Carolina Hurricanes: Five prospects with a bright future

The Carolina Hurricanes have had a busy year, with changes in hockey ops and the coaching staff, as well as on the ice. It’s often overlooked, but the Canes have an excellent stockpile of prospects – we profile five prospects who will be future stars for the team.

There is so much to be grateful for at Christmas. Food, family, good fortune. One thing that we should all be grateful for as Carolina Hurricanes fans is the excellent pipeline of talented prospects assembled by the franchise over recent years. Today, we look at five prospects who prove that the best is yet to come from the Canes. And we start with a guy who every single Canes fan I’ve spoken with says should already be on the team.

Martin Necas – a future top six forward

It seems slightly ridiculous that we’re still talking about Martin Necas being a prospect, as there’s not a Canes fan alive who doesn’t think he should be on the Carolina Hurricanes team playing decent minutes. And yet, Necas has plied his trade in Charlotte for the majority of the season, and has been in excellent scoring nick.

After seeing the ice for a single, solitary game with the Carolina Hurricanes last season, Necas began the season with the Canes and saw seven games as the team started the season on fire. Sadly for Necas, a couple of losses saw changes made, and he was sent down to Charlotte for further development.

That proved to be an excellent move as, rather than keeping Necas in the bottom six of a team that was losing quite a few games at the time, he was given top six minutes on the best team in the AHL, and has thrived under coach Mike Vellucci. After posting just two points in those seven NHL games to begin the year, Necas has 22 points in 26 games in the AHL, and has scored some spectacular goals along the way.

There is no doubt – Martin Necas will be an impactful top six forward for the Carolina Hurricanes. Fans hope to see it any day now, but it may be next year before he’s given the role he needs with the Canes.

Adam Fox – a future top pair defenseman

The more time passes, the more fans of the Carolina Hurricanes can feel hard done by in the Noah Hanifin / Elias Lindholm trade. While Micheal Ferland has been perfectly good for the team, leading everyone in goals scored before he suffered his concussion and rushed his return, the main piece in the trade – Dougie Hamilton – has been a major disappointment.

However, there was a huge piece in the deal that continues to go under the radar. NCAA defenseman Adam Fox is destroying opponents this season, posting 20 points in just 11 games, and is clearly ready for the NHL. If GM Don Waddell can secure Fox’s signature, then the Canes will have turned one top four NHL defenseman into two. Fox is expected to have the same impact that Will Butcher had for the New Jersey Devils last season, and would improve the Canes’ power play immeasurably.

Without wanting to spoil your Christmas, there is concern over Fox that he won’t sign with anyone but his hometown New York Rangers, and that he will simply run down his rights before signing with the Rangers as a free agent in the summer. It’s supposedly the reason why Calgary was willing to include him in the Hanifin trade – but Waddell was very confident of signing Fox in the summer, and we must trust him to do the business and secure the future of the team.

With a signed Adam Fox on the roster, the Canes would unquestionably have one of the best defense groups in the entire NHL – and quite possibly the best. It would also allow the team to move one of Hamilton or Justin Faulk for some scoring help, thus giving the team better balance.

Adam Fox is the game-changing addition the team needs next year. Let’s have faith in Waddell that he’ll get the job done.

Stelio Mattheos – another future top six forward

The ace in the hole for the Carolina Hurricanes is 2017 draft bargain Stelio Mattheos. A player who dropped on draft day, the Canes selected him 73rd overall and have seen him dominate the WHL ever since.

After being drafted off the back of a 68-game, 61-point season, Mattheos set out to prove the rest of the NHL wrong. His post-draft season saw him explode for 90 points in 68 games, going from 26 goals to 43, and from 35 assists to 47. He has continued his excellent form into this season, posting 48 points in just 31 games, including a fantastic 26 goals.

There is absolutely no doubt surrounding Stelio Mattheos now. Expect him to challenge, and challenge hard, for a roster spot out of camp next year. It is entirely plausible that he wins a roster spot and lines up alongside Teuvo Teravainen and Sebastian Aho, two incredible passers he could benefit from and score goals with.

If you’re looking for an X-Factor, Stelio Mattheos is your guy. He has a chip on his shoulder, and he’s going to prove his doubters wrong by scoring a ton of goals for the Carolina Hurricanes.

Callum Booth – a future NHL-caliber goalie

For some time now, the future of the Carolina Hurricanes’ goaltending centered around Alex Nedeljkovic. Callum Booth has other ideas.

Playing across the AHL and ECHL due to the Canes’ goaltending confusion this season, Booth has played in seven AHL games, sporting a save percentage of .924% and a GAA of just 1.89. Of goalies who have played at least five games, his GAA leads the entire AHL, and his save percentage is third. This, married with Nedeljkovic’s underwhelming numbers in Charlotte (2.84 GAA and .895%), means that it’s Callum Booth who is suddenly poised to take the mantle of ‘goalie of the future’.

Booth is just 21 years old, young for a goalie, and stands 6ft 4in tall. He guards the net well, and was highly regarded in his draft year by NHL Scouting Central:

CALLUM IS VERY COMPOSED AND CONFIDENT. HE HAS EXCELLENT POSITIONAL PLAY AND NET COVERAGE AND IS STRONG IN ALL AREAS. HE HAS GREAT INSTINCTS AND READS AND REACTS TO PLAYS VERY WELL.

This is a young goalie with all the talent needed to have a long NHL career – he is the future of the Carolina Hurricanes between the pipes.