Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Hurricanes Rumors

Carolina Hurricanes Reassign Riley Stillman

at CDT | by 2 Comments

According to Mollie Walker of the New York Post, the New York Rangers will operate without forwards Filip Chytil and Chris Kreider in the lineup tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes. It’ll mark the second straight game without the pair of forwards.

[SOURCE LINK]

  • It was a short stay in the NHL for defenseman Riley Stillman. The Carolina Hurricanes announced they’ve reassigned Stillman to their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, after only one day on the active roster. Carolina may have just used Stillman for another option at practice given that he was quickly recalled and reassigned before the Hurricanes’ next game.

Metro Notes: Kochetkov, Stillman, Sillinger

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov is out day-to-day (as per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet) . The 25-year-old will not play tomorrow night against the New York Rangers but could play this weekend depending on his status. Kochetkov suffered a concussion on Saturday night after he collided with teammate Sean Walker and entered concussion protocol yesterday.  Hurricanes’ head coach Rod Brind’Amour didn’t have a timeline as of yesterday, noting that concussion recovery is hard to predict.

Kochetkov has been solid this season for Carolina, posting a 10-2-0 record with a 2.42 goals against average and a .904 save percentage. His underlying numbers have been terrific in 13 games, with a goals saved above expected of 3.9 (as per MoneyPuck).

In other Metropolitan Division notes:

  • The Hurricanes have recalled defenseman Riley Stillman from the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League (Twitter link). The 26-year-old hasn’t appeared in an NHL game since the 2022-23 season and will likely be Carolina’s seventh defenseman tomorrow night when they take on the Rangers. Stillman spent all of last season in the AHL with the Rochester Americans and has suited up in four games this year, tallying a single assist. Stillman has played parts of five seasons in the NHL, registering four goals and 22 assists in 158 games.
  • Aaron Portzline of The Athletic is reporting that Columbus Blue Jackets forward Cole Sillinger will miss tomorrow night’s game against the Montreal Canadiens with an upper-body injury. Sillinger took a skate to the head halfway through Columbus’ victory over Carolina on Saturday night, but the Blue Jackets haven’t officially stated the reason for Sillinger’s absence. His loss will be a big one for the team as the 21-year-old is fifth in team scoring with three goals and nine assists in 20 games. He also plays on both the power play and the penalty kill, which will leave Columbus shorthanded on both sides of their specialty teams.

Hurricanes Examining Goalie Market In Wake Of Kochetkov's Concussion

at CDT | by 3 Comments

Already without Frederik Andersen long-term, the Hurricanes won’t have fellow goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov for the time being as he’s now in concussion protocol, meaning their current tandem is Spencer Martin and Yaniv Perets.  To that end, ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports (Twitter link) that Carolina is looking into what options might exist on the trade market.  Andersen is out for at least two more months while Kochetkov’s timeline is less certain.  The Hurricanes are almost right at the salary cap limit per PuckPedia while they do have nearly $2.4MM in LTIR room if needed.  With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising if Carolina was looking into players on lower-cost deals to try to give them a small upgrade between the pipes in the short term.

Blake And Martin Recalled Following Sunday's Paper Demotion

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

  • The Hurricanes have recalled winger Jackson Blake and goaltender Spencer Martin from their latest paper loan to AHL Chicago. Both players have been shuffled back and forth routinely in cap-saving moves.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Hurricanes Reassign Tyson Jost, Pyotr Kochetkov Out Indefinitely

at CDT | by 4 Comments

The Hurricanes announced they’ve reassigned forward Tyson Jost to AHL Chicago. They haven’t done anything to fill his roster spot, although head coach Rod Brind’Amour also confirmed that goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov has entered concussion protocol after leaving Saturday’s shootout loss to the Blue Jackets and doesn’t have a timeline for a return (per the team’s Walt Ruff).

Carolina is now officially without their top two goaltenders for the foreseeable future. Starter Frederik Andersen hasn’t played in nearly a month and recently underwent knee surgery that will keep him out of action until January or February.

Kochetkov, 25, left the Columbus game during overtime after teammate Sean Walker inadvertently skated into his head while trying to stop a rush chance from Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski. There appeared to be significant whiplash on the play, but as with any head injury and subsequent concussion, Kochetkov’s absence could be anywhere from a week to more than a month.

A 2019 second-round pick, the young Kochetkov has had to step up many times in recent seasons with injury-prone veterans Andersen and Antti Raanta ahead of him. He started the year as the undisputed No. 2 for the first time after Raanta became an unrestricted free agent and wasn’t brought back following a brutal 2023-24 campaign. He’s done well in 13 starts, posting a 10-2-0 record with a .904 SV% and 2.42 GAA. That’s been good enough for 3.9 goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck, up from last year’s 0.7 mark despite his decreased SV% and GAA.

The buck now falls on 29-year-old journeyman Spencer Martin and inexperienced 24-year-old Yaniv Perets, although it’s hard to imagine the championship-contending Hurricanes not making a move to add a more stable name to their crease if Kochetkov trends toward missing significant time. Perets has not logged NHL ice aside from stopping one shot in less than 13 minutes of action in a game against the Kings in January of last season, although he served as a backup for Carolina once earlier this month. Martin, meanwhile, has a 1-2-1 record with a .870 SV% and 3.21 GAA in three starts and one relief appearance since coming up to the roster in October in relief of Andersen.

Perets’ minor-league numbers this season don’t portray him as a legitimate NHL option, even in a pinch. The undrafted free agent signing out of Quinnipiac in 2023 has just a .825 SV% and a 3.67 GAA in three AHL appearances for Chicago this season and had a subpar .889 mark in 34 games for ECHL Norfolk in 2023-24.

Jost, 26, heads back to the minors after going without a point in his last six games. The 5’11” center/left winger signed a one-year deal for the league-minimum $775K with Carolina over the offseason after being non-tendered by the Sabres, but he was waived and assigned to Chicago shortly after making the opening night roster. The Canes recalled him just over two weeks ago after he put up a goal and two assists in eight minor-league games, but he averaged just 9:20 through seven NHL appearances with a goal on eight shots. Since he remained on the active roster for fewer than 30 days and played less than 10 games, he doesn’t need waivers to return to the AHL.

Hurricanes Activate Seth Jarvis, Recall Yaniv Perets, Assign Ty Smith

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The Carolina Hurricanes have activated top forward Seth Jarvis from injured reserved. Jarvis missed the last seven games with an upper-body injury. He returned to practice in a no-contact jersey on November 19th. In a corresponding move, Carolina also recalled goaltender Yaniv Perets and assigned defender Ty Smith.

Jarvis will return ahead of a three-game homestand for the Hurricanes, giving a much-needed boost to a Carolina offense that got outscored by New Jersey and Columbus in their last two outings. Jarvis has 11 points through 13 games this season, returning to a pivotal role in the team’s top-six and special teams. He’s coming off a prolific 2023-24 campaign, scoring 33 goals and 67 points despite playing most of the season injured. The 22-year-old has established himself as a pillar of the Carolina lineup, and will now get a chance to get back to point-per-game scoring. His return will likely bump William Carrier or Tyson Jost out of the lineup, with Eric Robinson hanging onto his role with four points in his last four games.

Carolina also bolsters their net with this move, recalling Perets following a scary injury to de facto starter Pyotr Kochetkov. No update on Kochetkov’s prognosis has been given, but Perets’ recall suggests Carolina will deal with at least a few days without their top netminder. They’ll now have to decide between Spencer Martin and Perets for the starting role. Martin has a 1-2-1 record and .870 save percentage through five NHL games this year. Perets hasn’t made his first career NHL start yet, but has stepped into three AHL games – with a .825 save percentage through three games. With both goalies on NHL recalls, the Chicago Wolves are left with Dustin Tokarski and Ruslan Khazheyev in their net.

The Hurricanes will move forward with an improved offense, but tattered goaltending room. They’re 6-3-1 through their last 10 games, outscoring opponents 39-to-28.

Blake, Martin Papered To AHL Chicago Again

at CDT | by 2 Comments

  • The Hurricanes have returned winger Jackson Blake and goaltender Spencer Martin to the minors, per the AHL’s transactions log, though these are almost certainly just paper moves to bank additional cap space. Blake has five goals in 19 games with Carolina in his first full professional season which is a solid start for the 21-year-old.  Martin, meanwhile, has played in four NHL contests so far in 2024-25, putting up a 3.25 GAA with a .868 SV%.  He has been much better in similarly limited action with AHL Chicago, however, compiling a 2.32 GAA and a .920 SV% in his first three outings.

Frederik Andersen To Undergo Knee Surgery, Out 8-12 More Weeks

at CDT | by 4 Comments

11:22 a.m.: Andersen will undergo knee surgery as reported on Friday, the team confirmed. They issued a slightly less optimistic return timeline of eight to 12 weeks.

10:11 a.m.: Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen will undergo a minor knee procedure that will keep him sidelined for an additional eight weeks, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports Thursday.

Andersen, 35, has not played since Oct. 26 with what the team initially termed as a lower-body injury. He was subsequently ruled out week-to-week before being downgraded to indefinite last Friday.

Over the weekend, Cory Lavalette of the North State Journal confirmed that Andersen’s injury was unrelated to the deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism that kept him out for most of the 2023-24 campaign. Lavalette also said that the team was still determining whether surgery would be required, a decision they’ve now made considering today’s report.

Andersen is still on the Canes’ active roster, but he can be flexed to injured reserve or long-term injured reserve if necessary. The first goaltender in NHL history to hail from Denmark was excellent to start the season, posting a 3-1-0 record, 1.48 GAA and .941 SV% in four appearances.

LeBrun called the procedure a “clean-up” surgery, potentially stemming from the knee injury that kept him out for half of the shortened 2020-21 campaign while with the Maple Leafs. It will mark the fifth straight season in which Andersen has been sidelined for over a month due to an injury.

Despite the health issues, Andersen, a two-time Jennings Trophy winner, is still one of the league’s premier netminders. Since arriving in Carolina as a free agent in 2021, his .919 SV% is tied with the Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin for third in the league among goaltenders with at least 100 starts. His 2.19 GAA is the lowest by a wide margin, ahead of Linus Ullmark’s 2.33.

An eight-week return timeline makes Andersen available in late January, weeks ahead of the trade deadline. Where he is in his recovery around New Year’s will likely influence Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky’s aggressiveness in adding goaltending help on the trade market.

For now, though, it will remain a Pyotr Kochetkov–Spencer Martin tandem in Carolina. The former has been stellar lately, posting a .930 SV% or higher in four of his last five starts. He has a 10-2-0 record, .907 SV%, 2.30 GAA, and 1.8 GSAA in 12 starts this year, while his 5.0 goals saved above expected rank 16th in the league, per MoneyPuck.

Andersen will be an unrestricted free agent next summer after completing the two-year, $6.8MM deal he signed to return to the Canes in 2023.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Jarvis Skates In Non-Contact Jersey

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

  • While Hurricanes winger Seth Jarvis skated today in a non-contact jersey, he is listed as doubtful for Wednesday’s game against Philadelphia, relays team reporter Walt Ruff (Twitter link). The 22-year-old is dealing with an upper-body injury and was moved to injured reserve retroactive to last week, meaning he can be activated as soon as he gets the green light to return.  Jarvis is off to a solid start to his season with four goals and seven assists in 13 games before sustaining the injury.

Blake And Martin Recalled After Paper Demotions

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

  • The Hurricanes are continuing their near-daily movement as they’ve recalled winger Jackson Blake and goaltender Spencer Martin from AHL Chicago, per the AHL’s transactions log. Blake has been sent down five times already but hasn’t played with the Wolves and with five goals and two assists in 17 games with Carolina, he probably won’t anytime soon.  Meanwhile, even though Carolina is using Pyotr Kochetkov and Martin as their tandem with Frederik Andersen injured, the Hurricanes haven’t moved Andersen to IR which allows them to continue to paper Martin down on off days while technically remaining compliant with roster minimums.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top