After placing 11 players on waivers yesterday, the Hurricanes announced today that 28 players had been assigned to the Charlotte Checkers.  The only player on the Hurricanes roster who spent a significant amount of time in Charlotte last year that was not assigned is Drayson Bowman.  It seems the Hurricanes didn’t want to risk him to waivers, though no NHL players were claimed during the waiver process from any team yesterday.

Included in the group of 28 from Carolina are 2010-11 Rookie of the Year winner and former NHL All Star Jeff Skinner, and one-time Charlotte Checker and NCAA Champion Justin Faulk.  While their assignment doesn’t guarantee either will play in the AHL as Eric Staal did during the 2004-05 lockout, there is a very good possibility both will suit up in Charlotte.

The list of players now eligible to play in Charlotte include 28 under contract with the Carolina Hurricanes, and five players who signed AHL contracts directly with the Checkers, bringing the total to 33.  The typical AHL playing roster usually hovers between 21-23 players during the season.

I’m grateful to not be a coach, because choosing which of the 33 outstanding players to send to the Florida Everblades will be a challenge.

For a bit of NHL lockout reading as it pertains to the AHL, here are a few articles worth reading:

• Chasing Checkers piece from early August
• A piece from the Canadian Press yesterday
• A piece from Syracuse, NY
• Read about the biggest stars of the NHL that can play in the AHL this year in this USA Today article.

After the jump, you can see a list of all eligible players.  It is important to note that the checkers have only four players who qualify as AHL Veterans (Nicolas Blanchard, Marc-Andre Gragnani, Brett Sutter and Jerome Samson.  Since the AHL allows six (five regular vets and one exempt who have played over 260 games), Charlotte is not at risk for having to bench any veterans, and could even sign additional veterans should they so desire.

Players shown in italics are on AHL contracts with the Checkers, and the asterisks represent veterans.  It’s quite a roster!