"Carolina Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford said Thursday he has met with forward Tuomo Ruutu to discuss Ruutu's future with the team, and said a decision should be reached next week.

Rutherford said Ruutu, due to become an unrestricted free agent after the season ends, expressed a desire to stay with the team and in Raleigh.

"These meetings are to see where the player is at, what they think of the team, whether he likes being in the organization, those things," Rutherford said by phone from Denver, Colo. "Tuomo is a player we really like, and he said he likes being with the team. That's an important first step and we had a good meeting."