In the AHL, being seasoned
The undisputed King of Charlotte is Martin Necas. Selected 12th overall in the 2017 Entry Draft, Necas began the season in Raleigh before being sent down to the Checkers. Since then, he’s wowed fans with his skating, finishing, and timely scoring – with six goals and seven assists in 20 games, he’d doing just fine down there. Canes fans will want to see him given another opportunity in the NHL, but it may be that more time in the AHL is best at this moment in time. Let Svechnikov and Foegele have a shot at the top six, and let Necas loose on the first line in Charlotte, so he can keep doing this:
Necas snags that puck out of the air and puts it home to even the score at 2! pic.twitter.com/KLtJDsQ87R
— Charlotte Checkers (@CheckersHockey) December 2, 2018
A dark horse for a callup to solve the Canes’ scoring issues is Janne Kuokannen. He was selected 43rd overall in the 2016 Entry Draft and has gone from strength to strength, posting 40 points in his AHL rookie season and already playing at nearly a point-per-game pace this year, with nine goals and 14 assists in 24 games. He leads all Checkers in scoring and, after an interesting four-game spell in the NHL last season, Canes fans are beginning to call for Kuokannen to be the next in line for a callup. With Zykov gone and Foegele struggling, he’s surely in with a chance of seeing more NHL action in the near future.
Another consistent scorer in Charlotte, who has seen time with the Carolina Hurricanes this season, is Nicolas Roy. The 96th overall pick in 2015, Roy finished just behind Kuokannen in scoring last season and has seven goals and five assists in 17 games with Charlotte this season. He didn’t rip up any trees when playing six scoreless games with the Canes earlier on in the season, but he made very few mistakes and should be an interesting middle six option for the Canes down the line:
After his draft year, he tore up the QMJHL, led the league by scoring 48 goals and followed it up with 80 points in 53 games before turning pro. Had a nice rookie season in Charlotte, and he’s been off to a torrid start this year. Only 21 years old. Worked his way up.
— Alex Ohári 🔴⚫️ (@FutureCanes) October 23, 2018
Jake Bean was recently called up by the Canes due to injuries to both Brett Pesce and Haydn Fleury. He played two NHL games, and looked fairly solid in both with exceptionally limited ice time (8:48 and 8:07). In the AHL, he has been very consistent and has posted 3-9-12 in 23 games. He’s having an excellent start to his professional hockey career and there is no doubt that he’ll see more time with the Canes later in the season when injuries strike once again.
When Pesce and Fleury went down it was anticipated that it would be Roland McKeown, not Bean, who was called up. That would have meant one of the Canes’ D playing on their off-side however, and so McKeown was kept in Charlotte. He has a similar record to Bean’s, going 2-10-12 in 24 games to follow last year’s 23-point season in Charlotte. I expect that he, too, will see time with the Canes later in the season, as he looked tidy in his 10-game audition last season.
Since he was drafted 37th overall in the 2014 Entry Draft, Alex Nedeljkovic has been cast as the future savior of this franchise. However this season has seen the tables turned, as for the first time in more than five years the Carolina Hurricanes have reliable goaltending in the form of Curtis McElhinney and Petr Mrazek. Nedeljkovic has had another solid start to the AHL season, following up last season’s .903 save percentage with a .890% in 18 games. He’s now sharing the load with the recently-waived Scott Darling, but the Checkers’ goal is his to keep. McElhinney’s performances may see him kept on for another year, which means that Nedeljkovic may have this year and next in Charlotte before making the step to the NHL.