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Morning Notes: Carrier, Quinn, Johnston

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The Carolina Hurricanes were without a depth winger on Tuesday night. William Carrier missed the game due to illness, pushing the team to ice 11 forwards and seven defensemen, with Joel Nystrom stepping back into the lineup. This marked Carrier’s seventh absence of the season, after facing a lower-body injury earlier in the season.

Carrier has continued to serve a depth role when healthy. He has three goals, seven points, and a plus-one in 29 games this season – putting him on pace for 18 points on the full year if he plays in the rest of Carolina’s outings. The 31 year old also leads the Hurricanes offense in hits-per-game with 58 hits giving him a per-game average of two hits. He will return to a fourth-line role when back to full health.

Other notes from around the league:

  • New York Rangers assistant coach David Quinn also missed his team’s Tuesday night game due to an illness. Head coach Mike Sullivan said that Quinn has been facing a flu that is going around the team and needded a night off, despite trying to fight through the bug per New York Post’s Mollie Walker. He should be back on the bench once New York returns from the holiday break.
  • Anaheim Ducks forward Ross Johnston was fined $2,864.58 by the NHL Department of Player Safety on Tuesday for roughing Seattle Kraken forward Tye Kartye. Johnston chased down and sucker punched Kartye during a scrum in front of the net during the two sides’ Monday matchup. Johnston received a two-minute minor penalty and a game misconduct. Kartye also received a misconduct. Despite the incident, Anaheim won’t have to readjust their lineup, though Johnston’s holiday budget may be shaped a bit differently.

Hurricanes Recall Joel Nystrom From AHL, Place Slavin On IR

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This afternoon the Carolina Hurricanes shared that Joel Nystrom has been called up from AHL Chicago, while Jaccob Slavin has been placed on injured reserve. 

Given that he was listed as week-to-week earlier today, with Nystrom the most likely candidate to get the call, the word is not a big surprise. Just over one week ago, the two were swapped for each other when Slavin was activated, only now to be injured again. 

The season so far has not been kind to Slavin, who has dealt with a lower-body injury for the past few months. After an activation eight days ago, he was eased back gradually, a jump in ice time in each of three games. However, the vital defenseman was absent last Saturday in Tampa Bay, and now appears set to miss even more time. As such is categorized as an upper-body injury, it does not appear both are linked, instead simply brutal luck for the defender, who has never been thought to be injury prone. Now 31, he has played in no fewer than 76 games in the past five seasons, however, with only five so far, that streak will end this season. 

Meanwhile, Nystrom finds himself back with the big club after a short stint with the Chicago Wolves. Besides being called up and down, December has been a busy month for the Swede, as he inked a four year extension just 10 days ago, avoiding restricted free agency status after the campaign. In limited North American experience so far, his stats haven’t jumped out, with two assists in nine games for Chicago, and five assists in 24 games for Carolina. However, the 23-year-old is just getting started on smaller ice, and clearly the organization is high on him. A right shot, Nystrom has shown no fear of carrying the puck, and transition is the name of his game. A major steal, chosen in the seventh round by Carolina in 2021, Nystrom figures to be an everyday player for the team into the future, and they’ve certainly already leaned on him to this point. 

Carolina offers a deep blueline, relieved of their offseason acquisition of K’Andre Miller in times like these. Miller is currently averaging over 22 minutes of ice time, more than he ever had as a Ranger, and looking the part. Even so often without Slavin, the Canes boast a 22-10-3 record this season, good for fourth in the league. 

While Slavin’s presence is undeniable, and another setback is especially frustrating, his Olympic status for the United States is not thought to be in jeopardy, meaning hopefully he will gear up for a return by mid-January. 

Jaccob Slavin, Seth Jarvis Out Week-To-Week

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The Carolina Hurricanes announced today that two key players are out week-to-week with respective upper-body injuries: Jaccob Slavin and Seth Jarvis.

The announcement of Jarvis’ injury does not come as any great surprise. His injury occurred on Friday and it was immediately clear that he would miss at least some time as a result of what happened. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour told reporters immediately after the game that Jarvis was “going to be out for a while.” He was placed on IR the following day, and today the Hurricanes confirmed that he’ll be out on a week-to-week basis.

The more surprising development is the injury to Slavin. Slavin missed two months due to a lower-body injury, and the Hurricanes only activated him on Dec. 14, which was about a week ago. The Hurricanes appeared to be easing Slavin into his return to game action as he played 14:31 time on ice in his first game on Dec. 14, 16:47 in his second game on Dec. 17, and 18:36 on Dec. 19, with all three numbers coming well below his traditional usage level as the team’s top defenseman.

Slavin was held out of the second game of the Hurricanes’ set of back-to-back games on Dec. 20, but at the time, his absence did not raise any eyebrows, as it was attributed to being part of his recovery process. It’s not abnormal for a player who only recently returned from a two-month injury absence to be rested for the second half of a back-to-back.

But the fact that Slavin is now slated to miss time on a week-to-week basis with a new upper-body injury throws into question whether the player suffered this injury during any of his three NHL games since returning on Dec. 14. Per The Raleigh News & Observer’s Chip Alexander, Brind’Amour said today that he assumes Slavin suffered the injury as a result of a hit from Florida Panthers forward A.J. Greer, one that came during the team’s Dec. 19 contest in Sunrise.

Regardless of when exactly he became injured, the reality is the Hurricanes are now once again without their most reliable and important defenseman. Slavin is widely considered to be one of the game’s best shutdown defensemen. Despite offensive production that is relatively pedestrian in comparison to his defensive excellence, Slavin has landed on Norris Trophy ballots in every season of his 11-year career other than his first. That’s a testament to just how highly regarded Slavin is as a defensive defenseman. Slavin is also a two-time Lady Byng Trophy winner, an extraordinarily difficult task for a blueliner asked to go up against the opposing team’s top offensive weapons on a nightly basis.

As the Hurricanes continue to push for their third Metropolitan Division title since 2021, Slavin’s absence will add some additional stress to the team’s defensive plans. The Hurricanes ran a left-side defense of K’Andre Miller, Alexander Nikishin, and Shayne Gostisbehere in Slavin’s absence on Saturday, and could continue to run that defense with Swedish import Joel Nystrom the most likely candidate to be recalled in the event Slavin once again lands on IR. Veteran Mike Reilly is also on the roster as the No. 7 defenseman.

Slavin is widely considered to be a lock to be selected to the United States’ roster for the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, and The Athletic’s Michael Russo reported that “the belief is this won’t impact” Slavin’s availability for that tournament.

Hurricanes Recall Bradly Nadeau, Place Seth Jarvis On IR

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More bad news has come through for the Carolina Hurricanes. Top winger Seth Jarvis will be forced out for an extended period after crashing into the net post in overtime of Friday’s loss to the Florida Panthers. The Hurricanes placed Jarvis on injured reserve with a lower-body injury and recalled winger Bradly Nadeau on Saturday.

The timing could work to Carolina’s benefit. This move will force Jarvis to miss at least two games but he could be activated before the Hurricanes’ match against the Detroit Red Wings next Saturday.

Carolina will hold their breath hoping that timeline works out. Jarvis has, again, been one of their best. He leads the team with 19 goals, and ranks second with 29 points, through 34 games so far.  More than that, he was riding a streak of good health, not missing any games to start the year after he missed nine last season. Jarvis was still able to net 32 goals and 67 points last season, matching his point totals from – and one goal less than – he managed in 81 games of the 2023-24 season.

Filling Jarvis’ role has proven to be a difficult task for Carolina, marked by a 4-5-0 record without him last season. This time around, Jarvis’ absence should pave way for Jackson Blake to take on top-line minutes. Blake has 21 points in 34 games this season. He also ranks third on the offense in takeaways (14) behind Jarvis (19) and Sebastian Aho (17). Blake has proven his ability to fill any role throughout the last two seasons but this opening could be a chance to step up and cement his spot in the Hurricanes’ top-six long-term.

It will also offer a chance for Nadeau to finally find his stride at the NHL level. He is in the midst of a five-game scoring streak in the AHL and has 13 points in his last 10 games. That stretch has brought the 20 year old up to 20 points in 18 games this season, good for third on the Chicago Wolves in scoring. Nadeau finished second in scoring for Chicago last season, with 58 points in 64 games. Despite the streak of strong offense, he hasn’t yet found his production at the top level. Nadeau has just two points in nine career games with Carolina, including one goal in six games this season. He should slot into a bottom-six role as Blake, Taylor Hall, and Eric Robinson step up in Jarvis’ absence, but could offer much more upside if he finally finds his touch.

Hurricanes’ Seth Jarvis Injured, To Miss Time

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A significant injury has occurred tonight as Carolina Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis left tonight’s game after taking a hard spill into the net, as seen in a clip shared by Sportsnet. The incident occurred early into the three-on-three overtime period, as Jarvis drove to the net with the puck, he was tripped by Florida’s Evan Rodrigues, slamming into the left post. No penalty was called, as the Panthers prevailed in the shootout.

After the game, Carolina Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour has told reporters, including Cory Lavalette of North State Journal, that Jarvis is “going to be out for a while”. 

Due to a brutal impact in the vulnerable rib area, Jarvis was immediately in serious pain, holding his right side. He was able to skate off the ice, alongside a team trainer, but went down the tunnel immediately. 

The 23-year-old has been on pace to shatter his career high of 33 goals, with 19 in 33 games, not yet missing a contest this season. Not only has he become an elite first line winger for Carolina, Jarvis has made a real case to make the Team Canada Olympic roster, which may now be in jeopardy. A sign of Canada’s absurd forward talent however, the young sniper, if healthy, is still a bubble player on the potential roster.  

The Hurricanes, currently atop the Metropolitan Division with room to spare, boast a tremendously deep roster built to handle such adversity. However, Jarvis’ impact in the lineup cannot be overstated. Despite showing high output, ranking fifth in the league in goals scored, he is far and away the Canes’ go-to shooter. Combining the team’s second and third leading goal scorers, Sebastian Aho (11) and Jordan Staal/Jackson Blake (9) only ranks one tally above Jarvis. 

Somewhat unexpectedly given their firepower, Carolina’s powerplay ranks seventh-worst at 15.5%, and just three of Jarvis’ 19 goals have come on the man-advantage. Thus illustrates his impact at five-on-five.

Exact details on the injury, and subsequent timeline for return, remain unknown but based on Brind’Amour’s comments, the Canes are likely looking to head into the New Year without a major piece. The highly skilled Blake, proving to be a major steal at 109th overall in 2021, figures to be a top-line option for the time being. Two notable newcomers, Nikolaj Ehlers and Logan Stankoven, will also be leaned upon for more production.

With Team Canada’s roster set to be released on New Year’s Eve, a wrinkle might have been thrown into GM Doug Armstrong’s plans. However, Milan or not, Carolina will cross their fingers that Jarvis avoided major injury, and can return sometime in January.

Hurricanes Activate Jaccob Slavin, Reassign Joel Nystrom

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A major piece will be back in the Carolina Hurricanes lineup when the puck drops in Sunday’s matchup with the Philadelphia Flyers. Defenseman Jaccob Slavin was activated from injured reserve just before the game, after being designated as a game-time decision before warmups. He will return from a lower-body injury sustained in the second game of the season. He’s missed the last 29 games. To make room for Slavin’s return, Carolina has reassigned defenseman Joel Nystrom to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. Nystrom signed a four-year extension on Friday.

Slavin only played in 36 minutes of ice time before going down with injury. He managed no scoring, a minus-one, and three shot blocks in those minutes. But two games was hardly enough for Slavin to settle into his usual role on top of Carolina’s defense. He has averaged more than 22 minutes of ice time each game through 11 years with the Hurricanes. He brings a shutdown presence to hard matchups, giving Carolina the flexibility to deploy offensive defensemen like Shayne Gostisbehere.

The Hurricanes had to turn to a committee approach to round out their top-four in Slavin’s absence. Jalen Chatfield and Alexander Nikishin both rotated into the top-four, while Nystrom did well to carve out a role on an open bottom-pair. The 23-year-old rookie recorded five assists, a plus-three, and 14 shot blocks in the first 24 games of his NHL career. He played well enough to earn a multi-year, seven-figure extension just before this reassignment. That’s a tidy bit of confidence for Nystrom, who had only played in seven AHL games before his name was called to fill-in. He spent the last five seasons with the SHL’s Farjestads BK, where he won a league championship in 2022. Carolina drafted Nystrom in the seventh-round of the 2021 NHL Draft.

Slavin’s return will suddenly provide Carolina with a heap of defense depth, after going through a start to the season that saw most of the blue-line banged up. They will carry a confident three pairs, with Slavin watching over rookie Nikishin, into Sunday’s match against Philadelphia. That should only ramp up a Hurricanes squad that’s gone 6-2-0 in their last eight games, including back-to-back shootout wins in their last two.

Spiros Anastas Named Head Coach Of AHL Chicago

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  • The Hurricanes announced that they have relieved AHL Chicago head coach Cam Abbott of his duties, replacing him on an interim basis with assistant coach Spiros Anastas. Abbott was in his second season running the Wolves; they finished fourth in the Central in 2024-25 and sit third in the standings this season with a record of 11-7-4.  As for Anastas, he’s also in his second year with the club and will be running an AHL bench for the first time.  He has also been behind the bench for Greece at the Latam Cup in each of the last three years.

Hurricanes Sign Joel Nystrom To Four-Year Extension

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The Hurricanes announced they’ve signed rookie defenseman Joel Nystrom to a four-year, $4.9MM contract extension. The deal carries a cap hit of $1.225MM beginning next season and running through the 2029-30 campaign.

Nystrom was ticketed for restricted free agency next summer as he wraps up his entry-level contract. The right-shot Swede was a seventh-round pick in 2021 out of the SHL’s Färjestad BK and spent three seasons there before inking a two-year ELC with Carolina in 2024. The Canes loaned him back out to Färjestad for most of last season but brought him over to finish the year with AHL Chicago once his season ended.

Now, he’s an under-the-radar success story who lands multi-year security before most fans outside of Carolina – even hardcore ones – even know his name. The 5’11” puck-mover didn’t even make the Canes’ opening night roster but only lasted three games in the AHL, recording one assist, before getting called up to Carolina in late October in the wake of Jaccob Slavin’s injury.

The 23-year-old’s lengthy resume of professional play in his home country no doubt pushed him higher up on the depth chart for a recall despite his lack of North American professional experience. He won a league title with Färjestad as a sophomore in 2022 and ended his five-year tenure with the club last year after recording a 25-61–86 scoring line in 221 games with a +13 rating. In his final two seasons with the club, he led or co-led its blue line in scoring with 26 and 27 points, respectively, in 51 games each.

Nystrom’s game relies purely on his transition skills. He may have some long-term upside as a secondary power-play quarterback, but he has just four assists through 23 games, averaging a few ticks over 16 minutes per night. Physicality is almost entirely absent from his game, recording just 14 blocks and five hits. Nevertheless, he’s been active with the puck and has usurped veteran Mike Reilly for a regular job in the lineup while Slavin continues to rehab from his lower-body injury. His 59.0% share of expected goals at 5-on-5 ranks third among Carolina defenders behind Reilly and K’Andre Miller.

For this season, it’s hard to envision Nystrom sticking in the lineup when Slavin returns. His waiver-exempt status makes it likely he’ll be the one ferried to the minors to open up a roster spot rather than Carolina exposing a piece of valuable veteran depth in Reilly to the wire. Reilly is a pending unrestricted free agent, though, leaving the door wide open for Nystrom to open the season on the Canes’ roster in 2026-27. His new seven-figure salary makes him a safe bet to do so.

His cap hit will be beneath the buriable threshold by the time the deal wraps up if he doesn’t pan out as a long-term NHLer, so there’s little risk for the Canes in that sense. If he can stick around as an everyday second or third-pairing right-shot option with power-play upside, that’s a bargain play. Still, it’s jarring to see a player land nearly $5MM in guaranteed money – particularly as a late-round pick – before even scoring their first NHL goal. The only recent precedent for that is Sabres defender Mattias Samuelsson, who inked a much richer seven-year, $30MM extension in 2022 after going goalless with 12 assists through his first 52 NHL appearances.

Image courtesy of James Guillory-Imagn Images.

Hurricanes, Capitals Linked To Quinn Hughes

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It appears that more teams are smelling blood in the water when it comes to Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes. After already being linked to the Detroit Red Wings and New Jersey Devils, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported that the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals have now made their interest known.

In the article, Pagnotta said, “We know the usual suspects. We’ll continue to hear more teams, I’m sure, as this progresses, but the latest two that I have are the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals.”

Neither team’s interest comes as a surprise. The Hurricanes have been one of the most consistently good teams in the Eastern Conference over the past few years, making three Eastern Conference Final appearances since the 2019 postseason. Additionally, the Capitals were the top team in the Eastern Conference last season and have again vaulted themselves to the top of the table in recent weeks, winning 10 of their previous 12 games.

Objectively, for all 31 other teams, Hughes improves the roster wholesale. In the case of Carolina and Washington, he fits a long-term hole as well. The two years remaining on Hughes’ contract coincide with Shayne Gostisbehere’s with the Hurricanes, who is the offensive leader of their defensive core. Additionally, although they have Jakob Chychrun signed through the 2023-33 season, acquiring Hughes would make for a far easier transition out of the John Carlson era in Washington.

Regardless, if the Canucks were not only to entertain the idea of trading a player of Hughes’ caliber but actively seek one, the acquiring team would have to provide the goods. It’s well known that Vancouver is looking for a longer-term solution down the middle, and they would likely want several additional futures as well.

In Carolina, although the Canucks would expectably target Logan Stankoven, the Hurricanes would likely be unwilling to move him since they signed him to an eight-year, $48MM extension this past offseason. Still, Carolina could counter with quantity over quality, much like they did when they acquired Jake Guentzel from the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2023-24.

None of the prospects are bona fide top-six forwards (yet), but the Hurricanes could offer a package of Bradly Nadeau, Ivan Ryabkin, and Felix Unger Sörum, along with one or multiple of their four first-round selections over the next three years.

Meanwhile, the Capitals have all three of their first-round picks through the 2028 NHL Draft and have a movable center that could easily shift into the Canucks’ top-six, unlike the trio of hypothetical options from Carolina. Forward Connor McMichael, who is headed for restricted free agency next summer (UFA after 2028-29), could be a headliner in a potential Hughes trade.

After scoring 26 goals for Washington last season, McMichael has only four in 30 games this season. Still, after averaging a 14.1% shooting percentage from 2023 to 2025, there’s reason to believe his current 6.3% rate won’t last. Additionally, since he’s under team control for the next three seasons after this one, the Canucks would have plenty of time to sign him to a long-term extension.

Hurricanes Activate Jesperi Kotkaniemi From Injured Reserve

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The Carolina Hurricanes have activated forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi from injured reserve. He missed the last nine games with a lower-body injury sustained while blocking a shot from Vancouver Canucks defenseman Filip Hronek on November 14th. He was placed on injured reserve on November 25th.

Kotkaniemi is expected to return to the lineup in Saturday night’s match against the Nashville Predators. He has two goals, five points, 11 blocked shots, and 26 hits through 15 games this season. He’s alternated between the center and left-wing roles on Carolina’s fourth-line for much of the year. That rotation has limited him to only 115 faceoffs so far this season – of which he has only won 47 percent. That’s a far fall from the 51 percent he posted through his first four seasons in Carolina.

Carolina made room for Kotkaniemi’s return when they reassigned Justin Robidas on November 29th. Robidas stepped into two games on his last recall and posted one assist, one shot block, and three hits. Jordan Martinook stepped into the lineup in Robidas’ spot while Carolina waited for Kotkaniemi to return to full health. Martinook will now step back out of the lineup, having posted nine ponits in 26 games this season.

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