Weekly Report: Battling Through The North

The Checkers completed the first half of their extended trip through the North Division and came out with a positive result, capturing the win in two of the three contests.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Checkers 4, Americans 3

The Checkers kicked off the trip with a triumph over one of the league’s top teams in Rochester. Charlotte’s power play struck twice to put the visitors in the driver’s seat - the Amerks would make one last push late but an empty netter from John Leonard sealed the win for the Checkers.

Marlies 3, Checkers 1

The Checkers stumbled in their first visit to Toronto of the season, finding the scoreboard just 83 seconds in courtesy of Jesse Puljujarvi on the man advantage but drying up offensively for the remainder of the contest. The Marlies chipped in a goal in each period and rode that to a 3-1 win.

Checkers 3, Marlies 2

The following day’s rematch fared better for the Checkers, as the power play once again propelled their offense. Charlotte built up a two-goal lead in the second period thanks to a pair of strikes on the man advantage, then fended off any rally attempts from the home side - with Sandis Vilmanis’ breakaway beauty late in the second standing as the game winner.

QUICK HITS

MAGIC NUMBER

The regular season has officially reached the point where teams are starting to punch their tickets for the postseason - with Hershey becoming the first team to do so over the weekend.

The Checkers currently hold a Magic Number of eight. That represents the total number of points needed for Charlotte to officially clinch a playoff berth, and it can be lowered by two avenues - either the Checkers earning standings points or the first team out of the playoff picture (Hartford) failing to earn standings points.

The Checkers play in Utica on Wednesday, then in Rochester on Friday and back to Utica on Saturday, while Hartford hosts Hershey on Friday and Milwaukee on Saturday.

JOCKEYING FOR POSITION

Clinching a spot in the playoffs is only half the battle, as there remains plenty up for grabs when it comes to seeding. In the Atlantic Division the top two teams earn a bye past the first round of the postseason, while the third and fourth seeds host the sixth and fifth seeds, respectively, for the best-of-three opening round.

The Checkers currently sit in fourth place - trailing Providence (73) by one point, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (74) by two points and Hershey (80) by eight points - while having played two fewer games than the Bruins and one fewer than both the Penguins and the Bears. In terms of points percentage the Checkers boast the third-highest in the division and fall just slightly behind the Penguins for second.

Of Charlotte’s final 15 games this season, six will come against teams currently ahead of them in the Atlantic Division race. Using the AHL’s metric, the Checkers also have the second-lowest remaining Strength of Schedule in the division, trailing only Hershey’s.

LEONARD LIGHTS IT UP

With a power-play tally in Sunday’s win, John Leonard now has five goals in his last five games.

His tear goes beyond that as well, as only one player in the AHL has more goals than Leonard’s nine since Feb. 16.

Leonard’s goal total for the season now sits at 28, which ranks third in the AHL behind Texas’ Matej Blumel (31) and Toronto’s Alex Steeves (33). With 15 games left on the slate, Leonard needs two more to become the sixth player in franchise history to hit the 30-goal mark in a season and eight more to match Zach Boychuk’s franchise record of 36 from the 2013-14 campaign.

POWERING UP

After another two tallies on Sunday, the Checkers have now recorded a power-play goal in three straight games and in five of their last six.

The Checkers are 7-for-22 (31.8%) on the man advantage over the last six games. In the 20 prior to that they were 5-for-74 (6.8%).

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK

Out of the box, on the board for Sandis Vilmanis!

BEAUT pic.twitter.com/tCdP955n11

— Charlotte Checkers (@CheckersHockey) March 16, 2025

Transactions

Incoming

• March 11 - Dennis Cesana recalled from Savannah (ECHL)

Outgoing

• None

RANKINGS

• John Leonard is tied for the league lead in shorthanded points (6)
• John Leonard is tied for second in the AHL in shorthanded goals (4)
• John Leonard ranks second in the AHL in shots on goal (183)
• John Leonard ranks third in the AHL in goals (28)
• John Leonard is tied for fifth in the AHL in shorthanded assists (2)
• John Leonard is tied for sixth in the AHL in game-winning goals (6)
• Trevor Carrick is tied for third in the AHL in power-play points (24)
• Trevor Carrick is tied for fourth in the AHL in power-play assists (17)
• Trevor Carrick is tied for fourth among AHL defensemen in scoring (42)
• Trevor Carrick is tied for fourth among AHL defensemen in assists (32)
• Rasmus Asplund is tied for the league lead in shorthanded points (6)
• Rasmus Asplund is tied for second in the AHL in shorthanded goals (4)
• Rasmus Asplund is tied for fifth in the AHL in shorthanded assists (2)
• Matt Kiersted ranks third in the AHL in plus-minus (+25)
• Ken Appleby leads the league in goals-against average (2.04)
• Ken Appleby is tied for the league lead in shutouts (5)
• Jaycbo Megna ranks sixth in the AHL in plus-minus (+20)

By the Numbers

CATEGORY	RECORD	AHL RANK
Power play	22.6%	3rd
Penalty kill	87.0%	1st
Goals per game	3.16	15th
Shots per game	31.91	3rd
Goals allowed per game	2.60	t-3rd
Shots allowed per game	22.82	1st
Penalty minutes per game	12.37	18th

LEADERS

CATEGORY	LEADER(S)
Points	John Leonard (47), Trevor Carrick (42), Rasmus Asplund (37)
Goals	John Leonard (28), Kyle Criscuolo, Rasmus Asplund (17)
Assists	Trevor Carrick (32), Rasmus Asplund, Matt Kiersted (20)
Power play goals	John Leonard (8), Kyle Criscuolo, Trevor Carrick (7)
Shorthanded goals	John Leonard, Rasmus Asplund (4), Patrick Giles (3)
Game-winning goals	John Leonard (6), Kyle Criscuolo, Justin Sourdif (4)
Shots on goal	John Leonard (183), Wilmer Skoog (133), Rasmus Asplund (123)
Penalty minutes	Oliver Okuliar (97), Wilmer Skoog (53), Justin Sourdif (52)
Plus/minus	Matt Kiersted (+25), Jaycob Megna (+20), John Leonard (+17)
Wins	Ken Appleby (13)
Goals-against average	Ken Appleby (2.04)
Save percentage	Ken Appleby (.905)