After missing a large chunk of training camp, Carolina Hurricanes star defenseman Jaccob Slavin joined the main group for practice on Thursday, sporting a yellow non-contact jersey.
Slavin, 30, has skated just once since the start of training camp over a week ago, but this was the first time he's been with the main roster group.
The blueliner is believed to be working back from a knee injury, as he was seen in a social media video back in August sporting a knee brace.
Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said that the defenseman "trained pretty hard in the summer and he was feeling pretty sore," when he missed the first day of training camp and then further expanded that "until he says he's 100%," he's not going to put him out there.
Brind'Amour had even gone as far as saying that Slavin could potentially even miss the entire preseason, but also that if the team needed him to play today, he would be able to.
"I think we've kind of made the decision that we're going to overly hold them off, Brind'Amour said on Slavin and Chatfield, who also has missed a few days of camp. "If they don't even see preseason, that might be something that happens. It's just not worth it at this point. If we were starting today, I think they'd both be in the lineup, but we're not, so..."
Regardless, it was a good sign to see Slavin at least practicing with the main group on Thursday, at the very least to perhaps put some fans worries at ease.
"Obviously when the time comes, you want him out there, but you also don't want him to get too antsy," Brind'Amour said. "If he's still nicked up you want him to stay off, but it's hard to keep these guys off."
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