Canes' Sutter turns heads

RALEIGH -- Talk about being a rapid riser in training camp. Brandon Sutter was centering the Carolina Hurricanes' top line Wednesday.

There was a hitch, however. Eric Staal was at home with his wife, Tanya, after the birth Tuesday of their first child -- Parker Lucas Staal.

But Sutter is pushing -- hard -- to be in the lineup. The Canes' first-round draft pick in 2007 was in noticeably better shape in prospects camp, has played well throughout the team training camp and played very well Monday night in Carolina's 4-2 exhibition loss in Atlanta.

"We noticed it in rookie camp, that we could see the improvement in his development with his leg strength and his stride, his quickness -- basically everything he did," general manager Jim Rutherford said. "Which is natural at his age. But he took a big step from where he was a year ago and carried that from rookie camp into this camp.

"Something we've known all along was his hockey sense. He's a very smart player, and he's playing very well."

The Canes have talked in terms of having Sutter, 20, open the season with the Albany River Rats, the team's American Hockey League affiliate. Let him play on a line with winger Zach Boychuk, Carolina's No. 1 pick in 2008, get a lot of ice time and then perhaps bring him up as the season progresses.

But that plan may change. Sutter has performed so well Rutherford said he's now in the mix for a top-nine forward spot.

"Does he need to be top-nine to stay here? No," Rutherford said. "But if he's not a top-nine and not getting the ice time that he should get, then it would be better to get the ice time [in Albany]."

Does Sutter stack up as a top-nine forward thus far in camp?

"Based on how he's played, yes," Rutherford said. "He's done everything he can do."

A year ago, the Canes faced a different decision with Sutter, the son of Calgary Flames coach Brent Sutter: either return him to his junior team, Red Deer of the Western Hockey League, or keep him on the roster. Sutter opened the season with the Hurricanes, playing 50 games as a fourth-center and penalty killer before being sent to Albany late in the season on a conditioning stint.

Sutter stayed with the Rats, playing 22 games, then joined the "Black Aces" -- players added to the Hurricanes' roster -- for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Perhaps the most memorable moment of Sutter's rookie season was the huge hit he took from the New York Islanders' Doug Weight. Sutter was knocked unconscious in the Oct. 25 game, and the concussion sidelined him for eight games.

Sutter also went through his first NHL coaching change in early December -- out with Peter Laviolette, in with Paul Maurice. He had to prove himself to a new coach.

A lanky type at 6 feet 3 inches and 183 pounds, Sutter tried but couldn't pack on many pounds in the offseason but did focus on improving his lower-body strength.

"A lot of leg-building and leg exercises," said Sutter, who worked with a trainer. "A lot of jumping stuff, kind of working on explosiveness, quickness."

Sutter said that for the first time in a few years he did some power skating in August, and it showed in his fitness at the prospects camp.

"I think that helped, for sure," he said. "It was technical stuff, working on the stride. And another part of it was just getting older and a little more mature, a little stronger."

Sutter was one of the stars as Carolina won the NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City, Mich., early this month. That momentum carried over into training camp.

"I came here with some confidence," Sutter said.

The Canes are loaded with centers -- Staal, Matt Cullen, Rod Brind'Amour, Stephane Yelle, Sutter, Michael Ryan. Jussi Jokinen may be used on the wing, but that still leaves a numbers game.

"I think if I play well enough I'll have a chance to play a lot of minutes," Sutter said. "But you never know. You don't worry about it -- you just play.

"Obviously I have no desire to go down to Albany. I'll just see what happens."

Rutherford, who takes more of a big-picture view, isn't ruling out anything. Sutter could be in a Hurricanes sweater or in Albany on opening day.

"Starting in Albany wouldn't be because he had a bad camp or because we don't think he can play," Rutherford said. "It's part of the plan of what's the right way for him to develop and have the kind of confidence to be a really, really good player when he's here and he's a regular."

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