Injury Report: Kochetkov Still Sidelined, Slavin 'TBD'

RALEIGH, N.C. - As the Carolina Hurricanes pack up and head west, they'll be doing so without Pyotr Kochetkov and may be missing Jaccob Slavin as well, after neither player was on the ice for Monday's practice.

Rod Brind'Amour hopes that Kochetkov, who sustained a lower-body injury before last Thursday's season opener, can join the trip at some point. In his stead, Carolina will continue to turn to Frederik Andersen, who has started both games thus far, with Brandon Bussi likely to make his Canes debut at some point soon.

"I'm pretty sure we'll put Brandon in there," he said. "I don't know when, but we don't want to overdo Freddie at the start of the season."

While Bussi may not have been part of Carolina's initial plan for its goaltending this year - the team traded for Cayden Primeau over the summer, but lost the 26-year-old on waivers to Toronto one day after they acquired Bussi from Florida in the same fashion - but Brind'Amour has confidence in the newcomer.

"That's why we picked him up," Brind'Amour said on Saturday. "We've played three goalies the last how many years? We're always using a third guy, so we definitely have no problem with that."

Bussi, 27, has appeared in 111 career AHL games with the Providence Bruins, going 63-31-13 with a 2.61 goals-against average, a .915 save percentage, and eight shutouts. He was named to the AHL’s All-Rookie Team in 2022-23, after earning a 22-5-4 record with a 2.40 goals-against average and .924 save percentage. The Sound Beach, NY, native played collegiately at Western Michigan, where he was 46-25-5 with a 2.61 goals-against average and .910 save percentage.

Slavin, on the other hand, is more of an unknown at this point after missing some time late in Saturday's win over Philadelphia. The word following that contest was that Slavin was "being evaluated," and Monday's update struck a similar chord.

"He's getting looked at again," said Brind'Amour. "He didn't feel great at the end of the game (on Saturday), so that's still TBD, I guess."

Slavin did not appear in a preseason contest last month due to a minor injury, one that Brind'Amour says may be related to his current ailment. With No. 74 sidelined, Mike Reilly figures to draw into the lineup for his Hurricanes debut, and K'Andre Miller was bumped up to Slavin's spot alongside Sean Walker on Monday.

If Slavin is unavailable to travel, the team may recall a defenseman from the Chicago Wolves to have a healthy extra body for their six-game, 12-day trip.