After clearing waivers, forward Chris Terry is rejoining the Checkers.
With no other NHL teams putting in a claim for Terry's services after the Carolina Hurricanes waived him one day earlier, Charlotte's NHL affiliate was able to officially assign the Checkers’s all-time scoring leader. He is expected to practice with the team on Tuesday and, barring any other changes to the NHL roster in the meantime, be with the Checkers when they open the regular season at Oklahoma City for games on Friday and Saturday.
Along with Zach Boychuk and Aaron Palushaj, Terry will make up a small core of proven scorers on Charlotte’s roster, which has trended in a younger direction following the promotions of Riley Nash and Brett Sutter to the NHL and the trade of Zac Dalpe and Jeremy Welsh to Vancouver over the weekend. Should Sutter remain with Carolina for the foreseeable future, Terry, an alternate for parts of the last two seasons, should be a candidate to take over the Checkers’ captaincy.
Having not made his long-awaited NHL debut until late last season, Terry, now entering his fifth professional campaign, should be at or near the front of the line for forward recalls that are sure to occur throughout the season. He saw time on Carolina’s top line with Eric Staal for various points throughout the preseason, making him a candidate to play the same kind of top-six role at the NHL level that he’s accustomed to playing in Charlotte.
Depending on injuries and how the Hurricanes choose to compensate for them, Terry could be the Hurricanes’ final preseason cut as his assignment, the Vancouver trade and the placement of Tuomo Ruutu on injured reserve leaves the team exactly at the maximum allotment of 23 players.
Charlotte, which welcomed forward Kellan Tochkin, acquired in exchange for Dalpe and Welsh, at Monday’s practice, made their own cut earlier in the day, assigning goalie Jesse Deckert to the Florida Everblades. That, along with Terry’s assignment, leaves the Checkers with 24 players in camp, including the yet-to-be-officially-signed Stefan Della Rovere.