Who will be Hurricanes’ third pairing coming out of Training Camp?

Entering into Training Camp this year, there were quite a few storylines and questions revolving around the Carolina Hurricanes. While a lot of questions have revolved around Jesperi Kotkaniemi and the second-line center, a major question has revolved around the third pairing on the back end.

Carolina has a plethora of options including Ethan Bear, Calvin De Haan, Jalen Chatfield, and newcomer Dylan Coghlan.

Calvin De Haan, who returned this offseason on a PTO, was recently given a one-year deal and seems to have a leg up in the race, as he’s the only naturally left-handed defenseman. He’s a solid third-pairing defenseman who is a great defender.

So, the question that remains is: who ought to be on the right side of that pairing?

Jalen Chatfield has proven to be a good NHL defenseman and played very well last year in the AHL, and Ethan Bear played well to start last season before long-term COVID effects threw his game off and he wasn’t able to get it back.

Who could be on the third pairing for the Carolina Hurricanes?

Dylan Coghlan seems to be the most interesting candidate out of this group. Coghlan is an offensive defenseman, and he’s shown at every stage he’s been at that he’s able to put up points.

As part of the blockbuster trade that brought Max Pacioretty to the Carolina Hurricanes, Coghlan was seen by most fans, especially ones outside of Vegas and Carolina, as essentially an afterthought in the deal.

He’s still very young and has yet to play a full NHL season, but he could prove to be a key piece that Carolina has been missing.

The power play has been a major point of discussion since the disappointing end to last season and Brent Burns should be a massive improvement over Tony DeAngelo for the first unit, but for a long time, Carolina has been looking for a power play quarterback on the second unit.

They’ve tried Jake Bean, Brett Pesce, Jaccob Slavin, and Ethan Bear, just to name a few, but none have seemed to be the right fit on the power play.

Dylan Coghlan has been efficient on the power play in every league he’s played a full season for, and he has the skills to be an efficient quarterback for the second unit.

He’s already looked very good in the preseason when he’s played, including some fantastic passing in the first game of this preseason to set up a few goals.

With reports coming out that teams have been reaching out about a possible Ethan Bear trade, it does not seem that the Hurricanes will be utilizing him in that role.

Jalen Chatfield is a good NHL-level defenseman, but right now for the Hurricanes, Dylan Coghlan provides an offensive upside and power play ability that Jalen Chatfield simply does not.

The pairing of Calvin De Haan and Dylan Coghlan is one that certainly can take up a lot of minutes while also having efficiency on the defensive end and being able to produce points, giving the Hurricanes something they’ve been looking for.

This is all under the impression, that Coghlan plays up to his potential, as he’s still a young player who has yet to play a full NHL season. The skillset is there, now is the time to give him the reigns and see what he can do with it.