Chatfield has climbed from unsung free agent to cusp of Cup with Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The journey to the precipice of a Stanley Cup is arduous for any player.

For Jalen Chatfield, it’s been even harder.

The Carolina Hurricanes defenseman had hurdles placed in front of him at each stop along his journey and has met each with a smile, a positive attitude and an indefatigable work ethic.

It has served him well, but he doesn’t know any other way. 

“I think for me personally, it’s just life,” Chatfield said earlier in the Final. “It’s been a journey and I just stuck with it. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my career but everything I’ve gone through, I’ve gone through for a reason and I’ve learned a lot. 

“It’s helped me grow as a person and as a player and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

His long and winding road has delivered him to the biggest game in any NHL player’s life -- a clinching game to claim the Stanley Cup and go down in history.

Carolina enters Game 6 of the Final at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, TVAS, CBC) with a 3-2 lead on the Vegas Golden Knights in the best-of-7 series. 

Win that game and the Hurricanes will walk together forever as champions. Lose and it’s a nail-biting Game 7 at Lenovo Center on Wednesday.

Chatfield has been a big part of Carolina’s journey this season. The 30-year-old was solid during the regular season but has picked up his game in the postseason. He is playing 22:29 per game across their 18-game playoff trek, a full two minutes more than he played last postseason (20:24). He has eight points (one goal, seven assists) and is a plus-7, which is fifth on the team. 

In the first five games of the Final, he has played 23:12 per game, has three assists and is a plus-5, tied with forward Nikolaj Ehlers for the Hurricanes lead.

Coach Rod Brind’Amour watched Chatfield arrive as an unheralded free agent in 2021-22 with 18 games of NHL experience -- with the Vancouver Canucks the previous season -- on his resume. 

Chatfield played 16 NHL games that first season in Carolina, trying to fit into a veteran defense group when he was up, and getting more seasoning in the American Hockey League. 

He has continued to gain more and more trust from the Hurricanes along the way, his ice time increasing to 20:08 a game this season, fourth on the team.

“I’ve watched him when we put him into the organization, I didn't really know him,” Brind’Amour said. “But then we had a couple of years watching him in the minors and (he) gradually get better and better. 

“You root for guys like that. Everything they have now, they've worked for and I think he's still getting better. But yeah, I mean, it's gratifying to watch a kid put in the work and then have it pay off.”

The song Brind’Amour is singing has been sung by almost everyone that has intersected with Chatfield on a hockey rink. 

Michael DiPietro met Chatfield when the two were teenagers. Each played for Windsor of the Ontario Hockey League, DiPietro the highly-touted goalie, Chatfield the walk-on defenseman from Ypsilanti, Michigan, fighting for minutes after not being drafted by an OHL team. 

By the time they were done with their junior careers, DiPietro had been drafted by the Vancouver Canucks and Chatfield had worked his way up to co-captain. They won the Memorial Cup together as the host team in 2017.    

“He never really got the credit he deserved,” said DiPietro, the No. 1 goalie for Providence of the American Hockey League this season. “He was reliable and steady and he has great speed. I’ll tell you, he saved my bacon a few times.”

That’s why he was happy to be reunited with Chatfield in 2019-20 in Utica, New York. DiPietro had been sent there for some seasoning in the AHL. Chatfield, who was passed over in the NHL Draft, had signed with the Canucks as a free agent and was cutting his teeth as a pro player.

Trent Cull was his coach in Utica and wasn’t sure what to make of the defenseman at first. But he was impressed in short order. 

He says he found a player, despite a lack of pedigree, that had skills suited to the pro game. He had elite speed, a high hockey IQ, good positioning and a strong stick. He just needed reps.

“He never had anything given to him and he worked hard for everything he got,” said Cull, now an assistant with the Calgary Flames. “As a coach, those are the players you love to see succeed.”

Cull says he and his family are getting a kick out of watching Chatfield on this stage. He says they remember the earnest young man who always wanted more but also always had a smile on his face and time for others.

Cull says he knew big things were in store for his student. 

“His game, the speed, the smarts, the work ethic, it’s all made for the NHL,” Cull said. “Players like him will always be in demand.”

After three seasons in Utica, and one with Vancouver, Chatfield signed as a free agent with Carolina. 

In his first season with his new organization, he was part of the Chicago team that won the 2022 Calder Cup. 

Two professional stops and two championships for a player that had never been courted. 

“I think when I won that Memorial Cup, that was the first thing I won and I didn’t know how much fun winning is, winning championships,” Chatfield said at Final Media Day. “I even look back at the AHL title and the biggest thing is not looking too far ahead. It’s staying in the moment, one shift at a time. You don’t want to get out of that. 

“You don’t want to worry about the outcome. You want to live in the moment and execute and let everything work out like it is supposed to, because that is how you are going to perform your best.”

Now, he is on the cusp of a third title with a team that saw how his attributes could be beneficial to the whole.

“I’m so happy for him,” DiPietro said. “Chatty’s ego never got in the way of anything. He made the most of every opportunity he has been given.”