Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Options Author
Trevor Carrick has a shot that he can dare opposing goaltenders to cease.
The Charlotte Checkers defenseman confirmed simply why he can key a high energy play when he bested the competitors by uncorking a 100.9 mph rocket to win the toughest shot occasion on the All-Star Abilities Competitors on Feb. 2. However what separates Carrick from somebody who reaches, say, 90 or 95 on the radar gun? Carrick isn’t positive, or at the least he isn’t divulging too lots of his secrets and techniques. However the Eleventh-year professional continues to maneuver up the record of the top-scoring blueliners in AHL historical past.
“I believe you simply attempt to put your head down and skate as quick as you’ll be able to and put the whole lot you’ll be able to into it,” mentioned Carrick, who makes use of a 100-flex stick. “Hope for the most effective.”
And if he does move up a capturing alternative, he’s additionally one of many AHL’s high puck distributors. His 27 assists tie him for third amongst AHL defensemen, and his 34 factors in 42 video games have him tied for second-most on the place. A potent energy play that ranks second within the league at 24.2 % (40-for-165) – anchored by Carrick and his 20 power-play factors – has helped to hold the Checkers via a deluge of accidents this season to make them a contender within the Atlantic Division’s higher half.
That’s what the Checkers counted on once they introduced Carrick again to Charlotte final July. Carrick signed a two-year AHL deal to return to Charlotte, the place he had spent the primary 5 seasons of his professional profession as a Carolina Hurricanes prospect. That stint concluded with successful the 2019 Calder Cup championship.
From there Carrick went to San Jose (2019-20), San Diego (2020-22, 23-24) and Syracuse (2022-23) earlier than returning to the Queen Metropolis. Carrick has solely been capable of play seven Calder Cup Playoff video games since that 2019 championship run, and with the Checkers loading up, the chance intrigued him.
This time, Carrick isn’t an up-and-comer, a fourth-round draft decide on the lookout for his huge NHL break. Now a veteran of greater than 700 regular-season and playoff video games as an expert, he’s a part of a deep core of skilled gamers being relied on to mentor Charlotte’s youthful Florida Panthers prospects. There’s captain Zac Dalpe, defenseman Jaycob Megna and ahead Kyle Criscuolo. Goaltenders Chris Driedger and Ken Appleby have been there to ease rookie Cooper Black’s transition from the faculty recreation.
And the Checkers have needed to pivot as accidents have piled up throughout the season. Former AHL All-Star C.J. Smith got here aboard final month, and Jesse Puljujärvi was inked to a tryout contract this previous Monday.
The Checkers knew precisely what they have been getting with Carrick, who has performed extra video games than any participant in Charlotte’s AHL historical past. Now with 92 objectives, 278 assists and 370 factors for his AHL profession, he has cracked the league’s high 20 amongst defensemen in all three classes.
Carrick’s worth goes past his shot, his knack for producing on the ability play, or his reliability to tackle heavy minutes. The Checkers knew that the affable Carrick could be a straightforward match within the Charlotte dressing room, particularly round a gaggle of Florida blue-line prospects that features rookie Marek Alscher, second-year professional Mike Benning, and 23-year-olds Tobias Bjornfot and Mikulas Hovorka. a 2022 third-round decide, is a promising expertise. AHL opponents could make for a tough adjustment for professional defensemen, and a big-brother determine like Carrick can counter these trials, particularly in an extended season’s most making an attempt levels.
Coming again to Charlotte additionally reunited Carrick with Checkers head coach Geordie Kinnear, his assistant coach for his first two professional seasons and a long-time AHL defenseman as effectively. Senior vice chairman of hockey operations Derek Wilkinson, the go-between for Florida and Charlotte, is one other holdover from Carrick’s first run with the Checkers. Assistant coach Bobby Sanguinetti was a teammate throughout their 2019 championship run. Stability defines a lot of how the Checkers function.
“It’s good having some familiarity there,” Carrick mentioned of Kinnear. “I do know what he expects and what his commonplace is, which is excessive. Going to that with peace of thoughts is large. With time you notice what his expectations are.
“Earlier on there’s in all probability extra he’s working with you on, making an attempt that will help you out and mould you into what he expects. However as you grow old, you study issues simpler, so it’s been a straightforward transition coming again.”
Off the ice in Charlotte is completely different now as effectively. When he got here to city a decade in the past, he did in order a 20-year-old making the adjustment away from billet life within the Ontario Hockey League. Carrick married his spouse, Sydney, in 2023, and is a house owner. It has been a fast adjustment again to the tight-knit, well-established Charlotte group.
“We beloved town,” Carrick mentioned. “We grew up there collectively.”
Because the common season strikes into the guts of the race to the Calder Cup Playoffs, the depth that Carrick seeks will solely intensify. He additionally is aware of what enjoying inside Bojangles Coliseum in Might and June may be like, and he is aware of the sensation that comes with lifting the Calder Cup. And his Checkers are displaying they could be a menace within the Japanese Convention.
“It begins with our work ethic,” Carrick defined. “I believe early on we’ve gone via numerous adversity with accidents… (however) it didn’t have an effect on the way in which we play. What I actually like to this point is the way in which guys have stepped up and have stuffed roles the place they got alternatives they usually took it and ran with it. We play a technique, and whether or not you’re first line or fourth line, everyone performs the identical manner. We’re at all times preventing.
“You need to win once more. That’s what you try for.”
On the American Hockey League beat for twenty years, TheAHL.com options author Patrick Williams additionally at the moment covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a daily contributor on SiriusXM NHL Community Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his excellent protection of the league in 2016.
