Canes top defenseman injured in training camp, could miss significant time

The news coming out of Carolina on Saturday is not good, as top defenseman and powerplay trigger-man Dougie Hamilton left practice on Wednesday in noticable discomfort and did not return.

Due to the regulations in the NHL's Return to Play protocol, teams are unable to disclose the particulars with regard to injury and illness with the media, so we don't know for sure what ails the stud defenseman. What we do know is that he has not returned to practice and Sami Vatanen is slotted in on the right side of the top pairing, alongside Jaccob Slavin.

Athletic writer and beat reporter for the Carolina Hurricanes, Sara Civian, is reporting that the injury is apparently not related to the broken fibula that Hamilton had suffered in January, effectively ending his season.

Civian also elaborated that this does not preclude the possibility of Hamilton returning at some point during the playoffs, mentioning that the injury is expected to be of the week-to-week variety and should not keep the blueliner sidelined for months.

Hamilton had been in the midst of a Norris-caliber season prior to his broken fibula in January. His return to the Canes lineup for the playoffs was extremely important. This latest injury is devastating to the Canes' hopes for a lengthy playoff run. Here's to a speedy recovery for Hamilton.

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