Five things to watch for as the Charlotte Checkers open 2025-26 AHL season
The Charlotte Checkers open their 2025-26 American Hockey League season Saturday night, less than four months removed from the end of a great season with a near-magical finish.
The Checkers got hot during the Calder Cup playoffs and reached the finals before losing to the Abbotsford Canucks in six games.
Charlotte will open its season on the road this weekend, then return home next weekend for a pair of games against the Iowa Wild.
Here are five things to know about this season’s Checkers as they prepare for their season opener against the Springfield Thunderbirds.
These aren’t the 2024-25 Checkers
Some of the players from last season’s team have returned, but many of the stars of the May/June playoff run are gone.
John Leonard, who scored a team-high 36 goals, signed a one-year deal in July with the Detroit Red Wings. Rasmus Asplund, the team’s No. 3 scorer, is playing this season in Sweden. So is Oliver Okuliar, the No. 4 scorer.
Jesse Puljujarvi, who caught fire in the postseason and was the team’s No. 2 scorer in the playoffs, signed with a Swiss team this season.
And the team’s No. 1 goalkeeper, Kaapo Kahkonen, signed in July with the Montreal Canadiens.
Most AHL teams carry a number of top prospects from their parent club (in Charlotte’s case, the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers), but minor-league clubs also have several free agents each season.
In Charlotte’s case, several leaders from the 2024-25 team cashed in on their success with more lucrative deals elsewhere.
The coach is back
Geordie Kinnear, who earned a lot of praise in hockey circles for building the Checkers into a title contender last season, will be back behind the bench this year.
Back in late June, at the end of the Charlotte-Abbotsford series, veteran defenseman Trevor Carrick said Kinnear was a big part of the Checkers’ success in 2024-25.
“Geordie creates an atmosphere where he passes the leadership to the guys, and that builds a tight-knit group,” Carrick said.
During training camp this week at the Extreme Ice Center in Indian Trail, Kinnear told Charlottecheckers.com that building chemistry is a big part of his coaching philosophy — but it takes time.
“Chemistry is a big part of how we play,” he said. “That’s going to take time.”
Familiar faces return
Make no mistake — you’ll see a lot of new names in the Checkers’ lineup this season.
But fans will recognize a few of the players.
Most notably is Carrick, who played with Charlotte from 2014-19, then returned last season.
He finished with 13 goals and 37 assists, is in the second year of a two-year deal, and said in June that he is looking forward to another season in Charlotte.
“It’s rare, having a two-year contract,” he said of the AHL. “But I’m looking forward to getting back to work in Charlotte.”
Also back are goalkeeper Cooper Black, who was 11-4-1 with a 1.98 goals-against average last season; and defenseman Mike Benning, who finished with 32 points.
Some standouts will emerge
Watch for some of the new players to become Checkers leaders. That’s what happened last season with Leonard and Kahkonen.
One candidate is forward Jack Studnicka, who had 16 goals and 29 assists last season with the Ontario Reign, the Los Angeles Kings’ AHL affiliate.
And there are younger players, like center Ryan McAllister and winger Liam McLinskey. McAllister, 24, had 15 points in 16 games last season with Charlotte. McLinskey, also 24, played much of last season collegiately at Holy Cross, but had five points in six games with the Checkers.
The schedule is … well, the schedule
As the only AHL team in the South, the Checkers have a built-in disadvantage with a lot of travel. Most trips up North involve Friday and Saturday games in different cities, along with a game or two the following week.
When teams come to Charlotte, it’s a two-game road trip, usually in two days.
Some good news: The Checkers have only one of the dreaded three-games-in-three-days road trips this season. That will come Jan. 23-25. In past seasons, they sometimes had two or three of those trips.
The Checkers open play with a 6 p.m. game Saturday at Springfield. They play at 3:05 p.m. Sunday in Providence.
The Iowa Wild come to Charlotte for games at 7 p.m. Oct. 17 and 6 p.m. Oct. 18.
This story was originally published October 10, 2025 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Five things to watch for as the Charlotte Checkers open 2025-26 AHL season."