With Carolina closing in on locking up a playoff spot, keep an eye on top prospect Bradly Nadeau making a return to the NHL, fueled by AHL dominance and developing talent.
The NHL regular season is winding down and the Carolina Hurricanes have firmly planted themselves as essentially postseason locks.
The Canes currently sit tied for the top spot in the Eastern Conference, and are well ahead in the Metro Division too, with 96 points under their belt.
They sit nine points ahead of the second place Columbus Blue Jackets and are 11 points ahead of the playoff line with a potential of 22 points still earnable.
Based off the current league standings, the Canes' magic number to clinch a playoff spot is 10, meaning any combination of points earned by the team or lost by the teams just outside of the playoff picture.
To win the division, that number is 14.
So essentially what that means, is that seven wins will guarantee the Canes the division and five will guarantee the team a playoff spot.
Obviously losses by trailing teams will shrink that number, but that's the cleanest way of thinking about it.
And with the Hurricanes getting closer to clinching, odds are we see them resting players down the line much like we've seen in previous years.
If guys are sitting, the Canes will definitely be looking to get top prospect Bradly Nadeau more ice time at the NHL level.
The 20-year-old sniper has continued to build from his record-breaking first AHL season, now with 25 goals and 51 points in 46 games with the Chicago Wolves.
He already spent a bit of time up with Carolina this year, scoring two goals across his eight games, but he might get a bit more preferential deployment once he's recalled this time.
Nadeau has been one of the AHL's best players and his two-way, all-around game is continuing to develop as well, something the organization has been looking for him to round out in his game.
He's currently out of the lineup with an injury, but it isn't anticipated to be a long absence, so he should be available once the Canes start locking things up.
I could see the Hurricanes starting to rest select guys as early as the first week of April, where they are at home for three out of four games, but the big callup will probably come in the final four games which will all be on the road.
Outside of Nadeau, I could also see Charles Alexis Legault and Joel Nystrom making a return to the lineup on the blueline.
Felix Unger Sorum has also potentially earned a recall as well with a big bounce back, sophomore season that's seen him nearly triple his first North American season (12g, 54pts in 61gp).
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