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NHL Notes: Zucker, Drury, Andersen

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Seth Rorabaugh of Trib Live Sports is reporting that free agent winger Jason Zucker has made it clear that he wants to remain a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Zucker was able to remain healthy this season for the first time since the 2018-19 season when he was a member of the Minnesota Wild. Zucker flourished in a top six role for the Penguins this year, which was a pleasant, albeit unexpected surprise. Zucker spent much of last summer as a possible trade or buyout candidate, but the Penguins never found a suitor for the California native and elected to hang onto him.

Zucker rewarded Pittsburgh with his best season as a Penguin. He tallied 27 goals and 48 points in 78 games while playing on a second line with Evgeni Malkin. Zucker was also one of the few Penguins who showed an emotional pulse as the team was free falling out of a playoff position in the dying weeks of the regular season. There were many nights in which Pittsburgh appeared to be sleepwalking through the game only to be awakened by a huge hit by the small forward.

Zucker will have suitors and could very well fetch a contract that exceeds his previous cap hit of $5.5MM. Zucker is just 31 years old, and while injuries are certainly a concern given his track record, the lack of game breaking forwards on the free agent market should allow Zucker to cash in on his bounce back season.

In other notes from around the NHL:

  • Chip Alexander of Raleigh News & Observer is reporting that Rod Brind’Amour said that Jack Drury is feeling better today. This comes on the heels of Drury leaving game four yesterday after taking a hard hit into the boards in the first period. The center is in the midst of a 14-game goalless drought and played just 1:20 in the Hurricanes 5-2 win over the New York Islanders. Drury had just eight points in 38 games in the regular season, but with the Hurricanes battling through various injuries the 23-year-old played over 15 minutes in both games two and three of Carolina’s first round series.
  • Alexander also tweeted that Brind’Amour said goaltender Frederik Andersen is good to go for the Carolina Hurricanes. Andersen will likely be relegated to a backup role as Antti Raanta has backstopped the Hurricanes to a 3-1 series lead against the Islanders. Raanta has posted a solid .915 save percentage for Carolina after going 19-3-3 in the regular season. While it seems likely that Andersen won’t see action until the second round, he could get into a game should Raanta stumble in any of the next few games.

Jack Drury Will Not Return To Game Four

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Shortly after the first period began in Game Four of the playoff series between the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders, Islanders’ defenseman Ryan Pulock delivered a sizeable hit to Hurricanes’ forward Jack Drury. Drury would not return for the rest of the period, and Carolina has announced that he will not return to the game today due to an upper-body injury.

Initially, because Drury’s back was turned to Pulock, and due to his distance away from the boards, the referees initially gave Pulock a major penalty, which would have put Carolina on the powerplay for five minutes. Instead, the referees decided to downgrade the penalty to a minor, and Pulock was only sentenced to two minutes in the penalty box.

Although Drury’s numbers in the AHL have not yet transferred over to the NHL, he still has become a decent depth forward for the Hurricanes. In 38 regular season games this year, Drury scored two goals and six assists. More importantly, Drury managed strong possession numbers throughout the entire season, posting a Corsi For % in all situations of 65.9.

In this year’s playoffs, Drury has played in all four games for Carolina up to this point, without recording a point but winning all nine faceoffs that he has taken. Although not producing the points that the Hurricanes may need come playoff time, Drury’s ability to help the team possess the puck while he is out there will be something that Carolina will miss if he is unable to play in any more games this series.

Jesse Puljujarvi Returns For Game Three

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As the series shifts to New York for game three, both the New York Islanders and Carolina Hurricanes will be receiving reinforcements. Returning for the Islanders will be defenseman Alexander Romanov, and Jesse Puljujarvi returns for the Hurricanes (link). Romanov has been out of New York’s lineup since their April 1st game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Puljujarvi has been out of the lineup since their last game of the regular season.

On the other side of the puck, it is much harder to predict what kind of impact Puljujarvi will make for the Hurricanes. Before joining his new team in Carolina, Puljujarvi skated in 58 games for the Edmonton Oilers, scoring five goals and nine assists. Thinking that a change of scenery might help him reclaim some of his potential of being a fourth overall pick, Puljujarvi only managed to score two points in 17 games in Carolina, neither of which were goals.

To this point in the series, Carolina has a 2-0 lead, winning both games by one goal, including an overtime win in game two. This season, the Hurricanes were a middle-of-the-pack team in terms of goal scoring, and with the Islanders’ style of play being one of the more frustrating to matchup against, this Metropolitan battle could tighten up in the next couple of days.

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Frederik Andersen Skates Thursday, Could Dress Friday

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While the Hurricanes didn’t have goaltender Frederik Andersen available to them in last night’s overtime victory, he might not miss much more time.  Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News and Observer notes that the veteran skated today, suggesting he could be available to dress as early as Friday’s contest.  Andersen actually led Carolina in starts this season with 33 while posting a 2.48 GAA and a .903 SV% but it seems likely that he’ll need to wait a little longer to make his playoff debut with the Hurricanes as with Antti Raanta winning both starts so far in their series against the Islanders, it’s safe to say the net will still be his even if Andersen is ready to return.

Hurricanes Recall Six Players

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With Carolina’s AHL affiliate in Chicago missing the playoffs, the Hurricanes have decided who will be part of their ‘Black Aces’ squad, announcing the recall of six players.  Coming up to the big club are forwards Ville Koivunen, Vasily Ponomarev, Jamieson Rees, and Ryan Suzuki, defenseman Maxime Lajoie, and goaltender Zach Sawchenko.

Koivunen spent the bulk of this season with Karpat in Finland’s SM-liiga, picking up 28 points in 52 games before reporting to the Wolves last month.  The 19-year-old got into a dozen games at the AHL level, picking up a goal.  This is his first recall to the NHL.

Ponomarev played his first full campaign in North America this season and acquitted himself well, picking up a team-leading 24 goals along with 22 assists to put him second on the Wolves in scoring behind Malte Stromwall (who was not among the recalls).  The 21-year-old has also yet to play at the NHL level.

As for Rees, his third AHL campaign saw him put up more points than his first two combined, collecting 14 goals and 28 points in 65 games to put him fourth on the team in scoring.  The 22-year-old is in the second season of his entry-level deal and hasn’t yet suited up for the Hurricanes.

Suzuki was a first-round pick by Carolina back in 2018 (29th overall) but also hasn’t seen NHL action yet.  The 21-year-old did show some improvement this season with the Wolves, picking up 13 goals and 19 assists in 50 games, career-highs on all three fronts.

Lajoie, however, does have some NHL experience under his belt including three games with Carolina this season.  The 25-year-old has suited in 70 career contests at the top level, the bulk of which came back in 2018-19 with Ottawa.  Lajoie led all Wolves blueliners in points this season with 11 goals and 34 assists in 63 games.

Sawchenko played in seven games with San Jose last season but didn’t see any NHL time with the Hurricanes this season.  The 25-year-old signed with Carolina as a free agent last summer and led all Chicago netminders with 41 appearances this season where he posted a 3.10 GAA with a SV% of .895.

Barring multiple injuries, it’s unlikely that any of these players will get into a game during Carolina’s playoff run but they will get a chance to continue skating and working with team coaches in case they need to be pressed into action.

Carolina Hurricanes Recall Mackenzie MacEachern

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With Teuvo Teravainen headed for surgery, the Carolina Hurricanes have recalled Mackenzie MacEachern from the minor leagues.

Given the Chicago Wolves missed the playoffs, MacEachern can stay with the club and add some much-needed depth to the Carolina roster. The 29-year-old had an excellent season in the AHL, potting 11 goals and 30 points in 37 games.

He won’t be asked to score much if he does get into the Carolina lineup. Instead, the Hurricanes will need him to play the same physical style he showed during his last playoff call-up. In 2020 with the St. Louis Blues, MacEachern recorded 14 hits in five games for the Blues despite averaging fewer than seven minutes a night.

The 6’2″ forward has 19 points in 111 regular season games, all coming with the Blues. Should he get into the playoff lineup at some point, it would be his Carolina debut.

Teuvo Teravainen To Undergo Surgery

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The Carolina Hurricanes will be without Teuvo Teravainen for at least the first round, after suffering a broken hand last night against the New York Islanders. Teravainen will undergo surgery on the hand today, according to Kurt Dusterberg of NHL.com.

Head coach Rod Brind’Amour explained that he was “a little pissed” at the “tomahawk chop” from Jean-Gabriel Pageau that led to the injury late in the third period. Teravainen left with a few minutes remaining, and was unavailable to the Hurricanes in overtime as they managed to take game two. Now out indefinitely, he’ll have to hope that the Hurricanes put together a long playoff run if he wants to play again this season.

While this was a down year by Teravainen’s standards, scoring just 37 points in 68 games, he is still an important part of the deep Carolina forward group. The club is known for rolling out line after line of effective players, wearing you down with a never-ending forecheck. Even if he’s not producing at an elite level, like when he scored 76 points in 2018-19 or 65 last season, pulling Teravainen out of the lineup is a significant loss.

Jack Drury moved to the top line with Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis at the end of the game, and could get a huge opportunity to make an impact early in his career. The 23-year-old forward has just 40 regular season games under his belt to this point.

Despite the considerable depth, injuries are starting to pile up for Carolina. They already lost Max Pacioretty, Ondrej Kase, and Andrei Svechnikov before the playoffs began, and now will be without Teravainen for the foreseeable future.

Frederik Andersen Misses Game 2 With Illness

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  • Per a team release, Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen will not suit up in Game 2 of their series with the New York Islanders. The 33-year-old goaltender, who battled injuries all season and played just 33 games, is out with an illness. In a bit of a surprising move, Antti Raanta was the Game 1 starter anyway, and he will get the call once again for the Hurricanes in Game 2.

Andrei Svechnikov Hopes To Be Ready For Training Camp

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  • While he won’t be able to help the Carolina Hurricanes this postseason, Andrei Svechnikov hopes to be ready for training camp. Svechnikov tore his ACL and underwent surgery on March 16, and was given a six to nine-month recovery timeline. The talented forward is well into his rehab, working out every day in preparation for his return in 2023-24. Even though he can’t help them on the ice, Svechnikov is still part of the team, winding the siren to excite the home crowd before last night’s game.

Skyler Brind’Amour Signs PTO With Charlotte Checkers

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PHR reported earlier this week that Skyler Brind’Amour would not be putting pen to paper with the Edmonton Oilers and now the 23-year-old has signed a professional tryout with the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL. Skyler, the son of Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour, just wrapped up his fourth college season at Quinnipiac where he posted 14 goals and 32 points in 41 games.

The Oilers 2017 sixth round pick will join Charlotte for their first-round playoff battle with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and begins his professional hockey career at the age of 23. Brind’Amour has ties to the area through his father, and was also born in nearby Raleigh. Now he will get to jump straight into the playoffs after finishing his college career.

Brind’Amour’s draft rights to the Oilers will expire in August at which time Brind’Amour will be a free agent and can sign with anyone he pleases. He will get an opportunity to showcase his skills in the coming weeks. Brind’Amour hasn’t been much of a scorer at any level and topped out at 14 goals this season, the highest total of any of his college seasons. He figures to get an opportunity to insert some energy into Charlotte’s bottom six as he auditions for a job next season. Charlotte figures to be the favorite in their series against the Phantoms as they finished third in the Atlantic Division and Lehigh Valley finished sixth.

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