The Canes finish 4-1-1 in the preseason
Eric Robinson scored late in the third period and added an empty netter for a prospects-heavy Hurricanes team to secure a 5-3 win over a mostly NHL-caliber roster of the Nashville Predators.
The Canes did have one primary NHL starter play a strong game as Freddie Andersen started between the pipes in the Canes’ last game of the preseason. Andersen faced 31 shots and stopped 29, while Spencer Martin played in the third period, stopping 11 of 12. The Predators’ Jusse Saros played just one period, but shut the Canes out. Scott Wedgewood played the other two periods and gave up the four goals that the Canes used to take the win.
The game showed off that the Hurricanes are going to be sending a lot of talent to Chicago, as Rod Brind’Amour and Eric Tulsky has some tough decisions about who will stay up with the big club and who will get playing time in the AHL. Players like Bradly Nadeau and Felix Unger Sorum showed that they have skill to play at the upper level, but with multiple contracts set there isn’t a lot of room for these players at the NHL level quite yet.
The other goal scorer for the Canes was Sam Gagner, as the experienced NHL vet on his PTO is looking to try and get one more season in the big leagues.
With the NHL season starting for the teams in North America on Tuesday, the next couple of days will see a flood of players hitting the waiver wire as teams trim down their rosters to become cap compliant. The Canes have already signaled a couple of moves they will make. Earlier this week, they waived Spencer Martin but no one claimed him, so he’ll be free to head down to Chicago. After the game Saturday, they also signed Skyler Brind’Amour to a two-way deal, which surely signals he’s going to be headed to Chicago.
The rest of the moves should come quickly for the Canes, as the team has an open practice down in Fort Liberty scheduled for 11 AM Monday, and the only player they really had to worry about sneaking through waivers was Martin. One thing is for sure with the show the prospects put on in this preseason, though—we’ll be seeing some of these guys again.
The real games being for Carolina on Friday against Tampa Bay at 7 PM.