The Carolina Hurricanes have reduced their training camp roster from 40 to 26 players as they approach the start of the NHL season. With one exhibition game remaining, the team began moving additional players to the Chicago Wolves, their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate. This follows the placement of Skyler Brind’Amour and Ronan Seeley on waivers for assignment purposes earlier in the week. Forwards Kevin Labanc and Oliver Kylington were also released from their professional tryouts.
Among those still with the team are tryout Givani Smith and Charles Alexis Legault, a fifth-round draft pick from 2023. Juha Jaaska, who has been injured since early in camp, remains on the roster along with goaltenders Frederik Andersen, Pyotr Kochetkov, and Cayden Primeau.
Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour spoke after practice at Invisalign Arena about several decisions regarding player assignments and development.
On Givani Smith’s continued presence at camp, Brind’Amour said: “He’s a guy trying to make a squad and showing what he can do. In the four games that he’s played, he’s done a pretty good job. There’s no reason not to keep him around and give him another look.”
Regarding Charles Alexis Legault’s status as an eighth defenseman, Brind’Amour stated: “I thought he had a good camp, and we needed an extra defenseman with the uncertainty of whether guys are going to practice or not. I felt like he deserved to be sticking around with the big group.”
Brind’Amour addressed Bradly Nadeau’s assignment to Chicago (AHL), explaining: “It’s tough because, yeah, we’d love to keep him here, but we also have to figure out what makes sense. You can see we have lots of forwards, so it wouldn’t really make sense at this point with the way the schedule worked out. (We’d rather) keep him going and keep him playing. Plus, he’s developing really well. We’ll obviously keep our eye on him. He did everything he needed to do.”
When asked if Nadeau could be considered as a first call-up option during the season, Brind’Amour replied: “It just depends on the kinds of call up. It has to be the right fit. We don’t want to call him up to play six minutes per night. It just depends on where we’re at. Obviously, he’s a high-end player for us and we love how he’s progressing.”
Discussing prospects assigned en masse to Chicago (AHL), Brind’Amour said: “I thought, for the most part, every one of them took steps (forward). And that’s what you should see. They were all pretty new to it last year, and now you can tell, they’re way more comfortable with everything that went on. Their play was better for the most part too. I thought every one of them that we put in there was a little bit better than last year. That’s what you need to see. You hope that they keep progressing, and you hope that we probably don’t need them. At the end of the day, you don’t want to have to rely on those guys, at least not yet or right now. I thought they all, for the most part, did a pretty good job.”
On Ivan Ryabkin’s performance in camp after being drafted in 2025’s second round by Carolina as an 18-year-old prospect: “He’s an 18-year-old and he’s got a really bright future. He’s very competitive, that’s what I liked. For all intents and purposes, he really doesn’t know how to play at this level because he shouldn’t. He’s all over the place; obviously, the language barrier is not optimal for him. But I thought he didn’t back down one bit; for a young kid that’s impressive… He’s not backing down… It’s obviously a skill set that he has and will translate… He’s not ready but if that matures we’ll have something there.”
Brind’Amour noted that no decision has been made about carrying three goaltenders this season: “We haven’t made any decisions on how that’s going to go. I think that’s all determined on health and where everyone’s at.” On Cayden Primeau specifically: “I think he’s been solid… I had a good indication of what kind of goalie he was but you never really know until you get him in there… I thought he did a really solid job…”
As camp draws toward its conclusion ahead of opening night roster submissions required by the National Hockey League, Brind’Amour outlined his focus: “We want to stay sharp… We have one preseason game left… It’s just keep getting better and dialing in certain areas…”
Asked about Jaccob Slavin’s availability for opening night after dealing with an injury concern earlier in camp: “I think so… He looks good… He just had a little something that we definitely want to make sure is behind us.”
On whether Logan Stankoven will remain at center moving forward: “I don’t really know that you ever have to decide… He’s certainly played well… That’s probably going be a really fluid situation all year… It’s a newer position for him but he seems adapting pretty well so far.”
