2011: Ryan Murphy (D) 12th Overall 175 GP 8 G 35 A 54 PIM
Talk about a player not panning out. The Hurricanes do not have a good track record with drafting defensemen in the first round. Ryan Murphy put up huge numbers during his OHL career. He was over a point per game player in two of his seasons in major junior hockey, topping out at 79 points in his draft-eligible year. This offensive firepower never translated over to the NHL and Murphy spent his entire Hurricanes career going up and down between the NHL and AHL. This was a dark period in ‘Canes' history as he likely did not get the development he needed from the Hurricanes coaching staff. Murphy continued to bounce around the NHL between the Devils and Wild organizations before finally heading off to Europe, playing 3 seasons in the KHL, coming back to play 2 more years in the AHL, and currently playing in the ICEHL for EC Red Bull Salzburg. The rest of the first round didn’t produce too many NHL impact players. The Hurricanes did miss on picking JT Miller (15th Overall) and Richard Rackell (30th Overall). Every team is probably kicking themselves in this draft for missing on Nikita Kucherov, who lasted until the 58th pick.
Note: Former ‘Canes center Vincent Trochek was picked in the 3rd round of this draft