Carolina Hurricanes 2015 draft class building steam

With the NHL Draft coming up and the Carolina Hurricanes looking to draft 28th, we take another look back to earlier draft classes, this time 2015.

Building on the success of the 2014 draft class, the Carolina Hurricanes struck gold again in 2015, taking a potential superstar in the second round and a solid defender with their first-round pick. Sebastian Aho is a potential superstar, and his presence alone makes the class outstanding.

Carolina had the fifth overall pick, which they used on defenseman Noah Hanifin out of Boston College. He didn’t take long to make his mark, playing in 79 games in 2015-16 with four goals and 18 assists.

He played in 81 and 79 games each of the next two seasons, upping his production to 29 and 32 points. Last summer, after Bill Peters opted out of his contract in Carolina to take over in Calgary, Hanifan was one of a handful of Hurricanes who followed the coach. Hanifan was part of the deal that brought Dougie Hamilton and Micheal Ferland to Carolina, and he continued increasing his production this season with the Flames, totalling 33 points.

While Hanifan appears set for a long career in the NHL, he has been eclipsed by the Canes’ second-round pick. Aho was a bit of an unknown when Carolina took him with the 35th overall pick. He had just finished his first full season in Liiga, Finland’s top pro league, leading Karpat to the championship.

He returned to Karpat for the 2015-16 season and finished with 45 points (20 goals, 25 assists) in 45 games, then led Finland to a silver medal finish at the IIHF World Championship. He had three goals and four assists in 10 games for Finland.

He came to Carolina after that season, and has been a fixture in the lineup since. In three seasons with the Canes, Aho has improved each season and also proven to be a durable player. He played in every game as a rookie and again this season and missed only four games in 2017-18. His production has increased every year, from 49 points as a rookie to 65 last year and 83 this season, including a team-high 30 goals.

He was named to the NHL All-Star team this year, the first of what should be many in a long career. Still only 21, Aho could go down as the best player in franchise history, assuming GM Don Waddell can sign him to a long-term extension this summer.

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Two more players could eventually make their marks in Carolina. Fourth-round selections goalie Callum Booth and center Nicolas Roy could be mainstays in the future, perhaps as soon as next year for Roy, who appeared in six games for the Canes this season. He’s scored 38 and 36 points in the last two seasons for the Checkers and should at least get a long look at training camp this summer.

Booth’s development will be a little slower. He made 36 starts in goal this season, splitting the season between the Florida Everblades and Reading Royals of the East Coast Hockey League and the Checkers. Depending on how the goalie situation plays out, he could wind up being in Charlotte next season.

Several players taken in the lower rounds opted to attend college and their future with the organization is not clear.

Grade: A.

Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner went 1-2-4 in this draft and have lived up to the billing, but you can make the case that Aho is the fourth-best player in this class, a bargain considering he was taken 35th overal. The Carolina Hurricanes hit a home run with his selection. While Hanifan is no longer with the franchise, he leads all players from this class in games played in the NHL and looks to be a solid player for years to come. If either Booth or Roy develop into legit NHL players, this will be another solid class for the Canes.

Missed out on: It’s hard to argue Carolina missed out on anybody in this class considering the production provided by their first two picks. They didn’t have a third-round pick, and both their fourth-round picks–Roy and Booth–could still become solid NHL players. Columbus did strike gold with Markus Nutivaara in the seventh round. He’s become a solid defenseman for the Blue Jackets.

Bust: It’s too early to categorize anyone as a bust yet.