Carolina Hurricanes’ Felix Unger Sorum might get laughs about his name, but not his game
When the Carolina Hurricanes made forward Felix Unger Sorum out of Sweden a second-round pick in this year’s NHL draft, he was 17 and the youngest player eligible to be selected.
Unger Sorum is also thought to be the youngest player in any NHL preseason training camp this year, and was in the Canes’ lineup Tuesday for their first preseason game, a 5-2 win over Tampa Bay at PNC Arena.
“He’s a young kid playing in the big leagues,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said Tuesday morning.
And after the game? Unger Sorum, who turned 18 on Sept. 14, was the first player mentioned by Brind’Amour.
“I thought the youngest kid on the ice was pretty good,” he said. “Actually, I wasn’t sure. He just turned 18 and you weren’t sure how he was going to take the moment. It looked like he had no problem. He was hanging on to pucks, almost too much at times, trying to make plays.
“But you like to see that, especially in these kinds of games. So he was solid. You don’t teach some things (like) that kind of poise. Some guys just have it and you can see he has it. And he’s just a kid.”
Unger Sorum was on the top line centered by Ryan Suzuki with Jamieson Rees at left wing, and was used on the No. 1 power-play unit as nearly all of the Canes regulars sat out the game. He assisted on a Caleb Jones goal late in the first period with a nice pass off the wall to give Carolina a 2-1 lead.
“It has been very good and helpful being here,” Unger Sorum said of training camp in an N&O interview this week. “It’s good to be around NHL players and watch them and learn and see how you can be a better player.
“One thing I know is I need is to get the strength and more weight. I’ve been gaining weight each year and must continue to do that.”
At 5-11 and 170 pounds, Unger Sorum does come across as a slight, lanky guy on the ice, even though he has been able to take some hits to make plays. In one practice, he had forward Zach Aston-Reese, a big, strong guy, closing in on him in a corner but was able to hold on to the puck and center a pass to the crease.
“You wouldn’t think he was a kid who just turned 18 from watching him when he’s out there,” Brind’Amour said Monday. “He certainly doesn’t look out of place.”
Nor does he feel out of place.
“It’s just hockey,” Unger Sorum said. “It’s what I do, play hockey. I just want to show what I can do.”
Unger Sorum, born in Norway, is a relative latecomer to the sport. While an older brother, Niklas, played hockey in Norway, Felix said he did not get into his first competitive games until he was 14, after years of concentrating on soccer and floorball.
On draft day, it was easy for some to joke about his name — Felix Unger, like the “Odd Couple” — or talk about his youth and overlook the attributes he has as a hockey player. Playing last season for the Leksands junior team while also making a seven-game appearance with Leksands IF in the Swedish Hockey League, Unger Sorum showed the ability to make nice plays in tight places on the ice.
While not a big scorer, he had 55 points in 49 regular-season and playoff games for the Leksands junior team. Forty-one of the points were assists.
Unger Sorum signed a three-year entry level contract with Carolina and attended the Canes’ prospects camp in July. He was with the Canes team in the Rookie Showcase in Estero, Florida, before the team’s training camp began.
Unger Sorum said he expects to return to Leksands this season and hopes to be selected for Sweden’s U20 World Junior Championship team.
“That’s my goal,” he said. “It’s not my expectation but it is my goal.”
Unger Sorum attended a World Junior Showcase in August and reportedly performed well for the Swedish team, although he termed his play “just OK.”
Playing for Sweden’s U18 junior team, Unger Sorum did have one memorable goal. He scooped up the puck on the back of his blade and scored with a lacrosse move.
“That’s something I had tried a lot in practice but not in a game,” he said.
Told the Canes’ Andrei Svechnikov had done it twice in NHL games, that Canes fans call it “The Svech,” Unger Sorum smiled. It was almost like he was already dreaming the dream.
