RALEIGH, N.C. -- Andrei Svechnikov is nearing his season debut after he took part in a full-contact practice with the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday for the first time since he had surgery to repair a torn ACL in March.
The 23-year-old forward had been practicing with a yellow non-contact jersey throughout training camp and the start of the regular season.
"Especially with this injury, you don't want to rush it," Svechnikov said. "That's why I'm still trying to recover 100 percent. Two weeks ago, I had a 20 percent difference between my legs. Now it's way closer to 100 (percent)."
Svechnikov will not play when the Hurricanes (3-3-0) finish their six-game road trip against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; BSSO, BBSUN).
"We were close all along. Now we're at a point where he's got to get into some more practices," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "I anticipate it will be pretty soon."
Svechnikov was fourth on the Hurricanes with 55 points (23 goals, 32 assists) in 64 games prior to his injury last season, when he was selected to the NHL All-Star Game for the first time.
"It's going to take him a lot of time to get up to speed game-wise, but just having him with our group is going to be a huge positive," Brind'Amour said.
Sebastian Aho also practiced Monday and could return Tuesday after missing three games with an upper-body injury.
"He practiced today, which is a good sign," Brind'Amour said. "He felt pretty good so we're close. I don't know if he will play tomorrow."
Defenseman Brett Pesce will miss a second straight game with a lower-body injury.
"Pesce is a little different," Brind'Amour said. "He got looked at again today. We're reevaluating there, but I don't think it's anything long term."
Frederik Andersen returned to practice after missing two games. The goalie took a shot off the mask in a 6-3 win at the San Jose Sharks last Tuesday.
"It was a good sign that he was out there today," Brind'Amour said. "Everyone is right around the corner, but you may not see any of them tomorrow. There's a lot of moving parts at the moment."
The Hurricanes have allowed an NHL-leading 30 goals and rank 29th on the penalty kill (67.9 percent).
"We have a few new pieces, and they're trying to figure it out and special teams have killed us at times," Brind'Amour said. "Until we really get the group together, I don't want to press the panic button yet."
