Brandon Sutter thought he was going to be on a team that was going to the post-season but he didn't think it would be in Pittsburgh.

Carolina dealt Sutter Friday night to Pittsburgh, along with Brian Dumoulin and the eighth overall pick, in exchange for Jordan Staal, and it was a move that caught him off-guard.

Sutter spoke with the media Monday afternoon to answer questions about relocating to Pittsburgh.

"I really didn't see it coming at all, so it was a bit of a shock to the system especially the last couple of days," Sutter said. "But I think now I'm a little bit relaxed and I'm getting kind of excited about it."

Sutter has made his mark in the league as a solid defensive player, his career high in goals (21) and assists (19) came in the 2009-10 season. Adding to those numbers is something that he feels he could have done in Carolina if given more of that responsibility.

"I felt like I was stuck, they always were expecting me to be good defensively which is fine but in terms of offense they never really gave me much, you know there wasn't a whole lot of opportunity," said Sutter. "I think that comes with playing with different guys and maybe different chemistry."

While Sutter has respect around the league for his defensive prowess, he'd like to expand his resume.

"I think for myself I don't want to be looked at as just a defensive player, I want to score goals and do things too," Sutter said. "I think in the past where I've had opportunity to play a little bit of power player here and there and it has helped. I'm obviously very comfortable on the penalty kill and checking and stuff like that and if you can combine the two you can turn yourself into a pretty good player."

Even though Sutter would like to provide more offense, the 23 year old center is sliding right into the role that he has filled with Carolina. He thinks that will make the transition to his new team easier.

"The role I'm going to I'm very comfortable with and it's a role I like to play. I enjoy playing against some of other teams better players and trying to outplay them and that's the challenge. I can remember coming into Pittsburgh and having to play against Crosby or Malkin, which wasn't always a ton of fun, but you try to find ways to do it," said Sutter. "I'm looking forward to being on the other side of that now."

While the shock of the trade might be wearing off, Sutter was appreciative of his time in the Hurricanes organization and the fan base in the Triangle.

"There are lots of good things about Carolina, you know the organization and the fans were great to me," Sutter said. "It definitely came as a surprise this summer, but it's part of the business and I have to move on and it's a new chapter for me. I definitely want to say thanks to the Carolina organization, all the fans, the players and the staff that were unbelievable to me and really helped me out the first couple of the years. I just want to say thanks."