Leighton Returns To Charlotte, Nedeljkovic Heads To Hurricanes

Author: Nicholas Niedzielski Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Director of Communications Nicholas Niedzielski joined the Checkers in the summer of 2014. A Texas native, he previously worked for the AHL's Texas Stars.

The goalie shuffling continues in Charlotte, as the Hurricanes have recalled Alex Nedeljkovic and assigned Michael Leighton.Nedeljkovic is coming off of a pair of strong performances for the Checkers. After going 2-0-0 in three appearances with the ECHL’s Florida Everblades at the end of December, Nedeljkovic suffered an injury that sidelined him for a week. Once fully recovered, the rookie returned to Charlotte and turned in his best effort of the season, making a career-high 42 saves and going perfect in the shootout to pick up a key victory for the Checkers over Cleveland on Friday, then made 22 saves the next night to pick up consecutive wins for the first time this season.Nedeljkovic heads to the Hurricanes for the second time this season, though the first instance was only a paper transaction that didn’t result in him joining the team. The rookie will likely back up Cam Ward again as Eddie Lack continues to recover from a concussion. Lack did resume skating with the team Monday morning.Leighton has been holding down the number two goalie slot for Carolina over the past stretch of games. The veteran netminder has made three appearances this season for the Hurricanes, the most recent of which came on Dec. 13.Leighton has been the most consistently solid of the three goalies Charlotte has used this season, earning eight of the team’s 16 wins on the year. Named an AHL All Star for the fifth time in his career, he holds a 2.17 goals-against average with the Checkers, tied for 7th in the AHL. But after starting the year 6-1-1 the veteran netminder has hit a few bumps, dropping three of his last four appearances with Charlotte. His most recent game in a Checkers sweater came on Jan. 3 in Chicago.The Checkers kick off a busy week tomorrow by hosting the Milwaukee Admirals for a pair of games before welcoming the Tucson Roadrunners to Charlotte for the first time ever this weekend.