Jim Rutherford Player Quotations

Signing a player is different for each team. You have to take into consideration what is a good fit for your individual team's situation.

He has been an elite player for many, many years in this league, especially in the playoffs. I think that once you get to the playoffs, it's very important to have guys who've been there to help the other guys along.

He is a big, strong, aggressive player who should develop into a power forward who will play an important role in the future success of our franchise,

Justin is a young player who we anticipate will play a significant role on our team. He brings a good deal of NHL experience to our group of young forwards, and has demonstrated that he can develop into a top-level NHL player.

Aside from being this franchise's all-time best player on the ice, Ron has been an example of class and dedication throughout his brilliant career to his teammates and in the communities where he has played.

Doug didn't put points up immediately when he came. He played fine. He didn't play at the level he was capable of, but he factored in some games. He scored a shootout goal to help us win in Boston. But now in the last four games, he's back to the level of player he was in St. Louis. Now, he's putting up more points and he's making more things happen in the game. Clearly, there was an adjustment period, but he's pretty much through it.

Cory has been a consistent offensive player throughout his NHL career. He was a key member of Tampa Bay's power play, and we will look for him to do the same for our team.

When you draft a player and you see him play a year in the league, you have an idea of whether he has a chance of being a special player,

We'll have to see how it plays out and how he's coming along, but certainly he's on the bubble of playing for the Hurricanes. He's a very good player, the type of player that's hard to find in that he's big and strong, and plays the game really hard on every shift.

The obvious difference from two years ago is age and maturity but also strength, confidence, and he has a very powerful stride, which is very advantageous to him when he's trying to pull away from a player or beat a player one on one. And he really sees the ice well.

There were a lot of hurdles in dealing with this because he had a no-trade, but we finally got it done. Doug Weight making the decision to come here when he had a few options with other teams that he knew that he could possibly go to I really feel speaks volumes for this franchise at this point and time. And now we have the most sought-after player that was available in the league leading up to the trade deadline accepting a trade to come to Carolina, and I think that this proves that this franchise is moving in the right direction.