Carolina Hurricanes Prospects: Deadline Moves Create Opportunity

Trading away a handful of prospects at the NHL deadline, several newly created opportunities now exist within the Carolina Hurricanes’ organization.

While many Carolina Hurricanes fans were caught off-guard, and a bit disappointed with the news that Julien Gauthier had been traded earlier this week, his departure to Broadway was just the start of several deals to come. Now, after the NHL trade deadline has passed, there appears to be several holes on the Charlotte Checkers’ roster.

In a one for one swap for 20 year-old defenseman Joey Keane, the Carolina Hurricanes moved on from one of the only right shot forwards in the organization. What was likely a move to give the man nicknamed “The Goat” more of a chance in the NHL, the Charlotte Checkers lost a massive piece of their team.

At the time of the trade, the former first rounder was among the AHL leaders in goals (tied for fourth). Finding the back of the net 26 times in 44 games, he was by far the Checkers’ best goal scorer.  With eight of his goals coming on the man advantage, Charlotte is going to have a difficult time replacing his production both during 5v5 play and special teams.

In addition to leading the Checkers in goals,  Gauthier lead the team in both shots, 126, and points per game, .84, while being among the top overall point-getters. In addition to the offense, the 22 year old used his big 6′ 4” frame to his advantage, providing them with a physical presence each time he stepped on the ice.

Well on his way to crushing his previous career highs in almost every statistical category, he earned a brief look up in Raleigh earlier this season. Appearing in five games, he registered his first and only NHL point, an assist, against Calgary back in December. Averaging only a little over seven minutes of ice time in those five NHL games, he wasn’t given much of shot.

Departing as Charlotte’s third all time goal scorer, an opportunity exists not only at the AHL level today, but in the near future with the Carolina Hurricanes. Other Hurricanes prospects like Morgan Geekie and Dominik Bokk now have a chance to step up and take his former place on the depth chart.