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2022 NHL Prospect Watch – Carolina Hurricanes – WHL Network

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With the 2022-23 NHL season on the horizon, we’re putting a focus on current and former WHL players looking to make their mark at the next level.

The 2022 NHL Prospect Watch series will feature some of the current and past WHL talent recently drafted or signed to NHL contracts, and having appeared in fewer than 50 NHL games.

Our series continues with a look at the prospect pool of the Carolina Hurricanes.

Stelio Matthews
Former Brandon Wheat Kings captain Stelio Mattheos enters the 2022-23 season on the heels of a second Calder Cup championship, having captured the AHL crown in 2022 with the Chicago Wolves. From Winnipeg, Man., Mattheos appeared in 59 regular season games with the Wolves this past season, adding four points in 18 playoff outings. Mattheos also has an Ed Chynoweth Cup on his resume, as he helped the Wheat Kings collect their most recent WHL Championship in 2016 before rounding out his time in the League with 43 and 44-goal seasons in 2017-18 and 2018-19.

Lane Pederson
Forward Lane Pederson joins his third NHL organization in the Carolina Hurricanes after being acquired from the San Jose Sharks via trade this past July. Pederson, from Saskatoon, Sask., appeared in 29 games for the Sharks in 2021-22 after making his NHL debut with the Arizona Coyotes during the 2020-21 NHL season. He added 18 points in 22 games for the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL last year. Pederson’s WHL career included stops with Seattle, Red Deer and Swift Current, concluding with a 25-goal, 65-point season with the Broncos in 2016-17.

Zach Sawchenko
Calgarian Zach Sawchenko made his NHL debut for the San Jose Sharks last season, posting a 3.35 goals-against average and .901 save percentage across seven appearances during the 2021-22 campaign. The former Moose Jaw Warriors netminder signed with the Carolina Hurricanes in July after three years in the Sharks organization. Sawchenko spent three seasons in Moose Jaw from 2014-17, earning a pair of East Division First All-Star Team nods before taking advantage of his WHL Scholarship at the University of Alberta, winning the University Cup as a Golden Bear in 2018.

Ronan Seeley
A seventh-round selection by the Hurricanes in the 2020 NHL Draft, defenseman Ronan Seeley begins the 2022-23 season having just won a gold medal with Canada at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship. Seeley, who hails from Olds, Alta., collected 44 points (11G-33A) as a co-captain of the Everett Silvertips during the 2021-22 WHL season, his fourth full campaign in the League. He was named to the US Division Second All-Star Team this past spring.