Hurricanes place K’Andre Miller on injured reserve; Pyotr Kochetkov activated

Some roster moves for the Carolina Hurricanes as one player remains on the shelf, while another is ready to return to action.

On Friday, general manager Eric Tulsky announced that defenseman K’Andre Miller has been placed on injured reserve, while goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov has been activated from IR.

Miller’s placement on IR is retroactive to Oct. 20, meaning that he can return to play whenever he’s ready and when a roster spot is available. The 25-year-old has been out of action for a little over a week since suffering a lower-body injury. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour told the media it “could be a while” before Miller’s ready to get back into the lineup.

Miller had been playing reasonably well in his first season with the Canes. In six games, the St. Paul, Minn. native had scored two goals and two assists for four points, with a plus/minus of +1. He’s in the first year of an eight-year deal he signed with Carolina on July 1, immediately after he was traded by the New York Rangers. The contract has a cap hit of $7.5 million.

Kochetkov hasn’t played at all this season, thanks to suffering an injury right before the start of the regular season. That has led the Hurricanes to ride Frederik Andersen and rookie Brandon Bussi for the first few weeks of the season.

The Russian backstop struggled last season with Carolina, going 27-16-3, with a 2.60 goals-against average, a .898 save percentage and two shutouts. He went 1-1 in two starts in the playoffs, with a 3.60 GAA and a .855 SV%.

There might be some other good news on the injury front for the Canes. Brind’Amour told reporters that he won’t be ruling forward Seth Jarvis out of the lineup for the team’s Saturday afternoon clash with the Boston Bruins. Jarvis was seen on the ice on Friday, but not in his gear. It came seemingly hours after Carolina’s bench boss said that it “doesn’t look great” after Jarvis blocked a shot in the team’s 6-2 win over the New York Islanders on Thursday.