I'm a big fan of alternate history. It makes you dive deep into a subject and ponder how one decision or move could alter not just your team but the entire league as a whole. All this week, we'll be looking at some of the biggest "What ifs...?" in Carolina Hurricanes history, seeing how one slight change might have changed the entire trajectory of the organization.
First up, let's talk about the 2018 Draft. More specifically, let's talk about the draft lottery that preceded it. The Hurricanes escaped the 2018 lottery as one of the night's biggest winners after taking a massive jump. This move ultimately landed them a superstar in the making who helped them end a postseason drought and has provided multiple memorable moments.
Reality: The Carolina Hurricanes jump from 11th to 2nd in the draft
It's not that the Hurricanes had been bad during the 2017-18 season. They'd just been plainly average, maintaining a multi-year trend under Bill Peters. They weren't bad enough to be in the Bottom 10, but they weren't close to a playoff spot either. Entering the draft lottery with the 11th-best odds at the top pick, the Canes needed a minor miracle.
On this day, the lottery balls were in their favor. After the Sabres maintained their spot by winning the first overall pick, the Hurricanes emerged victorious in the second lottery drawing, jumping nine spots to claim pick #2. Two months later, the Hurricanes selected Russian winger Andrei Svechnikov with the second pick.
Svechnikov became the fourth Hurricanes rookie to notch 20 goals in their rookie campaign, finishing 7th in Calder Trophy voting. Across seven seasons, Svechnikov has 151 goals and 364 points in 478 games. He's second in organization postseason history in goals and points, participating in six of the team's seven straight postseason runs since joining the league.
What if the Hurricanes picked 11th, as they were originally intended?
Let's start by establishing a few ground rules. As it played out in 2018, we'll assume Buffalo wins the lottery for the first pick and Montreal wins for the third pick, moving up one spot. There's no reason for that to change. The only change to the Top 3 will be with the second pick. Ottawa had the best odds at #2, so, in our alternate reality, the Senators will assume their rightful spot.
While this change at #2 likely alters the selection order, I'm keeping the selections the same. This means Rasmus Dahlin still goes to Buffalo with the first pick, even if Quinn Hughes likely goes #1 now. It also means Andrei Svechnikov goes to Ottawa after being the consensus #2 pick by most experts. More controversially, Jesperi Kotkaniemi is still going to Montreal, though that also changes today.
Team | Selection |
|---|---|
1. Buffalo | D Rasmus Dahlin |
2. Ottawa | F Andrei Svechnikov |
3. Montreal | F Jesperi Kotkaniemi |
Ottawa moving to #2 and the Hurricanes falling pushes everyone else up one spot earlier than they originally selected. If the picks stay the same, a lot of history gets rewritten. Most notably, Brady Tkachuk follows in his father's footsteps to Arizona, Hughes lands in Chicago, and the Islanders take Evan Bouchard, possibly preventing Edmonton from going on their recent runs.
Team | Selection |
|---|---|
4. Arizona | F Brady Tkachuk |
5. Detroit | F Barrett Hayton |
6. Vancouver | F Filip Zadina |
7. Chicago | D Quinn Hughes |
8. New York (R) | D Adam Boqvist |
9. Edmonton | F Vitali Kravtsov |
10. New York (I) | D Evan Bouchard |
Who would be available at #11 for the Hurricanes?
Picks 11 through 14 in the 2018 Draft gave us some very serviceable NHL players. In reality, the Islanders had picks #11 and #12, selecting Oliver Wahlstrom and Noah Dobson, while Dallas picked Ty Dellandrea 13th overall, and Philadelphia selected Joel Farabee at #14. All four have played a good amount in the NHL, so there's no bad pick in the group.
While the Hurricanes likely would've preferred adding a player up front who can score, it might've been hard to pass up on Dobson, even with their wealth on defense at the time. Who knows? Selecting Dobson might've stopped them from trading for Dougie Hamilton the next day, seeing as both are right shots.
Without going too far off the beaten path and having them take someone like Kirill Marchenko, who went in the second round, and having the benefit of hindsight, the player who best fits their needs in that range would be Farabee. While he's never quite put it all together in the NHL, Farabee showed flashes with the Flyers, scoring 50 points in 2023-24.
The moral of the story is that the Hurricanes were winners at the 2018 Draft. If the Top 14 were re-drafted today, the Canes aren't coming out with anyone on Svechnikov's level at #11. He might not be a certified 40-goal sniper, but he's an invaluable piece of the Canes' identity. We wouldn't have lacrosse goals or postseason hat tricks. Simply put, Svechnikov was destined to be a Hurricane.