Most of the Canes are using the informal skates at Raleigh Center Ice to get the their legs back, and defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti is no different.

But Sanguinetti also has another purpose: testing out his hip. He had surgery in mid-November for a tear in the labrum in his hip, missing 47 games for the Charlotte Checkers (AHL). While he did return to the Checkers' lineup in mid-March, he said he never felt 100 percent healthy.

"I don't know that I can put a number on it but I obviously wasn't where I needed to be," Sanguinetti said. "The goal was to get back and help the team as much as possible and get to the playoffs, and we did that. But it was a tough year for me, that's for sure. I feel really good now."