Playoff Notebook: Fast Will Not Play In Game 1

RALEIGH, NC. - The Carolina Hurricanes took to the ice on Friday for their final practice day before beginning their Round 1 series against the New York Islanders.

A nearly identical scene to that of Thursday's skate, there was one difference between the scenery and one among the lineup.

With white rally towels featuring the definition of "Chaos" lining each chair inside PNC Arena, Jack Drury and Jesperi Kotkaniemi flipped the roles they'd worked in just the day before.

The skate looked as follows -

Guentzel - Aho - Jarvis

Teravainen - Kotkaniemi - Necas

Martinook - Staal - Svechnikov

Drury - Kuznetsov - Noesen (Lemieux)

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Slavin - Burns

Skjei - Pesce

Orlov - Chatfield

Morrow - DeAngelo

Frederik Andersen was at one end of the ice, and Pyotr Kochetkov was at the other.

Jackson Blake, Bradly Nadeau, and Spencer Martin once again skated as the early group.  They will serve as the team's "Black Aces", if you will.

Fast Will Not Play Tomorrow...

Jesper Fast was absent from the effort for a second consecutive day, and when Rod Brind'Amour talked to the media following he shared that #71 would not be an option on Saturday.

"Until you see him in a practice, you can pretty much rule him out," the head coach shared.

Don Waddell, who spoke to the media after Brind'Amour, said that the injury is not a concussion and the trusty forward is only expected to miss "a matter of days."

More From Waddell...

Continuing his annual pre-playoff media availability, Waddell also shared a few other bits of news.

Most importantly, he shared that the team is "optimistic" that the team will be able to re-sign forward Jake Guentzel.  Representatives for both the player and the team have had conversations, but right now they are tabled until after the playoffs.

Guentzel has produced 25 points in 17 games since joining the Canes and has likely earned himself a healthy, healthy contract this summer.

29 years old, it is fair to think that the average annual value (AAV) of the deal will be much higher than the $4.5M he carried this season.

Additionally, the Canes will be receiving some depth reinforcements early next week.

Waddell said players will be recalled from the American Hockey League after their regular season concludes this weekend.  Confirming that the list will include Antti Raanta, other Canes property on AHL teams that will not be making the Calder Cup Playoffs are:

• Dylan Coghlan
• Domenick Fensore
• Griffin Mendel
• Ronan Seeley
• Ryan Suzuki

Callahan Burke of the Colorado Eagles and Ty Smith of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are both on teams headed to the postseason.

Outside of Raanta, Waddell did not say who of the listed players would be coming up, but he did say "a few defensemen."

You can never have too much depth this time of year, and to prove that, look no further than last year's Round 1 series against the Islanders.  Forward Mackenzie MacEachern had to step into the lineup after not playing a regular season game with the team.

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