Hurricanes take important step for stability in prospect development

As reported Wednesday, the Hurricanes have now officially agreed on a three-year affiliation agreement with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves to once again become their top minor league affiliate.

Carolina spent the 2023-24 season without an AHL affiliate after the Wolves’ ownership and management group opted to try operating independently. Results for both clubs this season proved it was a decisively lose-lose choice.

The Wolves, who had gone independent to have full control of their hockey operations department without oversight or influence from the Hurricanes staff, struggled without the presence of NHL-affiliated prospects. They only received a select few players on loan from the Hurricanes throughout the season and iced a roster of players solely on minor league contracts.

As such, they finished second-to-last in the league with a 23-35-7-7 record and 60 points, only one ahead of last-place Bridgeport. It was a disappointing result for a club that won a Calder Cup championship while under an affiliation agreement with Carolina in 2022.

The lack of a full-time affiliate didn’t affect the Hurricanes record this season in the slightest, but it did have a marked effect on some of their prospects. 2019 second-round pick Jamieson Rees was coming off a breakout season with Chicago in 2022-23, posting career-highs across the board with 14 goals and 42 points in 65 games. Without an agreement in place with the Wolves, the Hurricanes found a home for the center with Springfield, the primary affiliate of the Blues, where he failed to score a goal and mustered just three assists in 30 games. He’s no longer in the Carolina organization after being traded to the Senators in March.

Returning to a full-time affiliation with the Wolves gives a degree of certainty to many Hurricanes prospects who have recently signed entry-level contracts. 2023 first-round pick Bradly Nadeau, defense prospect Scott Morrow and 2024 Hobey Baker Award finalist Jackson Blake are all expected to log big minutes in the AHL next season and will do so in a more traditionally controlled environment geared toward prospect development.

In their statement Thursday, the Hurricanes confirmed that they will have oversight over the Wolves’ hockey operations decisions as part of the affiliation agreement.