4 years agoCarolina Hurricanes defenseman Dougie Hamilton (undisclosed) will not play in Game 1 of the Qualifying Round series against the Rangers on Saturday as he is unfit to participate. "He's getting better, for sure. He's unfit, so he won't be in there tomorrow," Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour said on Friday. Hamilton, who underwent surgery during the shutdown after suffering a fractured fibula in January, has not skated with the team since leaving last Wednesday's practice early, and it is unclear as to when the 27-year-old defenseman will be able to rejoin the team. With Hamilton out of the lineup, defensemen Jaccob Slavin, Jake Gardiner and Sami Vatanen should see an increase in minutes and opportunity on the top power-play unit.--Denis Vondrus - RotoBaller
Source: Michael Smith - Twitter