The Carolina Hurricanes announced on Sunday morning that they have sent forward Aleksi Saarela back to the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers.
The move may indicate that Andrei Svechnikov, who was injured in a fight with Alex Ovechkin in Game Three, is ready to return.
Svechnikov, 19, was taken to the hospital after he was knocked out in the fight. Svechnikov remained with the team, sporting a black eye, but has not played since. He has three points in three games.
Saarela’s NHL debut was in Game Five on Saturday night. He played nine minutes and was credited with one hit.
The Athletic’s Sara Civian reports that Svechnikov stated his intent to play in Game Six on Monday night.
https://twitter.com/SaraCivian/status/1119960755749752832
RALEIGH, NC – Don Waddell, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has reassigned forward Aleksi Saarela to the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League (AHL).
Saarela, 22, led Charlotte in goals (30) and set career highs in goals, assists (24) and points (54) while skating in 69 AHL games this season. He was recalled on an emergency basis on April 19 and made his NHL debut in Game 5 at Washington, becoming the first player in franchise history to make his NHL playoff debut before making his NHL regular season debut. The 5’10”, 200-pound forward has recorded 107 points (61g, 46a) in 147 career AHL games with the Checkers. He was drafted by the Rangers in the third round, 89th overall, of the 2015 NHL Draft. The Helsinki, Finland, native was acquired by Carolina from New York along with a second-round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft (Luke Martin) in exchange for Eric Staal and a second-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft (Artur Kayumov) on Feb. 28, 2016.
Headline photo: Steve Farrell
