Carolina Hurricanes Prospects: Keegan Lowe Brings Toughness and Tenacity to the Defense

Between now and the start of the preseason, Cardiac Cane will preview every Carolina Hurricanes prospect as they enter the 2015-2016 season and what we expect from them in the coming year.

Player: Keegan Lowe

Position: Defense

Date of Birth: March 29, 1993 (22)

Birthplace: Greenwich, Connecticut (U.S.A)

Height/Weight: 6’2″/195 lbs.

2015-2016 Team: Carolina Hurricanes (NHL) and/or Charlotte Checkers (AHL)

Scouting Report: 

The son of one of the top defensive defensemen in NHL history, Keegan Lowe displays some of the same snarl and combativeness as his father Kevin Lowe but he is a work in progress in terms of his defensive play and consistency. Still adjusting to the size, strength and skill level at pro hockey in his second AHL season, he has the ups and downs not uncommon for a player making the adjustment from junior hockey to the pro level. (HOCKEY’S FUTURE, 2014)

A player with great hockey roots, Keegan Lowe looks to be an impact player at the NHL level sooner rather than later.

The Carolina Hurricanes drafted Keegan Lowe, the son of former star NHL blue liner Kevin Lowe, in the 3rd round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, and he bring many things that resembles his father.

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Lowe is an imposing blue liner that is very difficult to play against, and that is what he proved throughout his 4-year junior career with the Edmonton Oil Kings in the WHL. With the Oil Kings, Lowe helped his team win the WHL championship in 2011-2012, and he was a member of the WHL East Second All-Star Team in 2012-2013. He posted 15 goals and 31 points that year and was a +38 player while donning an “A” on his chest.

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One stat that continually stands out for Lowe is his penalty minutes. Following his first season in the WHL, he racked up over 120 minutes in penalties in every season of his junior career, and that number increased every year, reaching its high of 148 in 2012-2013.

Coming off of a great campaign in 2012-2013, Keegan Lowe signed a three-year entry level deal with the Carolina Hurricanes, which meant he was officially turning pro.

As a rookie with the Charlotte Checkers in 2013-2014, he brought a lot of the same from his junior career. In 63 games, Lowe picked up 12 points and had 86 penalty minutes.

All that brought Keegan Lowe to the 2014-2015 season, in which he spent the vast majority of the season with the Checkers in the AHL again, but he got his first NHL call up with the Hurricanes on April 8.

He played in each of the final two games of the season, logging 12:09 of ice time and 2 fighting majors against the Philadelphia Flyers and 15:32 of ice time against the Detroit Red Wings. He was a -1 in both games.

Here are both of his fights from the game against Philly. They were both against veteran Vincent Lecavalier.

Lowe performed incredibly well in the first fight and threw some big time right hooks, but he was practically sucker punched by Vinny in fight number two. Lowe was playing a puck at his blue line, and Lecavalier just started punching. Not so classy move by the former Lightning captain.

Keegan Lowe is entering his third year as a pro and the final year of his rookie contract. He will almost assuredly get an extension regardless of how many NHL games he plays.

Lowe has good upside as a defensive defenseman who plays the body and isn’t afraid to drop the gloves. It wouldn’t hurt for him to put on a little more weight, however. At 195 pounds, he is still a bit thin for his 6’2″ frame.

Down the road, Lowe projects as a bottom-pairing stay at home defenseman with occasional offensive flashes. He will be a guy that racks up a whole lot of penalty minutes at whatever level he is playing at, but most of the time, these aren’t “bad penalties”. Most of his penalty minutes are attributed to fights and physical play.

Keegan Lowe will be among the many defensemen competing for a spot in training camp, and I think he has a better chance then most think. He had a good showing at the end of last season, and with two spots open, he is one of the older candidates, and one of the candidates that brings the most in terms of defensive reliability and physicality.

If Lowe doesn’t make the team out of camp, he will return to the Charlotte Checkers, where he will likely get a big role on the blue line. I think it’s a given that he will play more than just 2 games with the Carolina Hurricanes this season as the team is still trying to find out what they have in him.

Next: Erik Karlsson Looks to Make a Name for Himself in North America