Training camp officially ended on Tuesday, as the Hurricanes and the NHL's 30 other member clubs submitted their final Opening Night rosters.
The biggest surprise for me wasn't the inclusion of defenseman Haydn Fleury, though this does mark the first time he's beginning the season with the big club. The Canes' 7th overall draft pick from 2014 has developed properly within the system, completing his junior career and a full year with the Charlotte Checkers before making the leap to the NHL. With his performance at the NHL Prospects Tournament and throughout training camp, his name on the team's Opening Night roster isn't that much of a surprise.
What did surprise me was the performance of Martin Necas and Janne Kuokkanen, two European teenage centers who excelled in exhibition matches and challenged the Hurricanes to at least keep them around for the time being (if either of them plays in 10 or more NHL games, the first year of the three-year, entry-level contract is activated). This is a good surprise, too, and now the Canes can assess their performance against the highest level of competition in the world.
We knew both Necas, selected 12th overall this year, and Kuokkanen, drafted 43rd overall in 2016, were skilled forwards. What we didn't expect was for them to make an impact so soon. To their credit and to the Canes' delight, that's what they did, and now they are rewarded for it.
