On life since the draft...
"Pretty hectic. A lot of fun. Special moment at the draft with my family, and friends watching back home as well. I'm super glad and super happy to be part of this organization."
On the moment of hearing his name called at the draft and being selected by Carolina...
"Of course, super fun to be drafted, something you always dreamed of. They won this year, so I couldn't be more excited. A lot of good things I'm hearing about this organization, so I'm super pumped to be here."
On the pressure of cracking the Cup champs' roster...
"There should be pressure where you play. It's more fun to play hockey where there's pressure, where people care. I have no problem with that, it's just fun that people care about the organization and the sport."
On joining an organization that has a reputation for good defensemen...
"They have six good D on the roster, even more [in the organization], so if I come here, I'll learn a lot. I mean, they have Slavin, that's someone I look up to a lot and watch him. I just want to learn everything. It's great that they have so many (defensemen), and I'm looking forward to getting here."
On who he models his game after, in addition to Slavin...
"[Niko] Mikkola on the Panthers, I like him a lot. Big guy, tough out there. Slavin and Mikkola are the two guys I try to model my game after."
Describing his style of play...
"Tough, big D. Good reach. Try to use my stick a lot and move the puck forward. [I try to] close plays, [and keep a] good gap. Not that hard, [I play a] pretty simple game: get the puck forward and don't let in any goals."
On where he'll be next year...
"I have some development left; this was my first year of pro hockey. I think I did good this year, and we'll see what happens next year. Hopefully, I'll come here as soon as possible."
On what was new to him at development camp...
"The skating was really hard. (The skating coach) was amazing out there. She just floats around and you feel like you've never been on skates before during those drills. Everything from the skating part [was something new], I can't really pick out one thing..."
On being called a prankster by some of his former teammates...
"I don't know, I just like having fun. I guess that's just part of my personality, so I try to bring it around everywhere I go."
