About Last Season: Lucas Wallmark Performance Review and Grade

Lucas Wallmark: 2017-18 By The Numbers

• Age: 22
• NHL Seasons: 2
• Games Played: 11
• Scoring: 1G—0A—1 point
• Ice Time: 9:30 all situations, 9:07 ES, 0:06 PP, 0:17 PK
• 5 on 5 Stats: 53.8% CF, 25.0% GF
• Contract Status: RFA this summer; coming off a three-year ELC worth $683,333 per year

Making The Grade

Lucas Wallmark’s 2017-18 season was full of many challenges. The Swedish forward jumped between Charlotte and Raleigh after multiple call-ups. Wallmark played just 45 games at the American Hockey League level but still led a strong Checkers offense in points with 55. He had 46 points in 67 games played at the AHL level in 2016-17.

At the NHL level, Wallmark had just one goal in 11 games of service. Bill Peters’ decisions as head coach of the Hurricanes may have hindered, to an extent, Wallmark’s development this season, pigeonholing him on the fourth line the majority of the time. Despite not seeing many tallies on the score sheet, Wallmark drove play well and his possession numbers improved from the eight games he played at the NHL level in 2016-17.

Over his 19 games of career NHL play, he would project to a 13-point performance over the course of 82 games. That performance would be tied for fourth-bottom with Phil Di Giuseppe who had 13 points in 49 games.

Wallmark is at a precarious crossroads in his career. He’s too good for the AHL but the Hurricanes need to decide if he is good enough at this point in his development to be considered for a one-way deal at the NHL level. Both sides will face a hard decision with Wallmark as a restricted free agent this summer. The Hurricanes hold his rights so they somewhat control his fate in the short term.

Wallmark will be pushed once again by his fellow Charlotte Checkers teammates as well as an influx of new talent that the Hurricanes could acquire at the 2018 NHL Draft to fill roster spots left by some of the Hurricanes bottom six. A one-year, two-way deal may be in the works for Wallmark to prove that he’s worth a one-way deal at the NHL level. Wallmark should expect a few call-ups when the 2018-19 season gets underway.