Four more sent down, Sutter next

On Saturday, the Hurricanes sent four more players back to Albany, trimming the roster to 28. Brandon Sutter is still in camp, and he has been impressive, but he will be sent back after tomorrow's game.

Forwards Keith Aucoin and Patrick Dwyer along with defenseman J.D. Forrest and Noah Babin are the latest cuts. The River Rats open their training camp on Tuesday and their first preseason game will be on Friday.
Ryan Bayda and Trevor Gillies are competing for a spot as the first call-up. Gillies is a tough guy and won't have a prayer, so it's pretty much Bayda. On the blueline, it's Casey Borer and Brett Carson.
Nic Wallin, Mike Commodore, Tim Gleason, Dennis Seidenberg and Glen Wesley are all healthy. Frantisek Kaberle is nearly fully recovered from surgery. Bret Hedican is looking good, for the most part. That's seven defensemen, which is what Rutherford wants. One of the aforementioned Borer or Carson, my guess is that Borer will be the last cut.

Brandon Sutter is still in camp, but will be sent back to Red Deer after tomorrow's scrimmage with the Caps. He has been a pleasant surprise, but he needs development. He is too young to play in the AHL, so he must be sent back to Red Deer.

Michael Leighton is being given another look. He'll start between the pipes on Tuesday. John "useless" Grahame hasn't been good in camp and Leighton is giving him a run for his money. Unfortunately, Grahame has a guaranteed contract which means that if Carolina wants to send him to Albany, they must still pay him the entire $1.4M. Additionally, he would have to clear waivers before being demoted.

It will be bad news for a lot of people -- especially Beth, but Crackers will be the second goaltender in Raleigh this fall.