Hurricanes get roster to 25 ahead of deadline

There’s still some fine-tuning that’ll likely happen tomorrow, but for now we have some clarity

As the NHLroster deadline approached, there was at least some intrigue about who the Hurricanes would decide to leave in Raleigh and who they would send over to Chicago. The prospects that the Hurricanes put on the ice had a really good preseason, helping the Canes only lose one game in regulation and pull off a strong win in their final tune-up on Saturday.

On Sunday afternoon, we got most of our questions answered.

So the Canes have three players they hope will survive waivers so they can go to Chicago, and neither Sam Gagner nor Rocco Grimaldi did enough during the preseason to earn a full season contact with the team. All in all, the Chicago Wolves appear to be getting a pretty strong set of players that should leap them right back into Calder Cup contention. Something that will no doubt make that organization happy that they re-upped with the Hurricanes.

One name you don’t see on there is Jackson Blake. The forward really stood out during Training Camp and in the preseason, to the point where it wasn’t going to be much of a surprise if he hung on with the big club.

The Canes aren’t done, though. The NHL deadline is 5 PM Monday for teams to be down to 23 on the active roster, and at their current 25 they are still going to have to make some tweaks to be legal. That 25 also includes Bryce Montgomery, the 2021 sixth round pick who impressed in ECHL’s South Carolina last year and was signed to an ELC by the Canes on Sunday.

The other note is that Anttoni Honka was sent back to Europe on a loan to HC Ajoie. He could be one who will have lost the most in the minor league debacle last season, as he was clearly good enough to play in the AHL but went back to Europe instead when there wasn’t really any place for him on an AHL roster. It’s possible that relationship is frayed to the point where he’ll never suit up for the Hurricanes or a Canes related team in the regular season, but we’ll see how he does in Europe again this year.

As it stands, the rest of the team that has been named will be out at Fort Liberty Monday morning at 11 AM for an open practice in front of the soldiers. We’ll see what other moves the Canes have set.

***10/7 Update***
It appears that the Canes have once again figured out a way to use the cap rules to get under the cap. Multiple folks have noted that Montgomery’s ELC had an odd number to it, and it turns out there was a reason. It appears the Canes plan to use LTIR, but not on the player you thought. Cory Lavalette breaks it down in…somewhat…real terms.

So the Canes are setting themselves up to still have the Fast LTIR in the hole if needed, but they want to avoid using it until absolutely necessary. In the meantime, this allows them to maximize players up for practice purposes.

Who knew being a Phd in chemistry meant you had an honorary degree in capology?