Carolina Hurricanes activate Max Pacioretty off injured non roster

Carolina Hurricanes President and General Manager Don Waddell announced Wednesday that the Hurricanes have activated forward Max Pacioretty from the injured non-roster list. 

Pacioretty was acquired in an off-season trade from the Vegas Golden Knights that saw the Hurricanes acquire the 34-year-old winger and defenseman Dylan Coghlan in exchange for future considerations. The move was purely a salary cap dump. Pacioretty underwent off-season surgery to repair a torn Achilles. The surgery occurred on Aug. 10 and he was sidelined for five months in what is normally a six-month recovery timeline. He looks to make his Hurricanes debut and in Wednesday’s practice, he was situated on a line with Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Derek Stepan.

Last season with the Golden Knights he registered 37 points (19G, 18A) in 39 games, along with 12 power play points and a plus-8 rating. He has surpassed the 30-goal marker six times throughout his 850-game career so far. Pacioretty is currently in the last season of a four-year $28 million contract he signed with the Golden Knights in 2018.

Furthermore, the Hurricanes have paced Ondrej Kase on long-term injured reserve in order to make the cap room for Pacioretty. Kase who hasn’t played since Oct. 12th is still out with a concussion. He played just one game this season logging 11:02 of ice time. Kase signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal with the Hurricanes in July. He registered 27 points (14G, 13A) and held a plus-14 rating last season with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Defenseman Cavan Fitzgerald was placed on waivers for the purpose of assigning him to the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League (AHL). Fitzgerald was placed on the injured non-roster at the beginning of the season due to an upper-body injury. Through 220 career AHL games, he has registered 59 points. He skated in 17 playoff games last season recording six points and helped the Wolves capture the Calder Cup