The Carolina Hurricanes made their final cuts of training camp today, assigning defenseman Tim Conboy and forwards Trevor Gillies and Joe Jensen to the River Rats.
With the move, the Canes are down to 25 players, though two of those -- forwards Justin Williams and Scott Walker -- are hurt and will be placed on injured reserve, so they won't count toward the 23-man roster limit.
There are still some decisions to be made, notably on rookies Brandon Sutter and Zach Boychuk, Carolina's first-round picks in 2007 and 2008, respectively, who remain with the NHL club. Neither can be sent to Albany, but are eligible to return to their junior teams. There is also the chance of a trade to relieve a congested blue line.
Both Conboy (torso) and Jensen were slowed by injuries in camp. Jensen had to be carried from the ice midway through practice Oct. 3 with a hip pointer. Gillies impressed team brass with his fitness, energy and, of course, toughness. They will each play major roles while they're in Albany.
All three players re-signed with Carolina this summer, Gillies and Jensen -- acquired in mid-season from Pittsburgh -- for one year, and Conboy for two, the second year a one-way deal. Gillies brings an element of grit that was noticeably lacking on the current Rats roster, as does Conboy, who still has two games to serve from an eight-game AHL suspension dating back to last year's playoffs.
"I don't know what the plan is or how long they're going to be here, but I'm definitely going to welcome them while they're here," first-year Rats coach-GM Jeff Daniels said. "They're three guys that will definitely make our team better.
"Timmy still has time left on his suspension so he's going to be another week away before he plays; that'll give him a chance to get healed up. Trevor is a great guy to have on the ice and in the locker room. I know he made a big impression in Carolina. All of a sudden it comes to a point where you've got to get down to your roster, and he was the odd man out. Joe's a guy that's going to be a great energy guy, get in there on the forecheck and get under people's skin."
With the additions, Albany's roster as of this writing stands at 28 players: goalies Justin Peters and Daniel Manzato; defensemen Conboy, Brett Carson, Casey Borer, Mark Flood, Bryan Rodney, Noah Babin, Benn Olson, Ryan McGinnis, Brett Bellemore and Jonathan Paiement; and forwards Gillies, Jensen, Matt Murley, Marc Cavosie, Ryan Weston, Harrison Reed, Stefan Chaput, Nick Dodge, Yannick Tifu, Nicolas Blanchard, Mike Angelidis, Pat Dwyer, Dwight Helminen, Jakub Petruzalek, Bobby Hughes and Jerome Samson.
Helminen and Rodney, assigned over the weekend, skated for the first time with the Rats this morning. Hughes continues to take part in practice wearing a yellow no-contact sweater, but there is no timetable for his return. Samson remains sidelined with a minor injury, though he has skated on his own and was on the ice with other Albany players who did not make the trip to Fitchburg, Mass. for Sunday's preseason game with Portland.
Cavosie, a Cohoes native, is still here on a tryout basis, but Daniels likes what he has seen. Cavosie played in both of the Rats' preseason games, including a 5-3 win over Bridgeport Oct. 1, and set up both of Murley's goals in Sunday's loss.
"We still have decisions to make here, even without guys being sent down," Daniels said. "Marc was good the other night but he was a lot better on Sunday. I don't know how much he was skating before he came to camp here, but to practice once and then jump into a game, that's tough to do. He handled it well. He definitely was better on Sunday and made a couple nice passes to Murls for his goals. He has shown some offensive skill there, but yet he worked hard two ways. It'll be a decision we make over the next couple days."
