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Hurricanes Reassign Riley Stillman

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The Hurricanes announced today that they’ve returned defenseman Riley Stillman to AHL Chicago ahead of tonight’s game against the Predators, their final contest before the holiday break. They now have an open spot on the active roster, which will likely be filled by a recall on the blue line come Friday, whether that’s Stillman or someone else.

Stillman, 26, was signed to a one-year, two-way contract after reaching unrestricted free agency last summer. The Hurricanes picked him up after he spent the entire 2023-24 campaign in the AHL with the Sabres’ affiliate in Rochester, marking his first season without any NHL action since 2017-18.

After missing the first 12 games of the season following offseason lower-body surgery, Stillman cleared waivers in mid-November and has spent the time since heading up and down between the Hurricanes and the Wolves. He’s yet to actually enter a game for Carolina this season, but he has been rostered for seven contests as a healthy scratch and last-minute injury insurance. The endless juggling between leagues also means that Stillman has only played seven AHL games since getting his season underway last month, posting two assists, 11 PIMs, and a +1 rating.

It’s easy to see why Stillman hasn’t gotten an NHL crack on Carolina’s very deep and very healthy blue line. Their top six defenders – Brent Burns, Jalen Chatfield, Shayne Gostisbehere, Dmitry Orlov, Jaccob Slavin, and Sean Walker – have all played all 33 games for the Canes this year, providing no opportunity for Stillman (or other frequent press-box option Ty Smith) to see NHL ice. With 26 points, a -19 rating, and underwhelming possession metrics in 158 career NHL games, Stillman wouldn’t sit higher than No. 7 on pretty much any other team’s defensive depth chart anyways.

Assigning Stillman to the minors will delay his temporary waiver exemption. Between his roster moves, Stillman’s still appeared on Carolina’s roster for less than 30 days since clearing waivers last month, so he won’t be exposed to the waiver wire again today.

Blake, Stillman, And Tokarski Papered To AHL

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  • The Hurricanes have returned winger Jackson Blake, goaltender Dustin Tokarski, and defenseman Riley Stillman to AHL Chicago, per the AHL’s transactions log. Carolina has made these moves all season long to bank a bit of cap space.  Even with the roster freeze, emergency recalls are still permitted for a few more days so expect them to continue this for even after Thursday.

Hurricanes Targeting Short-Term Goaltending Options

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  • LeBrun reiterated the Carolina Hurricanes’ interest in Anaheim Ducks netminder John Gibson. The most recent connection between the Hurricanes and Gibson came in a separate article from LeBrun nearly a month ago. Carolina isn’t enthusiastic about Anaheim’s asking price for Gibson which has the organization turning toward short-term options. LeBrun cites Utah Hockey Clubs’ Karel Vejmelka, Ottawa Senators’ Anton Forsberg, and Calgary Flames’ Dan Vladar as viable trade candidates moving toward deadline season.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Hurricanes’ Jack Drury To Undergo Hand Surgery

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Dec. 17: Drury’s hand surgery went well and will keep him out for at least four weeks, Brind’Amour told Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer.

Dec. 12: The Hurricanes will be without depth center Jack Drury for a while yet. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour told reporters Thursday that Drury has “has a broken something in his thumb” and will undergo surgery (via Cory Lavalette of the North State Journal). The team hasn’t yet issued a timeline for his return.

Drury left Tuesday’s win over the Sharks in the first period after blocking a shot with his hand. Brind’Amour said postgame that things weren’t looking promising for the 24-year-old, although he still needed to undergo a couple of imaging tests. Center Tyson Jost was recalled from AHL Chicago yesterday in the wake of Drury’s injury and will be on hand for tomorrow’s game against the Senators. In all likelihood, Jost will make his first appearance since Nov. 23 unless Carolina opts to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen and give Riley Stillman, who they summoned from the AHL this morning, his season debut.

A second-rounder back in 2018, Drury has slowly risen up the Hurricanes’ center depth chart over the past few years. This season, he was averaging a career-high 13:09 per game and was winning 56.4% of his draws, the highest among Carolina’s four regular centers. He had three goals and six assists for nine points through 28 games, on pace to roughly match the eight goals and 27 points he had in 74 games last year.

Now, after spending his seven games for the Canes last month suiting up on Drury’s wing, Jost will need to shift back to his natural center position for the foreseeable future. He had one goal while averaging 9:20 per game, not seeing any of Drury’s usual special teams usage.

The Hurricanes have carried as slim a roster as possible all season long, so Drury may not land on injured reserve in the coming days (or at all during his absence) unless other injuries strike and force Carolina to open up an additional roster spot. Assuming a usual recovery timeline for hand surgery, we likely won’t see Drury back in the lineup until late January.

Hurricanes Recall Riley Stillman

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  • The Hurricanes have again swapped extra defenders, adding Riley Stillman to the roster today from AHL Chicago after having Ty Smith fill that role for their past couple of games. Stillman, 26, has been rostered twice since being activated from injured reserve in November but has yet to suit up for Carolina, which inked him to a two-way deal over the summer. The veteran of 158 NHL games with the Panthers, Blackhawks, Canucks, and Sabres has two assists and a +1 rating in seven minor-league contests in 2024-25.

Hurricanes Recall Tyson Jost

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  • The Hurricanes announced today that they’ve recalled forward Tyson Jost from AHL Chicago. Jost’s inclusion on the roster indicates that center Jack Drury will miss at least Friday’s game against the Senators after leaving last night’s win over the Sharks in the first period with an upper-body injury after blocking a shot from San Jose winger Klim Kostin. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour told reporters postgame that he anticipated Drury would miss a significant chunk of time. However, he didn’t disclose further details on the injury (per Ryan Henkel of The Hockey News). Jost, 26, had one goal in seven games during a recall last month, averaging 9:20 per contest. He has four goals and five assists for nine points in 14 AHL appearances this season.

Drury Leaves With Upper-Body Injury

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  • The Hurricanes announced (Twitter link) that center Jack Drury left tonight’s game against San Jose due to an upper-body injury and did not return. The 24-year-old is in his second full NHL season and after putting up 27 points in 74 games in 2023-24, he’s producing at a similar clip this year, picking up three goals and six assists in his first 27 outings.  Drury also has the highest faceoff rate of Carolina’s full-time middlemen, winning over 56% of his draws in the early going.

Honka Signs Extension In Switzerland, Smith Assigned To AHL

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  • Hurricanes prospect Anttoni Honka will be staying overseas next season. HC Ajoie of the Swiss NL announced that they’ve signed him to a two-year contract that begins in 2025-26.  The 24-year-old is playing for Ajoie this season while on loan from Carolina, the second straight year he has played overseas despite being on an NHL agreement; he suited up for JYP in Finland last season.  This is the final year of Honka’s entry-level deal and considering he has already decided to stay in Switzerland, there’s a good chance he’ll be non-tendered this summer.  Honka was selected late in the third round in 2019.
  • Still with Carolina, the Hurricanes have re-assigned defenseman Ty Smith to AHL Chicago, per a team release. Smith has been shuffled back and forth throughout the season while spending time in a seventh defender role at times with Carolina but has yet to get into an NHL game this season.  The 24-year-old has three goals and four helpers in seven games with the Wolves so far.

Morning Notes: Lemieux, Cowan, Fowler

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Former Carolina Hurricanes forward Brendan Lemieux has signed a contract with HC Davos, matching a report earlier this week that the 27-year-old would move overseas to continue his career. The Hurricanes and Lemieux mutually split this past week, allowing him to move to Switzerland to play in the National League. Lemieux spent this season with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, making $775K on a one-way deal. It was the first time Lemieux was in the AHL since the 2017-18 season, and the former second-round pick was struggling offensively, with just two goals in 12 games.

As for why Lemieux chose to go overseas, it does appear that he was chasing a new opportunity. Derek O’Brien of The Hockey News writes that Lemieux has signed for the rest of this season as well as two additional years.

In other morning notes:

  • Hockey Canada tweeted that Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan will attend the team’s selection camp but won’t participate for precautionary reasons. The news caps off an eventful, albeit difficult couple of days for the 19-year-old. Cowan recorded a point for the 56th consecutive game on Friday, unofficially setting an OHL record, but was injured a short time later by an open-ice hit. In a corresponding move, Team Canada added Anaheim Ducks prospect Beckett Sennecke to their selection camp. The 2024 third-overall pick has 21 goals and 23 assists in 26 OHL games this season and has 14 points over his last four games.
  • It’s being reported that the Anaheim Ducks were hoping to include defenseman Cam Fowler in the trade to acquire Jacob Trouba (as per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet). Fowler has been looking for a trade for quite some time, but the Rangers wanted to keep flexibility for this year and next and wouldn’t have realized much savings if they were to add Fowler’s $6.5MM cap hit. Friedman notes that the Ducks and Fowler are looking for a solution to their situation that will help both the team and the long-time Ducks veteran. The 33-year-old Fowler has been a perennial 40-point player for most of his career but has struggled this season with just three assists in 14 games.

Smith Recalled, Tokarski Papered To AHL

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  • A day after sending Riley Stillman to the minors, the Hurricanes have found his replacement for the time being. The team announced that they’ve recalled defenseman Ty Smith from AHL Chicago.  The 24-year-old has been up multiple times with Carolina this season but has yet to play and will likely continue to serve in the seventh defenseman role while he’s on the roster.  Smith has three goals and four assists in seven games with the Wolves so far.
  • Still with the Hurricanes, they assigned goaltender Dustin Tokarski to Chicago, per the AHL’s transactions log. As has frequently been the case this season, this is merely a move to bank a bit of cap space and delay Tokarski’s waiver clock.  He’ll almost certainly be recalled before Tuesday’s game against San Jose.

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