Hurricanes' AHL coach thinks Zach Boychuk is 'ready' for the NHL
Carolina Hurricanes winger Zach Boychuk, the 14th pick of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft (one pick ahead of Ottawa Senators megastar Erik Karlsson), made his NHL debut at the tail end of the 2008-09 hockey season. Five years later, he's yet to earn a full-time job with the Hurricanes.
Coming off of a 36-goal, 74-point AHL campaign with the Charlotte Checkers in 2013-14, and headed into training camp with a Hurricanes team that only has nine forwards signed to a one-way deal, this may be Boychuk's best shot at cracking the lineup in Raleigh, N.C.
It also might be his final shot. The 24-year-old forward will require waivers this fall if he fails to break camp with the Hurricanes and could be claimed by a team in need of scoring punch (he was claimed twice during the 2012-13 season, by both the Nashville Predators and Pittsburgh Penguins).
Checkers coach Jeff Daniels – if his nickname isn't 'Harry Dunne' then that's a massive missed opportunity – personally thinks Boychuk is ready to slot into the Hurricanes lineup on a full-time basis. Per Bob Wage of CanesCountry.com:
Maturity wise, he is definitely there. From being consistent? I think the big thing with him was being consistent. But I think he showed that all year last year. Obviously, he led the league in scoring. He's a guy who is an exciting player to watch, he has some speed. He's not afraid to go to the net and he has that touch around the net. When he gets the puck around the net, he knows what to do with it.
But again, his thing was being consistent all season long. There was not a stretch for a couple of weeks when he would drop off, he was strong all season. For me, he's been close for several years now, but this will be the closest he has ever been and he should be ready to go.
Though Boychuk is a prolific scorer at the AHL level (despite Daniels' quote, he was actually second in the league in scoring, behind Texas Stars winger Travis Morin) and is capable of perhaps contributing as a 13th forward who can play on the second line-type player in the show; if he were going to break through at the NHL level, history suggests that it probably would've happened already.