Forward Max Pacioretty, who suffered a torn Achilles tendon in August, has graduated from his no-contact jersey and skated as a regular member of practice on Thursday for a second consecutive day.
At the time of the injury the team estimated that he would miss six months, but less than five full months later, his first game in a Canes sweater appears just around the corner.
"He's not in tomorrow," Rod Brind'Amour shared after practice. "It's definitely within the realm of where you could say are we going to see him within the next 10 games? Maybe. I don't know. He's progressing nicely now and I think the fact that he's starting to get into real practices, that's a good sign."
Pacioretty skated alongside Martin Necas and Andrei Svechnikov at the team's practice, but for a second straight morning, it appeared that Pacioretty's position was more of a stopgap than an actual estimation of where he might slot in the lineup. Veteran Paul Stastny, who has centered Necas and Svechnikov for the last two-plus weeks, was given the day off.
This comes just a day after Pacioretty operated alongside Jesper Fast and Jordan Martinook, while Jordan Staal stayed off the ice.
Stastny was the only absence at Thursday's skate, as Frederik Andersen, Pyotr Kochetkov, and Ondrej Kase all also participated.
Andersen continues to make his way back from a lower-body injury sustained in early November. Last season's 35-game winner has been practicing with the team on and off for three weeks, but the latest update came on Sunday, December 19 when Brind'Amour said that the team was just waiting for the goaltender to say that he's 100%. The head coach has said on several occasions that Andersen will not play until he is 100% and with Pyotr Kochetkov having the league's second-best save percentage (.928 SV%) and Antti Raanta having won his last five decisions, there is no rush.
Kochetkov has backed up Antti Raanta for the team's three most recent games. He has not missed any practice time during the stretch, but Brind'Amour said that the 23-year-old rookie was not 100% before Friday's victory over Pittsburgh, hence Raanta being tabbed for two starts in two nights amid the run, and
then a third consecutive appearance on Tuesday
.
Lastly, Kase has participated in a yellow no-contact sweater for the last two days as well. The 27-year-old has been in concussion protocol since October 13. Like Andersen, Kase began skating again on December 8.
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