Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Skyler Brind'Amour

Hurricanes Reassign Scott Morrow

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Hurricanes have assigned rookie defenseman Scott Morrow to AHL Chicago with the regular season behind them, per a team announcement. The club also sent forwards Skyler Brind’Amour, Bradly Nadeau, and defenseman Domenick Fensore down to the minors after recalling them for the final few games of the season to allow for some stars to rest.

Morrow’s demotion is notable because he wasn’t part of the foursome that Carolina recalled on Tuesday. The 22-year-old has been up with Carolina since the trade deadline and frequently slotted into the lineup down the stretch, including the final five games of the regular season. Morrow, a 2021 second-round pick, finished the year with 1-5–6 in 14 games with all of his points coming at even strength.

He and impact prospect Alexander Nikishin were slated to begin the playoffs as Carolina’s extra defensemen, but the team will instead opt to keep the more veteran Riley Stillman around in the press box after recalling him along with Brind’Amour, Fensore and Nadeau this week. The stay-at-home rearguard is less of a redundancy compared to the dynamic Nikishin, who’s likely to see his NHL debut in the playoffs after signing his entry-level contract last week.

Morrow instead gets to bolster Chicago’s blue line and play meaningful postseason minutes as the Wolves have clinched a playoff berth. The first-year pro leads Wolves defensemen in scoring with 13-26–39 in 51 games, earning an AHL All-Star game appearance ahead of trying to land an opening night roster spot in Carolina in the fall.

As for the trio heading back to Chicago, the late-season call-up was most notable for Brind’Amour. The 25-year-old son of Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour scored his first NHL goal in last night’s loss to the Senators. Nadeau, Carolina’s first-rounder in 2023, also recorded his first NHL point, an assist, on Wednesday against the Canadiens. Fensore will have to wait until his next NHL call-up to get on the scoresheet.

Transactions Notes: Hurricanes, Jones, Carrick, Bjarnason, Copponi

at CDT | by 2 Comments

Having already clinched the second playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division, the Carolina Hurricanes had the opportunity to rest a few players for tomorrow night’s game against the Montreal Canadiens. Keeping that in mind, the Hurricanes announced they’ve recalled forwards Skyler Brind’Amour and Bradly Nadeau and defensemen Domenick Fensore and Riley Stillman from their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, to fill in for the resting players.

Brind’Amour’s recall is significant for a few reasons. He’ll make his NHL debut tomorrow night against the Canadiens and will be the first NHL player to be coached by his father at the top level since Winnipeg Jets captain Adam Lowry was briefly coached by his father, Dave Lowry, for 54 games in the 2021-22 NHL season.

Meanwhile, Nadeau and Fensore (who will also debut tomorrow night) are two of Carolina’s top prospects already playing in North America. Nadeau led the Wolves in scoring this season, managing 30 goals and 56 points in 63 games, while Fensore scored nine goals and 32 points in 66 contests.

Other transactions from around the league:

  • According to a team announcement, the Los Angeles Kings have recalled defenseman Caleb Jones from their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, on an emergency basis. Although he won’t be filling in for a defenseman, Jones’s recall is likely in response to Quinton Byfield sustaining an injury in last night’s contest against the Edmonton Oilers. Per Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, Oilers’ defenseman Darnell Nurse will have a hearing with the Department of Player Safety for cross-checking Byfield, leading to his injury.
  • In another emergency recall, the Oilers have promoted defenseman Connor Carrick to the NHL level. Carrick’s recall could be due to the five defensemen injured on the Oilers’ blue line or because of the expected suspension looming for Nurse. The 31-year-old defenseman has scored 17 goals and 39 points in 60 games for the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors this year.
  • Per the AHL transactions page and publicized by Jackie Spiegel of The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Flyers have reassigned goaltender prospect Carson Bjarnason to their AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Bjarnason was the fourth netminder taken off the board in the 2023 NHL Draft as the 51st overall pick and recently produced a 22-15-3 record in 40 games with the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings with a .913 SV% and 2.93 GAA.
  • In another move by the Oilers organization, their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield announced they’ve signed forward Matt Copponi to an amateur tryout agreement for the rest of the 2024-25 AHL season. Copponi, drafted by Edmonton with the 216th overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft, recently lost the 2025 NCAA National Championship with Boston University. Still, he was an effective secondary scorer for the Terriers’ program, putting up eight goals and 24 points in 40 contests this season.

Hurricanes Sign Skyler Brind’Amour

at CDT | by 13 Comments

The Carolina Hurricanes have signed forward Skyler Brind’Amour to a one-year, two-way, league-minimum contract per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.

Brind’Amour played in his first professional season last year, recording a measly eight points across 54 games with the Charlotte Checkers. He made the jump to the pros after four years at Quinnipiac University, where he improved his scoring every season, ultimately maxing out at 14 goals and 32 points in 41 games in his senior year. It was the right time to pop, with Brind’Amour filling a pivotal depth role in Quinnipiac’s first run to the NCAA championship.

Brind’Amour was originally drafted in the 2017 sixth-round by the Edmonton Oilers, after scoring 50 points in 48 games of triple-A hockey and one point in eight USHL games. He followed the draft selection with a pair of seasons in the BCHL, where he combined for 68 points across 104 games. That was enough to earn a commitment to Quinnipiac University in 2018, where he was able to solidify his ability as a fundamental depth forward – though his rights with Edmonton would expire in 2023.

Now 25, Brind’Amour will look to find his scoring at a pro level. He’ll be under the control of an NHL organization for the first time, which could make it easier to rotate him between AHL and ECHL roles as he searches for a groove.

Hurricanes Sign Seven Players To PTOs

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Today, the Hurricanes announced their roster for this year’s regional rookie camp, the 2024 NHL Rookie Showcase hosted by the Predators. Seven of their 22 players weren’t previously in the organization. They will attend via professional tryout agreements, some of which may last to training camp or end after the showcase.

Carter Kowalyk, the lone defenseman of the group, will look to make an impression before returning to the Western Hockey League’s Kelowna Rockets for his final season of junior hockey. The 19-year-old has been passed over in back-to-back NHL drafts, marred by injuries and stuck on basement-dwelling teams. Last season, a trade sent him to the playoff-bound Rockets from the lowly Edmonton Oil Kings, boosting his stock. The 6’3″, 196-lb stay-at-home defender ended the season with seven points, 25 PIMs and a +13 rating in 26 games in Kelowna, and he’ll look to factor into heavy minutes there in 2024-25. A strong showing with the Canes now could earn him an invite back to development camp next summer or earn him an entry-level contract.

Zakary Lavoie, 20, is a diminutive right-winger who plays much larger than his 5’10”, 179-lb frame would suggest. The Ottawa native is a skilled shooter, posting 31 goals in 67 Ontario Hockey League games last season, split between the Niagara IceDogs and Brantford Bulldogs. If he returns to Brantford, he’ll take up one of their three overage slots, so he could be on the hunt to land a professional deal in the coming weeks. Whether that’s an entry-level agreement with Carolina or an AHL deal with their affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, remains to be seen if the Canes opt to keep him in the organization.

Connor Lockhart, 21, has his junior days behind him now after completing what would have been his fifth OHL season if not for the COVID-19 pandemic. A sixth-round pick of the Canucks in 2021, he became a free agent over a year ago when his signing rights lapsed on July 1, 2023. Lockhart has produced over a point per game over the last two years, ending his season with 52 points in 45 contests for the Oshawa Generals after an early-season trade from Peterborough. The 5’9″ center was suspended by the league for eight games in February following an investigation into unspecified conduct by the Durham, Ontario Regional Police, which has since been closed.

Skyler Brind’Amour, 25, is already signed to an AHL pact for next season with the Charlotte Checkers, the Panthers’ affiliate. But Florida doesn’t own his NHL rights, making him eligible to attend rookie and training camps leaguewide as offers come in. The Raleigh native and son of Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour won an NCAA championship with Quinnipiac in 2023 but has had trouble adjusting to the pro game, posting just three goals and eight points in 54 contests with the Checkers last season. His chances of landing an NHL deal are slim, but they won’t be better anywhere else than in Carolina, an organization synonymous with the Brind’Amour name.

Braydon McCallum, 18, was draft-eligible for the first time this year but wasn’t selected. Briefly a teammate of Lockhart’s with the Peterborough Petes, the 5’10”, 165-lb forward finished third on the team in scoring last season with 41 points (18 G, 23 A) in 62 games and led them (and the OHL as a whole) with 128 PIMs. He’s a tenacious forechecker with a good shot and has a decent chance of landing an ELC with Carolina before heading back to the Petes for 2024-25.

Luca Testa, 18, fits a similar profile to McCallum. Also draft-eligible for the first time in 2024 and passed over, he’s a physical center but takes fewer penalties with slightly less offensive upside. In 48 games for the Bulldogs last year, he had 14 goals and 11 assists for 25 points with a +6 rating.

Rounding out the group is 20-year-old left-winger Antonin Verreault, an explosive but undersized offensive talent who’s now been passed over three drafts in a row. The 5’8″, 163-lb forward led the QMJHL in assists (71) and points (107) last season in 68 games with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. He’s the type of talent the Hurricanes often take swings on and is perhaps the likeliest of the group to end up with a contract as a result of their tryout.

Update On This Year’s August 15 Free Agents

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Most NHL free agent business is dealt with in the early summer months. There is one important date later each year, however. August 15 marks the date when NHL teams lose their exclusive signing rights to most college-drafted players if they’ve graduated (or completed without graduating) college and are not yet signed to an entry-level contract.

Earlier this month, we published a list of players slated to hit the UFA market yesterday if not signed to an ELC within the coming days. However, the guidelines the NHL uses to determine a college graduate are some of the most complex sets of rules relating to contractual obligations in pro sports. That means it’s often impossible to glean a full list of players whose rights have expired (or not expired) until after the August 15 deadline has passed.

This year was no different, as CapFriendly issued multiple updates today on their X account regarding the list of August 15 free agents they’d made public earlier in the month. Three players who were slated to expire actually remained on their team’s reserve list: Calgary Flames 2018 fourth-round pick F Demetrios Koumontzis, Ottawa Senators 2018 seventh-round pick F Jakov Novak, and Senators 2018 second-round pick D Jonny Tychonick.

On the flip side, 12 players they expected to remain on teams’ reserve lists hit the free-agent market yesterday. With that in mind, we have a revised, accurate list of players who became unrestricted free agents yesterday. Asterisked players were not originally expected to come off their team’s reserve list.

Anaheim Ducks

*F Trevor Janicke (2019 fifth round, 132nd overall)

Arizona Coyotes

F John Farinacci (2019 third round, 76th overall)
*F Anthony Romano (2019 sixth round, 176th overall)

Boston Bruins

*D Dustyn McFaul (2018 sixth round, 181st overall)

Calgary Flames

*F Joshua Nodler (2019 fifth round, 150th overall)

Carolina Hurricanes

F Kevin Wall (2019 sixth round, 181st overall)

Chicago Blackhawks

F Jake Wise (2018 third round, 69th overall)

Colorado Avalanche

*F Matt Stienburg (2019 third round, 63rd overall)

Columbus Blue Jackets

D Robbie Stucker (2017 seventh round, 210th overall)

Detroit Red Wings

F Robert Mastrosimone (2019 second round, 54th overall)
*F Ethan Phillips (2019 fourth round, 97th overall)

Edmonton Oilers

F Skyler Brind’Amour (2017 sixth round, 177th overall)

Minnesota Wild

*D Marshall Warren (2019 sixth round, 166th overall)

New Jersey Devils

*D Case McCarthy (2019 fourth round, 118th overall)
*F Patrick Moynihan (2019 sixth round, 158th overall)

New York Islanders

D Christian Krygier (2018 seventh round, 196th overall)
F Jacob Pivonka (2018 fourth round, 103rd overall)

New York Rangers

*F Eric Ciccolini (2019 seventh round, 205th overall)
*F Riley Hughes (2018 seventh round, 216th overall)

Ottawa Senators

*F Luke Loheit (2018 seventh round, 194th overall)

Philadelphia Flyers

F Jay O’Brien (2018 first round, 19th overall)

San Jose Sharks

D Arvid Henrikson (2016 seventh round, 187th overall) Originally drafted by the Montreal Canadiens

Toronto Maple Leafs

D Ryan O’Connell (2017 seventh round, 203rd overall)

Winnipeg Jets

G Jared Moe (2018 sixth round, 184th overall)

Of the list above, Krygier and Pivonka are remaining in the Islanders organization on confirmed AHL contracts for 2023-24, although they remain eligible to sign with another NHL team should one come calling. All others are either returning to school for 2023-24, have contracts signed in other leagues, or are not signed for next season.

Notably, this is the official confirmation that the Flyers’ exclusive signing rights of O’Brien have lapsed. As compensation for not signing a first-round pick to their entry-level contract, the Flyers will receive a compensatory second-round pick from the league in the 2024 NHL Draft.

Skyler Brind’Amour Not Expected To Sign With Oilers

at CDT | by 11 Comments

In August, many NCAA players will see their exclusive draft rights expire, allowing them unrestricted free agents to sign with any organization. The decision has already been made for one of those players, Skyler Brind’Amour.

Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports that Brind’Amour, fresh off a national championship with Quinnipiac, will not sign with the Edmonton Oilers. Jason Gregor of TSN adds that Brind’Amour informed the Oilers that there would be a better opportunity elsewhere as he tries to transition to professional hockey.

If he doesn’t change his mind and is still unsigned through August 15, Brind’Amour—son of Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour—will be an unrestricted free agent. As a sixth-round pick in 2017, the Oilers will not receive draft compensation.

They could, however, work out a trade with his preferred destination, though that club could simply wait until August if they have confidence in him signing at that point. The 23-year-old forward was a key part of the Bobcats’ first-ever NCAA title, and scored 32 points in 41 games this season.

A workhorse that seems to always be attacking the puck carrier, Brind’Amour’s potential at the NHL level likely tops out as a bottom-six energy player. Even that projection will be tested next year as he transitions, starting his professional career at the age of 24.

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

scroll to top