Hurricanes Recall Pyotr Kochetkov, Felix Unger Sorum
April 14th: Although the Hurricanes activated Kochetkov, the team announced that he cannot play tonight due to a “roster technicality”. Still, while he won’t play tonight, Kochetkov will be available to Carolina for the postseason. According to Peter Baugh of The Athletic, the Hurricanes will dress Thomas Sullivan as tonight’s emergency backup goaltender.
April 13th: The Carolina Hurricanes announced today that netminder Pyotr Kochetkov and winger Felix Unger Sorum were recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves.
While Unger Sorum did not play tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers, this recall does position him to make his NHL debut tomorrow on Long Island against the New York Islanders. The 20-year-old is a 2023 second-round pick who has spent the last two campaigns in the AHL with Chicago.
Unger Sorum has long been viewed as a prospect with real potential to outplay his second-round draft slot, but he struggled to produce consistently as an AHL rookie. He scored just five goals and 20 points in 61 games for the Wolves, and didn’t make any serious push for a call-up. With that said, he was a 19-year-old rookie playing in a very difficult league, so few scouts saw his 2024-25 season as a reason to seriously downgrade his projection. Entering the season, he ranked No. 7 in Carolina’s system according to the team at Elite Prospects, while Corey Pronman at The Athletic ranked him No. 5.
This season, Unger Sorum has been one of the AHL’s fastest risers. He’s upped his production considerably, scoring 63 points in 69 games this season. At just 20 years old, he led all AHL players aged 23 or younger in scoring this season. Now, he’s set to be rewarded for his rapid rise with the chance to make his NHL debut, and perhaps show he could be counted on to fill a role in head coach Rod Brind’Amour’s playoff lineup in the event the Hurricanes suffer several injuries during their postseason run.
Kochetkov is today’s other recall, but he’s in a very different situation than Unger Sorum. Kochetkov was in Chicago on a conditioning stint as part of his recovery from an early-season hip injury. That injury has limited the 26-year-old Russian netminder to just nine games played this season. In those nine games, he went 6-2-0 with an .899 save percentage and 2.33 goals against average.
With Kochetkov sidelined, the Hurricanes were forced to rely on Brandon Bussi, a 27-year-old goalie who had been one of the top goalies in the AHL, but had yet to make his NHL debut. Bussi was a revelation in Carolina, and has gone 30-6-1 with a 2.50 goals against average and .892 save percentage. While he’s not been a Vezina caliber goaltender for the Hurricanes by any means, he’s shown a valuable ability to steer the Hurricanes to victory, even in contests where he plays below his standards. Carolina rewarded him with a three-year, $1.9MM AAV contract extension in February.
Where Kochetkov stands in the Hurricanes’ goalie rotation at this stage of the season is unclear. Despite the fact that Kochetkov has been with the Hurricanes since 2021-22, and the team has gone on numerous deep playoff runs since that point, he’s been limited to no more than four games played in any single one of the team’s postseason trips. His playoff save percentage is also just .860. That, combined with the fact that he has just nine games played this season, makes him, on paper, a somewhat unlikely candidate to play in the Hurricanes’ upcoming run.
With that said, the team’s primary playoff starter, Frederik Andersen, has an .874 save percentage this season, one of the lower marks of any full-time starter in the NHL. His experience may get him the nod in net at some point, but his form in 2025-26 can’t inspire confidence. And while Bussi has certainly had an impressive campaign, he lacks experience in the postseason. As a result, while Kochetkov has factors working against him, it certainly wouldn’t be too big a surprise to see him in the crease for Carolina at some point in the playoffs.
AHL Notes: Cates, Unger Sörum, Marody
The AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks, the Rockford IceHogs, will have a familiar face on the roster next season. The team announced they have agreed to terms with forward Jackson Cates to a one-year AHL contract for the 2024-25 AHL season.
Cates joined the IceHogs last year on a professional tryout agreement after the Philadelphia Flyers decided not to tender him a contract for the 2023-24 NHL season. The young forward came to the Flyers organization after a strong showing with the University of Minnesota-Duluth as an undrafted free agent. In three years split between Philadelphia and AHL Lehigh Valley, Cates tallied two assists in 20 NHL games while scoring 33 points in 102 AHL games.
Cates was by no means a standout player in Rockford but did finish 10th on the team in scoring with 11 goals and 25 points in 50 games. He also spent a brief period with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers last year where he tallied one goal in 12 contests. As the Blackhawks continue to graduate prospects through the farm system this season, Cates will be a good bit of continuity for the younger players to get accustomed to professional life.
Other AHL notes:
- According to Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer, the Carolina Hurricanes will bring prospect Felix Unger Sörum to North America this season where he will likely play for the team’s AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. Beginning to look like one of the better playmakers from the 2023 NHL Draft, Unger Sörum scored three goals and 12 assists for Leksands IF of the SHL this season after being selected with the 62nd overall pick by the Hurricanes.
- Although nothing is confirmed to this point, all signs indicate forward Cooper Marody will return to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on an AHL contract for the 2024-25 season according to Tony Androckitis of Insider AHL Hockey. Marody has spent the last two years with the Phantoms where he has posted 34 goals and 96 points in 115 games. As the team’s highest scorer from the 2023-24 regular season, Marody also tallied five assists in six playoff matchups before Lehigh Valley was eliminated in the Atlantic Division semifinals by the Hershey Bears.
Metropolitan Notes: Unger Sörum, Palmieri, Fasching
As training camp draws to a close, the Carolina Hurricanes were among the teams making significant roster cuts today. Notably, 2023 second-round selection Felix Unger Sörum was not among them – he remains on the team’s camp roster for now. The Norwegian-born Swede turned 18 just a few weeks ago, but head coach Rod Brind’Amour acknowledged his impressive camp today and didn’t rule out Unger Sörum remaining on the team’s roster through the first few games of the season.
That would be one of the most improbable developments of camp. It’s rare players selected outside the top ten choices make an immediate jump to the NHL – let alone players who were selected in later rounds altogether. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound winger posted 10 goals and 46 points in 42 games in Swedish junior play with Leksand last season, and he’ll get loaned back to the organization when his time with Carolina is over this season. His stint on the Hurricanes’ opening night roster will likely be tied to the health of star winger Andrei Svechnikov, who is expected to be ready for the team’s regular season opener after undergoing knee surgery in March. If that’s not the case, however, Brind’Amour says the young Swede may stick around for a nine-game trial to avoid burning the first season of his entry-level contract.
Elsewhere in the Metropolitan Division tonight:
- The New York Islanders announced pre-game that winger Kyle Palmieri will play in Friday’s preseason tilt against the New Jersey Devils, meaning the veteran winger will likely be available for the team’s first game of the regular season next weekend. Palmieri, 32, notched 33 points in 55 games last season and is expected to form the team’s second forward line along with Brock Nelson and Pierre Engvall. He returned to full practice with the team two days ago after head coach Lane Lambert would not confirm Palmieri’s availability for opening night.
- Sticking with the Islanders, one player who is not in tonight’s game is winger Hudson Fasching, who Newsday’s Andrew Gross reports is day-to-day with a minor injury and has now missed his third straight preseason game. Fasching is likely to be healthy for the start of the season, but whether he can keep his role in the lineup from last season remains to be seen. The AHL mainstay forced his way into a career-high 49 NHL games with the Isles last season, posting ten goals and nine assists for 19 points. His main competition for a spot in the lineup is 25-year-old Julien Gauthier, an offseason free agent signing who’s gotten recent looks higher up in the lineup during camp.
Carolina Hurricanes Sign Felix Unger Sörum
The Carolina Hurricanes have signed 17-year-old prospect forward Felix Unger Sörum to a three-year entry-level contract. Per the team announcement, the deal carries a $775k cap hit, $82.5k AHL salary, and a $255k signing bonus.
Hurricanes GM Don Waddell issued a short statement as part of the team’s release:
Felix is a dynamic playmaker with great offensive instincts. He was one of the youngest players in the draft, and we’re excited to see how he continues to improve and develop.
The Hurricanes selected Unger Sörum 62nd overall at the 2023 draft, one of the final picks of the second round. Born September 14, 2005, had Unger Sörum been born just two days later he would have been ineligible for the 2023 draft and instead would have been a 2024 draft prospect.
The right-shot forward spent most of last season with Leksands IF in the J20 Nationell, meaning he was playing junior hockey in his native Sweden. He was very productive at that level, scoring 46 points in 42 games. He even earned seven games with Leksands’ senior team in the SHL, an impressive feat for a player so young.
Unger Sörum also impressed at the international level, especially at the U18 Worlds. He raised his draft stock in a ten-day span in late April, posting 10 points in seven games as Sweden nearly took home the gold medal.
Although scouts were somewhat divided on where Unger Sörum’s place was among the draft’s better prospects (he ranked 85th in Bob McKenzie’s final ranking for TSN, but 53rd in the final rankings of McKenzie’s TSN colleague, Craig Button) the Hurricanes clearly believe in Unger Sörum’s pro potential, and have now invested in him even more by signing him to this entry-level deal at a relatively early stage in his professional developmental process.
Although this entry-level deal does formally enter Unger Sörum into the Hurricanes organization, he’s almost certain to continue his development overseas with Leksands. As a second-round pick the NHL-SHL transfer agreement does not dictate priority to the Hurricanes in deciding where Unger Sörum develops outside the NHL.
Since he’s most definitely not yet ready for an NHL role, he’s highly likely to end up continuing to play with Leksands with the hope of making a push for a regular role on their SHL roster.