NHL Player News

Cerrato inked a three-year, entry-level contract with Carolina on Tuesday.

Cerrato will make the jump to the professional ranks after wrapping up his sophomore campaign at Penn St. With the Nittany Lions, the 21-year-old center notched seven goals and 20 assists in 23 contests. Selected by the club in the second round of the 2025 NHL Draft, Cerrato figures to start 2026-27 in the minors but could make his NHL debut for the Hurricanes at some point next year.

Sturm scored a goal on three shots and added two hits in Monday's 5-2 loss to the Avalanche in Game 4.

Sturm netted his first goal of the playoffs, tying the game at 2-2 at 9:15 of the third period. He's earned three points, eight shots on net, 15 hits and a minus-1 rating over seven postseason contests. Sturm continues to fill a fourth-line role while the Wild are thinned out at center in the absence of Joel Eriksson Ek (lower body).

Yurov scored a power-play goal on two shots and added two PIM in Monday's 5-2 loss to the Avalanche in Game 4.

Yurov deflected a Brock Faber shot to open the scoring midway through the first period. This was Yurov's first career playoff goal. The 22-year-old has earned three points over four games in the second round against the Avalanche after getting held off the scoresheet in four outings versus the Stars in the first round before being scratched twice to end that series. Yurov has added eight shots on net, 11 hits, six PIM and an even plus-minus rating this postseason. He's likely to remain in a middle-six role in the absence of Joel Eriksson Ek (lower body).

Wallstedt stopped 29 of 32 shots in Monday's 5-2 loss to the Avalanche in Game 4. The last two goals were empty-netters.

Wallstedt had a decent performance, but the Avalanche were able to hold onto the lead after Parker Kelly's goal at 11:32 of the third period. Wallstedt dropped to 5-4 this postseason, and he has a 2.66 GAA and a .912 save percentage over nine contests. The Wild have their backs against the wall now, facing a 3-1 series deficit and a trip to Colorado for Wednesday's Game 5 with the season on the line.

Necas logged two assists, including one on the power play, and added two hits in Monday's 5-2 win over the Wild in Game 4.

Necas is up to seven points over four games in the second round, getting significantly more involved than he did against the Kings in the first round. Overall, the talented forward has one goal, eight assists, 22 shots on net, 13 hits and a plus-7 rating over eight appearances. He's a virtual lock for top-line minutes unless things start going south for the Avalanche.

Kelly scored a goal, added two PIM and notched three hits in Monday's 5-2 win over the Wild in Game 4.

The tally, which was also the game-winner, was Kelly's first point of the postseason. The 26-year-old was among the more surprising 20-goal scorers in the regular season, tallying 21 times while adding 14 assists over 82 contests. He's provided defense and physicality in a bottom-six role this postseason, adding 14 shots on net, 23 hits, eight PIM and an even plus-minus rating across eight games.

Colton scored a goal on four shots, added two PIM and doled out three hits in Monday's 5-2 win over the Wild in Game 4.

Colton's goal was his first of the postseason, and it gave the Avalanche their first lead in this contest. The 29-year-old was bumped up to the second line on paper, but he saw just 8:39 of ice time Monday, with Nazem Kadri picking up a larger chunk of the minutes vacated by Artturi Lehkonen (upper body). Colton has three points, 11 shots on net, 19 hits and a minus-1 rating over six playoff appearances.

Kadri scored a power-play goal on five shots and added three hits in Monday's 5-2 win over the Wild in Game 4.

Kadri tied the game at 1-1 in the second period with his tally. The 35-year-old has two goals and three assists during his five-game point streak, with four of those five points coming on the power play. He's up to six points, 24 shots, seven hits and an even plus-minus rating over eight playoff contests in a middle-six role.

Nelson scored an empty-net goal on three shots and went plus-2 in Monday's 5-2 win over the Wild in Game 4.

Nelson's two goals this postseason have both gone into empty nets. He's at three points over eight playoff outings, which isn't a lot of secondary scoring for a player in a second-line role. He's added 15 shots on net, 10 hits, nine blocked shots, eight PIM and a plus-3 rating while playing in all situations.

MacKinnon scored an empty-net goal on two shots in Monday's 5-2 win over the Wild in Game 4.

MacKinnon was able to come back into the game after getting bloodied by a puck to the face late in the second period. He was able to extend his point streak to five games with the first of the Avalanche's two empty-netters. He's earned six goals and five assists during streak, accounting for 11 of his 12 points across eight playoff outings.