After taking his turn as the Hurricanes’ seventh defenseman in Colorado on Wednesday, Rasmus Rissanen is set to rejoin the Checkers on their own road trip.
Carolina reassigned the longtime Checkers defenseman to Charlotte on Thursday morning following their 1-0 overtime victory over the Avalanche the night prior. Since losing James Wisniewski to a long-term knee injury on opening night, the Hurricanes have rotated Danny Biega, Brett Pesce and Rissanen as backup in case one of their top six was to come down with an ailment of his own.
Rissanen, who has now made two trips to the NHL in his five professional seasons, played his only six games with Carolina last season.
For the time being, Charlotte now has eight defenseman at its disposal, though it’s entirely possible Carolina, which continues its road trip in Los Angeles and San Jose on Friday and Saturday, respectively, will keep the rotation going and summon another blueliner as backup before the Checkers resume play in Grand Rapids on Friday.
