Sutter making a case to stay

RALEIGH -- Brandon Sutter didn't know what to expect when the Carolina Hurricanes hastily called him up from the Albany River Rats.

"They told me to pack for a week," Sutter said.

That was more than three weeks ago. Sutter has been with the Canes the past 10 games, and judging by his solid play and the youthful energy and hustle he brings to games, his days in Albany and the American Hockey League are over.

Sutter has four goals and three assists. He's being used on the power play, on the penalty kill. He's stronger on faceoffs and heady and effective in the defensive zone.

"He's playing well and doing good things with his stick," coach Paul Maurice said. "He's not out there because we're giving a young guy a chance. He's earned it."

In the Hurricanes' 5-4 shootout victory Sunday over the Minnesota Wild, Sutter centered the top line with Ray Whitney and Erik Cole. He had a season-high 20:59 in ice time - including 4:18 on the power play - and had a power-play goal and an assist as Carolina ended a frustrating 14-game winless streak that had tied the franchise record set in 1992.

"He just keeps getting better and better," Maurice said. "He looks stronger. Even at the end of games where last year we felt he faded, you like him going out there.

"He looks like he's actually getting faster than slowing down, which is a part of what we're hoping - that maturation from an amateur to a pro, where as the more minutes they play it doesn't wear a man down but actually gets him stronger and gets him into the groove."

Sutter, at 20, still is growing into his 6-foot-3 body. Think back to Eric Staal as a 20-year-old. Sutter, the Canes' first-round draft pick in 2007, still has the look of a lean college kid at 180 pounds.

"I definitely feel stronger," Sutter said. "As you get older, every summer that goes by you try to get a little stronger.

"Obviously, I've gained a little bit of muscle. But a lot of it is mental, too. I learned a lot last season."

Last season, Sutter made the Hurricanes out of training camp and eventually played 50 games. But his first NHL season was derailed early when he was knocked unconscious on a hit to the head from the New York Islanders' Doug Weight - Sutter was out eight games with a concussion - and then ended when he was sent to Albany in mid-February just after his 20th birthday.

What began as a conditioning stint with the Rats was lengthened into the final 22 games of the AHL season. He then joined the "Black Aces," players added to the Canes' roster for the Stanley Cup playoffs, and sat in the press box watching playoff games.

"Last year was a long year for him, and I don't think we saw him at the top of his game," said defenseman Bryan Rodney, who played with Sutter in Albany.

But the summer of 2009 proved to be a big step for Sutter, the son of Calgary Flames coach Brent Sutter. He put in extra work on conditioning and skating. He then was one of the stars as the Hurricanes' rookies won the championship in an NHL prospects tournament in Traverse City, Mich., hosted by the Detroit Red Wings.

The decision was made by Canes management after training camp that Sutter and other such prospects as Zach Boychuk, Drayson Bowman and Jamie McBain begin the season with the River Rats. The plan: Let the kids play together, get a lot of ice time and develop their games, then "transition" to the big club next season.

"We wanted to get him as much confidence as he can possibly get," Maurice said of Sutter. "We didn't want him to lose all he had built up during the summer and training camp playing seven or eight minutes a night here.

"He would have just rotted in so many ways. It would have taken three or four weeks for him to lose all the good things he had done in terms of confidence and conditioning and shape."

The Canes' stumbling start, and a three-game suspension by forward Tuomo Ruutu, changed that plan. Early on Oct. 24, the call was made to Sutter in Albany - hop a flight to Minnesota for the game that night against the Wild.

Bad weather made for hectic travel. But Sutter made it just in time, with a week's worth of clothes, and he has been in the lineup since.

"It was definitely a long day and I didn't feel too good that night, but the next few games I felt better and better," he said.

Sutter has been used at center and on the wing. But with Staal out with an upper-body injury, he has gotten time on the top line the past few games with Whitney and Cole.

"They make it so easy for you," Sutter said. "It was fun. It was awesome."

Sutter has played more than 20 minutes each of the last two games and had two assists Friday in the 4-3 overtime loss to the Islanders. He scored Sunday against the Wild and in overtime made a strong move to the goal to get a shot off.

"What he's done is he's gone down [to Albany] and played 20 minutes a night, and now he can play 20 here," Maurice said. "Now, if he does tire this year, we can cut him to 14 [minutes] and he can still play at a high level."

Maurice said he has been just as impressed with Sutter's defensive work as the goals and assists. Often, he said, highly drafted forwards are quickly thrust into NHL lineups because of their scoring ability.

"I think everybody felt he would come back and play," Maurice said. "I mean, he's a first-round pick, and we have very high hopes for what he can do.

"I think the difference for him is there aren't a lot of good defensive 20-year-olds. Most of them are those high-end skill guys where you let 'em make their mistakes. But he has such a good mind for the game and such a good stick that he can be responsible right now."

Sutter said when he left Albany that late-October day, he had one thing in mind: not going back.

"For sure, when you get called up that's kind of your mindset," he said. "I wanted to prove to them I could stay here. I guess we'll see what happens."

For now, it's happening for him.

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