Strength At The Blue Line

While their offensive struggles have been well documented, the play of the Checkers’ corps of defensemen has been a bright spot early in this season.

The Checkers lineup has been one filled with young and inexperienced players thus far this season, and while the adjustment for those players can produce some growing pains, the team can find stability in the familiarity that they possess on the blueline.

“You’ve got three guys that are kind of the rocks back there with Michal [Jordan], [Rasmus Rissanen] and [Danny] Biega,” said head coach Jeff Daniels. “We’ve got some experience back there and they understand how we want to play defensively and understand what [assistant coach] Geordie [Kinnear] is looking for defensively.”

Despite a 2-5 record to start the season, the Checkers can take some solace in the fact that their defense has kept them in games and given them a chance to win. In fact, of the five losses the team has suffered, Charlotte has been tied or within one goal in four of them, and the both of the victories have come when they held the opponent to just one goal.

“I think overall we have to take pride defensively and be comfortable in those low scoring games,” said Daniels. “But it starts in our end, if we can limit plays early and eliminate those second chances and move the puck up to our forwards to create some offense, that’s the next step. But I think the core of this team is going to have to be the defense.”

Established defensemen like Jordan and Rissanen have anchored the position for the Checkers through the first seven games, but the younger players have also made an impact. Rookie Dennis Robertson has only appeared in three games this season but has already chipped in two assists, as has Keegan Lowe. Lowe, a second-year blueliner, is someone that Daniels pointed to as a younger defenseman that is taking the next step in establishing himself at this level.

One of the biggest impressions made on Daniels has been that of rookie defenseman Trevor Carrick.

“I think he’s going to be more of a strong two-way guy that can play physical in our end and be strong in front of the net, but also move the puck and play some power play time for us,” said Daniels.

A fourth-round draft pick in 2012, Carrick is entering the AHL coming off a career year offensively in the OHL. Splitting the season between Mississauga and Sudbury, he racked up 51 points (22g, 29a) in 70 games, ranking him eighth in scoring among OHL defensemen. The 20-year-old has yet to see his offensive game take off this season for the Checkers, but that hasn’t detracted from his performance.

“He’s been fine. There’s been no pressure on him to put up a lot of points,” said Daniels. “It’ll come for him, but I think overall he’s played real well for us.”

Another pleasant surprise among defensemen this season has been Beau Schmitz.

Schmitz, who was inked by the Hurricanes in 2012 as an undrafted free agent, has spent the majority of his first two professional seasons in the ECHL with the Florida Everblades, appearing in 44 games for the Checkers over that span.

This season, for the second straight year, Schmitz began the campaign in the AHL.

“He’s been up and down the last couple of years, but he came to camp this year and earned that opportunity to start the year with us,” said Daniels. “Every night you know what you’re going to get from him. He might get knocked around a bit, but he’ll get right back up. He sees the ice well and has been a real solid player for us.”

At 5’10”, Schmitz is on the smaller end of the spectrum for a defenseman, but his play has certainly caught the eye of Daniels this season.

“He leaves it all on the ice for us,” said Daniels. “He’s a guy that can skate and move the puck. He’s another guy that can play some power play for us. He’s a guy that comes to work every day ready to work and never complains.”

The Checkers have also received some help for this weekend in the form of defenseman Ryan Murphy. Murphy was assigned to Charlotte from Carolina, where he appeared in six games on the Hurricanes’ blue line.

The 21-year-old returns to Charlotte after racking up 22 points (3g, 19a) in 22 games with the Checkers during his rookie campaign last season, which he split between the AHL and NHL clubs. A first-round draft pick in 2011, Murphy brings with him offensive firepower that landed him third among team defensemen in scoring, despite only playing a fraction of the number of games the others did.

“I think he’s a guy that can come up the ice with speed and is capable of making a high-end play,” said Daniels. “In saying that, he knows he has to come down here and keep it simple like he did last year. Don’t try to do too much and jump in when it’s necessary.”

The assignment to the AHL obviously carries some disappointment with it, but Daniel’s message to the young blueliner is simple.

“Just play,” said Daniels. “It’s out of his control in the sense that the decision was made up top and the only thing he can control is coming out tomorrow at 12 o’clock and being one of the best players out here and prove that he deserves to be up top.”

For this Checkers team to gel and start turning those one-goal games into victories, Daniels notes that it is going to need to come from a strong defensive foundation. If the play of younger players like Carrick and Schmitz continues to elevate and combine with the strength of players like Jordan and Biega, that defensive corps could ignite the team and get the Checkers’ season on the right track.