In an organization chock-full of strong defensive prospects, two blue liners in Charlotte shined while carrying the brunt of the workload for the Checkers.
With injuries and call ups rocking Charlotte’s lineup all season long, Trevor Carrick and Jake Chelios stepped up and took on increased roles. The duo embraced their spike in playing time, finishing the year ranked third and sixth on the team in scoring, respectively.
“It’s kind of crazy to think that Carrick and Chelios were two of our top scorers this year,” said former head coach Mark Morris, who accepted the same position at St. Lawrence University earlier in the offseason. “We rode those guys extremely hard. But they laid it on the line for us.”
For Carrick, who consistently played on the top pairing as well as on the power play and penalty kill, the heavy workload wasn’t necessarily a stretch.
“In junior I kind of had the same role where I played a lot since I was an older guy there,” said Carrick. “Coming into this year, you don’t really know what to expect. You don’t know who’s going to be here. Losing [Rasmus] Rissanen and [Danny] Biega to injury for the second half of the year and with Murphy up and down there was a lot of ice time. I was just trying to get better each day.”
Chelios, on the other hand, took a more challenging path to his big role.
Originally penciled in as a seventh defenseman, the 25-year-old quickly worked his way to becoming an everyday player.
“I was just given the opportunity,” said Chelios. “I saw it was a young group of defensemen, so I knew coming into it that I would have to earn a spot. There were a lot of injuries up top too, so things just kind of came together. I was given the opportunity and both coaches helped me a lot out there.”
Two skaters that were slated early on in the season to be mainstays on the Charlotte blue line were rookies Brett Pesce and Jaccob Slavin, but both would quickly bolt for the NHL, where they would remain as key contributors all season for the Hurricanes.
For Carrick, who had established himself as a legitimate prospect thanks to a solid rookie season with the Checkers, seeing their quick ascension provided some motivation for his sophomore campaign.
“Seeing Slavin and Pesce make it in their first year of professional hockey is a confidence booster,” said Carrick. “Seeing that they can do it gives you the confidence that you can too.”
The 21-year-old would get his first NHL shot during the 2015-16 season, appearing in a pair of games for the Hurricanes, and now is taking that taste and working to make a full-time jump next year.
“Getting the call was huge,” said Carrick. “Getting that experience. Hopefully I can do it a couple more times next year as well. I’m going to try to get better every day and have a good summer, get bigger and stronger, and come into next year with a good attitude.”
Chelios also saw a reward for his strong play last season in the form of his first NHL contract. After bouncing between the ECHL and AHL in his rookie season with the Chicago Wolves and spending last year on an AHL contract, Chelios inked a two-way deal with the Hurricanes early on this offseason.
Though he had yet to sign his new contract, Chelios expressed pleasure in the way his sophomore year turned out during his exit interview.
“I felt a lot better,” he said. “The trust that the coaches had for me was great. Last year I was kind of up and down and that’s tough for anybody. This year it was nice coming to the rink and knowing you’re in the lineup.”
The two defensemen will head into next season looking to crack their way onto the NHL squad. Should they not, they’ll headline a Charlotte blue line that could feature the likes of high-profile incoming prospects like Haydn Fleury and Roland McKeown.
Having already shown flashes of offensive flair, the duo both expressed their interest in improving their all-around game during this offseason.
“I think they expect me to get stronger and put on some pounds over the summer, I’m a little underweight right now,” said Carrick. “Keep working on my offensive skill and get better and stronger in my own zone. I think being a minus 21 or 22 doesn’t look too good. So just trying to work on my defensive game and the offense will come.”
“I’m going to work on my shot this summer,” said Chelios. “But my game is just keeping it simple and not overcomplicating things. Get it to the [Sergey] Tolchinsky’s and the [Derek] Ryan’s of the team and let them get me points. That and I think just getting bigger. I was a late bloomer growing and I’m still trying to figure out the whole offseason training thing. So I think that’s the biggest thing for me, trying to get to that NHL size.”
