After ending their five-game road trip with a loss at Vancouver, the Hurricanes have reassigned center Brody Sutter and defenseman Ryan Murphy to Charlotte.
With several players returning from injury, Carolina needed to make room on their roster, starting with rookie Patrick Brown on Tuesday and continuing Wednesday with Sutter and Murphy. With two additional centers in the fold since their last game in Iowa on Saturday, the Checkers, in a corresponding move, released Mike Aviani from his professional tryout contract.
Murphy, 21, joins the Checkers for the first time this season. The Hurricanes' 2011 first-round draft pick has appeared in six games this season for Carolina and tallied one assist. In his rookie campaign last year, Murphy split his time between Carolina and Charlotte, with 22 games at the AHL level and 48 games with the NHL club.
Sutter, 23, appeared in four games for the Hurricanes this season, including his NHL debut on Oct. 16 that saw him become the third member of his family to play for Carolina behind cousins Brandon and Brett. He has 35 points (13g, 22a) in 101 career AHL games, all with Charlotte, including one goal in five games this season.
Aviani, 21, played his first two professional games in Iowa over the weekend after originally signing with the Checkers on Oct. 16. He will now return to the Checkers' ECHL affiliate, the Florida Everblades.
The moves leave the Checkers with 12 healthy forwards and eight defensemen.
