Picard eager for fresh start with Canes

Alexandre Picard grew up in Gatineau, Quebec, just across the river from Ottawa, and was playing for his hometown team, the Ottawa Sentators.

The Sens are leading the Northeast Division after beating the Washington Capitals 6-5 Thursday. With a 35-22-4 record after a 9-1-0 run, they should be playoff-bound.

Given all that, one would think it would hard to leave. Not so, Picard said today after the trade to the Hurricanes that he said will give him a fresh start.

"I was pretty excited," Picard said. "It has been a rough couple of weeks here in Ottawa for me. Didn't get to play much.

"So obviously I was pretty happy to go to a team where they wanted me and I'll get a chance to play, too."

Picard, 24, averaged 19 minutes of ice time in 45 games this season for the Sens, but averaged about 16 minutes in his last four games. He was minus-2 in the win over the Caps, although he did have an assist.

Picard was drafted in the third round by the Philadelphia Flyers in 2003. He played 62 games for the Flyers in 2006-2007, then was traded to Tampa Bay in February 2008 in the deal that brough Vaclav Prospal to the Lightning. In August 2008, Tampa Bay sent Picard, Filip Kuba and a first-round pick to Ottawa for Andrej Meszaros.

"I'm a big defenseman who can play both ways," he said. "I'm pretty good with the puck. I have a good transition game which applies very well to the new rules in the NHL. I'm still young, I'm still learning to play really well defensively, and I pride myself on that."

Picard said he knows little of the Raleigh area or North Carolina. He said he was told that the Canes have a young team that's rebuilding and "not far from being good again."

"He's a good, solid defenseman at a fairly young age," Canes general manager Jim Rutherford said. "He should help the Hurricanes in the future."