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Hurricanes Recall Justin Robidas

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The Hurricanes announced they’ve recalled center Justin Robidas from AHL Chicago. The 5’8″ pivot could be in line to make his NHL debut tomorrow against the Red Wings.

Robidas, 22, was a fifth-round pick by Carolina in the 2021 draft. The son of longtime NHL defenseman Stéphane Robidas is in his second professional season but just his first in the AHL. He spent all of 2023-24 on loan to ECHL Norfolk, while the Canes spent the year without a dedicated AHL affiliate.

The smooth-skating playmaker has done well in his first look in the high-level minors. After posting a strong 12-15–27 scoring line in 32 ECHL games last season, he’s posted 17-31–48 in 65 AHL appearances and ranks third on the team in scoring. Before turning pro in 2023, he posted 95-144–239 in 223 major junior games in the QMJHL across four seasons, winning a league title and Memorial Cup with the Quebec Remparts in his final campaign.

While skilled, his size will remain a factor he needs to overcome to make a meaningful NHL adjustment. Because of that, he’s not viewed as a true impact prospect in Carolina’s middle-of-the-road pipeline. Scott Wheeler of The Athletic tabbed Robidas as the No. 13 prospect in the Canes’ system in his midseason rankings, calling out his defensive intelligence in addition to his high-level scoring skill at lower levels of the game. The latter will be hard to display in NHL minutes, especially down the middle, but there’s a path for him to carve out as a bottom-six energy piece over the coming years.

The Canes have William Carrier and Jordan Staal sidelined with injuries at present, explaining the opportunity for Robidas to join the streaking Hurricanes’ NHL roster. He’s got another year left on his entry-level deal and will be a restricted free agent in 2026.

Jordan Staal Doubtful For Tomorrow

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Lightning Acquire And Sign Lucas Mercuri

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Earlier this month, Lucas Mercuri informed the Hurricanes that he wouldn’t be signing with them.  It didn’t take Carolina long to find a team that the center was amenable to joining, as the Lightning announced that they acquired the prospect for a 2025 sixth-round pick and signed him to a two-year, entry-level contract.  Financial terms of the deal, which begins next season, were not disclosed.

The 23-year-old was a sixth-round pick by the Hurricanes back in 2020, going 159th overall.  In essence, they’re going to land a pick that’s somewhat close to what they originally used on him which isn’t the worst return for a player who doesn’t want to sign with a team.  It wasn’t disclosed why Mercuri didn’t want to sign with Carolina.

Mercuri just wrapped up his college career with UMass, saving his best season for last.  In 40 games for the Minutemen this season, he notched 10 goals and 21 assists, both personal bests while finishing fifth on the team in scoring.  Over his four-year career with them, he recorded 28 goals and 57 assists in 148 games.

While Mercuri’s contract won’t start until next season, he will be able to get a head start on his professional career.  As part of the acquisition announcement, the Lightning revealed that he has signed a tryout deal with AHL Syracuse and will play with them for the rest of the season.

Andrei Svechnikov Returns From Upper-Body Injury

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  • According to a team announcement, Andrei Svechnikov will return to the Carolina Hurricanes’ lineup tonight against the Montreal Canadiens. The former second overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft had missed Carolina’s previous seven games with an upper-body injury. Despite being the fourth-highest scorer on the team, the Hurricanes have fared well without Svechnikov, managing a 5-2-0 record in his absence.

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Andrei Svechnikov Set To Return To Hurricanes Lineup

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  • The Carolina Hurricanes have received a boost of good news, with winger Andrei Svechnikov set to return to the lineup after he missed the last seven games with an upper-body injury per NHL.com’s Walt Ruff. The missed games brought Svechnikov up to eight absences this season – his fewest since the 2021-22 campaign. The 24-year-old winger has 18 goals and 43 points in 63 games this season. With such a chunk of missing games behind him, and just 11 games left on Carolina’s schedule, the ’Canes will likely ease Svechnikov back into the lineup. He’ll likely rotate through a top-six role with wingers like Jackson Blake, Taylor Hall, and Jack Roslovic.

Hurricanes Reassign Juha Jaaska

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March 24: Carolina returned Jaaska to Chicago yesterday, according to the AHL’s transactions log. He saw a season-high 12 minutes of ice time on Saturday against the Kings, although it didn’t go particularly well for him – he was a minus-three in a 7-2 loss. He was scratched in yesterday’s win over the Ducks, with captain Jordan Staal returning to the lineup after a one-game absence.

March 22: The Carolina Hurricanes have recalled forward Juha Jaaska from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. Jaaska spent just over a month on the NHL roster from early January to early February. He played in the first 17 NHL games of his career on the call-up and recorded four assists, nine penalty minutes, and a plus-three.

This is Jaaska’s first season in North American pros. He’s made good work of it, netting 10 goals and 24 points in 41 games with the Wolves – good for sixth on the team in scoring. Jaaska previously spent the last nine seasons with HIFK Helsinki of the Liiga, Finland’s top pro league. He worked his way up through the HIFK system and slowly climbed his way up their pro roster. Jaaska made his Liiga debut in the 2015-16 season and played through his first full year in 2017-18. He had five points in 26 games as a rookie and grew those numbers to 21 points in 47 games as a sophomore.

Jaaska was typecast as a power-forward early in his pro career, the natural result of a 6’0″, 210-lb frame. But he found a scoring groove over the last two Liiga seasons. He’s scored double-digit goals in each of his last five seasons – now including 10 goals in the AHL – and managed a career-high 37 points in 56 games of the 2022-23 Liiga campaign. Jaaska followed that with 30 points in 57 games last year. Those numbers, and his ability to reach the 30-point mark in back-to-back years, was enough to inspire Carolina to sign him to a one-year, $850K contract this summer. Now, Jaaska will get yet another chance at hardy NHL minutes after posting five points in his last five AHL games.

Hurricanes Making Lucas Mercuri Available For Trade

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Hurricanes center prospect Lucas Mercuri has informed the club he won’t sign an entry-level contract with them when his collegiate season at the University of Massachusetts is over, reports Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff. He will become an unrestricted free agent on Aug. 15 if Carolina doesn’t trade his signing rights to another team before then. Ellis adds the Hurricanes are actively making Mercuri’s rights available in exchange for what’s likely a mid-to-late-round draft pick.

A sixth-round pick in 2020 (No. 159 overall), the 6’3″ pivot has steadily grown his game with the Minutemen. Now a 23-year-old senior, he has a career-high 10-21–31 scoring line in 38 games ahead of UMass’ trip to the national championship tournament, which begins next week. He captured a Hockey East championship with the school in his freshman campaign.

Mercuri’s motivation for looking for opportunities elsewhere is unclear. Usually, players will opt to test free agency or request a trade before signing if they don’t see a logical pathway to NHL minutes for themselves in the organization. For Mercuri, who doesn’t rank among the team’s top 15 prospects in any notable public ranking, that’s likely the case.

The Montreal native ranks third on UMass this season with a +15 rating, his first time finishing above a +10. He’s their fourth-leading point-getter behind Predators 2022 fourth-rounder Cole O’Hara, Flames 2023 third-rounder Aydar Suniev, and undrafted 21-year-old Jack Musa.

Orlov Likely To Return Versus Sharks, Svechnikov's Availability Less Certain

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It appears that the Hurricanes will get some help on the injury front as they begin a three-game road trip on Thursday in San Jose.  Team reporter Walt Ruff mentions (Twitter link) that defenseman Dmitry Orlov should be ready to return after missing the last two weeks with an upper-body injury.  The 33-year-old has four goals and 20 assists in 62 games this season while logging a little under 20 minutes a night.

Meanwhile, the news isn’t as good for winger Andrei Svechnikov.  Ruff added that it wasn’t initially known if the 24-year-old would be accompanying the team on the trip.  Last week, the hope was that Svechnikov would be back for the Hurricanes sometime this week but that appears to be more in question now.  He has 18 goals and 25 assists in 63 outings this season.

Tulsky: Hurricanes More Than Willing To Acquire Another Key Rental Down The Road

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The Hurricanes have taken some big swings on the trade front the last couple of years, landing Jake Guentzel at the 2023 trade deadline and Mikko Rantanen earlier this season.  But they weren’t able to sign either one with Rantanen subsequently being flipped.  Despite not being able to sign either one, GM Eric Tulsky indicated in an interview with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription link) that he is more than willing to take another big swing on a prominent pending UFA should the opportunity present itself down the road, even without an extension in place.  Tulsky believes that the team is usually able to keep the players that they want to and more often than not, the interest is mutual so in his mind, the odds should be good that they can get something done whenever they make a move to add another key rental in the future.

Hurricanes' Andrei Svechnikov Back At Practice After Absence

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A new week rolling around has brought updates on injured and absent players to teams around the league. The most impactful news lands in Carolina, where the Hurricanes welcomed top-line winger Andrei Svechnikov back to the practice sheet after he missed the last three games with an upper-body injury. It was Svechnikov’s first multi-game absence of the season.

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