Hurricanes training camp preview

With training camps set to begin on July 13 as part of Phase 3 of the NHL Return to Play Plan, NHL.com is taking a closer look at each of the 24 teams in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers.

Today, the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Carolina Hurricanes were 38-25-5 (.596 points percentage) in the regular season and will enter the Stanley Cup Qualifiers as the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference. They will play the No. 11 seed, the New York Rangers (37-28-5, .564), in one of eight best-of-5 series, and the winner will advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Hurricanes, who lost the Eastern Conference Final to the Boston Bruins last season, were one of the best puck-possession teams in the NHL this season, finishing third in shot attempts percentage (54.3 percent) and fourth in percentage of 5-on-5 face-offs taken in the offensive zone (52.3 percent).

Carolina lost all four games it played against New York in regulation and was outscored 17-9. The Hurricanes are 8-25-7 against the Rangers with a power-play percentage of 14.3 percent and a penalty-kill percentage of 73.4 percent the past 10 seasons.

"I know the players could care less [about their history against the Rangers] and that's what matters," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "Most of them have not been around for much of it except for a year or two, so they're not going to be talking about it."

Player to watch

Dougie Hamilton arguably was the Hurricanes' best player before he fractured his left fibula Jan. 16, putting him out for the rest of the regular season. Hamilton was fourth among NHL defensemen and tied for third on Carolina with 40 points (16 goals, 24 assists) in 47 games at the time of his injury, and he led them with a plus-30 rating and an average of 23:17 of ice time. Hamilton is healthy and ready to resume his role as the Hurricanes' top offensive defenseman.

Biggest question

How will the defense pairs look with Hamilton back and Brady Skjei and Sami Vatanen available? Carolina will have eight defensemen for six spots with Brett Pesce (shoulder) unlikely to return until August after having surgery in March that required 4-6 months of recovery time. The Hurricanes acquired Skjei (in a trade from the Rangers) and Vatanen (in a trade from the New Jersey Devils) on Feb. 24 because they didn't expect to have Hamilton and Pesce for the rest of the regular season, which was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus. Now the options are plentiful.

Injury updates

Dougie Hamilton, D -- Healthy and ready to play after missing the final 21 games with a fractured left fibula.

Brett Pesce, D -- Recovering from right shoulder surgery and unlikely to skate until August.

Ryan Dzingel, F -- Expected to be healthy entering training camp after missing the two games prior to the pause with an upper-body injury.

Sami Vatanen, D -- Practiced with the Hurricanes on July 1; has not played since Feb. 1 because of a lower-body injury sustained prior to being acquired.

James Reimer, G -- Healthy after missing the final seven games because of a lower-body injury.

Fresh face

Video: PHI@CAR: Hamilton goes five-hole for OT winner made a big impression in two games before the season was paused. The 21-year-old forward scored four points (three goals, one assist), including two goals and an assist in his NHL debut March 8, a 6-2 win at the Pittsburgh Penguins. He became the second player in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers history to have a three-point game in his NHL debut, joining Dan Bourbonnais, who did it Dec. 30, 1981. Brind'Amour said Geekie will be an option.

Telling stat

The Hurricanes had the best winning percentage in the NHL in games when they scored first (.839; 26-3-2). Their 26 wins in such games were tied for third in the Eastern Conference with the Florida Panthers behind the Tampa Bay Lightning (30) and Philadelphia Flyers (28).

They said it

"It's easy to say right now, 'OK, I'm going to go with Petr [Mrazek in goal],' but I don't know. Even with the [defense] pairs. Everyone always asks me, 'Who are you going to play with who?' Well, we've kind of got to see where we're at. It's different. It's not like we just pick up where we left off. Guys are telling me they're doing OK, but I don't know how much training they're doing and where they're going to be at when we get started." -- coach Rod Brind'Amour

Projected lineup

Andrei Svechnikov -- Sebastian Aho -- Teuvo Teravainen

Nino Niederreiter -- Vincent Trocheck -- Martin Necas

Brock McGinn -- Jordan Staal -- Justin Williams

Ryan Dzingel -- Morgan Geekie -- Warren Foegele

Jaccob Slavin -- Dougie Hamilton

Joel Edmundson -- Sami Vatanen

Brady Skjei -- Jake Gardiner

Petr Mrazek

James Reimer