The Carolina Hurricanes announced an abundance of staff changes as well as promotions for the 2026-27 season to their front office and hockey operations as well as their communications department, according to a press release.
In the goaltending group for Carolina, three former netminders with NHL time highlight these announcements. Cam Ward has been promoted from a goalie scout to an assistant goalie development coach with a focus on supporting the growth and development of Carolina’s goaltending prospects who are on loan to the Greensboro Gargoyles, the ECHL affiliate.
Dustin Tokarski, who played for Carolina in 2024-25, is joining the team as a goalie scout, helping both the amateur and pro scouting groups in evaluating goalies at all levels, which includes draft, trade, and potential free agent candidates. Jorge Alves, in addition to his roles as head equipment manager, has been named as the team’s EBUG for 2026-27.
The 47-year-old notably played 7.6 seconds of a game for the Hurricanes against the Lightning back in 2016-17, which is the shortest a goalie has ever played in NHL history.
Other notable staff moves:
The Hurricanes have named RJ Enga an assistant coach of the Chicago Wolves, the AHL affiliate. He served as an assistant at St. Cloud State University.
The Wolves also add Gehrig Sarosy, who joins the Wolves as their new video coach. He spent the past year as a video coach for Ferris State University and assisted with the Syracuse Crunch in their video department for a short stint, with the prior four years as the director of hockey operations at Long Island University.
Doug Bennett has stepped down after 16 years with the Hurricanes and nine as the team’s head athletic trainer. Bennett was known as the trainer who helped implement the “blue collar press”, which was the end-of-workout session where Hurricanes players lifted a cinder block over their head that weighed in at 35 lbs, the same weight as the Stanley Cup.
Donnie Fuller will take over as the Hurricanes’ new head athletic trainer. Fuller has over 1500 games of NHL experience and 16 years as the head athletic trainer for the Minnesota Wild.
Yuji Katsuta joins the Hurricanes as an assistant athletic trainer/massage therapist, having formerly worked at Duke University for nearly a decade.
Zach Ellenthal is joining a full-time role as a Pro Scout after previously serving as a part-time pro scouting consultant.