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A Review of the Carolina Hurricanes First Round Draft Picks Part I: 1997-2007

Taking a look at every Carolina Hurricanes first round draft picks

By Erik Fowlie

2019 NHL Draft - Round One
2019 NHL Draft - Round One / Bruce Bennett/GettyImages
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Andrew Ladd
Edmonton Oilers v Carolina Hurricanes: Game 7 / Jim McIsaac/GettyImages

2004: Andrew Ladd (LW) 4th Overall 1001GP 256G 294A 615 PIM

This is a tough pick to judge because while Ladd had a fantastic NHL career, he did pretty much all of it after his time with the Carolina Hurricanes.  He did play some meaningful minutes on the 2006 cup-winning squad but was traded for Tuomo Ruutu one year later.  Ruutu was an important player for the 2009 ECF team but we missed out on having a player with Ladd’s toughness and leadership throughout his career.  Other first-round picks could have been All-Stars Blake Wheeler (5th Overall) and Mike Green (29th Overall), goalies Devan Dubnyk (14th Overall) and Corey Schnieder (26th Overall), or the talented Alex Radulov (15th Overall)