Looking at this morning’s last team practice before taking off to Cleveland tomorrow, you’d be hard pressed to find any open ice amongst the mass of players both familiar and new.
The combination of the players included guys who have been in Charlotte all year, skaters who have been jettisoning between the NHL and AHL, depth players on PTOs, recent ATO signees and injured players working toward returning.
All in all, it made for a pretty overwhelming sight, especially heading into the critical final games of the season two days from now.
“There are a lot of bodies out there,” said head coach Mark Morris. “It’s hard to think about what our chemistry is going to be like.”
One of the biggest wrinkles in terms of beginning to piece together a lineup is the uncertainty that comes with the corps of injured skaters.
“We’re waiting on doctor reports from a few key guys to see how they test,” said Morris. “It’s hard to know what’s going to unfold going forward. I’ll be able to tell you once I get the doctor’s reports on who is going to be in and who’s going to be out.”
While Morris waits on word on all his injured skaters, the two that he’ll be paying particularly close attention to are Derek Ryan and Andrew Miller.
Ryan, the Checkers’ team captain, got hurt in a game with the Hurricanes during his most recent NHL stint and hasn’t been cleared to return to Charlotte just yet, though the indication seems to be that he is "progressing well" in his recovery.
Miller, a high-scoring center who joined the team from Bakersfield at the AHL trade deadline, suffered an injury last month and hasn’t suited up for a game since March 23, but has resumed skating with the team over the last few weeks.
If those two are able to rejoin the team for the final two games of the season, it would be a significant boost across the board.
“If they’re in they add a layer of experience,” said Morris. “They’re guys who can score, and veteran guys normally have a calmer demeanor than some of the younger guys who are hyped up.”
The rest of the injured contingent appears to be a bit further out, though Morris didn’t offer anything by way of specifics. None of Blair Jones, Rasmus Rissanen and Dane Fox have resumed skating, even by themselves, while Danny Biega’s three-month long recovery appears to be ongoing.
The one other injured player who might have an outside shot of returning is rookie forward Valentin Zykov, who is skating with the team for the first time since joining the team at the NHL trade deadline, but Morris has been non-committal on whether the young Russian will be ready to be inserted into the lineup.
While there are possibilities of several players reentering the lineup, one player that will definitely be joining the lineup is Ryan Murphy.
With the Hurricanes’ season coming to an end last weekend, Murphy was assigned to Charlotte yesterday to hopefully provide a boost to Carolina’s AHL club.
“I had a meeting with [Carolina] yesterday and they told me they really want this team to make the playoffs,” said Murphy. “It looks good on the organization when your affiliate is making a playoff push. It’s a good squad. I like it and we’re going to make that push.”
Murphy, who has split each of his first three pro seasons between the AHL and NHL, has been a consistent point producer over his time with the Checkers. That flair should help spark a Charlotte team that has seen their firepower fall flat several times over the last half of the season.
“We’re hopeful that his offensive game adds to what we have,” said Morris. “He’s another set of sure hands and when he’s around the net he’s got a burst of speed that backs off the opposition. Those are the things that I’ve seen with him in the past when he’s been with us. He certainly can be a game changer.”
In 30 games with the Checkers this season, Murphy has put up 22 points, 14 of which came on the man advantage. With Charlotte’s power play struggling over this last stretch, his prowess could be the shot in the arm that the unit so desperately needs.
“The power play has been one of the anchors for most of this season and it’s won us some games,” said Murphy. “If I can jump in and contribute in the man advantage that’d be great.”
While the offensive side of Murphy’s game garners most of the attention, it’s not lost on the young blue liner that these playoff-esque matchups will require a more rounded effort.
“It’s a big couple of games coming up so I have to play solid defensively as well,” said Murphy. “It’s not all about the offense, it’s going to take the whole team to get these wins.”
Murphy was one of a few Carolina players eligible to return to Charlotte for the playoffs. He could be one of the only ones, though. As mentioned above, Ryan is still waiting to be cleared from his injury to rejoin the Checkers, as is Phil Di Giuseppe, who missed the last chunk of the Hurricanes’ season due to an injury and seems to be a longshot to be assigned to Charlotte. The other player made eligible for the AHL playoffs is Noah Hanifin, who won’t be coming to Charlotte as he was selected to represent the US at the upcoming World Championships.
Regardless of the other cases, the addition of Murphy is a positive for a Checkers team that has been battled their way to this do-or-die situation in Lake Erie.
“That’s the goal, to bring those guys back to help pick up the rest of the guys that have been holding the fort,” said Morris. “It’s been a long stretch where we’ve been down players and we’ve done an admirable job keeping everything on track. It would have been easy to pack our tents but that hasn’t happened. We’ll go out and scratch and claw for everything we can muster.”
There was one other fresh face on the ice this morning, that of QMJHL goals champion Nicolas Roy. With his junior season completed, the 19-year-old recently signed an entry-level deal with Carolina and will spend the remainder of the season with Charlotte.
While this morning marked his first practice with the team, Roy left some early impressions with the coaching staff.
“He’s a big kid,” said Morris. “He moves the puck well and he seems to bring some offense to his game. That’s all good stuff.”
A fourth-round pick in last year’s draft, Roy turned in a dominant season with Chicoutimi of the QMJHL, leading the league in goals. At 6-foot-4, the forward brings considerable size along with a high skill set.
“I think I can play both defensively and offensively,” said Roy. “I’m a big guy so I can protect the puck well and I have good vision, so I think that’s something I can bring.”
Currently with the team on an ATO, Roy is eligible to play in the final two games and possibly the playoffs for Charlotte, though his age makes it so he would not appear on the team to begin next season.
With so many moving parts going on with the Checkers’ projected lineup in Lake Erie, Morris wasn’t sure whether the young skater would be able to get into any of Charlotte’s remaining contests. But even if he doesn’t, Roy is ready to soak up the pro game to help him down the road.
“I just want to learn a lot and improve myself,” he said. “I might be here in the next couple of years, so I want to learn as much as I can.”
