The Checkers might have their captain back on Thursday. Then again, they might not.
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Renaud Lavoie of RDS, forward Brett Sutter, recalled by Carolina on Monday, was one of nine players the Hurricanes placed on waivers at noon Wednesday. Aside from him and forward Andreas Nodl, the rest of the group are current Checkers who had to be exposed in order to keep their AHL assignments now that the NHL season is about to begin.
Rounding out the list of player on waivers – a necessity due to their age and experience – are forwards Nicolas Blanchard, Jerome Samson and Chris Terry, defensemen Brett Bellemore, Marc-Andre Gragnani and Justin Krueger and goalie Justin Peters. Until noon tomorrow, all players in that group are eligible to be claimed by any of the NHL’s other 29 teams.
Sutter, who spent one day at Carolina’s training camp, is already back in Charlotte but is not eligible to play until he clears waivers. That means he will not play in Wednesday’s game against Grand Rapids but would be eligible for the following night’s rematch if he cleared. All other players on the list remain eligible to play Wednesday.
It was not immediately known if Nodl, 25, would join the Checkers if he cleared. His one-way contract makes that unlikely, though it’s possible the team may be more willing to pay him his prorated NHL salary to play in the AHL in a shortened season. In similar situations in the past, the Hurricanes have opted to keep such players on their NHL roster after they clear.
With the exception of Nodl, who the Hurricanes claimed on waivers from Philadelphia last season, all of the players in Wednesday’s group had been waived by Carolina in the past and went on to clear. That includes once instance earlier this season when the Hurricanes first began assigning players to Charlotte on Sept. 15.
Notably missing from the waiver list are forwards Drayson Bowman, Zach Boychuk and Tim Wallace and defensemen Bobby Sanguinetti, all of whom remain with the Hurricanes. Every player in that group would need to go on waivers in order to return to Charlotte, while Zac Dalpe, also still with Carolina, would not.
