As they prepare to take off for a West Coast road swing, Carolina has recalled defensemen Rasmus Rissanen to shore up their roster.
Carolina, down to just six healthy defensemen after losing James Wisniewski for six months, carried rookie Brett Pesce as an extra body for its last two games before returning him to Charlotte on Sunday. Now it’s Rissanen’s turn.
The 24-year-old earned his first NHL recall late last season and appeared in six games for the Hurricanes before suffering a season-ending knee injury. Rissanen didn’t record any points during his stint but saw plenty of action, logging over 15 minutes of ice time in four of his six games.
Rissanen, selected by Carolina in the sixth round of the 2009 draft, is in his fifth pro season. He is one of just two players to suit up for Charlotte in each of their six AHL seasons (he appeared in one game at the tail-end of the 2010-11 campaign after finishing his WHL season with Everett). Rissanen is the second-longest tenured Checkers defensemen and ranks sixth overall in games played for Charlotte.
Rissanen had been playing an integral role on Charlotte’s blue line so far this season, so his departure clears the way for another defenseman to pick up more minutes. The most likely candidate to take on those minutes would be Trevor Carrick, who is coming off a four-point game and has been lights out thus far this season. The Checkers’ lineup won’t take much of a hit thanks to the return of Pesce, who should step right back into the swing of things. The move also allows Jake Chelios to stay in the lineup, where he has racked up four points in two games since filling the spot originally left by Pesce. Tyler Ganly, who has served as the healthy extra since making his pro debut in the Checkers’ first game of the season, is also an option to fill the hole in the lineup.
The Hurricanes continue their seven-game road trip by facing the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday before heading to California for games in Los Angeles and San Jose over the weekend. The Checkers month-long road trip picks back up on Wednesday as well, when they take on the Grand Rapids Griffins. Charlotte’s schedule then shakes out to a game every other day for the rest of October.
