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The Carolina Hurricanes conclude a brief western road trip when they visit the Arizona Coyotes on Friday night.

Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere could make his Hurricanes debut against the team that traded him on Wednesday for a 2026 third-round draft pick.

Gostisbehere, a former Philadelphia Flyer, returns to the Eastern Conference and joins the team atop the Metropolitan Division. The 29-year-old has tallied 31 points (10 goals, 21 assists) in 52 games with the Coyotes this season.

“Shayne is a smooth-skating, puck-moving defenseman,” Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell said. “We think his offensive skill set and veteran presence will help bolster our blue line.”

The Hurricanes have lost two in a row after winning five straight and 12 of 13. In a 3-2 loss at the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday, Martin Necas and Jordan Staal scored, and Frederik Andersen made 17 saves. Carolina tied the score midway through the third period, but lost on a late goal.

“We are beating ourselves a bit and everyone’s getting frustrated, including myself,” Staal said. “It’s always the little things. You don’t think much of it, but then it gets in your end and you end up working twice as hard. We talked about getting back to our game going into the third, and we had a good period, but we came up short still.”

Carolina also acquired forward Jesse Puljujarvi, 24, from the Edmonton Oilers this week. Puljujarvi, who had five goals and nine assists in 58 games with Edmonton, is working through visa issues before he can join the team.

The Coyotes, who have lost three of their past four, open a four-game homestand following a 4-2 loss to the Dallas Stars on Wednesday. Barrett Hayton and Clayton Keller scored the first two goals of the game in the loss. Juuso Valimaki assisted on both goals and Connor Ingram made 37 saves for the Coyotes, who were coming off a 4-1 win over the Blackhawks the night before.

“We worked really hard,” Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny told the Coyotes website after the loss to the Stars. “The guys competed, they never quit. I’m really proud of that, there’s no doubt about it.”

“I thought we had a good push there in the first, and kind of got away from it in the second,” Keller said of the blown lead. “(The Stars are) fast. They always seem to know where each other are. They throw a lot of pucks at the net and make it tough in our defensive zone.”

Arizona forward Nick Schmaltz left the game at 7:57 of the second after taking a slap shot to the side of the head.

In addition to the Gostisbehere trade, Arizona made several other moves aimed at stockpiling draft choices.

Earlier this week the Coyotes acquired a 2023 conditional first-round draft choice, a 2024 conditional second-round draft choice and a 2026 second-round draft choice from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for defenseman Jakob Chychrun.

On Thursday, the team acquired a 2023 third-round pick and defenseman Michael Kesselring from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for forward Nick Bjugstad and defenseman Cam Dineen; and a 2023 sixth-round draft choice from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for goaltender Jon Gillies. The Coyotes also acquired the contract of injured forward Jakub Voracek in the deal.

–Field Level Media