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Jack Drury

Vasily Ponomarev Will Travel With Hurricanes

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The Carolina Hurricanes could not seal the deal on home ice in game five and will have to travel to face the New York Islanders tomorrow night. Unfortunately, one player won’t be making the trip.

Jack Drury will not travel with the Hurricanes after suffering an injury in game four. Instead, team reporter Walt Ruff tweets that Vasily Ponomarev will be traveling as the extra forward.

Ponomarev, 21, was a second-round pick of the Hurricanes in 2020 and has yet to make his NHL debut. In his first full season of AHL action, he put up 24 goals and 46 points in 64 games for the Chicago Wolves.

While he isn’t expected to enter the lineup, just being the next man up shows how much the Hurricanes’ depth has been tested. Teuvo Teravainan, Andrei Svechnikov, Max Pacioretty, and Ondrej Kase would likely be in the lineup if healthy, but the group must find a way to win without them.

Ruff adds that Frederik Andersen is a possibility for tomorrow’s game, after missing the first several with injury. The veteran netminder hasn’t played since April 13.

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.

Carolina Hurricanes Recall Jack Drury

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The Carolina Hurricanes recalled forward Jack Drury from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves on Monday, per a team announcement.

Drury’s recall gives Carolina some flexibility at the forward position. While they weren’t short a player, Andrei Svechnikov is currently out with a lower-body injury, and the Hurricanes are without an extra forward to rotate into the lineup.

This marks Drury’s fourth recall of the season, his first since the calendar turned to 2023. The 23-year-old has suited up in 21 games, recording two assists. He’s doubled his career NHL point total, adding to his two goals in his first two NHL games last season.

The 42nd overall pick in 2018, Drury’s stock rose sharply after a stellar sophomore campaign with Harvard in 2019-20. Since then, he’s adjusted well to pro hockey, posting strong offensive numbers in both the SHL and AHL. On a contending Carolina roster, though, he hasn’t seen much ice time in the NHL.

This season with Chicago, Drury has 11 goals and 24 points in 37 games.

Metropolitan Notes: Wahlstrom, Drury, Merzlikins

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The injuries are starting to pile up for the Islanders and that list has grown once again as Newsday’s Andrew Gross reports that the team believes that winger Oliver Wahlstrom sustained a head injury in last night’s game against Pittsburgh.  The injury occurred on his first shift of the game and he did not return.  Wahlstrom is on pace to set new career highs offensively with seven goals and nine assists in 35 games so far this season.  He joins Kyle Palmieri, Semyon Varlamov, Adam Pelech, and Cal Clutterbuck as regulars that are currently out of the lineup.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • Jack Drury’s recall to Carolina was a short-lived one. Just one day after being brought back up following a paper demotion during the holiday break, the Hurricanes announced that they’ve returned the center to AHL Chicago.  The 22-year-old has played in 21 NHL games this season, notching two assists, but is averaging just shy of ten minutes a game which isn’t necessarily ideal for development.  Drury has gotten into eight games with the Wolves where he has three points.  With Max Pacioretty getting closer to returning, Drury’s stay in the minors might last a little longer this time.
  • Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins was a full participant in practice today, relays team reporter Jeff Svoboda (Twitter link). This means that he has cleared COVID protocol.  Merzlikins has struggled considerably this season, posting a 4.68 GAA and a .864 SV% in 14 games thus far.  Columbus is now carrying three goaltenders on the active roster so once Merzlikins gets the green light to return, it’s likely that Daniil Tarasov will be sent back to AHL Cleveland.

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