'He's fearless': Felix Unger Sorum Impressing Even In New Position

Despite being moved to center this year, Carolina Hurricanes prospect Felix Unger Sorum is continuing to standout.

Last season, Carolina Hurricanes prospect Felix Unger Sorum was the darling of the pre-season, being among the final roster cuts after a standout performance.

Due to that, it only felt right that coming into this year, the freshly turned 19-year-old be a top candidate for a jump to the roster.

However, Unger Sorum was in for a bit of a surprise this season: a move to a new position.

"We put him at center just to see how camp went," Brind'Amour said. " You've got a special player there and I think he might be better suited to play center just with the way he's built and the way he thinks the game."

The Canes wanted the winger to try his hand at center and they felt like now was the best time to experiment.

"I think we can always put him back on the wing," Brind'Amour said. "That's not a hard transition. We just don't want to be sitting here two years from now going, 'Let's put him at center.' That wouldn't be the right thing to do."

The Norwegian-born, Swedish national has been a winger his whole life. He's been put in the center before, but never as a permanent thing.

The last time he remembered playing center? When he was 14.

Now, he's just trying to take in as much info as he can and see what he can do.

"He's really taken the challenge on," Brind'Amour said. "We think he can be an elite player, so let's see if he can adapt and play that position. We definitely see a skilled player there that sees the ice well and maybe has a good makeup to be a good center. He's going to be a good player so we'll just see how that develops."

While this could be seen as a bump in the road for Unger Sorum, who might have been able to make a better case for himself to make the team this year as a wing, he's been excited by the challenge.

"I'm just trying to learn as much as I can," Unger Sorum said. "It's new for me, but I'm just trying to make the best of it and just take tips from everybody and everything. It's been fun so far."

It isn't easy to play center at the NHL level and few have as lofty expectations for the position than Rod Brind'Amour.

"The responsibilities are never ending," Brind'Amour said. "You have to be dialed in right from the faceoff. When you get in there, it starts with you. Taking charge in the D-zone, it's always the centers who do the bulk of that. There's just a lot of responsibilities. It's hard to play any position, but center is one of the tougher ones."

Another one of those responsibilities is winning in the faceoff dot.

"I've been practicing faceoffs after practices," Unger Sorum said. "It's something really new to me. I've barely done it since I was 13, 14 years old so I'm trying to get a lot of tips from a lot of players here. I'm working on it every day."

In his first game, the young forward went 3-for-9. The next, 3-for-10. However, against an NHL-heavy Nashville Predators lineup, he went 5-for-8.

That was also the night he had a three-point performance.

"I think he's done really well, especially considering that he's never played the position before," Brind'Amour said. "It's different if he had played it as a kid, but he really hasn't. We're asking a lot but I think now is the time to do that."

While it was a bit of a slow start to the year for Unger Sorum, he's just continually gotten better and better with each passing game.

"He's fearless," Brind'Amour said. "He's just a kid still and learning a new position and all that, but I think there's still a lot of room for growth when he gets stronger naturally and figures out the game a little bit, because he's still asking a lot of questions and he should. We're excited about him.

Not only is Unger Sorum being asked to learn center, but he's also still trying to learn the NHL game too. 

North American hockey is a lot different than hockey in Europe, so there's even more that he's having to learn.

"It's a lot of board game," Unger Sorum said of the change. "A lot of battle in the boards compared to Sweden, so that's really new for me. A lot of dump-ins and rims. I'm trying to learn that."

But already, you can see a player that is learning, absorbing and adapting at a very quick pace.

"He's got a great head on his shoulders," Brind'Amour said. "He's still just a kid, so we have to be mindful of that. He has to get bigger and faster and stronger, but that's all stuff that will come, for sure. You can't really teach the stuff that he has, which is great hockey sense."

Unger Sorum is a very intelligent player who sees the ice so well and when you can think the game fast, everything else comes easier.

While he may not make the team this season, with another year or two to develop in the AHL getting bigger, stronger and smarter, I can see Unger Sorum setting himself up for a path to stardom.

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