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New Jersey Devils News

Hamilton returned to Hurricanes' practice on Thursday.

Hamilton, who missed the Hurricanes' three-game sweep of the Rangers, practiced for the first time since July 22nd. Carolina likely won't play for a week, so Hamilton will have plenty of time to get back up to speed before Round 1. In practice Hamilton skated alongside Jaccob Slavin on the Hurricanes' top defensive pair. He was also the lone defenseman on the team's first power-play unit.

Dougie Hamilton
Hamilton (undisclosed) reportedly expected to miss "weeks."

Hamilton reportedly suffered a new injury, unrelated to the broken leg which forced him to miss the final two and half months of the regular season. Sara Civ of The Athletic reported that Hamilton's absence is "in the realm of weeks not months." This is untimely news as the Hurricanes enter the hub city bubble and get set to face the Rangers on Saturday. Carolina was 11-7-3 (11th in the NHL) after Hamilton was hurt in mid-January.

Dougie Hamilton
The Golden Knights have agreed to terms on a three-year, entry-level contract with Jack Dugan.

Dugan was selected in the fifth round of the 2017 draft and has agreed to turn pro after just two seasons at Providence College. Dugan was a Hobey Baker Finalist in 2020 after leading the nation with 52 points (10G / 42A) in just 34 games. The 22-year-old paced the league in assists, points-per-game (1.53), power-play points (22) and even-strength points (30). He'll likely start the 2021 season in the AHL but the Golden Knights have to be very pleased with Dugan's rapid progression since being drafted three years ago.

Jack Dugan
Pesce underwent should surgery and his recovery time is 4-to-6 months.

Pesce will obviously miss the rest of the 2020 season, including playoffs, and turn his focus to getting ready for training camp 2021. The Hurricanes will have to try and navigate through the playoffs without two of their top-3 defensemen but they added Brady Skjei at the deadline to help ease the loss of Pesce.

Brett Pesce
Markstrom underwent a minor lower-body procedure on Wednesday and will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

Markstrom's original timetable was 3-to-4 weeks and that could still be the case. Vancouver will likely release another update after he is re-evaluated in two weeks. Thatcher Demko will be the Canucks' starter until further notice, suggesting he could start the next eight-to-nine games in a row (with two back-to-backs).

Jacob Markstrom