NEWARK — When Canes forward Zac Dalpe took the bus from the team hotel to the Prudential Center today for the morning skate, it had to be the shortest trip he has made in a week.

In the past week, Dalpe was reassigned to the Charlotte Checkers (AHL) and played two AHL games before being recalled Monday. He has been here, there and ... well, let him tell it:

"I went from Raleigh to Charlotte on Wednesday. Then we had 5:30 a.m. flight out of Charlottte to Chicago, except we had to connect through Dallas. We were going to Milwaukee, so we flew to Dallas and then Chicago and bussed to Milwaukee."

The Canes are beginning a new season tonight and Zac Dalpe is in the Canes' lineup, but that's nothing new.

Dalpe was in the Canes' opening-day lineup last year. He played in the two wins over the Minnesota Wild in the 2010 NHL Premiere in Helsinki, Finland, and earned his first NHL point — an assist on an Anton Babchuk goal -- in the opener.

But today's game has a different feel to it. This opener is at home, at the RBC Center. Dalpe's situation seems different and his position with the big club seemingly more secure.

"I'm not taking anything for granted," the forward said. "I want to be here all 82 (games). I guess the season is 190 days, so I've got a 190 days of work ahead of me."

When the Charlotte Checkers open the AHL Eastern Conference finals Thursday at home, it represents the deepest a Carolina Hurricanes farm team has gone in the playoffs since 1997, when the Springfield Falcons made it to this point in the AHL playoffs.

The Falcons -- coached by Kevin McCarthy -- lost to the Hershey Bears, who went on to win the Calder Cup. Three times since, the Hurricanes’ minor-league affiliate has won one playoff round, but this year’s Checkers are the first to win two.

Forward Jussi Jokinen (lower-body injury) and defenseman Joni Pitkanen (upper-body) will not play Monday against the Florida Panthers, Canes coach Paul Maurice said today.

Maurice said Jokinen and Pitkanen, who have missed the last two games, may accompany the Canes on the two-game road trip his week to New York and Florida and possibly could play. They're being listed as day-to-day.

"They're both getting better," Maurice said. "If it was in the playoffs we'd probably have them in the lineup right now. But so that we don't set anything back we're going to do everything we can to heal them to 100 percent."

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Most of the young players who will battle for spots on the Hurricanes' roster next season had at least a cameo in Carolina this year. Chris Terry didn't, despite finishing second in scoring in Albany (AHL). Zac Dalpe didn't, turning pro after finishing up his sophomore season at Ohio State.

But if Hurricanes fans are unfamiliar with those two now, it may not last long. Both forwards could end up playing for the Hurricanes at some point next season, maybe even right out of training camp.

Forward Zac Dalpe has signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Canes and will report to Albany (AHL).

Dalpe, 20, played at Ohio State the last two years. This season, he led the Buckeyes in goals (21) and points (45) in 39 games, and was a first-team All-CCHA selection.

Dalpe's contract calls for a salary of $550,000 at the NHL level next season, $600,000 in 2011-2012 and $700,000 in 2012-2013. At the AHL level, he would paid $65,000 each year. He also will receive a $262,500 signing bonus.

Dalpe, taken in the second round (45th overall) of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, will join the River Rats on an amateur tryout contact for the rest of this season. 

From my new blog, Talking Points:

This kind of slipped through the cracks last week, but I think there's a final word to be said about Zac Dalpe and his choice between college and junior hockey.

Read more here.

This kind of slipped through the cracks last week, but I think there's a final word to be said about Zac Dalpe and his choice between college and junior hockey.

The Canes won't have their second-round draft pick, forward Zac Dalpe, at training camp next month.

Dalpe informed the team Monday that he would attend Ohio State this year, Canes general manager Jim Rutherford said today. Rutherford said Dalpe was offered a contract.

Zac Dalpe paid his own way to this week’s prospect conditioning camp as an Ohio State recruit, to maintain his eligibility per NCAA rules. But he admits his mind isn’t fully made up yet.

The update Dalpe's tug-of-war between Ohio State and Plymouth (OHL) was one of several interesting notes from Wednesday's first day of Carolina's prospect conditioning camp.