Carolina Hurricanes Recall Four Players
Having already wrapped up the Metropolitan Division title, the Carolina Hurricanes have the opportunity to give their typical players a rest. To that end, according to a team announcement, the Hurricanes have recalled forwards Skyler Brind’Amour, Bradly Nadeau, and Josiah Slavin, and defenseman Charles-Alexis Legault from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.
Brind’Amour, son of Carolina’s head coach, Rod Brind’Amour, has the chance to play in the third NHL contest of his career tomorrow night. He debuted last year around this time of the season, scoring one goal in two games with a -3 rating, averaging 16:35 of ice time per night. The Quinnipiac University alumnus has scored 16 goals and 34 points in 66 games with AHL Chicago this season.
Although the 26-year-old Brind’Amour isn’t seen as one of the better forward prospects in the Hurricanes’ system, Nadeau is. The former first-round pick of the 2023 NHL Draft has been electric in the AHL, scoring 58 goals and 111 points in 112 games over the past two seasons. Still, he’s been fairly quiet in his NHL opportunities to date, registering one goal and three points in 11 contests since the end of the 2023-24 campaign.
Meanwhile, the Brind’Amours won’t be the only familial connection on the team. Slavin, the brother of team captain Jaccob Slavin, will have the opportunity to play in his first NHL contest since the 2021-22 campaign, then with the Chicago Blackhawks. The 27-year-old veteran has had a respectable season in the AHL, scoring six goals and 25 points in 66 games as the Wolves’ captain.
Lastly, Legault, 22, has had the most NHL playing time among the quartet this season. Filling in as an injury replacement earlier in the campaign, Legault has one goal and two points in eight games on his NHL resume. Playing in his first professional campaign, the Montreal, QC native has registered three goals and seven points in 22 games for AHL Chicago.
Latest On Jalen Chatfield Injury
The Colorado Avalanche shared that Nazem Kadri wouldn’t return against St. Louis as a result of an upper-body injury. It was not immediately evident where the ailment occurred.
Since returning to the Avs at the trade deadline, Kadri has served a middle six role, few teams offering a player of his caliber at third line center. In 15 games so far he’s recorded nine points, clearly no longer the elite scorer at age 35, but a strong player nonetheless.
Kadri’s corsi for at five-on-five expectedly jumped to 55%, although his 52% mark in Calgary was already admirable on a struggling team as opposed to the league’s best. Fully evident of his role change, he’s starting just under 52% of shifts in the defensive zone under head coach Jared Bednar, a drastic flip from his nearly 67% on the attack as a Flame.
With this in mind, Kadri plays a crucial role with match-ups, should the Avalanche go on a deep run this spring. Postgame updates will be watched closely, with the hope that he’ll be good to go for the club’s next game, Thursday, as they host his former team of the Flames.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour had no postgame update on Jalen Chatfield, noted by Cory Lavalette of The North State Journal. The defenseman left in the third period, bothered with a lower-body injury, and didn’t return. Carolina clinched their Metropolitan Division crown with a back-and-forth overtime win over Boston, but it would be costly if they lost Chatfield for any extended period. At age 29, the shutdown man is averaging over 20 minutes for the first time in his career, continuing to show outstanding possession metrics in a real second pairing role. The Canes will hope Chatfield is back for one of their four remaining regular season games, as soon as Thursday in Chicago.
- Insider Frank Seravalli of Frankly Hockey believes the Nashville Predators will explore former Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald as a candidate, as noted in the April 7 edition of the podcast. Fired by New Jersey just yesterday, Seravalli suspects that the timing was with this in mind. The 57-year-old is a natural fit with the Predators, having served as their inaugural captain, playing alongside current head coach Andrew Brunette, under the departing general manager Barry Trotz, no less. Fitzgerald stands out as a candidate with over five years of general manager experience at the NHL level, a trait favorable compared to other options. The Predators are thought to be seeking an entirely new voice, but at the very least, Fitzgerald will garner consideration.
Jordan Martinook, Jordan Staal Day-To-Day With Undisclosed Injuries
- The Hurricanes were without two-thirds of their main checking line in yesterday’s loss to the Senators, as Jordan Martinook and Jordan Staal were unable to go. Both were late scratches due to undisclosed injuries, the team announced. They each missed three-game stretches earlier in the year with a lower-body injury and an illness, respectively, but have otherwise been durable. With the Metropolitan Division title all but locked up with now just five games left in the season, it’s likely a case of extremely precautionary rest ahead of the playoffs. Martinook has 26 points and a +5 rating in his 73 appearances this year, while Staal has 33 points and a +3.
Kochetkov Skates At End Of Practice, No Timeline For Return
- Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov joined the team on the ice at the end of today’s morning skate, relays team reporter Walt Ruff (Twitter link). The netminder was ruled as likely out for the rest of the year after undergoing hip surgery in late December to fix a problem he had been battling through. At this point, it stands to reason that Kochetkov has a long way to go still before being cleared to return but getting back on the ice already suggests he has a chance to get back at some point in the postseason. The 26-year-old has played in just nine games this season with Brandon Bussi and Frederik Andersen shouldering the rest of the goaltending load.
Hurricanes Sign Charlie Cerrato To AHL Tryout
The Carolina Hurricanes signed center prospect Charlie Cerrato to a tryout contract with their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, according to a team announcement. Team reporter Walt Ruff reported that the team is keeping its options open regarding signing Cerrato to an entry-level contract, either for the remainder of 2025-26 or one slated to begin in 2026-27.
In the increasingly murky, uncertain world of NCAA eligibility, signing Cerrato to a tryout agreement rather than a full contract could allow him to maintain his eligibility to play college hockey. If he ends up not signing an entry-level deal, there could be a path for him to return to college hockey, in a similar vein to other players who have returned to the college ranks after getting their feet wet in the AHL and ECHL.
Cerrato, 21, recently concluded his sophomore campaign with the Penn State Nittany Lions. While injuries limited him to just 23 games played, he improved his scoring rate slightly, posting 27 points. He scored 42 points in 38 games as a freshman.
The Maryland native was a member of the U.S. National Team Development Program before spending a year as a No. 1 center at the USHL level with the Youngstown Phantoms. His stellar debut season in college got him drafted No. 49 overall by the Hurricanes, a relatively high selection for someone who had been passed over at both the 2023 and 2024 entry drafts. But it was a reflection of just how much progress Cerrato had made in his development in his freshman season.
Entering the season, the team at Elite Prospects rated Cerrato as the No. 17 prospect, crediting his “off-puck qualities” with giving him a “likely path to a bottom-six NHL role.” He appears to have raised his stock over the course of this season, with The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler recently ranking him as the No. 5 prospect in Carolina’s system. According to Wheeler, Cerrato’s “believers are very confident he has an NHL future.”
With today’s tryout agreement signing, Cerrato has taken a concrete step towards realizing that NHL future. While he’ll first need to prove he can handle the rigors of the pro game at the AHL level, his status as a double-overage selection and his pro-style game likely mean he’ll have an accelerated timeline towards making it to the NHL compared to other 2025 picks.
The fact that he signed a tryout agreement, and therefore may have kept open the possibility of returning to college, makes Cerrato one of the more intriguing prospects to track in the AHL at this later stage of the season.
Shayne Gostisbehere Returns From Injury
- Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere was welcomed back to the Carolina Hurricanes tonight after missing the last nine games with a lower-body injury. The offensive blueliner picked up right where he left off, scoring one goal and two points tonight with a +1 rating, accruing 17:42 of ice time.
[SOURCE LINK]
Hurricanes Reassign Charles-Alexis Legault
6:15 PM: Legault has been re-assigned to Chicago within hours, per the team. Carolina moves forward with six healthy defensemen on their roster, suggesting Gostisbehere could return Saturday against New Jersey. Meanwhile, Legault won’t play against his hometown team, the prompt ticket back to Chicago a result of their schedule; he should be all set for the Wolves’ game in Iowa tomorrow night.
3:56 PM: The Carolina Hurricanes announced today that they have recalled defenseman Charles-Alexis Legault from their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. Legault, 22, made his NHL debut earlier this season but has spent most of the year at the AHL level.
With veteran defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere still sidelined by a lower-body injury, the Hurricanes had just six healthy defensemen on their active roster before this recall. Bringing Legault to the NHL gives the team a seventh defenseman and therefore cover in case an unexpected injury occurs. The Hurricanes are playing against the Montreal Canadiens in Montreal tonight. While this was surely not the primary consideration motivating this recall, today’s transaction does give Legault the opportunity to travel for, and potentially dress for, tonight’s game.
Because that is happening in Montreal, it is a game in which his current team is competing against the NHL team nearest to where he grew up. With just eight NHL games on his resume, today’s recall could allow for Legault, a Laval native, to play an NHL game in front of scores of friends and family for the first time in his career. Even if he doesn’t dress, getting recalled for a road trip to his home city is still a nice reward for a player who has diligently worked his way up Carolina’s organizational depth chart this season.
The right-handed defenseman is in his second full season as a professional, spending two years at Quinnipiac University before turning pro. While there, he was a teammate of Skyler Brind’Amour, his current teammate with the Wolves and the son of Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour. He has been a clear developmental success story for the team as a 2023 fifth-round pick, and offers some defensive upside thanks to his size and strength. (He stands 6’4″, 220 pounds)
If he can continue to get more comfortable with the puck, he could eventually compete for a more permanent NHL role down the line. He is a regular penalty killer at the AHL level, and was the organization’s No. 22 prospect entering the season according to the team at Elite Prospects.
Hurricanes, Kraken To Play 2026 Global Series In Finland
The Hurricanes and Kraken will play a pair of games in Helsinki, Finland, on Nov. 12 and 14 next season as part of the 2026 Global Series, the league announced. That brings the NHL’s total regular-season games in Europe next year to four, following the previously announced pair of dates between the Blackhawks and Senators in Düsseldorf, Germany, in December.
It will be the first time either Carolina or Seattle has played a regular-season game under the Global Series designator. The Kraken have not played a game that counts outside North America in their five active seasons as a franchise, while the Canes haven’t gone overseas since opening up their 2010-11 season with a back-to-back against the Wild, also in Helsinki.
While neither club boasts Finnish NHL talent to rival the Stars’ Finnish mafia, there will be some high-powered homegrown talent in that game – namely, Carolina star center Sebastian Aho. He’ll be joined by teammate Jesperi Kotkaniemi as Finnish Carolinians under contract through next season. Seattle’s roster boasts another three Finnish forwards – Kaapo Kakko, Jani Nyman, and Eeli Tolvanen – although Tolvanen is a pending unrestricted free agent.
Finland has been one of the NHL’s most frequented destinations for European events. The country ranks third in the IIHF men’s world rankings, has medaled in five of the last six Winter Olympics, and accounts for roughly 5% of the NHL’s active player base.
It will be the league’s first time going to Veikkaus Arena (formerly known as Hartwall Arena) in Helsinki since 2018, though. The last two Global Series in Finland, 2022’s games between the Blue Jackets and Avalanche and 2024’s between the Panthers and Stars, were played at Nokia Arena in Tampere, the second-largest urban area in the country by population. Veikkaus Arena was closed for the last several years as the Finnish government went through the process of seizing it from its previous Russian ownership amid their invasion of Ukraine, opening back up last summer.
Andrei Svechnikov, Shayne Gostisbehere Absent From Practice
- There are a few question marks for the Carolina Hurricanes’ lineup tomorrow night. According to team reporter Walt Ruff, forward Andrei Svechnikov wasn’t at practice this morning. Moreover, Cory Lavalette of the North State Journal reported that defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere was also absent from practice. In all fairness, each could have had a maintenance day as the Hurricanes prepare for the playoffs.
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Assessing The Hurricanes’ Underwhelming Trade Deadline
There have been many unpredictable developments in the NHL this season, especially in the Metropolitan Division, where the Penguins and Islanders are unexpectedly holding playoff spots while the Devils and Capitals appear to be out of the race. Yet, one constant this year — as it has been nearly every year this decade — is that the Hurricanes are leading the division and poised for a strong playoff run.
Despite their impressive record and deep roster, it still seems like the Hurricanes missed an opportunity at this year’s trade deadline to elevate their team into the top tier of contenders by making just one or two small moves.
The Stars are in a similar position to Carolina, but Dallas made some moves by acquiring forward Michael Bunting and defenseman Tyler Myers. This isn’t to say those players were exactly what the Hurricanes needed, but Dallas only traded a second-, third-, and fourth-round draft pick for them.
Carolina didn’t need to be as bold as the Stars, given the depth on their roster, but they could have made a few small pickups to try and win their first Eastern Conference title in nearly 20 years.
There are reasons why Carolina might have been apprehensive. Sure, they got burned last season with the Mikko Rantanen deal, a short-lived acquisition that led to his quick trade to Dallas, and the year before, they traded for forward Jake Guentzel, only to see him leave and join Tampa Bay after their playoff elimination.
But again, Carolina didn’t need to add much, and what they did felt underwhelming as they only made one move to acquire physical forward Nicolas Deslauriers in exchange for a conditional seventh-round pick.
Much has been said about the Hurricanes’ lack of success in the postseason after the second round, and for good reason. The Hurricanes have made a habit of reaching at least the second round and have regularly played in the Eastern Conference Finals.
However, they have had almost no success advancing past the third round in the last two decades, dating back to 2009 when they were swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Penguins. Carolina was also swept in 2019 by Boston and in 2023 by Florida. Last year, they were eliminated in the third round once again, but this time they managed to secure a single win against the Panthers.
While their regular-season success is well documented, it seems their window is beginning to close, as their prospect pool is only average at best, and depth will eventually run out. Now, folks might point to their big acquisitions last summer and say those were the major moves, suggesting they were going all in, which is fair enough.
Last summer, Carolina acquired K’Andre Miller from the New York Rangers and also signed Nikolaj Ehlers as a UFA, giving him a six-year deal worth $51MM. Both moves indicated that the Hurricanes were willing to take risks and aim for a Stanley Cup.
Those moves, however, make the silence at this year’s trade deadline all the more puzzling. Why load up last summer only to hold back and not address shortcomings right before the playoffs?
You might look at Carolina’s lineup and think they have a flawless roster fill-out, but they do have some gaps in the lineup that could have been addressed.
The biggest issue for Carolina is on their fourth line, where journeyman center Mark Jankowski is anchoring the fourth-line center spot. No disrespect to Jankowski, who has kept his NHL career alive after several AHL stints, but he is not a center for a team with visions of winning a Stanley Cup this spring.
Jankowski is a suitable injury replacement or 13th forward, but regularly dressing him in every game of the playoffs probably isn’t ideal in a best-of-seven series. The 31-year-old Jankowski has six goals and nine assists in 51 games this season, which is acceptable for a fourth liner, but he has been used mostly in offensive zone situations, suggesting some sheltered usage.
The bigger issue for Carolina is what would happen to their center depth if someone like Sebastian Aho or Logan Stankoven were to get injured. Jordan Staal could step up to play in the top six, although it wouldn’t be ideal.
But suddenly, Jankowski becomes a top-nine center on a team with Stanley Cup ambitions. It’s a lot of hypotheticals, but injuries do happen, and an injury to a center could be disastrous for the Hurricanes.
Carolina didn’t need to make a big splash with a major acquisition; Teddy Blueger from Vancouver would have been enough, or even a Lars Eller from Ottawa (if he was available) would have worked too. Another option could have been a veteran like Erik Haula out of New Jersey. But Carolina chose to stand pat and hope they have the depth to make a run.
The same could apply to their defense, where Mike Reilly is currently getting regular shifts on their third pairing. Although Reilly has been a solid professional for quite some time, it’s not ideal to have him in the everyday lineup for the playoffs at this stage of his career.
It’s a bit less of a concern with Reilly because the Hurricanes have reinforcements on the way, including returning injured players like Shayne Gostisbehere and Charles-Alexis Legault. Reilly’s underlying stats have been quite good this season, but much like Jankowski, he’s been sheltered when he’s in the lineup.
Given the high costs at the trade deadline, it is understandable why Carolina would hesitate to add to their lineup. However, since they are firmly in their contention window, it was surprising to see them do so little to address their lineup deficiencies.
They might still make a deep run; however, if they fall short of their ultimate goal once again, they could end up regretting their inaction last week.