We’ve written plenty about Carolina’s promising young blueline, one that, last year, featured the likes of Noah Hanifin, Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce, Ryan Murphy and Justin Faulk -- all aged 24 or younger.
The youth didn’t stop there, either, as several other young prospects were knocking at the door.
But on Monday the knocking stopped for a few.
The notables? Haydn Fleury, the seventh overall pick in 2014, who was demoted to AHL Charlotte and Trevor Carrick, the 22-year-old that made his NHL debut last season.
A third good young d-man, Roland McKeown, is sticking around -- but nobody’s sure for how long. The ‘Canes added a pair of veteran defensemen in recent days (Klas Dahlbeck via waivers, Jakub Nakladal via free agency) and Nakladal’s status is “non-roster” due to immigration issues.
#Canes GM Ron Francis said Dahlbeck will join the team in Winnipeg, while Nakladal is looking more like Vancouver due to immigration.
— Michael Smith (@MichaelSmithNC) October 11, 2016
Fleury, 20, will no doubt be disappointed by today’s development, though it’s hardly a disastrous setback. The ‘Canes have been pretty methodical in bringing him along -- Fleury played four full years with WHL Red Deer -- and he’s barely spent any time in the American League.
In that light, going to Charlotte is probably a good thing.
Overall, today’s moves still give the ‘Canes a very young, very exciting outlook for the season. We’ve already mentioned the youth on defense, and the forwards aren’t much older: Sebastian Aho, Elias Lindholm, Phil Di Guiseppe, Viktor Rask, Teuvo Teravainen and Martin Frk are all 23 or younger.