Before heading out on the road for a pair of preseason games, the Hurricanes trimmed their roster by nine Saturday morning; sending Mike Angelidis, Joe Barnes, Vince Bellissimo, Brett Carson, Kevin Estrada, Craig Kowalski, Kevin Nastiuk and Stephen Peat to Albany (AHL), and returning Harrison Reed to his junior team in Ontario.

No surprises in that group, with forwards Patrick Dwyer and Scott Kelman and defensemen Derrick Walser, J.D. Forrest and Tim Conboy avoiding the axe.

Reed, meanwhile, a third-round pick in June, didn't look out of place centering Ray Whitney and Erik Cole on Friday and raised both eyebrows and hopes for the future. The Hurricanes now have 37 players in camp. ...

Justin Williams was back in action Saturday after suffering a bruised jaw in Wednesday's scrimmage. ... Watch for John Grahame, Trevor Letowski, David Tanabe and Glen Wesley to make their preseason debuts tonight in Columbus. ... Eric Staal, Andrew Ladd and Scott Walker were all minus-3 Saturday.

NUMBER TO KNOW

620

Games played for the Predators by current Carolina players Scott Walker (377), Cale Hulse (225) and Andrew Hutchinson (18). Walker and Hulse both played Saturday; Hutchinson is recovering from hip surgery. Nashville fans chanted "Thank you, Walker" in the third period.

SPOTLIGHT ON

TREVOR LETOWSKI

Letowski missed Carolina's first two preseason games with a sore groin, but he's expected to play tonight -- and at a most opportune time.

Letowski played two seasons in Columbus before leaving this summer to sign with the Canes as a free agent and fill a void at center.

"If it was in Carolina, I don't think it would be that big a deal, but going into their building it's different," Letowski said. "I've done it three times. This will be my fourth. To be honest, I'm not real concerned about that. I'm just excited to get out there and put on the jersey."

With only five preseason games on the schedule, Letowski and the other new players don't have much time to meld with their new teammates.

"That's why I've got to get in there," Letowski said. "You can do all you want in practice and train in the offseason, but there's nothing to replace game action. We don't play again until next Friday, so I'd really like to get in the game."

WHAT'S NEXT

The Hurricanes travel to Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets tonight (6 p.m., WWMY-102.9).