Jim Rutherford, president and general manager of the National Hockey League's Carolina Hurricanes, announced Sunday that the team has assigned Auburn native J.D. Forrest, as well as forwards Keith Aucoin, Patrick Dwyer and Noah Babin to the Albany River Rats of the American Hockey League.

Forrest, a defenseman, was re-signed as a restricted free agent by the Carolina Hurricanes to a one-year contract on July 3.

The Albany River Rats, Carolina's top minor-league affiliate, begin their training camp next week and will open their preseason schedule against the Syracuse Crunch on Sept. 28, at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Houston Field House in Troy.

The Hurricanes continue their six-game preseason schedule on Tuesday at Washington's Verizon Center at 7 p.m., before traveling to Columbus on Thursday for the first half of a back-to-back, home-and-home series. Carolina plays its final game of the preseason on Friday, Sept. 28 at the RBC Center at 7 p.m.