RALEIGH, N.C. - When the Carolina Hurricanes hit the ice for practice on Tuesday, they did so with Jaccob Slavin joining them for the first time in nearly two months - albeit in a yellow, "no contact" jersey.
The star blueliner had been skating on his own before recent practices, working his way back from a lower-body injury that has sidelined him for all but two games this season. Rejoining the team represents a step forward, even if the path back to game action remains a longer one.
"I don't think Slavo's too close yet, but it's great to see him out there. That's his first practice [since the injury] with us. It'd be nice to get him in a real jersey if he was close, but at least it's a step in the right direction," offered Rod Brind'Amour after practice.
Slavin missed most of training camp with a similar ailment and did not play in any preseason contests. He managed to play the full duration of the team's season opener on Oct. 9, but was unable to finish the game on Oct. 11, and Brind'Amour revealed on Oct. 14 that Slavin would be 'out for a while.'
Despite missing one of their most important players for almost the entire season and suffering a slew of additional injuries on the blue line, the Canes have been able to cruise to a 16-7-2 record - tied for the third-most wins through the first 25 games of a season in franchise history.
And while Slavin still has a few more checkpoints to clear before he's back to full strength, skating with the group still provides a boost, both to his morale and the team's.
"I think that's the key, for him, to get in the mix again," continued Brind'Amour. "He'd been out for a couple of months. For our group, too, it's nice for them to see that we've got a guy coming [back] here hopefully soon. Everything we're doing now is to ramp him up."
