Ruutu happy to be back

Tuomo Ruutu is one happy man.

The Canes' forward has a new contract that will pay him $11.4 million over the next three years. He's healthy. He's coming off a regular season in which he had career highs with 26 goals,
28 assists and 54 points, then added a goal and three assists during the run to the Eastern Conference finals.

"I wasn't too worried about it," Ruutu, who was a restricted free agent, said of the contract. "I don't worry about that stuff too much. I know everything is going to get solved and everything will work out well in the end."

Ruutu, slowed by an ankle injury late in the playoffs, spent most of the summer break in Finland, healing up and spending time with family and friends. He worked at the RecZone for the first time Thursday, joining fellow Finn Joni Pitkanen.

"I took it easy right after the season because it was a long season and my first playoffs," he said. "But I've been skating for a while now. To be honest, I'd rather skate than work out at the gym."

Ruutu kept abreast of the Canes' offseason acquistions and likes the look of the team and its makeup heading into a new season.

"The main core is still the same but I think the changes ae great," he said. "The way we played at the end of the season, if we can start close to that I think we can have a really good season.

"We were one of the four best teams in the league. If we can improve on that, the sky's the limit. I felt like last season we were getting better all the time."