The Carolina Hurricanes selected 12 players in the 2019 draft. How have their seasons gone, and what could their futures hold?
First off, note that this article will feature the first 4 players drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes in 2019, with another article of their following 4 picks coming tomorrow, and the final 4 on Wednesday. If you’re wondering why I’m splitting it in into 3 separate articles – I like to go in-depth with my prospect analysis, to give the reader a clear view of a prospect’s radius as well as limit reader fatigue (analyzing 12 prospects would make for A LOT of reading at once).
Without further ado – the Carolina Hurricanes made a total of 12 selections in the 2019 draft, and as such were able to address a lot of positions of need in their prospect system, and added multiple players with various different skill sets to their group.
With a little bit of wheeling and dealing, plus trading back on draft day, the Carolina Hurricanes managed to own 7 of the first 99 picks in the draft. By the time the draft had concluded; the Carolina Hurricanes added 8 forwards (4 listed at center!), 3 defensemen, and a goaltender to their already formidable prospect group.
Immediately after the draft, the Canes’ selections were met with high praise and acclaim from scouts and prospect analysts. Scott Wheeler, whom recently ranked the Canes’ prospect system the third best amongst NHL teams, said the following about the Canes’ 2019 draft class:
"“In six years of doing this, I have never been as impressed with a team’s performance at the draft as I am by Carolina’s this weekend.” – Scott Wheeler, The Athletic."
Chris Peters of ESPN said:
"“Considering this team was just in the Eastern Conference finals, the Canes had an absurd amount of picks — seven in the top 100, and even added a 2020 first-rounder in the Patrick Marleau trade — and I loved the value they got.”"
Finally, credentialed Athletic prospect guru Corey Pronman also felt very strongly about the class:
"“Carolina already had a strong, deep farm and this weekend helped reaffirm that they have one of the best pipelines in the league.”"
Obviously, the validation of how good their draft class from analysts speaks volumes about the scouting ability of Eric Tulsky and Darren Yorke, whom both play a huge role in that department for the team. But as we’ve seen over the years, just because players are highly touted and initially praised doesn’t mean they’ll develop into NHL players.
It’s too early to decide on that on way for another for the Canes draft class – a lot of these kids are only 18 – but let’s take a look at how they’ve developed this season, what their skill sets are and how they may project at the NHL level.