Carolina Hurricanes Place Talented Young Defenseman On Waivers
The Carolina Hurricanes have been off to a great start in 2024/25, and now they've waived talented 24-year old defenseman Ty Smith on waivers.
After years of building this squad, the Carolina Hurricanes look every bit the Stanley Cup contender they were hoping to be coming into the season, with all positive signs for the team as the March 7th trade deadline approaches.
Now however, the team have made a fairly surprising decision, as they have now placed former first-round draft pick Ty Smith on waivers after the defenseman struggled to star in 2024/25 the way they would have hoped.
At 24-years of age, the former first-round pick has played in just 8 games with the team this year, with the blue liner tallying a goal and 2 points in that time as he looks to find his game at the NHL level again.
When he made his debut in 2020/21, Smith put together two fantastic seasons for the New Jersey Devils, tallying 43 points over two years, despite having a -35 differential for a struggling Devils team.
Since that point, he's failed to put up those type of points, as he spent the entire 2023/24 campaign in the AHL before getting a shot with Carolina this season.
In his time on the ice, he's managed to find some solid success, but on one of the most loaded blue lines in the NHL, it's easy to see why the team are eager for him to get back to the AHL and continue producing for the Chicago Wolves.
In 13 games played for the Wolves this season, Smith has a fantastic 3 goals and 10 points alongside a +11 differential, and if the 24-year old can pass through waivers, he'll continue to serve as incredible depth for a team that's got very lofty goals in 2024/25.
