The Carolina Hurricanes are close to returning another of their injured starters as defenseman K'Andre Miller is looking more and more like he'll be ready to go on Thursday.

The 25-year-old blueliner has missed the Canes' last six games with a lower-body injury, but he's been practicing with the team over the past two days and on Wednesday, he was taking reps back alongside his normal partner, Jalen Chatfield.

"We'll see," Miller said when asked if he feels he'll be ready for Thursday. "Gonna talk with the medical staff and we'll kind of make our decision from there."

Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour had been hoping that the defenseman would be ready for Tuesday's game against New York, but has insisted that Miller is very close to returning still.

"We'll find out in the morning," Brind'Amour said on Wednesday when asked about Miller's availability against Minnesota. "It's definitely, like I said the other day, getting closer. I would hope that he'll play tomorrow."

Before the injury, Miller had been off to a great start in Carolina, with two goals, four points, six hits and eight blocks in six games. He was also controlling a 58.14 CF% and 52.48 xGF%, while outscoring opponents 4-3 in his minutes.

"He couldn't have played much better to start," Brind'Amour said on Miller. "I was so impressed with just his range, his skating ability, which fits perfectly. He was kind of doing it all for us there until he went out. It's a big piece we've been missing."

He was logging big minutes for the Hurricanes and getting used in all situations, so it was a tough blow for the team to lose him, especially given the number of injuries that followed his.  

"Obviously you never want to be out of the lineup, but health comes first at the end of the day," Miller said. "Figured I'd just use the couple of games off to try and get my body back where I want it to be."

With Miller (and more) out with injury, the Canes had to rely on quite a few rookies on the backend, but the team has managed to find ways to win despite the inexperience on the blueline.

"They've been doing unbelievable," Miller said on the rookies. "It's been really fun to watch from a different perspective. I think they've done such a great job. Everybody knows with having three or four guys in your lineup that obviously haven't played NHL games is tough on them, but I think they've done a great job of responding to the adversity and we've gotten some really big wins when we've needed them."

While the young guys have done well enough, getting actual veteran NHL players back in the lineup will go a long way for the Hurricanes.

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