The Charlotte Checkers are in a dogfight with the Cleveland Monsters, for the final playoff spot in the AHL’s Central Division. They would best the Monsters 4-1 on Thursday (Mar. 30) and the Grand Rapids Griffins by a score of 3-1 on Friday (Mar. 31). The Checkers would then go on to lose to the Chicago Wolves 5-3 on Sunday (Apr. 2), but they would rebound beating the San Antonio Rampage 3-1 on Tuesday (Apr. 4) and 5-2 on Wednesday (Apr. 5).
Charlotte Checkers three stars of the week
While he only suited up for two of the five games the Checkers played in, Phil Di Giuseppe’s presence on the ice was clear to see. After being sent back down to Charlotte by the Hurricanes, he recorded three assists all in the Checkers 5-2 victory on Wednesday night. Most of the time Di Giuseppe is one the ice, he looks like he’s on a whole other skill level compared to most of the others players on the rink. He was speedy, with quick acceleration and he also displayed a terrific snapshot that created multiple rebound opportunities. Watching Di Giuseppe play for the Checkers, it is clear as day that he is an NHL caliber player. It has been unsettling for Hurricanes fans that he hasn’t been able to put together a consistent offensive game at the NHL level yet. But if he continues to improve at the rate that he is now, then I just don’t see any reason why he won’t eventually pan out someday for the Canes. Aleksi Saarela has not been disappointing anyone with his early Checkers play. The 20-year-old Finnish product, tallied four goals and added two assists in a spectacular performance. He illustrated a wickedly accurate shot that allowed him to pick the top corners of the net for goals on multiple occasions. Saarela also has terrific acceleration that allowed him to blow past opposing defenders standing in between him and the net. Hurricanes fans need to start getting excited about this guy, because he looks more and more like the real deal each game that he plays. Who in the world is going to slow down Andrew Miller? The former Bakersfield Condor put up a whopping three goals and five assists in the team’s past week of play. Simply put, Miller is the engine that is keeping the Checkers offense running right now. He was on a five-game point streak before the Rampage held him scoreless during the team’s game Wednesday night. An interesting stat about Miller’s five assists, is that each one of them was a primary assist. That shows serious play making ability and a great knack of finding your teammates in open areas of the ice. He should only get more dangerous for opposing teams as he gains more chemistry with his new line mate; Aleksi Saarela.
Who’s hot?
He may have only tallied points in one game, but boy did Patrick Dwyer make that one game count. The former Carolina Hurricane scored a hat-trick in the Checkers win on Wednesday night. He did a tremendous job of moving without the puck and getting to the open areas of the ice for his teammates to find him for high quality scoring chances. Dwyer also had a couple of one on one opportunities, where he was able to maneuver around defenders for great scoring chances at the net. Another player Hurricanes fans should be getting excited about is Haydn Fleury. The big defenseman tallied a goal and two assists while giving solid minutes to the Checkers on the blue line. I think it is fair to say at this point in the season that Fleury is definitely the best Charlotte defensemen. His play has consistently improved as the season has progressed, and he just looks comfortable out on the rink now which is not something you could 100 percent say earlier in the season.
Who’s not
Sergey Tolchinsky has not had the season that everyone had hoped for early in the year. The small, undrafted free agent from Russia has only recorded 7 goals and 15 assists in 57 games of play. He has been plagued by some injuries this season, and he’s looked like he hasn’t been able to get into a flow or rhythm so he can impact the game the way he wants to. Tolchinsky has loads of offensive skill and that is easy to see when you watch him. He suffers from trying to do too much with the puck at times on offense and he will end up over stick handling himself into a turnover when he’s not careful. As of right now I can’t see any spot for Tolchinsky on the Hurricanes roster.
Charlotte Checkers roster notes and injuries
Danny Kristo, Erik Karlsson, Kyle Hagel, and Michael Leighton all missed games due to injury. Hudson Elynuik, Kris Newbury, Levko Koper, Sergey Tolchinsky, Clark Bishop, Brendan Woods, Tyler Ganly, and Jake Bean were all healthy scratches at least one game. The Carolina Hurricanes called up Andrew Poturalski and Bryan Bickell on Monday (Apr. 3). The Hurricanes sent down Phil Di Giuseppe and Lucas Wallmark on Monday (Apr. 3).
Forward lines as of now
- First line: Phil Di Giuseppe-Lucas Wallmark-Patrick Dwyer
- Second line: Valentin Zykov-Aleksi Saarela-Andrew Miller
- Third line: Connor Brickley-Patrick Brown-Andrej Nestrasil
- Fourth line: Brendan Woods-Clark Bishop-Sergey Tolchinsky
Defensive pairings as of now
- First pairing: Trevor Carrick-Jake Chelios
- Second pairing: Dennis Robertson-Roland McKeown
- Third pairing: Hadyn Fleury-Philip Samuelsson
Man, I hope Saarela is the real deal. As much as I love Derek Ryan, this dude has a much higher ceiling, and it would be great to see him put some pucks in the net in Raleigh next season. Good work as always Jordan.
Fogger. I am right there with you. Dreaming about next season. Would love a high energy fourth line with some scoring. Thinking maybe Saarela DiGuseppe and Foegele (Matt has sold me). Young talented and hopefully ready for NHL.
I’m confused about Fleury, if he’s playing well (as most people say) Why is he on the 3rd pairing? Does it look like he will be here in Raleigh, next year?
On a different subject- The expansion draft Dman problem has yet to be resolved…Faulk obviously needs to be protected, and RF must sign another Dman pretty soon (to be available for the draft)…
Who do people think is the likely candidate?
As Fogger said, the Checkers don’t really seem to actually have an actual rankings system when it comes to its Dmen. Those pairings have been pretty much the same the whole year and even though there is no website that really tracks the minutes of players each game in the AHL (at least one that is available to fans and the public), I would guess that Fleury plays almost just as much as Chelios or Carrick. In my opinion I think Fleury should be ready for NHL action next year and he should be given a fair shot to make the team.
For the expansion draft like Fogger said again I would just try to resign either one of Tennyson or Dhalbeck and leave them unprotected for Vegas to take.
But that would be the best case scenario for the Canes if one of those guys were one the players picked off. I don’t see either of them being on a Hurricanes team that would make a deep run into the playoffs.
I don’t think Carolina’s system really has rankings. They more often like to pair specific people and play them together. These Checkers pairings have been the same for months, with the exception of Samuelsson’s addition. Also, each of Carrick, Chelios and Robertson are seasoned AHL veterans, while Fleury was a rookie this year, so that might have played a significant factor too. Also, Fleury leads the Checkers D-men in goals, rating and is 2nd in points, while also having the fewest penalty minutes against. Only Bill and Ulf have any real idea whether or not the kid is ready for NHL minutes, but the stats certainly seem to indicate so.
As for the expansion draft, the most likely bet is to re-sign Tennyson or Dahlbeck to a slightly overvalued contract with the understanding that the plan is for them to be the #7 in 2017-18, while also serving as (very unlikely to be picked) expansion bait.
I hope Fogger is correct in that Carolina has a system that is no locked into out-of-date rankings. Hockey is changing. Teams like Columbus seem to have more interchangeable parts–not to say they don’t have a few players who are “go to” in given situations. Obviously Slavin and Pesce will be penalty killers as long as they are Canes.
In fact, for forwards next year I hope Caolina has something like 3 “2nd” lines that all get 16-17 minutes per game and a fourth line of younger players getting 10-12.
But that is for another discussion. For now I will just say I fully expect Fleury to be one of the blue liners to start the season. I would try pairing him with Pesce and having Slavin team with Hanifin. Then have Faulk with Dahlbeck (or possibly a veteran acquired in the off season). Again, Slavin and Pesce would do most of the penalty killing together and Faulk would be with first power play team and Hannifin with second.