Hurricanes get closer to opening night roster

The Carolina Hurricanes trimmed their training camp roster to 23 on Saturday, sending eight players to the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL.

Rookie forwards Warren Foegele, Martin Necas and Valentin Zykov remain on the Canes roster. Andrei Svechnikov, the Canes’ first-round draft pick this year, also remains in camp.

Those assigned to the Checkers were: forwards Janne Kuokkanen, Nicolas Roy and Saku Maenalanen; defensemen Roland McKeown and Michal Cajkovsky, and goalie Alex Nedeljkovic. Forwards Patrick Brown and Greg McKegg will be sent to Charlotte, pending waivers.

The Canes, 5-0 in preseason, host the Nashville Predators in their final preseason game Sunday at PNC Arena as part of the annual Caniac Carnival.

The Canes, a day after a 5-4 overtime road win against Washington, practiced Saturday at PNC Arena.