Chris Terry's Play Daring Carolina Hurricanes to Keep Him in NHL

When Jordan Staal makes his season debut for the Carolina Hurricanes—whether that's on Monday or in another game in the next few weeks—his much-awaited return will spell good news for a maligned Canes offense and catastrophe for one unknown teammate.

Staal's presence will bump one of the Hurricanes' depth forwards out of the lineup and likely onto waivers or the American Hockey League. When Andrej Nestrasil comes off of injured reserve and if Alexander Semin ever re-establishes a permanent job, a second or third one could bite the dust.

Will it be Brad Malone, who has looked better in recent games but remains incredibly pointless on the year? Will it be Zach Boychuk, who has had plenty of experience with waivers in the past? Will it be Chris Terry, who surely can't maintain his 21.4 shooting percentage and doesn't exactly bring bottom-six size?

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Until a week ago, Terry may well have been the most likely on that list to be dumped.

The 25-year-old winger had not registered a point in 11 straight and 16 of his last 17 games; he was also on the ice for four goals against in Carolina's visits to Philadelphia and Montreal.

But things have changed quickly for Terry.

No. 25 found the back of the net in consecutive games as the Canes picked up three of four possible points against the Maple Leafs and Rangers.

Two games later, Terry then upped his career NHL shootout history to 4-of-6 with a skills-competition winner against the Devils.

The string of matches showed Canes head coach Bill Peters and general manager Ron Francis precisely the foundation of Terry's game that has made him so successful in the AHL over the years.

In the style of Jiri Tlusty, who has made his career on goals from two feet out, Terry possesses the opportunistic instincts dearly lacking on this scoring-starved team. 

His ridiculously high shooting percentage is more of a reflection of his style and skill than his luck; he's scored at a rate higher than 12 percent in three of his last four campaigns with AHL Charlotte, too.

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Terry's two tallies this month—a tap-in goal off an Eric Staal shot rebound and a one-time snap shot off a two-on-feed from Nathan Gerbe—never would've happened had he not gone to the net (not easily done by a 5'10", 195-pound winger either) and kept his stick on the ice awaiting the opportunity.

The rest of the team could learn much from his habits: A lack of net-front traffic and rebound goals has been among the biggest factors behind Carolina's league-worst team shooting percentage.

Moreover, Terry's Corsi (shot attempts for versus against) percentage of 53.9 percent ranks sixth on the team and higher than those of Staal, Tlusty, Jeff Skinner and others, per HockeyAnalysis.com.

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Player	Record	Conversion Rate
Chris Terry	4 of 6	66.7%
Alexander Semin	15 of 49	30.6%
Nathan Gerbe	4 of 14	28.6%
Jeff Skinner	6 of 23	26.1%
Eric Staal	4 of 19	21.1%

It's in shootouts, however, where Terry makes arguably his biggest contribution.

Although his NHL sample size is small and frankly unsustainable, he's still displayed far more shootout potency than any other player on the Canes. Terry knows how to handle the puck adeptly in the breakaway-like situation without sacrificing the finish, overdoing the dekes or out-thinking himself.

Add in a stellar 16-of-35 record in AHL shootouts over the last four years, and Terry's shootout value alone is proven worth several points in the standings. On a last-place team currently boasting just 24 of such points, that's pretty significant.

As Jordan Staal makes his long-anticipated and much-needed return to the lineup in the coming days, optimism around the Hurricanes' struggling offense should skyrocket.

Beneath the excitement, though, a depth-chart shakeup will also be in order.

Centers Riley Nash, Victor Rask and Jay McClement will all be due for a realignment, but all three should remain safely at the NHL level. One of several wingers, however, could be in greater danger.

Chris Terry has presented a convincing case why he should join Nash, Rask and McClement among those staying at the NHL level.

Mark Jones has covered the Carolina Hurricanes for Bleacher Report since 2009. Visit his profile to read more, or follow him on Twitter.