Drafting prospects is one of the hardest responsibilities a front office has. With each pick, you're trusting years of scouring the world and scouting every player to make good on every selection. Obviously, knocking every pick out of the park is a near-impossible task. However, when it all comes together, it can create something that shapes your team for years.
The Carolina Hurricanes are one of the best in the league at it, and they have been for many years. No matter the regime in charge, the general consensus is that Carolina will find a way to make the most of every pick they have. They aren't perfect, but they're generally very good at what they do. That hasn't always been the case though.
In this article, we'll discuss what I believe to be the five best and worst classes in the team's history since 1997. To be upfront and transparent, I didn't consider any class in the 2020s. Even with some players already making the roster, it's still far too early with some of those classes. Only one player since 2022 has played a game for the Hurricanes, and Bradly Nadeau has only played three games.
Honorable Mentions
2007: Four of the team's five selections in this class made their mark on the Hurricanes. Brandon Sutter played the most games before turning into the centerpiece in the Jordan Staal trade. Drayson Bowman, Chris Terry, and Brett Bellemore did their damage as Hurricanes, each playing over 100 games with the organization. It's not the flashiest class, but almost everyone made it to the league.
2013: This class is tied for the smallest in Hurricanes history with 2002, consisting of just four players. While they swung and missed with two of the four, the other two have turned into stellar NHLers. Elias Lindholm and Brett Pesce were both big parts of the team during the latter half of the dark days, with Pesce remaining a staple during the return to relevance under Rod Brind'Amour.
Dishonorable Mentions
1999: Here is the good news about this class. They combined to play 334 games as Hurricanes, sending four of the nine players in the class to the NHL. The bad news: David Tanabe accounts for 329 of them. As the only real standout in the class for the Canes, the Canes' first-round pick made a decent name for himself in Raleigh. The rest of the class, not so much.
2006: The class after the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup was smaller, consisting of just six players after trading their first-round pick. With their first pick of the draft, the Canes selected Jamie McBain, who turned out halfway decent. However, he was the only player to reach the NHL, let alone Raleigh. McBain played 206 games with the Canes across four seasons from 2009 to 2013.