes in 2023 (30th overall) and already has the most NHL experience out of the bunch at 11 games (three points). Boasting an elite shot, the 5’11” winger is considered Carolina’s top forward prospect, with real top six upside. His AHL production has been excellent, 58 goals across 115 regular season games, and he’ll enjoy a spot on the second line still working to put it together at the highest level.
Finally, Legault is the only defenseman of the bunch, where he’s locked in on the third pairing. The 22-year-old has managed to skate in eight games with the big club this year, recording two points. The Quebec native has only modest AHL numbers, but at 6’4”, he hardly has to contribute in that area.
Carolina’s farmhands clinched a playoff spot, so the four will be summoned back across town shortly. The Hurricanes have three more regular season games after tonight, and they will rotate their lineup, continuing to be careful with more pressing matters around the corner.
There should be a limit on how many non-injured players a team can sit out. This affects the final ranking of other teams and their draft lottery chances. This impugns the integrity of the game, but the league is only concerned with revenues.
I mean, I wish that were the case, but it’s been this way for a long time. I’m not defending it, but most major sports rest players if their own playoff position is locked in–playoff teams in the NFL, in particular, rest tons of guys on week 18. MLB, NBA, NHL all do it. Could be to the detriment of the teams as it may break up their flow and momentum; the ol’ rusty vs. rested debate. And anyway, they’re winning 2-1 in the second.
Yeah I agree but it will just be a made-up day-to-day injury instead…
The Canes crushed them with their minor league team
How can they add 4 players to their NHL roster without placing anyone on IR? Rosters don’t expand until playoffs with black aces.
Puckpedia says there are no limits on roster size after the trade deadline. You only need to stay cap compliant with all the players you bring up.
This is an indictment on the Blackhawks rebuild, Jeff Blashill sucks at hockey, As does, Kyle Davidson, It’s time for Chicago to move this embarrassing rebuild forward, And, Start playing big boy hockey again. Oh, It’s 5-2 Carolina.