RALEIGH, NC—Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has reassigned defenseman Jay Harrison to the Albany River Rats of the American Hockey League. Harrison will join Albany for the AHL’s Calder Cup Playoffs, which begin on Wednesday as the River Rats host Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in Game 1 of the teams’ best-of-seven East Division Semifinal.

Harrison, 27, was recalled to Carolina on March 3, and played in the Hurricanes’ final 20 games of 2009-10. The Oshawa, Ont., native began the season with Carolina before being reassigned to Albany, and finished the year with one goal and five assists (6 points), while averaging 14:43 of ice time in 38 NHL games. Harrison (6’4”, 211 lbs.) notched two goals, earned 12 assists (14 points) and had a plus-8 plus/minus rating in 32 AHL regular-season games with Albany. Originally drafted by Toronto in the third round, 82nd overall, in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, the Hurricanes signed Harrison as a free agent on July 9, 2009.