You'd be remiss if you thought Day 2 of the draft was going to be chaotic after how quickly it started for the Hurricanes. Almost immediately, the Canes turned the 34th pick into two more picks in the second round, bringing them to three to start the day. It was setting the stage for what could be a crazy day for the team.
Instead, that was about as much excitement as we got. Outside of one more trade in the third round, the rest of the day went off without anything else spectacular happening. A two-hour, 96-pick gap between picks likely helped that, too. The Hurricanes made four more selections in the final five rounds. Meet the rest of the 2025 Carolina Hurricanes draft class.
Kurban Limatov (LHD, 3rd Round- 67th Overall)
By all accounts, the Hurricanes' scouting department might've done it again. They must be confident if they traded up to select him. Elite Prospects ranked Russian defenseman Kurban Limatov 33rd overall, while the NHL's scouting department listed him as the ninth-best international skater in the class. He's a very mobile defender at 6'3" in Russia's junior league.
I know a number of teams had Kurban Limatov rated as a first round calibre asset.
— Cam Robinson (@Hockey_Robinson) June 28, 2025
The Hurricanes scoop him at No. 67.
The Russian wave continues in Carolina
Spending most of his season in the MHL, Limatov made his KHL debut in January, if you can call it that, playing just 52 seconds. He scored 23 points in 48 games with Dynamo Moscow's junior team. Limatov skates well and hits hard, but it'll take time for him to make the jump. One thing we know for sure is that the Hurricanes aren't afraid of taking Russians.
Roman Bausov (RHD, 3rd Round- 87th Overall)
The Russian trend continued with their fifth pick, selecting another defenseman from the MHL. Roman Bausov is a massive player, standing 6'5" as one of the tallest players in this year's draft. It fits an overall trend that we saw in the draft at large, with many teams trying to add size over skill to emulate the Florida Panthers' rise.
This pick is not the flashiest as Bausov is not expected to be a dynamic, offensive player. He scored just two goals and 11 points in 41 games last season with Dynamo St. Petersburg's junior team. He looks to be a shutdown right-shot defenseman with plenty of length. His path to North America is a little uncertain, so the Canes must really see something.
Viggo Nordlund (LW, 6th Round- 183rd Overall)
This is a prospect most people either really liked or really didn't, contributing to his potential "boom-or-bust" status. Swedish winger Viggo Nordlund has been very effective on offense during his last two seasons in Sweden's junior league. He was over a point-per-game this season, scoring 24 goals and 49 points in 40 games while wearing an "A" for his group.
The first thing many people will point to is his size at 5'9", but his offensive skill set might be enough to overlook that. Nordlund got a little time in the SHL, Sweden's top league, though he finished with just one assist in 15 contests. There's always a chance he doesn't pan out, but the Canes taking a flyer on him this late in the draft could be another worthwhile gamble.
Filip Ekberg (RW, 7th Round- 221st Overall)
With their final pick, and the fourth-to-last in the draft, the Hurricanes took another undersized winger from Sweden. Filip Ekberg turned heads at the U18 Championships, scoring a tournament-high ten goals and 18 points for the silver medalists. He had at least one point in every game until getting shut out in the Gold Medal Game by Canada.
His numbers with the Ottawa 67s in the OHL don't leap off the page, scoring 16 goals and 45 points in 53 games, but Ekberg got hot at the end of the season, going on an 11-game point streak. Like Nordlund, his size will be his heaviest anchor, though there are concerns about his game translating in North America. Ekberg is a great value pick in the seventh round.
Final Thoughts
The Hurricanes appeared to have a couple of themes throughout the day on Saturday. It started with them taking four Russians in their first five picks. It ended with a pair of small Swedish scorers. The odd man out is Charlie Cerrato, who fits into neither mold. It's hard to know exactly how well the Hurricanes did with the draft having just ended, so grading it is futile.
As they're known to do, the Canes' staff took calculated risks and found excellent value in all seven of their selections. They weren't nearly as aggressive as I'd hoped they'd be, falling short of my eight-selection guarantee. Still, they created a strong seven-pick contingent to build around. There's plenty of potential within this group. Now, they have to put in the work to reach the NHL.