From my new blog, Talking Points:

This kind of slipped through the cracks last week, but I think there's a final word to be said about Zac Dalpe and his choice between college and junior hockey.

Read more here.

This kind of slipped through the cracks last week, but I think there's a final word to be said about Zac Dalpe and his choice between college and junior hockey.

The Canes won't have their second-round draft pick, forward Zac Dalpe, at training camp next month.

Dalpe informed the team Monday that he would attend Ohio State this year, Canes general manager Jim Rutherford said today. Rutherford said Dalpe was offered a contract.

Zac Dalpe paid his own way to this week’s prospect conditioning camp as an Ohio State recruit, to maintain his eligibility per NCAA rules. But he admits his mind isn’t fully made up yet.

The update Dalpe's tug-of-war between Ohio State and Plymouth (OHL) was one of several interesting notes from Wednesday's first day of Carolina's prospect conditioning camp.

The previously posted RecZone ice times for next week's prospect conditioning camp have been changed.

Carolina's prospects will now be on the ice from 4:45-5:45 p.m. each day, Wednesday through Saturday.

Fans can get a look at four of the Hurricanes' blue-chip prospects during their annual conditioning camp, which starts next week and runs through July 12.

Brandon Sutter, the Hurricanes' first-round pick in 2007 and their expected fourth-line center this season, headlines a group that also includes Wisconsin defenseman Jamie McBain, 2008 first-round pick Zach Boychuk and 2008 second-round pick Zac Dalpe.

Hurricanes second-round pick Zac Dalpe said after he was picked on Saturday that he intended to honor his commitment to Ohio State even though the Plymouth Whalers own his OHL rights.

The Whalers are owned by Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos, but it's probably just a coincidence that Whalers coach Greg Stefan, who until last December was the Hurricanes' goalie coach, is giving Dalpe the hard sell -- which is ruffling some feathers in Ohio.

The Hurricanes had a player in mind for their second-round pick when they went to bed Friday night. And they were right: That player — figure Jared Staal — was available when the 45th overall slot came around.

But so was Zac Dalpe, who was on the Hurricanes' list if they had traded down in the first round. They couldn't believe their good fortune.

"Where we were, we didn’t think we had a shot at him at all," Carolina amateur scouting director Tony MacDonald said. "We’re delighted he got through to us."