Hurricanes assign Chad LaRose, Zach Boychuk to Charlotte

The Hurricanes made what could amount to their final roster moves of the preseason on Monday, assigning Chad LaRose to Charlotte and placing Zach Boychuk on waivers for the purpose of doing the same.

LaRose, the 32-year-old veteran attempting to come back to hockey after taking a year off, played parts of two NHL preseason games after missing most of training camp due to a leg injury. He has not played in the AHL since 2005 but should get the chance to get back into meaningful games as early as this weekend when the Checkers begin their regular season with a three-in-three trip to Milwaukee and Chicago (two games) starting this Friday.

"I talked to him in Carolina and skated with him a few days there, and he’s very excited and thankful for the opportunity," said Checkers head coach Jeff Daniels, who previously worked with LaRose as an assistant coach in Carolina. "He knows there’s some work to be done based on him taking off a year, but for him to get a game and a period or whatever you want to call it should be good for his confidence. The message for him is that he’s got to get playing and get into those game situations, and we’ll do that this weekend."

Meanwhile, Boychuk, the reigning Willie Marshall Award winner as the AHL’s top goal scorer with 36 for the Checkers last season, must first clear waivers before joining the team for a fifth season. With Monday being the final day to place players on waivers in order to get them off the roster before Tuesday’s deadline to be under the 23-man limit, it figures to be a busy waivers day around the league – something that could decrease his chances of being claimed despite his offensive potential.

"We’ll touch base if he gets through waivers, but obviously there will be disappointment because he really threw himself into training this summer hoping that this was going to be the year he sticks, but it doesn’t really matter when you get sent down," said Daniels of Boychuk. "It’s what happens in the next week or month from now or two months from now. He needs to come down and play his game so that if they need a guy with injuries or whatever, he’s playing so well down here that he gets a second chance. Chucky in the past has always come to play."

Should Boychuk arrive safely in Charlotte, the Checkers would be up to 25 contracted player on their roster – 14 forwards, eight defensemen and three goaltenders. There is no limit to the size of AHL rosters, though Daniels, who released Florida Everblades forwards Kevin Lynch and Mitch Wahl from their camp tryouts on Monday, says he hopes to eventually carry 22 or 23 into this weekend's games.

Able to conduct full team practices for the first time this week as the Hurricanes make more cuts and his own roster grows, Daniels hopes his group can mesh together quickly before hitting the road. His team split a pair of exhibition games in Norfolk beginning with a 3-2 overtime victory at Indian Trail's Extreme Ice Center on Friday and continuing with a 4-1 loss in Norfolk the following night.

"I think we’re still trying to find the rhythm right now," said Daniels, who elected not to use key veterans like Michal Jordan, Rasmus Rissanen and Drew MacIntyre during the exhibition schedule. "It’s a matter of getting chemistry with the guys we know we’re going to have. Those two games were a good test for us, especially Saturday where Norfolk had pretty much their whole lineup playing that night. That gave a lot our first-year guy a good taste of what a real AHL game is like. It was productive overall."