The Hurricanes have loved Tuomo Ruutu's intangibles from the moment he arrived at the trade deadline in 2008 -- his physical play, his honestly, his leadership, his hustle.

That's why they tried so hard to re-sign him when they could easily have dealt him to a contender for a relatively significant return, maybe even the player and first-round pick the Hurricanes were demanding.

The Hurricanes wanted Ruutu to stay. Ruutu wanted to stay. They found common ground Wednesday when Ruutu agreed to a four-year, $19 million contract extension. And the moment he signed that deal to stay here, the bar for Ruutu was set a little higher.

Canes defenseman Tim Gleason called constant trade speculation a "nightmare" after signing a contract extension Monday that put it to an end.

Tuomo Ruutu? The forward now has moved closer to the center of the trade storm. Ruutu said today he has had no contract negotiations with Canes management, but said he's not affected or burdened by the trade rumors floating about the NHL.

"I've heard rumors I'm going to every team in the NHL," a smiling Ruutu said after the morning skate at the RBC Center. "I must be really playing well.

"You hear rumors but I think everybody is different. We're all human. Some guys take it more seriously, some take it less seriously. Everybody has their own way of dealing with it. I hear about stuff but there's nothing I can really do, so ..."

My column for tomorrow's paper is about the changes Kirk Muller has made to the power play, and how they're starting to show results, but the comparison between what he's doing here and what he did in Montreal last season bears some further examination.

Montreal's efficiency jumped four percentage points in the final 35 regular-season and playoff games, and P.K. Subban scored seven of his 11 power-play goals over that span. Over the past four games, Carolina is converting at a 24.0 percent clip, up from 12.2 percent under Paul Maurice.

Muller has given new roles to Justin Faulk and Tim Brent on the first unit, and he's starting to see results.

Tuomo Ruutu claimed gold at the IIHF World Championships as Finland crushed Sweden 6-1 in the championship game Sunday.

Ruttu and Jeff Skinner finished tied for 25th in tournament scoring with six points each, while Ruutu's six goals tied him for third in the tournament.

A member of our online staff noticed an anomaly this morning: A Canes story from Nov. 11 was getting an extraordinary number of hits, rising to No. 1 on our website.

The reason? That five-month-old story has a photo gallery that includes a picture of Tuomo Ruutu's girlfriend, Emilia Holm (that's her, on the right, with Sini Pitkanen), and the hits were all coming from Finland.

DALLAS — Carolina Hurricanes forward Jussi Jokinen always looked up to countryman Dallas Stars Jere Lehtinen, who announced his retirement from hockey Wednesday.

Jokinen said he learned a lot from Lehtinen when the two were teammates in Dallas from 2005 to 2008.

Both are from Finland.

"One of the best things that happened to me when I came to this league was being his roommate my first year," Jokinen said after Friday's morning practice at American Airlines Center, where the Hurricanes will play the Stars tonight at 8:30 p.m.

If the Canes' lines from today's practice hold for Friday's game against the Dallas Stars, Tuomo Ruutu will be a winger on Eric Staal's line. That's fine with Ruutu.

"It hasn't been that long. I still remember how to play it," Ruutu said, smiling. "There's a little difference on the defensive end but that's about it. Obviously there are a few other differences, but that's the biggest."

Ruutu has been centering rookie Jeff Skinner and veteran Erik Cole, and the line has been productive. But Canes coach Paul Maurice made the change during Saturday's game in Nashville, shifting Ruutu to give Staal a big body on the wing.

"I enjoyed it but I enjoy playing the wing as well," Ruutu said of playing center.

WASHINGTON  -- Carolina Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice conceded Sunday that the time probably has come to reevaluate the players he sends out in shootouts.

"At some point you have to," he said.

The Canes are at that point. For the third time in five games, Carolina lost a shootout Sunday as Washington's Alex Ovechkin had the only shootout goal in the Caps' 3-2 victory at Verizon Center.

Jeff Skinner, Jussi Jokinen and Tuomo Ruutu all came up empty for the Canes against Caps goalie Semyon Varlamov.

"There's not a lot of guys we're holding back on the bench, who have done it a while or really shown they've had success with it, " Maurice said.

PHILADELPHIA  — Canes coach Paul Maurice wasn't sure until today's morning skate how his centermen might line up tonight.

Tuomo Ruutu has been bothered by a lower-body concern for a few games. Maurice wanted to take a good look at Ruutu at the skate before making any decisions about tonight's game against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center.

But Ruutu was moving well and good to go. He'll again center the line with Jeff Skinner and Erik Cole.

"He feels better today than he has for the week," Maurice said of Ruutu. "Not skating yesterday helped."

Canes forward Tuomo Ruutu underwent successful shoulder surgery today, the team has announced.

The surgery was performed by Dr. Marty Isbell at Rex Surgery Center in Cary. Ruutu will require four to five months of rehabilitation.

Ruutu had 14 goals and had 21 assists (35 points) in 54 games this and leads the the Canes' forwards in hits.