Which Carolina Hurricanes Prospects Are Making Strong Pushes for NHL Jobs?

Ryan Murphy and Zach Boychuk have been here before, dueling for an opening night NHL job at Carolina Hurricanes training camp.

Victor Rask hasn't.

For all three, though, the race for a valuable NHL roster spot has now pushed on into October—and considering the current ambiguity of the Hurricanes' lower lines and pairings, all three stand respectable chances of indeed earning such valuable spots.

What has each done through Carolina's first four preseason games to stand out above the masses? A quick analysis lies below.

Zach Boychuk

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In very uncharacteristic fashion, Boychuk's impact in his two appearances to date hasn't reflected onto the box score—but that doesn't mean he hasn't been noteworthy nonetheless.

The defending AHL scoring leader has registered one assist (a setup on a Murphy power-play goal in the Hurricanes' lone win) and five shots in two preseason games, having played 17:47 in the loss to Buffalo and 12:39 in the win over the New York Islanders. He's been active in both games, producing an abundance of offensive opportunities and looking much less like the ghost he's resembled during NHL call-ups in the past.

Said Boychuk to Charlotte Checkers reporter Paul Branecky a week ago:

"

It’s kind of a new era with a new GM and a new coach. It’s exciting for everybody, especially for me. Coming into camp I’ve done everything I can over the summer to be ready for this and this is kind of my year to break out. Hopefully I do well in the preseason games and we’ll see what happens.

"

Perennially a superstar in the minor leagues, Boychuk has never really found his niche as a "glue player" between superior teammates in the NHL. Perhaps new head coach Bill Peters will find a new way to employ him, or perhaps the former first-round selection is just a very late bloomer.

Ryan Murphy

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For Murphy, the 2014 preseason isn't about earning an NHL roster spot, but rather reproving himself worthy of one in a strengthened 'Canes defensive unit.

The 21-year-old defenseman played 38 of Carolina's first 41 games last season but then only 10 of the second 41, demoted due to his back-end weaknesses and strangely negative effect on the needy power-play unit.

So far, Murphy's performance appears to be pointing towards last spring rather than last fall, the fluky half of the campaign.

No. 7 has tallied at least a point in all three preseason appearances, including the Hurricanes' opening goals against both the Isles and St. Louis Blues. He's played over 22 minutes twice already, averaged a whopping 4:55 of man-advantage ice time per game (finally embracing the power-play quarterback role that fits so perfectly to his skill set) and thrown seven shots from the blue line on goal.

Murphy is fighting against a varied collection of fellow defensemen—Ron Hainsey, John-Michael Liles, Brett Bellemore, Tim Gleason, Jay Harrison and Haydn Fleury—for playing time, but the competition beneath Justin Faulk and Andrej Sekera is actually quite wide-open. A superior training camp performance could boost Murphy into a second-pairing role even.

Victor Rask

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The wave of faceoff concerns triggered by Manny Malhotra's departure and Jordan Staal's broken leg have been eased somewhat by the incredible draw success of young Victor Rask in this year's preseason.

Rask has won 22 of 32 faceoffs (68.8 percent) in three appearances, dominating the likes of Islanders veteran center Frans Nielsen (went 5-of-5 while the rest of the 'Canes were a combined 2-for-6 against him) and Sabres star youngsters Sam Reinhart (5-of-7) and Mikhail Grigorenko (3-of-4).

With Staal leaving the 'Canes more shallow down the middle than they've been in years, Rask stands to receive a tremendous opportunity to transition from an unremarkable AHL contributor to an NHL regular in just one summer's time.

No player has made more appearances than Rask's three to date, and Bill Peters' regular praise of the former second-round choice is reportedly hitting home, as noted by Chip Alexander of the News & Observer Monday.

While No. 49 still hasn't recorded a scoring point yet, a favorable mixture of beneficial circumstances and strong on-ice effort has helped Rask emerge as a top contender for a highly-contested opening-night job.

Mark Jones has been a Carolina Hurricanes Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report since 2009. Visit his profile to read more, or follow him on Twitter.