Canes prospect Charlie Cerrato leaning on hurdles as he seeks next-level success

Charlie Cerrato’s second college season didn’t go as planned.

After leading Big Ten rookies in each offensive category as a freshman with Penn State, helping his team make a Frozen Four run, the Carolina Hurricanes prospect returned to the Nittany Lions with major aspirations for his sophomore year.

By early January, Cerrato led the team in points and seemed positioned to fuel any success the team might have. Instead, he spent most of the rest of the season on the bench, dealing with a sports hernia that sidelined him for almost two months.

While Cerrato returned for the postseason, Penn State never found the late-season form that propelled the year before, tumbling out of the NCAA Tournament in the first round to Minnesota Duluth.

As the 21-year-old makes the professional jump — signing a three-year entry-level contract with the Canes in May and forgoing two years of college eligibility — he’ll lean on last year’s battles to thrive.

It hasn’t always gone Cerrato’s way, anyway.

In 2023 and 2024, Cerrato entered the NHL Draft twice and went undrafted before he was finally selected in the second round of the 2025 NHL Draft by the Canes.

The son of former San Francisco 49ers and Washington Redskins (now Commanders) executive Vinny Cerrato, Charlie Cerrato learned the work ethic needed to succeed in sport at a young age. He has leaned on it when he needed to overcome hurdles, such as going undrafted. And so far, it has helped him put himself in a position to play in the NHL.

On Monday, the 6-foot-1 center took part in the Canes Development Camp — which will continue until Thursday — alongside 13 other NHL hopefuls. The annual program at Invisalign Arena consists of on-ice skill sessions, fitness testing and off-ice education.

Making the professional jump, he added that he needs to improve every aspect of his game. Players are bigger, stronger and faster in the NHL, so he wants to improve incrementally across all aspects to compete with them.

“Charlie is a skilled, two-way center who has excelled at the college level over the last two years,” general manager Eric Tulsky said in the press release announcing his signing. “He’s strong at faceoffs, smart defensively and should be an excellent fit for the way the Carolina Hurricanes play hockey.”

If all goes to plan, Cerrato might have some high-stakes matchups with one of his Penn State teammates down the line as Gavin McKenna went No. 1 overall in Monday’s NHL Draft to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He said McKenna is one of the smartest players he’s ever met, but added that the touted draftee’s best trait is his humility.

When Cerrato is asked to describe the way he plays, he only utters a few phrases. But they say a lot about his game.

“Just competitive,” he said. “Fast-paced, 200-pound center. Just grinding.”

Sounds like an ideal player for a Canes organization that prides itself on a resilient, hard-working culture under coach Rod Brind’Amour, right?

“It’s a perfect fit,” Cerrato said. “Honestly, I think the mentality that I have fits perfectly with their system, so it’ll work out great.”

After the college season, Cerrato spent over a month with the Canes’ AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, under a professional tryout. He said he’s also had a short break to let his body fully recover, and he is excited for training camp in the fall.

Cerrato said he loves the culture within the Canes organization. So at Development Camp, he added that he is trying to learn as much as possible.

“I love just to compete,” Cerrato said, “and work hard.”

Canes issue qualifying offers to seven players

Also Monday, the Canes announced that they issued qualifying offers to Noel Gunler, Aleksi Heimosalmi, Viktor Neuchev, Cayden Primeau, Justin Robidas and Ronan Seeley. The team noted in its press release that Alexander Nikishin had previously received a qualifying offer.

Gunler Primeau and Seeley are arbitration-eligible, while Nikishin cannot receive an offer sheet from another NHL team.

The Canes did not extend qualifying offers to Skyler Brind’Amour, Domenick Fensore, Amir Miftakhov and Nikita Quapp, which means they will become unrestricted free agents on Wednesday when NHL free agency begins.

This story was originally published June 30, 2026 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Canes prospect Charlie Cerrato leaning on hurdles as he seeks next-level success."