Hurricanes hire Chris Abbott as vice president of pro player personnel

Abbott will be splitting his duties for the time being, as he is still the general manager of HV71 in the Swedish Hockey League, a role he was hired into this past offseason. He will continue to work for both teams until he transitions to working full-time with the Hurricanes following the 2024-25 season. Currently, HV71 is sitting in 12th place in the 14-team league.

The Sarnia native has a long history of honing his craft over in Sweden. He was previously the GM of Rögle BK for parts of seven seasons, putting together a team that went on to win the Champions Hockey League title in the 2021-22 season. Abbott was fired by the team last December. During his tenure with Rögle, the team qualified for the SHL playoffs five times.

Before being hired by Rögle, Abbott was a development coach for HV71, the team he played the last two seasons of his on-ice career. The former Cornell product won the SHL championship as captain of the team in his final year in 2016-17. He played nine seasons in the top division in Sweden, also playing for Rögle and Luleå HF. He was captain for three seasons with Luleå, helping the team win the CHL championship in 2015.

Before making the move overseas, Abbott spent one season playing pro in North America. In 2006-07, he played a few games for the Stockton Thunder and Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL, spending most of the year with the Bossier-Shrevport Mudbugs of the now-defunct Central Hockey League.