RALEIGH — It will probably be two or three years before we know who won the blockbuster trade between Calgary and Carolina at June’s NHL Draft. But Sunday, the Hurricanes learned a little about two of the three players they received from the Flames.
Forward Micheal Ferland and defenseman Dougie Hamilton represent two-thirds of the package Carolina received — along with defensive prospect Adam Fox — in sending former fifth overall picks Noah Hanifin and Elias Lindholm to western Canada to play with former coach Bill Peters — a swap the team hopes will lead to more goals and added toughness.
The duo brought a little of both on the third day of training camp.
Skating with the second of two groups of players, Hamilton showed off the scoring touch that helped him total 52 goals over the past four seasons.
Called on by coach Rod Brind’Amour to take a shootout attempt, Hamilton slid the puck under new goalie Petr Mrazek. The skaters celebrated, while the three goalies on the ice — Mrazek is sharing time in this grouping with prospects Callum Booth and Jeremy Helvig — took a lap.
When it came time for a second such contest, Brind’Amour, going with a make-it-you-take-it philosophy, again sent Hamilton out to face Mrazek. Same matchup, same result.
On a final attempt, Hamilton changed it up a bit — rather than sliding the puck under Mrazek, he snapped a wrist shot into the net on the blocker side.
“Oh man, you’re going to make use him now,” Brind’Amour said of Hamilton’s shootout prowess. “Yeah, that was pretty good. That was fun.”
Ferland, meanwhile, was brought to Carolina as much for his board-rattling checks as his ability to score in the dirty areas.
He did both Sunday on one sequence — perhaps not the way the Hurricanes would like him to.
On a drill that saw him score while driving the net, Ferland lost his edge and crashed into the boards at top speed, a collision that had team staff rushing to attend to the 26-year-old winger.
Ferland went to the bench under his own power and returned to the ice in short order, only to head back to the locker room from a brief time before he returned again.
After the on-ice practice, Ferland — whose build resembles a linebacker as much as a hockey player — said he just had the wind knocked out of him, and he then went to work out in the weight room with his teammates.
“I don’t like seeing that on anybody, but especially him, a guy we’re counting on a lot,” Brind’Amour said.” We don’t need to see more guys go down.
“He’s also tough. So you ask him right away, ‘You all right?’ and he said, ‘Yeah, yeah.’ Some guys you just never know. He seems to be OK. … I think we dodged one there.”
The Hurricanes didn’t avoid a long-term injury to Victor Rask, who the team announced Thursday would be out indefinitely after he cut his right hand slicing food in his kitchen. The wound to Rask’s fourth and fifth fingers, which Brind’Amour said included damage to the tendons on the center’s hand, required surgery and will keep Rask — who was seen bandaged from finger to forearm in the locker room — out indefinitely.
Brind’Amour gave more of a timetable on Rask’s return following the practice.
“It’s not going to be quick. It will be months, for sure,” Brind’Amour said in clarifying Rask’s status. “It’s too bad. … Everything said, it was a good surgery, so (he) should be healthy and ready to go at some point during the season, who knows (when),” Brind’Amour added. “It was a major surgery. That’s why the recovery is what it is. It’s going to be long.”
Meanwhile, the team made its first roster moves in camp, sending forwards Luke Henman and Stelio Mattheos, and defenseman Brendan De Jong back to their junior clubs for the 2018-19 season.
The Hurricanes split squads will practice again Monday starting at 8:45 a.m.
