RALEIGH -- Jamie McBain played just 14 games for the Carolina Hurricanes late last season, but 14 may have been enough.
Enough to impress the Canes' coaches and management, for sure. Perhaps enough to secure a roster spot for this season.
"I think I did what I had to do last year to put myself in the position I'm in now, with a pretty good opportunity in front of me," the defenseman said this week. "I proved to the coaching staff I'm capable of playing minutes and playing in all kinds of situations, so that was definitely positive."
McBain had assists in his first two NHL games. In his third, he ripped an overtime shot to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins.
How's that for a first NHL goal? McBain's came against the defending Stanley Cup champions, in Pittsburgh, in his first road game.
Nor was it McBain's only big moment. He made a big first impression - with his heavy shot, his puckhandling, his poise on and off the ice - after being recalled March 16 from the Albany River Rats, the Canes' American Hockey League affiliate.
"He played very well," Canes coach Paul Maurice said. "Based on his play, the expectation is that he will be on our team this season, even though everyone has to perform well and prove yourself every season."
Not that McBain, 22, surprised himself by being so good, so soon.
"It's something I knew I was always capable of," he said. "When you're up at this level, playing with such talented guys, everyone is going to be in the right spot, and it's going to make my job a lot easier. If I'm getting the shots through, the forwards a lot of times are in front of the net, and they make it easy for me to put points on the board."
McBain had 10 points in those 14 games, closing with three goals and seven assists. He averaged almost 26 minutes a game in ice time, was a team-best plus-6 in the plus/minus rating and solid enough in his own end.
Yes, McBain made a few rookie mistakes. He turned the puck over a few times and was caught out of position. It happens. But he proved to be a fast learner.
"The next jump for him this season will be gaining an understanding of the league, of the players that you need to pay attention to," Maurice said. "And it's all a confidence game. The more touches he gets, the more power-play time he gets, the more confidence he will have and the quicker the learning curve will be."
A college star at Wisconsin, McBain was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as a junior in 2008-09. He then put in 10 games with AHL River Rats, signing a three-year entry-level contract with the Hurricanes in March 2009.
McBain began and ended his first full professional season with Albany, being reassigned to the Rats for the Calder Cup playoffs after his apprenticeship with Carolina. He had 40 points (seven goals, 33 assists) in 68 regular-season games with the Rats and another four goals and two assists in eight playoff games.
"I enjoyed it," he said of the playoffs. "It was the first time I had been a part of a playoff series like that. In college it's one and done (in the NCAA tournament)."
Losing to the Hershey Bears in the second round wasn't enjoyable. But the experience, McBain said, could be invaluable.
"At this level you're going to go through playoff series," he said. "So it was beneficial for me and a lot of fun."
McBain, who is 6 feet 2 and said he weighs 195 pounds, spent much of the summer in his native Minnesota, skating and working out. He said he focused on beefing up his arms and shoulders, all the better for those puck battles.
"When I was up (with the Canes) I was playing 25 minutes or so," he said. "I wanted to come into camp physically well-conditioned enough to be able to play those big-time minutes. I also worked on my upper body quite a bit because playing against bigger and stronger players, to move them off the puck, you need upper-body strength."
McBain doesn't figure to be the only young guy who could be in the Canes' lineup on opening day. Not this season. And he's excited about the possibilities - for himself, for the team.
"It's going to be a little bit of a rebuilding year," he said. "We'll be a little under the radar and teams won't know what to expect from us. We can take that as a positive and try and surprise some people and have a great year."
