Carolina Hurricanes: Jeremy Bracco is Playing with House Money

The Carolina Hurricanes have signed once top Maple Leafs prospect Bracco.

The Carolina Hurricanes signed the former Toronto Maple Leafs prospect to a one-year, two-way deal and this signing is just playing with house money.

A lot of people who read this will recognize the name, Jeremy Bracco. This is because Toronto media will reach you anywhere you find hockey news. Speaking of which, the Toro…. no I’m not going to do that. So, Bracco. Why is Carolina signing the young winger a gamble worth taking?

Before discussing that Bracco was once thought of as a very high caliber forward prospect. With only 4 goals but 30 assists in 44 AHL games last year on a rather poor Toronto Marlies squad, Bracco remained a solid producer. He got too acclimatized to the AHL in Toronto due to their wing depth, so the high ceiling he once had is likely gone. Although, this doesn’t mean he cannot be an NHLer.

Bracco is a former 3rd round pick, 61st overall in 2015. With his skating being his main strength, he was projected to be a big piece of the Toronto Maple Leafs forward core. Although it never materialized for the young Freeport, New York native with the Maple Leafs, there’s still a lot of possible development for Bracco should he manage to turn it around in Carolina.

Well, his deal is completely AHL orientated. There’s no expectation for Bracco to come in and play regularly in the NHL. It’s no secret the Canes are blessed with a lot of talent up front (albeit most of it deciding it didn’t wanna play in the 2019-20 season) so all Bracco has to do is come into Chicago with the Wolves and play at the AHL level like he’s done before.

Bracco also wasn’t acquired for anything. If he completely sinks the joint up, at the end of the season, you just don’t bring him back. No harm, no foul. No lines crossed (this is called foreshadowing ladies and gentlemen, we will get to that). If he does well and starts to develop like he never did in Toronto, great. You found yourself a player in free agency you didn’t have to give anything up for.

Something to remember when discussing Bracco is that he has had some unflattering rumors about him surface in recent times regarding his collegiate years. He reportedly (and I cannot stress this enough, they’re reports. He has a right to be innocent until proven guilty) forced some of his roommates to partake in illegal activates regarding non-performance-enhancing drugs in days at Boston College.

That said, he was still a kid and it’s safe to say that won’t happen should he find himself in the National Hockey League. There’s a lot of upsides here, and there’s something in the smoldering wreckage of his hockey career right now that might be salvageable. If he doesn’t pan out, oh well. No assets were given up to acquire this player, and there’s no harm to the organization.

Question For CC Readers: What do you think of the Jeremy Bracco signing?