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Carolina Hurricanes Training Camp Dossier: The Fight For The Sixth Man
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- Carolina Hurricanes Training Camp Dossier: The Fight For The Sixth Man
The Carolina Hurricanes opening night lineup is going to be a very hard one to crack given that the team is returning nearly every single player from their 2026 Stanley Cup Championship roster.
However, there is one spot that is definitely up for grabs, that being the sixth defenseman position.
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RFA blueliner Alexander Nikishin and the Canes' front office are seemingly at a standoff, and with the Russian not being present for the opening of training camp, there's no telling what a resolution may look like.
So for now, that spot is wide open and there's a lot of players looking at that as their opportunity.
Up and Comers
The Hurricanes have a pair of blueline prospects in Charles Alexis Legault and Joel Nystrom who are very much in the running to make the team this year, especially given the fact that they were getting in fairly regularly last season.
Legault, 23, presents one of the more unique options for the team.
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The 6-foot-4 defender is perhaps the most physical of all of the team's prospects, being both an effective checker and a willing pugilist.
"I prepared a lot this summer," Legault said. "I feel physically ready and hopefully that shows in camp. I feel like I can find my way to contribute. Just keeping it simple and be a reliable guy out there."
But beyond that, Legault has also continued to grow his defensive game and while he doesn't have very much offensive talent, he's got the dependable style you'd look for in a third-pairing guy.
"His physical element has increased drastically," said Chicago Wolves coach Spiros Anastas. "How quick he closes, how hard he hits, he's becoming more of a man. He still needs to continue to get better on his puck touches, which we worked on a lot with him last year, but it's a confidence piece too. He wants to be in the NHL, he knows he can be and we have that belief in him too. Having a real strong camp, led by his confidence, will give him a good shot at a spot up here."
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It's that defensive work and physicality that could give Legault an edge over the competition.
"I just want to focus on what I can do and be the best version of myself every day," Legault said. "At the end of the day, that's what I can control."
Nystrom, 24, isn't anything flashy, but the Swedish blueliner is dependable.
He didn't really look out of place in his 38 game stint in the NHL, providing a reliable presence with his strong skating and high hockey sense.
"I did [feel like I belonged] and the guys on the team really helped me," Nystrom said. "My goal is to just play as good as I can and do what I'm good at. Use my feet and my skating a lot and keep playing hard and simple in the D-zone. That's for sure the things I can do."
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It was a quick transition for Nystrom last year, going from only a few games of North American experience to quickly having to find his way in the NHL, but he was able to adapt fairly quickly.
"I'm a smaller guy, so I was trying to play tougher and close my gaps and be hard on the sticks in front of the net and everything," Nystrom said. "That's for sure one thing I can keep improving on this year. This is a good place to be and to develop. Just focus on what I can do."
For Nystrom, his game is built on his hockey sense and his ability to read plays quickly, but as he's grown and matured, adding strength and working on his skating has allowed him to take huge strides.
"The hockey sense was always there," said Carolina Hurricanes associate general manager Darren Yorke. "That was really the concurrent thing. But the skating has gotten better as it does with most players when you get a little bit stronger, the body control and body positioning on retrievals has improved to allow him to handle the bigger, faster players in the NHL and that's all really only enhanced his game now that he can go back for the puck, make those reads with his vision and transition the puck into the offensive zone."
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Now, it's going to be about continuing to show that he can be an everyday NHLer and prove that his dependable game is what will help the team the most.
"I'm looking just to be better every day," Nystrom said on his goals entering camp. "As I did last year, just focus on what I can do and try to play as good as I can. I feel I'm in a good place to keep developing."
NHL Veterans
The organization brought in a trio of UFA defensemen this offseason, signing Mike Reilly , Juuso Valimaki and Pierre-Olivier Joseph to one-year deals.
Reilly obviously has a leg up on the competition given his familiarity with the team and having been a part of the championship roster, but Valimaki, who had a strong bounce back season in the AHL coming off of his ACL injury, and Joseph, who had good underlying numbers on a bad Vancouver team, both present interesting options too.
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Reilly, 33, it the oldest of competing players, but that also goes hand-in-hand with an extensive history in the league.
A veteran of 11 seasons, Reilly has played in 460 games in his career, with 19 goals and 133 points to his name.
The 6-foot-2, left-hander was a late signing by the team, but the fact that they brought him back and that he's been skating alongside Shayne Gostisbehere to open camp says a lot about his chances.
"Definitely excited to get going," Reilly said. "This is definitely where I wanted to be and obviously when I signed, I knew there was an opportunity and obviously that's all you can ask for. I feel like I'm in good shape here coming into camp — obviously a different preseason this year in terms of the games you can play and whatnot — but I think I was comfortable coming back here having been here last year and them getting to know me and all that. Excited for the opportunity and obviously just trying to take advantage of it."
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Reilly's biggest edge in the competition is, again, that fact that he's familiar with and to Carolina.
The blueliner appeared in 44 total games for the Hurricanes (42 regular season and two playoff) and played a steady role.
"I kind of got to the point where I was just staying as ready as I could, which is easier said than done," Reilly said about being the seventh defenseman last season. "But I was in that position and I was fine with it, in a way. Obviously you want to play every night, but I think you learn a lot and you kind of feel comfortable in an uncomfortable situation a little bit."
This year though, he's looking to take on a bigger, more consistent role as an everyday player.
Valimaki, 27, has perhaps the highest ceiling out of the three players.
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The Finnish blueliner was a first-round pick, going 16th overall to the Calgary Flames in 2017 and his offensive game is one of his biggest upsides, having posted a 34-point campaign before.
"I like [the system]," Valimaki said. "It's simple and you can just see when you're on the ice with these guys, everyone is just doing the right things. I consider myself a smart player and I think this system, when everyone is doing the right thing and are playing smart, I think it's a great system and obviously it works and can complement my game. I think I can fit into it really good."
The 6-foot-2 lefty joined the organization midway through last season, being traded by the Utah Mammoth shortly after recovering from an earlier ACL tear, and played the rest of the year with the Chicago Wolves.
"Obviously I missed a lot of time over the last year and kind of the year before, so just in general, to be playing games again was the biggest focus for myself," Valimaki said. "We made a big playoff run as well, so got some really good experience there. Lot of good games, the people down were awesome and it was a good year for myself."
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Valimaki had a really strong run with the Wolves, putting up six goals and 20 points in 24 regular season games. He then turned things up to another level in the team's run to the Calder Cup Final, producing five goals and 14 points in 21 playoff games.
"It was kind of nice to play a little bit more like myself too," Valimaki said. "I found some offensive rhythm and I'm feeling really good. There's been a lot of ups and downs in my career with injuries and kind of a lot of other things going on, but I think last year was finally where I felt like myself again and I was in a really good head space. Just trying to play hockey, enjoy it. There's been times where you kind of forget the fun part and for me, at least, when you're having fun and enjoying what you're doing, I think that's when you play your best. Just trying to carry the momentum now and ride that wave."
It won't be easy to crack a Stanley Cup winning roster, but Valimaki has belief in himself and his goal is to get back to the NHL, something he hasn't done since January of 2025.
"I'm here to stay here," Valimaki said. "That's the sole focus for me. To do everything I can as good as I can every day. I think the one thing I tell myself now is to just be yourself on and off the ice. Don't try to change who you are, the way you play. That's the way I want to be everyday, but obviously the focus and the goal is to stay up here, be on the roster and get back into the NHL."
Joseph, 27, is another first-round pick, having been selected 23rd overall in 2017, that has bounced around a bit.
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After spending a few years in the Pittsburgh Penguins ' system, he wound up in St. Louis and spent the past year with the Vancouver Canucks , where he played just 31 games due to injuries and scratches.
Despite that, Joseph had some fairly strong underlying numbers, something that an analytically driven team like Carolina definitely would have taken notice of.
"I've played against these guys for a bit here and it just felt like a great group of guys to join," Joseph said. "It takes a little bit to join a group, but everyone is so welcoming and has been great. The chemistry, you can see it right when you come in. I'm just excited to try and do my part here."
The Laval native has played in parts of six NHL seasons, having played in 225 games, but he's still trying to break his way into a consistent position in the league, having played more than 60 games in a season only once.
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"I've definitely learned on both sides, from some good teams and some not so good teams, but [for me, the next step] is just the consistency," Joseph said. "That's where I'm trying to get to. I think I'm a solid skater, I think I can move the puck pretty well and I think that will work well here with playing quick and fast and up north."
And even though he's one of nearly half a dozen players all vying for one spot on a championship roster, Joseph has embraced the challenge before him with a lot of positivity.
"It's a healthy competition," Joseph said. "I think everyone is just trying to jump on this boat and everyone is supporting each other, everyone wants the best for each other. But at the end of the day, it's a training camp and you're trying to show that they made the right decision to call you and to sign you here. Just trying to do my part and show the best that you can."
But what the three have done in the past has little bearing on what they can bring today.
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"You want to come in with an open slate," said Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour. "A year ago, I was watching those guys and got an idea for how they play, but now, it's how can they play in our system and how well do they pick up stuff that we're throwing at them. That's all part of it."
Practice is one thing, but the biggest thing that is going to determine who's left standing at the end of camp is whether or not they can show their skills in the preseason games.
With only four on the schedule, and veterans capped at playing in only two, it will be interesting to see how it all shakes out and who can showcase enough to impress.
"They just need to know how to play the way we want to play," Brind'Amour said. "I think they all get that, it's just that somebody is going to have to step up. At the end of the day, we have to take the best guys. I think it's good to have a little competition sometimes. Haven't really seen a lot of that over the years, and so it's good to have."
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