Carolina Hurricanes Draft Picks for Draft Day 2
By Jenny Lana
Carolina Hurricanes draft seven on day two without trading players.
The Carolina Hurricanes had an uneventful day 2 of the 2016 draft. By uneventful I mean that Ron Francis didn’t make any trades. I’m sure we all remember the infamous Jordan Staal trade of 2012. Today was rather quiet compared to that, and with that I was grateful. We had 7 picks today in the draft. I don’t know about any of you but I am happy with our picks.
Janne Kuokkanen
Kuokkanen is a center from Finland. He has experience playing with fellow Finnishman and Carolina Hurricanes prospect Sebastian Aho. The director of amateur scouting for the Carolina Hurricanes, Tony MacDonald said “He’s a very skilled player. There’s a little bit of Sebastian Aho’s game in Janne Kuokkanen’s game. He’s a skilled player with good speed. He put up very impressive numbers in the Finnish junior league. We haven’t seen the best of what he has to offer yet. He’s going to develop into a real good prospect.”
Kuokkanen says Kuokkanen on how he patterns his game: “I’m a two-way centerman who can make plays. I don’t really model after anyone. I just try to find good, smart players and learn something from them.”
Matt Filipe
Filipe is a centerman who played for the Cedar Rapids in the USHL last season. He has already committed to Northeastern University. He is a power forward and physical, something that in my opinion the Carolina Hurricanes need more of. In a few years, Filipe will be a great asset to the team.
Hudson Elynuik
Hudson is the son of Pat Elynuik. He is currently the tallest player in the system standing at 6’5” and 201 pounds. Again, MacDonald says “He’s a big kid. He’s a ’97 and had some injury problems. All of that is behind him. He’s a big guy who can skate, and he’s got a little edge to his game. His offensive dimension is evolving and developing as he goes. … Players like that with that kind of size, who can skate and have some physicality to their game are always a nice addition to our stable of forwards.”
LaFontaine is a goaltender straight out of high school. On top of ample playing time, one of the benefits of playing for Janesville is that LaFontaine and his mates are only a half-hour drive from Madison, where the Wisconsin Badgers play, so NCAA games are a pastime on off-days.
Max Zimmer
Zimmer is a left winger who played for the Chicago USHL team.
Zimmer’s speed and skating ability are what most NHL teams are attracted to and are big reasons why he’s projected as an early-round pick in the 2016 draft. Yet, his goal is to take those skills and turn himself into a well-rounded two-way forward. Although he wasn’t taken early as some would have thought.
Jeremy Helvig
Helvig is a goaltender who played for the Kingston Frontenacs. He is the first Kingston goaltender to post two playoff shutouts in team history.
In the five-game first-round win against the Oshawa Generals, Helvig also became the first Kingston goalie with two shutouts in a series in the club’s 43-season history. Not too shabby for someone who was used in only 14 games as a rookie in ’14-15.
Noah Carroll
Noah Carroll is a 6’1” Defensemen. Carroll is the younger brother of former Guelph Storm captain Tyler Carroll who spent four seasons in Guelph and is currently playing with the University of New Brunswick.
MacDonald again said “He’s a kid that I’ve seen quite a bit of over the last two years. Modest statistics this year. Didn’t have a great season, but it was a young team that was rebuilding. They were struggling. He was part of that process. He’s done a lot of work over the latter part of the season.”
Next: Carolina Hurricanes add Defense and Scoring in First Round
Over all we have a young core group of guys who with some development, can and will be the future of the Carolina Hurricanes organization and I can not wait to see what they bring to the organization.