Checkers’ home opener is Friday: Here are 4 bold predictions for the season
The Charlotte Checkers open their home season Friday night as one of only two undefeated, untied American Hockey League teams.
The Checkers, 4-0 on the season, host the Hershey Bears at 7 p.m. Friday and again at 6 p.m. Saturday at Bojangles Coliseum.
It is among few home games for the Checkers during the first month of the season, as Charlotte plays 13 of its opening 17 contests on the road.
Here are four bold predictions about the Checkers this season:
Charlotte will win a lot more games than it loses.
This might be the most talented Checkers team in the franchise’s nine AHL seasons. The Carolina Hurricanes, Charlotte’s NHL parent squad, has beefed up on young talent, and it’s moving through the pipeline.
The Checkers are among the AHL’s youngest teams, but they are fast and quick learners. Rookies Morgan Geekie, with two goals in his first four games, and Spencer Smallman, with three assists, seem to be on a quick trajectory to the NHL.
And holdovers from last year’s team, which reached the second round of the AHL playoffs – like centers Andrew Poturalski, Janne Kuokkanen and Nicolas Roy – could terrorize opposing defenses this winter.
The defense is still a work in progress, but Charlotte is explosive offensively. It has the look of a team headed for a deep playoff run. “This could be a really good team,” coach Mike Vellucci acknowledges.
Martin Necas is here; he won’t stay long.
The Hurricanes sent their top pick in the 2017 draft, forward Martin Necas, to Charlotte on Wednesday. “He wasn’t getting a lot of ice time up top (in the NHL), so Carolina wants him to come down and get more ice time here,” Vellucci says.
Analysts have pegged Necas, 19, as a future star. He is quick and skilled, but he got off to a slow start this season in Raleigh. He has the talent to flourish in Charlotte and should be back in the NHL by the time the calendar says “2019.”
Alex Nedeljkovic will be the AHL’s top goalie.
This is both good and bad. Nedeljkovic, 22, was the AHL’s winningest goalkeeper last season and would prefer to be in the NHL, but Carolina has three strong goalies – Scott Darling, coming back from injury; 26-year-old Petr Mrazek; and veteran Curtis McElhinney, who is 3-0 this season.
“My job is to keep improving and be ready, if the call to the NHL comes,” Nedeljkovic said this week.
So if Nedeljkovic spends most of the season in Charlotte, he is likely to dominate the AHL. And if he should get the call-up, the Checkers’ backup is 21-year-old Callum Booth, who dominated the ECHL (one level lower than the AHL) last season.
Mike Vellucci is NHL-bound
The Checkers’ coach was rumored at the end of last season to be on the short list of some NHL teams as head coach. With a young, talented Checkers team seemingly headed for big things this season, Vellucci’s star isn’t likely to dim.
Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle