We've heard about the Canes' prospect conditioning camp this week from a player's perspective. But what about the other side?

Here's what Ron Francis, who fills the dual role of associate head coach and director of player personnel, had to say about the camp, the benefit of having the prospects come in and the Canes' top two draft picks:

"The biggest thing is getting an understanding of who they are and what they're about. Some of these kids I've seen play before and some I haven't. It's first opportunity to put a face with a name and have that contact, so if I see them play in juniors or college or Albany or wherever, they know who I am and I know who they are.

"Other than that, just watch them on the ice and try to pick up certain things or habits they do that maybe we can tinker with or change. Things they do well, we can compliment them on.

"These guys are going through four pretty tough days. They get a ton of information, which is great, but they also do a ton of work. We get them a lot of times at the end of the day (at the RecZone) when they're kind of beat up and sore and tired. We're not expecting perfection out there but we ask them to work hard and relax and have fun with it.

"They're not going to make or not make the team based on what they do this week. But with the information they learn from this week, if they put that to use it will go a long ways to them having a successful career and accomplishing what they want to do, which is playing in the NHL.

"They go through a lot of stuff in the course of the day. We're going to know by the testing they do and we're able to tell by day two, day three, which guys are in the better shape because of the grind they're going through and how it will affect them. The key for them is to really learn a lot here, everything from types of workouts, whether it's running stairs or riding a bike or running on a track, whether it's lifting weights, flexibility, core stuff.

"There's also educational stuff and nutrition information, from going to the grocery store and knowing how to read a label to legal advice to sleep habits to eye testing. There's all kinds of things we try to educate them on. Then it's up to them to take the information that they gain this week and incorporate that with (strength and conditioning coach) Pete (Friesen) and the program to make them the best player they possibly can be.

"It's interesting to test a guy now and test him in September. It gives us a pretty good indication of who in this camp learned and worked hard and which ones didn't."

Francis offered these thoughts on the Canes' top two draft picks:

(Forward Philippe Paradis, drafted No. 27 in the first round)

"He's a big kid. He's got a real good shot. It's tough, I think, for a guy like him who likes to get that physical part of the game going. In a camp like this it's more skill development. You don't get to bang and grind. But a real good kid. Good attitude. For a first impression it was good."

(Defenseman Brian Dumoulin, drafted in the second round)

"A big boy, too. The interesting thing for him is he doesn't turn 18 until September. He's a big kid and a lot of times you see those kind of guys have trouble skating, but I thought he did a good job with his skating aspects. As he gets stronger and fills out more I think he's going to be a real solid player for us."