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William Carrier

Metropolitan Notes: Thompson, Protas, Hamilton, Carrier, Gostisbehere

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Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson began on-ice recovery today as he nears a return from an upper-body injury, Emily Kaplan of ESPN said on today’s broadcast of Washington’s loss in Columbus (via Tom Gulitti of NHL.com). He skated today along with the NHL’s new all-time goals leader, Alex Ovechkin, who stayed home to rest with the Caps’ place atop the Eastern Conference clinched. The presumptive Vezina Trophy finalist has missed the last four games with an upper-body injury and remains questionable for the beginning of Washington’s first-round playoff series against whichever team ends up in the second wild-card spot. Backup Charlie Lindgren hasn’t been particularly inspiring in his absence, posting a .866 SV% since taking over for Thompson when the latter left an April 2 loss to the Hurricanes. Lindgren was not in the crease today for the Caps’ 7-0 defeat; third-stringer Hunter Shepard was. Winger Aliaksei Protas is also expected to skate Monday for the first time since sustaining a laceration from a skate on his left foot on April 4, Kaplan said. “There is some concern about how the location of the skate cut (under skate tongue) will impact the rest of Protas’ foot, but they’re hopeful he’ll be ready for the start of the playoffs,” Gulitti relayed. The 24-year-old remains an invaluable part of the Caps’ league-best offense, erupting for a career-best 30-36–66 scoring line in 76 showings.

Elsewhere in the Metro:

  • Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton continues to inch closer to a return but won’t play tomorrow against the Islanders, head coach Sheldon Keefe told the team’s Amanda Stein. Initially expected to be out until the second round of the playoffs after sustaining a lower-body injury in early March, he’s been upgraded to day-to-day. He will almost certainly be an option to begin their first-round series against the Hurricanes. He’s a key return amid a blue line missing Jonas Siegenthaler and a forward group missing star center Jack Hughes. Hamilton’s 40 points in 63 games rank seventh on the Devils and second among rearguards behind Luke Hughes’ 42.
  • The Hurricanes had winger William Carrier in the lineup against the Rangers today for the first time since he underwent lower-body surgery in January. An important depth add to their bottom six ahead of the postseason, the 30-year-old had an assist, four hits, and a plus-one rating in 10:48 of ice time in his return. They were without top backend point-producer Shayne Gostisbehere, though, who Cory Lavalette of the North State Journal relays is dealing with a lower back injury. It’s his second straight absence. The 31-year-old has 44 points in 68 showings this year, his fourth straight season above 40 points. He ranks fifth on Carolina in scoring while averaging 18:29 per game. He remains day-to-day and should be back for Game 1 against New Jersey.

Hurricanes Notes: Svechnikov, Staal, Carrier, Kotkaniemi, Robidas

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The Hurricanes are getting closer to full health at the right time. They’ve got a trio of forwards on the verge of returning to play, none more important than top-six winger Andrei Svechnikov. He participated fully in today’s practice and is tracking to return to the lineup tomorrow against the Sabres, although head coach Rod Brind’Amour wouldn’t confirm his availability one way or another (via the team’s Walt Ruff).

It’s been an extremely trying recent stretch for Svechnikov. He sustained an upper-body injury back on March 9 and missed seven games. His return only lasted three appearances until he sustained another undisclosed injury in a game against the Capitals last week. He’s missed a pair of games due to that one. The injury troubles come as Svechnikov is doling out his worst offensive performance since his rookie season. His 0.68 points per game pace is decently south of the 0.77 career average he’s set for himself over his seven seasons in the league.

He’s still one of the more important contributors on a Carolina roster that lacks a point-per-game contributor after trading Martin Nečas to the Avalanche earlier this season. Including Nečas, Svechnikov ranks fourth on the Canes with 19-26–45 in 66 showings. His 17:12 average time on ice is up slightly from last year’s 16:59, although his underlying are a tad concerning. While he’s controlling 58.7% of shot attempts at even strength, that’s on an exceptional two-way club in Carolina. He’s tracking to post a negative relative CF% for the first time in his career.

Nonetheless, they’d love to get Svechnikov back into the fold and hopefully on a hot streak entering postseason play. They’ve clinched a postseason berth and are essentially locked into second place in the Metropolitan Division with a first-round matchup against an injury-plagued Devils team, but more scoring from him is needed to make a deep run and advance to the Conference Final or further.

Elsewhere in Carolina’s forward group, captain Jordan Staal practiced ahead of tomorrow’s game and, like Svechnikov, remains questionable. He’s sat out the last four games with a lower-body injury and five of the last eight, so he’s clearly nursing something. The 6’4″ pivot remains a veritable two-way force in his 19th NHL season, posting his best offensive performance in three years while winning 53.9% of his draws, tying for fifth on the team with a +13 rating, and adding 42 blocks and 127 hits.

They’re also on the verge of getting depth winger William Carrier back in the lineup after a months-long absence. The 30-year-old was a full participant in today’s practice along with Staal and Svechnikov. He underwent lower-body surgery in late January and was ruled out indefinitely, although he never landed on injured reserve. He posted 4-5–9 in 39 games with 136 hits before exiting the lineup, averaging 11:37 per game in his first season in Carolina after signing a six-year, $12MM commitment last summer that could see him finish his career in Raleigh.

As they land some returnees, there might still be a departure from the lineup. Center Jesperi Kotkaniemi “tweaked something” in Saturday’s loss to the Bruins, Brind’Amour said, and he’s still being evaluated. It’s likely he’ll at least miss the Buffalo game after going without a point in his last six appearances. The 24-year-old has 11-20–31 in 76 games, an improvement from last year’s totals while averaging 14 minutes per game.

It stands to reason Carolina expects at least a net positive in terms of lineup influx for tomorrow’s contest. They returned rookie center Justin Robidas to AHL Chicago last night, per Ruff. The 22-year-old came up under emergency conditions late last week and recorded a point in each of his first two career NHL appearances, including Carolina’s lone goal in the loss to Boston. It was quite the initial showing from the 5’8″ centerman, who the Canes picked up in the fifth round of the 2021 draft. He has 17-31–48 in 65 AHL appearances after spending all of 2023-24 on assignment to ECHL Norfolk.

Hurricanes’ William Carrier Out Long Term After Surgery

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1/24: After receiving a second opinion, Hurricanes forward William Carrier has moved forward with surgery to address his lower-body injury. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour has shared that the forward will be out “long term” after the procedure, per Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News and Observer – at least two months, per NHL.com’s Walt Ruff. The team is hoping that he’ll return this season.

1/16: Hurricanes winger William Carrier is seeking a second opinion on how to proceed in his recovery from the lower-body injury that’s kept him out for nearly two weeks, head coach Rod Brind’Amour told Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer.

It’s an inauspicious start to Carrier’s tenure in Carolina after he inked an eye-popping six-year, $12MM deal with heavy trade protection in free agency last summer. The 30-year-old grinder hasn’t returned to the heights of his 16-goal, 25-point campaign in 56 games with the Golden Knights in their Stanley Cup-winning 2022-23 campaign. He’s been limited to four goals and nine points through 39 appearances with the Canes, similar production to the injury-plagued 2023-24 campaign that, in part, led Vegas not to pursue re-signing him aggressively.

Regardless of whether or not he undergoes surgery to address the issue, it’s likely he’s facing another lengthy stay on the shelf. Carrier was on IR for nearly half the campaign last year with upper-body issues, so while his current problem isn’t related, it still indicates a rapidly growing proneness to injury. It’s not unsurprising for how the gritty Quebec native plays, already racking up 136 hits to lead Carolina by a huge margin with 18.01 per 60 minutes.

Before landing on the shelf, Carrier had been ridiculously effective, even if he wasn’t scoring. He’s replaced the injured Jesper Fast on the Canes’ third line alongside Jordan Martinook and Jordan Staal for much of the campaign, with the trio controlling 65.8% of expected goals at even strength, per MoneyPuck.

His and Tyson Jost’s continued absence will provide increased opportunities for depth wingers like call-up Juha Jaaska, who has an assist and a plus-one rating through his first seven NHL games over the past couple of weeks.

Snapshots: Predators, Haula, Hurricanes, McCabe

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The Predators have recalled defenseman Kevin Gravel from AHL Milwaukee, per the AHL’s transactions log.  He’ll take the place of Jeremy Lauzon on the active roster who has been moved back to injured reserve.  Gravel has an assist in three games with Nashville so far this season but is likely to be in the seventh defender role for the time being.  He also has five points in 25 games with the Admirals.  Lauzon, meanwhile, just returned from injured reserve midway through last month, getting into six games before being sidelined with a lower-body injury once again.  He has one assist and 127 hits in 28 games thus far in just under 18 minutes a night of playing time.

Elsewhere from around the NHL:

  • The Devils announced (Twitter link) that center Erik Haula is listed as day-to-day with an ankle injury and is set to undergo further testing. Head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters including James Nichols of NJ Hockey Now that the veteran is going to miss some time.  It has been a rough year for Haula thus far as he has just five goals and six assists in 42 games.  Even extrapolated for a full season, his projected output would be well below the 44, 41, and 35 points Haula had in the last three years.
  • Hurricanes winger William Carrier was a late scratch from their game against Pittsburgh. The team announced (Twitter link) that he’s dealing with a lower-body injury.  The 30-year-old is in his first season in Carolina after signing a six-year deal with them over the summer and has nine points along with a team-high 136 hits in 39 games.  In a corresponding move, winger Juha Jaaska was brought back up from AHL Chicago, per the AHL’s transactions log, after being sent down on Thursday.  He made his NHL debut on Wednesday, playing 8:21 against Florida.
  • The Maple Leafs announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Jake McCabe suffered an upper-body injury in tonight’s game against Philadelphia and won’t return. The injury occurred in a fight late in the opening period.  McCabe has been an important part of Toronto’s back end, logging over 21 minutes a night while chipping in with 11 points, 68 blocks, and 75 hits in his first 35 games this season.

Metropolitan Notes: York, Jenner, Carrier

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Flyers defenseman Cam York is entering the final year of his contract and is therefore eligible to sign a contract extension.  Speaking with reporters including Jackie Spiegel of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the blueliner indicated he wasn’t worried about getting a deal done at this point knowing that eventually something will work out.  The 23-year-old potted 10 goals along with 20 assists while playing all 82 games last season.  He also notably logged 22:37 per contest, second to only Travis Sanheim.  With that in mind, it might make sense for York to wait a little while yet before signing an extension as a repeat of last year’s performance will only bolster his value heading into next summer when he’ll be a restricted free agent with arbitration eligibility, owed a $1.6MM qualifying offer.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • While Boone Jenner has arguably been the Blue Jackets’ most reliable center in recent years, he won’t be lining up there to start the season. Instead, Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch relays that the captain will instead line up on the left wing on the top line.  Jenner has been a reliable faceoff specialist over the years but with Sean Monahan being added in free agency and Adam Fantilli now fully recovered from a calf laceration that caused him to miss the second half last season, new head coach Dean Evason wants to see how Jenner fares in Johnny Gaudreau’s old spot, hoping that his forechecking will lead to some additional opportunities.
  • Hurricanes winger William Carrier is only expected to miss a couple of days with the lower-body injury that held him out of practice yesterday, relays team reporter Walt Ruff (Twitter link). Head coach Rod Brind’Amour noted that they’re merely being extra cautious with the newcomer.  Carrier signed a six-year, $12MM contract with Carolina over the summer after spending the last seven years with Vegas where he averaged three hits per game while chipping in with 99 points in 372 appearances.

Metro Notes: Morrow, Carrier, Sorokin, Beckman, Pavelski

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The Carolina Hurricanes are dealing with a few injuries as team reporter Walt Ruff shares that defenseman Scott Morrow and forward William Carrier are dealing with lower-body injuries. Morrow’s is not considered serious with him expected back at practice tomorrow but the team medical staff is still evaluating Carrier.

Morrow was originally selected with the 40th overall pick of the 2021 NHL Draft by the Hurricanes and is largely considered the team’s second-best defensive prospect behind Alexander Nikishin. He had a relatively small chance of cracking Carolina’s blue line out of training camp despite making his NHL debut with the Hurricanes last year. It will be his first full professional season since ending his tenure at the University of Massachusetts and he’s expected to take on a key role with the organization’s AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves.

Carrier was brought in as an unrestricted free agent this summer to a long-term six-year, $12MM contract to serve in the team’s bottom six. The former Stanley Cup champion winger is largely known for his physicality but is only two years removed from scoring 16 goals in a season with the Vegas Golden Knights. The Hurricanes could create one of the most physically punishing lines in the league if they pair Carrier with team captain Jordan Staal when fully healthy.

Other Metro notes:

  • New York Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin continues to progress in his recovery from offseason back surgery and is still expected to start the season on time. Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News reported earlier today that Sorokin has already resumed skating but has failed to appear in a team practice up to this point. He will still have limited time to get into regular season mode as he looks to improve upon a down year in which he produced a .906 SV% and 3.01 GAA in 55 starts.
  • Adam Beckman’s first preseason with the New Jersey Devils is off to a slow start with James Nicholas of New Jersey Hockey Now reporting he is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Beckman was acquired by the Devils from the Minnesota Wild a few days before Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Final in late June. He’s not expected to be a part of New Jersey’s roster for the upcoming season. Still, he could have a valuable role with their AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets, after scoring 19 goals and 33 points in 51 games for the AHL’s Iowa Wild last year.
  • Longtime NHL veteran Joe Pavelski appears to be moving quickly onto his next plans after retirement. The Pittsburgh Penguins TV play-by-play announcer, Josh Getzoff, reported today that Pavelski was at the team’s training camp with general manager Kyle Dubas and assistant general manager Jason Spezza. There has been no indication since the Penguins are considering Pavelski for a role in their front office but it may be a small insight into Pavelski’s future in the NHL.

Hurricanes Sign William Carrier To Six-Year Deal

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July 3: Carolina has now confirmed the terms of Carrier’s contract.

July 1: The Hurricanes have pried longtime Golden Knight William Carrier away from Vegas. The checking winger is joining Carolina on a six-year deal worth $2MM per season, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports.

Carrier, 29, provides solid checking depth for a Carolina squad that lost a lot of key pieces today on the open market. Seven of his eight NHL seasons have come in Vegas, where he accumulated 99 points, 183 PIMs and 1,116 hits in 372 games. He won the Cup with them one year ago, providing some crucial depth point production with six points in 18 games.

The deal is indicative of a recent trend for physical, two-way responsible checking wingers – long-term agreements are becoming closer to the norm. Miles Wood is a notable recent example – he received a six-year, $2.5MM AAV deal from the Avalanche last summer.

Carrier will fill a lot of the duties Jordan Martinook has for the Canes in the past few seasons. Martinook is sticking around, inking a three-year deal today, but the loss of forwards Jake Guentzel and Teuvo Teräväinen without any real replacement means he’ll be relied upon for point production higher up in the lineup. Carrier routinely averages around 11 minutes per game and will be best suited to continue in a fourth-line role.

Stars Notes: Dellandrea, Tanev, Carrier

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Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek spoke about the Dallas Stars on the 32 Thoughts podcast today saying that the belief is that the Stars traded Ty Dellandrea to the San Jose Sharks to open up room on their roster for other moves. Dellandrea was dealt to the Sharks for a 2025 fourth-round pick and the speculation is that the Stars feel that Mavrik Bourque is ready to step into a full-time role and that ice-time could come from Dellandrea.

Bourque is a former first-round pick in 2020 (30th overall) and has played just one NHL game to this point in his short career. However, the 22-year-old has good offensive instincts and excellent hockey IQ and has excelled in the AHL posting 26 goals and 51 assists in 71 games last season for the Texas Stars. Given his progression, it seems likely that the Plessisville, Quebec native is ready for an NHL role.

In other Dallas Stars notes:

  • Jeff Marek also noted on the 32 Thoughts podcast that the Stars have taken a run this week at re-signing Chris Tanev before he goes to unrestricted free agency. This was also mentioned earlier in the week by Darren Dreger on TSN 1200. Tanev and the Stars have an interest in extending their working relationship as they believe Tanev is an excellent fit on the team’s backend. At 34 years old, Tanev is looking at his last opportunity to secure a lucrative multi-year deal, and the Stars will likely need to up their offer to keep the Toronto, Ontario native in Dallas.
  • Friedman notes on 32 Thoughts that he’s heard rumblings that the Stars have an interest in Vegas Golden Knights forward William Carrier. The 29-year-old Carrier will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1st and has played for Stars head coach Pete DeBoer before as a member of the Golden Knights. Carrier doesn’t score much, posting just six goals and two assists in 39 games this season, and has also struggled to remain in the lineup over the years, never playing more than 71 games in a season.

Latest On The Golden Knights’ Pending UFAs

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The Golden Knights won’t be able to re-sign most of their pending unrestricted free agents with a looming salary cap crunch, and they’ve already gone through the process of elimination on who to prioritize. The team has informed forwards Michael Amadio, William Carrier and Anthony Mantha that they won’t be offered extensions before July 1, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported yesterday. All three will hit the UFA market.

Amadio is a tough loss after being arguably their most cost-effective depth scorer over the past three seasons. After being claimed off waivers from the Maple Leafs early in the 2021-22 campaign, he enjoyed the best run of his career in Sin City. The 28-year-old has played nearly 200 regular-season games in a Vegas uniform, posting 41 goals and 72 points in less than 13 minutes of ice time per game. He’s also been quite the playoff performer, posting 10 points in 16 games en route to their Stanley Cup win in 2023 and logging a goal and an assist in their first-round elimination against the Stars this year. Amadio has made the league minimum salary each season, but he could likely land close to $3MM annually this summer.

Carrier, 29, is an original Golden Knight. Selected from the Sabres in the 2017 expansion draft, the Québec native has been a serviceable fourth-line winger, and his 372 appearances rank sixth in franchise history. He struggled with injuries this season, limited to eight points in 39 games, but had a career-high 16 goals in 56 games the year before. Carrier has shining career possession numbers at even strength – a 53.6 CF% and a 55.9 xGF% – making him one of the better two-way options in the entire league for his role.

He likely won’t land much of an increase, if any, on his expiring $1.4MM cap hit. Still, Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon needs every inch of flexibility possible to keep Jonathan Marchessault and Chandler Stephenson from heading to market.

Giving up a pair of draft picks for Mantha at the trade deadline may have been a rare ill-advised move from McCrimmon. The 29-year-old winger seemed to fit nicely into their top nine down the stretch in the regular season, posting three goals and 10 points in 18 games. However, he fell out of the lineup once Tomáš Hertl and Mark Stone were ready to return from their injuries and only played in three of their seven playoff games against Dallas without recording a point. He’d been making an average of $5.7MM annually for the past four years on a deal signed by Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman in the 2020 offseason, and while he won’t earn that much again on his next deal, he might get close after his first 20-goal season since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Golden Knights are also unlikely to re-sign veteran defenseman Alec Martinez, who likely wouldn’t have been in their opening night lineup next season after Noah Hanifin’s acquisition. But they haven’t informed him of anything like the others, Pagnotta said, and it’s unclear if he’ll test the market in July. After winning the Cup with Vegas last year and twice with the Kings in the early 2010s, the 36-year-old is “evaluating his options” as the end of his career draws closer.

And while Marchessault is the higher-priority extension target, McCrimmon hasn’t closed the door on a Stephenson re-signing. Pagnotta reports he’ll speak to Stephenson’s camp in the next two weeks to gauge his price. Still, if he heads to market, he’ll have plenty of suitors as the second-best center potentially available after Elias Lindholm. As such, his market value could very well eclipse a $6MM AAV – a prohibitively expensive figure for Vegas unless significant cap-cutting trades are made.

Snapshots: Buchnevich, Fedotov, Stone, Pietrangelo

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The St. Louis Blues are expected to work on a contract extension with winger Pavel Buchnevich, shares Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in the latest 32 Thoughts article. This news comes after the Blues were reportedly shopping around Buchnevich at the Trade Deadline, though they were said to be asking for as much as two first-round picks in return. No deal came to fruition and Buchnevich went on to finish the year with 27 goals and 63 points in 80 games. It was the least productive season he’s had in St. Louis, though he’s still totaled an impressive 206 points in 216 games with the club.

St. Louis has been living lavishly with Buchnevich’s current deal – getting nearly point-per-game scoring for just $5.8MM against the cap. They’ll get one more year of that team-friendly deal, before likely having to shell out a hefty amount to Buchnevich on his next deal. The Blues will have to be careful to find the balance between term and salary, though, with Buchnevich set to be 30 when an extension would begin.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Friedman also shared that the Philadelphia Flyers are expected to sign goaltender Ivan Fedotov to a two-year extension soon. The 27-year-old netminder was finally able to move to North America this season, playing in the first three NHL games of his career earlier this month. He was admittedly shaky, allowing 10 goals on 53 shots, good for an .811 save percentage in his first looks at North American ice. But the Flyers have to simply be excited to finally have the stout Russian goaltender under their control, and will give him much more of a chance to get comfortable in North America with a new deal.
  • The Vegas Golden Knights could be getting another big boost to their lineup, with winger Mark Stone back to full-contact practice and a game-time decision for Game One of the postseason, per the team (Twitter link). They also shared that defenseman Alex Pietrangelo underwent an appendectomy and returned to a full practice on Saturday. Chandler Stephenson and William Carrier also took full practices. All four players will be hopeful to slot into the lineup as the Golden Knights get ready to take on the Dallas Stars.

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