The Carolina Hurricanes made their third round of 2015 training camp cuts on Monday, and the list of players on the roster shrinks down to 27.
Sergey Tolchinsky, Phil Di Giuseppe, Trevor Carrick, Brendan Woods, Brody Sutter, and Drew MacIntyre have all been assigned to the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League.
Sutter and MacIntyre must pass through waivers first before being assigned, and they likely both will.
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Tolchinsky has dazzled his way to the professional hockey ranks with his high skill level and highly offensive type of play, but his limited size makes him a stretch for an NHL spot, at least for now. This will be his first pro season, and he will likely spend most, if not all, of it in the AHL with Charlotte.
Di Giuseppe is coming off an impressive rookie campaign in Charlotte a season ago, and the fact that he made it this far is very promising for his growth. Unlike Tolchinsky, Di Giuseppe does have size to go with good offensive instincts and good overall two-way play. He will likely be a call-up candidate at some point in the season.
Carrick led all Checkers defensemen in points last season as a rookie, and his transition from juniors to the pros was very seamless and impressive. Despite that, he faced a very tall task in training camp with guys like Noah Hanifin, Haydn Fleury, Ryan Murphy, and Jaccob Slavin among others competing for jobs on the blue line. Carrick remains to be a solid young blue liner with good size and two-way play, but he still has a bit to go before he can play in the NHL.
Woods differs from the aforementioned forwards, Tolchinsky and Di Giuseppe, because he brings grit and physicality to the lineup. He is reminiscent of a less developed Brad Malone. Quite frankly, he just doesn’t have the skill to beat out other guys ahead of him, and with guys like Malone and Joakim Nordstrom, both of whom have great defensive skill sets, set to make the NHL team, it was definitely unlikely for Woods to make it on the opening night roster. It is impressive that he got this far, nonetheless.
Sutter is similar to Woods in physicality. Sutter is big and gritty and will likely provide the Canes with a great fourth-line presence one day, but he is still fairly raw in his development as he enters his mid-20’s. His size alone makes him a factor, using his big 6’5″, 203 pound frame to his advantage more often will continue to make him a call-up option for the Canes as the upcoming season progresses.
Carolina Hurricanes
MacIntyre getting cut was as easy to predict as the sun rising in the morning. It’s no secret that he sits behind both Cam Ward and Eddie Lack on the depth chart, and after a solid year in Charlotte as their starter in 2014-2015, he will likely take over that role once again for a Checkers team that will be very young. If Ward moves at some point in the season, the veteran goalie could serve as a solid backup option to Lack.
Among the list of notable names still on the training camp roster are Noah Hanifin, Haydn Fleury, Jaccob Slavin, Brock McGinn, and Brett Pesce.
Hanifin appears to be a lock for the opening night roster after a remarkable preseason up to this point, but the other names still remain to be massive question marks.
The Carolina Hurricanes will hit the ice for another preseason matchup on Wednesday against the Washington Capitals. It will be played at the PNC Arena with a 7:00 pm start time.
That game will be followed by a Friday night game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, which will also be at home.