This is a Hurricanes season review, yes, but one can’t really discuss Roland McKeown’s season without talking about his development with the Charlotte Checkers, where he was half of the AHL’s premier shutdown pairing. In 65 games, McKeown finished with a +34 rating, third in the league and 11 points ahead of anyone else on the Checkers’ roster. One of the two players ahead of him? His defense partner, Philip Samuelsson, who posted a league-leading +44.
It was a great season for McKeown, who made his NHL debut on November 4 replacing the concussed Brett Pesce in a game against the Coyotes and fit in nearly seamlessly.