Fansided Mock Draft – Cardiac Cane Selects Teuvo Teravainen

Fansided.com has decided to do a mock draft with all of its’ NHL teams in preparation for the 2012 NHL Entry Draft in Pittsburgh on June 22nd through June 23rd. It will be the 50th anniversary of the draft, and the Canes have the 8th overall pick in the first round, the 38th and 47th pick overall (second round), 69th overall (third round), 99th and 115th overall (fourth round), 129th overall (fifth round), 159th overall (sixth round) and 189th overall (seventh round). As interesting as it would be to do all seven rounds (more like picking names out of a hat), we’ll only be doing the first round. With that said, with the eighth overall pick in the Fansided NHL Mock Draft, Cardiac Cane is pleased to select Teuvo Teravainen from Jokerit in Finland….and you thought Ponikarovsky was hard to spell and pronounce.

Teravainen is a 5’11”, 165-pound winger from Helsinki, Finland and played in 40 games with Jokerit last season, registering 18 points (11G, 7A) and was a -5. Teravainen was selected 23rd overall by Yaroslavl Lokomotiv (yes, that Lokomotiv) in the 2011 KHL Junior draft. Playing for the Jokerit under-16 team, he racked up 35 points (16G) through 11 games, as well as 17 points in 12 playoff games. He is ranked anywhere from 5th to 10th from various draft projections, which would fit right into the Canes’ drafting position. Hockeyprospectus.com describes him as follows:

"He’s a smart, creative player who knows how to miss checks and open up lanes. Tervainen has plus vision and regularly makes very aware distributions with regular moments of flash in his playmaking. He’s the kind of player who scouts describe as “a player who sees everything.” Teravainen has above-average finishing skills as well. While he usually on the power play creates plays from the right side, he can also open up his hips and wind up a big one-timer. He’s small guy and that’s his main issue, but he does have a decent compete level although it’s hard to see his physical game being more than replacement level. If he improves his strength significantly however as he grows, I could possibly see that aspect getting to a half-grade above that level. His compete level shows up at both ends as he backchecks well, and overall despite his size, I tend to be pretty impressed with his defensive game although I’ve heard conflicting things about it. Teravainen commonly is listed as a winger, but I’ve also seen him play center with some effectiveness."

Why the Canes will draft him:

Teravainen would eventually help out on the power play, which is an area that the Canes have struggled with in the last few seasons. He seems to be pretty sound defensively and can also play center if need be. While on the smaller size, he still has some room to grow and could easily add 20-30 pounds, which would certainly help him out on the defensive side of the puck. It’s rare for Jim Rutherford to pick a defenseman within his first round pick in the last several years, with the exceptions of Ryan Murphy last year, Jack Johnson in 2005 (we all know how that went). The draft is rather defense-heavy, so if Rutherford wanted to pick up a defenseman, I wouldn’t be surprised to pick one up with one of the two picks he has in the second round. Plus, we all know that more Finns equal more wins.

What might deter Carolina from drafting him:

Simply put, his size. He’s small. Smaller than Jeff Skinner small. At 5’11” and 170, he’s one of the smallest players in the draft. Sure, he could add on a few pounds before training camp, but unless he has the elusive ability like Skinner does, it should be a huge red flag for Canes management. He also has some issues defensively, but that could always be taught by the coaching staff. Mainly due to his size, some draft prospects have him going later in the first round (25th-30th or so). He’s certainly a risk, but could turn into a huge reward if put in the right opportunity to succeed.

A look at Teravainen at work:

The Winnipeg Jets and Hockey at the Forks are now on the clock…

Who do you think the Canes will draft with the number 8 spot? Do you think they’ll even keep that pick or trade it away? Feel free to discuss in comments! Until then, feel free to check us out on Facebook at CardiacCane. Also, be sure to follow Cardiac Cane writers on Twitter at: @CardiacCaneFS, @caniaccaz and @caniac176