The Chicago Wolves announced Friday that Calder Cup-winning forwards Curtis McKenzie and Patrick Brown have been assigned to the team by the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights.
McKenzie paced the Wolves with eight postseason goals and 15 points last year while leading the team to the 2019 Calder Cup Finals. It marked the 28-year-old veteran’s second consecutive trip to the Calder Cup Finals — the only player to appear in the last two Finals — and his third in six seasons. McKenzie won the Cup with the Texas Stars in 2014.
Brown, 27, served as the Charlotte Checkers’ captain for the last three seasons, which includes last year’s 2019 Calder Cup championship. The Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, native produced 19 goals and 16 assists in 70 regular-season games before adding five goals and five assists in 11 Calder Cup Playoff contests.
McKenzie has played in 99 NHL regular-season games and one Stanley Cup Playoffs game — all for the Dallas Stars. He owns 10 goals and 13 assists in NHL play. He appeared in four exhibition games for Vegas this fall and earned two goals and a +2 plus/minus rating.
Brown made eight appearances for the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes in last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. He also has played in 28 regular-season NHL contests — all for the Hurricanes — and contributed one goal and one assist. He played in three exhibitions for Vegas this fall and posted one assist, a -1 plus/minus rating and seven penalty minutes.
The Wolves wrap up exhibition play tonight against the Tucson Roadrunners in Milwaukee, then head coach Rocky Thompson’s team opens the 2019-20 regular season at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5, against the Grand Rapids Griffins at Allstate Arena. The first 5,000 fans receive a 2019 Western Conference championship banner courtesy of Jewel-Osco.
