The Checkers have added another pair of defensemen to their roster, signing Jacob Friend and Jordan Sambrook to professional tryout contracts.

Friend, 24, has eight points (2g, 6a) in 31 games for the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen this season and ranks second on the team with 66 penalty minutes. A seventh-round pick by the Kings in 2016, Friend is in his second pro season having posted 16 points (3g, 13a) and 167 penalty minutes in 75 career ECHL games.

Prior to turning pro, the Ontario native spent four seasons with Owen Sound of the OHL - notching 63 points (9g, 54a) in 166 games - before playing two seasons at St. Mary’s University, where he posted 14 points (3g, 11a) and 136 penalty minutes in 53 games.

Sambrook, 23, has 10 points (1g, 9a) in 34 games this season with the ECHL’s Florida Everblades. The blue liner is in his second pro season and has recorded 12 points (1g, 11a) in 47 career ECHL games.

A fifth-round pick by Detroit in 2016, Sambrook spent four seasons in the OHL and racked up 155 points (51g, 104a) and 240 penalty minutes in 262 games for Erie and Soo while winning an OHL championship with the Otters in 2016-17. He then spent one season at Brock University where he put up 19 points (5g, 14a) in 28 games and was named to the USports All-Rookie Team.

The addition of Friend and Sambrook puts the Checkers back at six healthy options on defense, as Max Gildon, Gustav Olofsson and John Ludvig remain sidelined by injury and Cale Fleury was just recalled by Seattle. Charlotte is back in action on Friday with a road matchup against Utica.