A Review of Hurricanes First Round Picks Part II: 2008-2017

On to part two of analyzing every Carolina Hurricanes first-round draft pick. This next lot has produced a mixed bag of hits and misses. Some of the players went on to become productive elsewhere and there were a few franchise-altering players the Hurricanes passed on in the process.

2008: Zach Boychuk  ( C ) 14th Overall 127 GP 12 G 18 A 16 PIM

The Hurricanes had a big miss in this draft by selecting undersized forward Zach Boychuk with their first pick.  Boychuk was supposed to be a dynamic and skilled offensive player; capable of not just scoring goals but also setting up his teammates.  He showed his ability as a point producer during his time in the WHL and also in every season he played in the AHL.  However, his game never translated to the NHL level, and never developed into the playmaker the ‘Canes believed he could be.  Sometimes players' games aren’t able to work at the highest level and Boychuk is a great example of this.  Never being able to stick to an NHL roster, Boychuk has left for Europe and has found a consistent home with Eisbären Berlin in the DEL.  The Hurricanes missed on two really good players that were taken after Boychuk.  The very next pick, Erik Karlsson (Ouch) was chosen by the Ottawa Senators, and towards the end of the first round, Jordan Eberle was chosen by the Edmonton Oilers. Having one of the best offensive defensemen of his generation go one pick later definitely hurts.  Assuming the ‘Canes wanted a forward, Eberle could have been a nice pick in this draft.

2009: Philippe Paradis ( C ) 27th Overall 0 GP 0 G 0 A 0 PIM

This pick can be filed under “What on earth were they thinking?”  It is easy to go revisionist for this pick knowing that he never made the NHL; but even at the time, it was a puzzling selection.  Paradis was never even a very good player in the QMJHL.  He never averaged over a point per game in any of his seasons in Jr. Hockey; something I think would be important for using a first-round draft selection. Thankfully, the ‘Canes management seemed to realize their error in judgment very quickly and traded Paradis to Toronto for Jiří Tlustý just 6 months later.  Also a first-round bust, Tlustý did enjoy his best seasons as a pro with the Hurricanes and was part of one of the best lines in the NHL during the lockout-shortened 2012-2013 season (Tlustý, Eric Staal and Alex Semin were amazing together that season).  With all that being said, being able to flip this pick for a few serviceable seasons from Tlustý can be seen as a win, but the act of selecting a player who would never play in the NHL is not good drafting.  Being a late first-round pick, there were no impact players taken in the first round after Paradis.  Ryan O’Reilly going 6 picks later in the 2nd round makes me a little sick. 

2010: Jeff Skinner (LW) 7th Overall 1006 GP 357 G 313 A 451 PIM

Jeff Skinner is a tricky selection to judge.  He came out of the gates firing, scoring 30 goals his rookie season en route to the Calder Trophy.  Skinner’s career stumbled a bit after the stellar first season, as he battled with concussion problems that limited his time on the ice. However, when Skinner did play, he was a goal-scoring sniper.  Arguably the best offensive weapon during the dark days of the early to mid-2010s, Skinner hit the 30-goal mark 3 times during his Hurricanes tenure.  However, scoring goals is virtually the only thing that Jeff Skinner did well.  He didn’t particularly care to play defensive zone hockey and was in line to command a high-dollar contract that the Hurricanes were not willing to give him.  The ‘Canes traded Skinner to the Sabres for a 2019 second-round pick (Kochetkov), a 2020 third-round pick (Alexander Nikishin), Cliff Pu, and a 2018 sixth-round pick (traded away).  Skinner continues to score goals but is fairly overpaid with a 9 million AAV for another 4 seasons.  Skinner has turned into a productive NHL player but the Hurricanes were wise to sell high when they did.  Assuming Kochetkov continues to develop and Nikishin comes over to the NHL and becomes the player he has shown to be in Russia, this trade will be a huge win for the Hurricanes.  Overall, I’m happy with this draft selection.  Other stars the Hurricanes missed during this draft include Ducks Defenseman Cam Fowler (12th Overall), the almost ‘Cane winger Vladimir Tarasenko (16th Overall), All-stars Kevin Hayes (24th Overall) and Brock Nelson (30th Overall), as well as current ‘Canes center Evgeny Kuznetsov (26th Overall).

Note: The Hurricanes actually drafted current goaltender Freddie Andersen in the 7th round of this draft

2012: No first round pick. Traded to Pittsburgh for Jordan Staal

This trade I think has worked out decently well for the Hurricanes. Staal has been a solid player throughout his career with the Hurricanes.  The Penguins chose defenseman Derrick Pouliot with the Hurricanes' pick (8th Overall). He has not become an impact NHL player.  If the Hurricanes kept their pick, they could have chosen Jacob Trouba (9th Overall), Filip Forsberg (11th overall), Tom Wilson (would have been nice! 16th Overall), Tomas Hertl ( 17th Overall), or (sigh) Andrei Vasilevskiy (19th Overall).

Note: Current, and maybe soon former, Hurricanes defenseman Brady Skjei went 28th overall.

2013: Elias Lindholm (F) 5th Overall 818 GP 218 G 339 A 201 PIM

The Hurricanes really messed this one up.  Lindholm has become an all-star and 40-goal scorer. Unfortunately, this all happened after the ‘Canes traded him away. This was a classic case of a player who was rushed to the NHL before he was ready and had his development hindered as a result. I do believe the Hurricanes let him go too soon as he was starting to show more promise, posting back-to-back 40-point seasons before he was shipped up to Calgary along with Noah Hanifin. The trade to Calgary netted the Hurricanes Dougie Hamilton, Michael Ferland, and the rights to Adam Fox.  I did not love the trade at the time and as time progresses, it is honestly getting worse.  Not retaining any of the players in return for longer than a couple of seasons.  Fox has turned into one of the best defensemen in the NHL and Lindholm has become a consistent point producer in the years since.  Other options the Hurricanes missed on include all-stars Bo Horvat (9th Overall) and Josh Morrisey (13th Overall), as well as other impact players such as Sean Monahan (6th Overall),  Darnell Nurse (7th Overall), Rasmus Ristolainen (8th Overall), Valeri Nichushkin (10th Overall), Nikita Zadurov (16th Overall), and Shea Theodore (26th Overall).

Note: I was shocked that Shea Theodore has never been an all-star.  Also current Hurricanes winger Jake Guentzel was drafted in the 3rd round (77th Overall)

2014: Hayden Fleury (D) 7th Overall 268 GP 10 G 27 A 79 PIM

A swing and a miss.  The Hurricanes have done a poor job of drafting and developing defensemen they take in the first round.  Fleury was never able to develop into an NHL regular and seems to have the ceiling as the 7th defensemen on an NHL roster. That is a huge mistake for a team drafting in the top 10.  There were several impact players taken after the ‘Canes pick in this draft.  This includes William Nylander (8th Overall), Nikolaj Ehlers (9th Overall), Kevin Fiala (11th Overall), Dylan Larkin (15th Overall), Alex Tuch ( 18th Overall), David Pastranak (25th Overall), and Adrian Kempe (30th Overall). Imagining Nylander, Larkin or Pastranak on this team makes me legitimately sick.

Note: Tony DeAngelo went 19th overall to the Lightning. 

2015: Noah Hanifin (D) 5th Overall 678 GP 62 G 224 A 187 PIM

This draft is one that makes me genuinely sad considering the players that could have been.  Not to say Hanifin isn’t a good player or good pick early on in his career with the Hurricanes; he was just traded away too soon.  At the time there were concerns about signing him to a long-term deal which led to him being traded away.  He has become a consistent and steady NHL defenseman during his career and, as we discussed earlier, the return in the trade with Calgary did not stick around in Carolina long.  Several all-stars were picked after Hanifin including all-star defensemen Zack Werenski (8th Overall) and Thomas Chabot (18th Overall), all-stars and scoring forwards Timo Mier (9th Overall), Kyle Connor (17th Overall), Brock Boeser (23rd Overall) and Travis Konecny (24th Overall), and franchise changing players in Mikko Rantanen (10th Overall) and Matt Barzal (16th Overall).  The silver lining in this is the Bruins had 3 consecutive first-round picks (13th, 14th, and 15th) and missed on all three.  The next 3 picks after the Bruins’ selections all became all-stars.

Note: This was the Sebastian Aho draft. The thought of the Hurricanes missing out on a first line of Pastranak-Aho-Rantanen makes me violently ill.

2016 Pick 1: Jake Bean (D) 13th Overall 197 GP 13 G 43 A 76 PIM

Two picks in the first round of this draft and two busts.  Neither player has become an impact NHL player at this point in their careers. Jake Bean was billed as an offensive defenseman coming out of junior hockey.  He was very productive for the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL and his productivity continued during his time in the AHL in the Hurricanes organization.  However, he never was able to have the same success at the NHL level.  It seemed that Bean was not given a fair shake for the Hurricanes.  He only played 44 games for the ‘Canes before his rights were traded to Columbus for a 2nd round pick (Aleksi Heimosalmi: on loan in Finland).  Bean must not have shown the coaching staff he could be productive at this level in practice considering his usage throughout his time with the organization.

2016 Pick 2: Julian Guathier (RW) 180 GP 19 G 22 A 44 PIM

Julian Gauthier was another miss for the Hurricanes.  He was a big-bodied forward expected to be a net front presence and provide a heavy game in the style of a Jordan Staal.  While Gauthier was productive in the QMJHL, he has not shown any level of productivity at the professional level. The Hurricanes cut their losses early and traded him away to the New York Rangers in return for defenseman Joey Keane, who played in 1 game for the Hurricanes and is currently overseas in Russia.  This is an easy swap with the position for the position if the ‘Canes are drafted differently.  They missed on picking Charlie MaCavoy (14th Overall) and Tage Thompson (26th Overall).  These were both similar prospects at the time to Bean and Gauthier, but both have turned into all-stars.

2017: Martin Necas (F) 12th Overall 362 GP 97 G 146 A 138 PIM

This might be the most difficult recent draft pick to judge for the Hurricanes. There is no denying Necas’ talent.  There are ‘Canes players on record saying that Necas is the most skilled player on the team.  He is lightning fast, creative, and can shoot the puck.  While he has all these physical gifts, Necas has not been the most consistent contributor on the recent Hurricanes teams. He doesn’t have a ton of interest in playing both sides of the puck and seems to have a mental block about believing he is a centerman when he doesn’t win face-offs or have a strong 200-foot game.  It may be a case of not fully buying into what Rod Brind’Amour is preaching as far as what he expects out of his players.  The ‘Canes and Necas are currently at a crossroads with Necas being an RFA this offseason. He wants a substantial pay raise and term and I’m not sure he has shown enough productivity to warrant a big money extension.  It also seems that Necas wants a change of scenery and go to a team where he can play a style that fits his believed strengths.  Necas still has the tools to become a star in this league.  If the Hurricanes do decide to move on, I would not be surprised if Necas becomes a 40-goal, 80-point player with his new team.  This wasn’t a bad pick. However, Nick Suzuki went one pick later at 13th overall. I believe his style would have been perfect for the Hurricanes’ system.  Other notable later first-rounders include 30-goal scorer Josh Norris (19th Overall), all-star Robert Thomas (20th Overall), and one of the best goalies in the league Jake Ottinger (26th Overall).

Note: Having Ottinger would solve all the Hurricanes’ goalie issues.