The Carolina Hurricanes and their recent draft strategy paying off dividends

[newsportsfan123]

RBA has suggested there’s a spot open for a kid. We have an overload of bottom six guys so this appears to be a chance for one guy to sneak right into the top six if they play well. Unger-Sorum seems to be gaining momentum based on the coverage we’ve seen but Blake and Nadeau are likely going to get a look.

Seems most likely they’ll move Martinook into the top six before rushing someone imo. Still, when RBA himself says there may be a spot if someone is ready it says to me he’s very open to giving it to a prospect. That prospect would have to play a strong two ways game right out of the gate unless they’re filling the net. Blake and Nadeau seem less developed that way compared to Unger-Sorum.

I agree that Sorum probably gets the shot because he’s more of a RBA type player. However, I think Nadeau might have the highest offensive ceiling he looked really solid in the 1 game he got last year. Blake looked solid but what somewhat invisible at times, but I’m pretty sure Blake was placed on the 4th line while Nadeau was playing in the top-6.

 

[HisIceness]

The strategy from what I can tell seems to be take guys who have top-6/top-4/starter in net upside rather than take the guy who will probably make the league but will be a journeyman. In theory it's a good strategy. It's a lot easier to keep and develop your own top players, especially when the calendar rolls to July 1st, and then get those journeyman for your bottom half of the roster.

The good thing with Carolina, they can be patient with these guys and now with them "having the final say" with the Chicago Wolves, can work with them to make sure they have the best development possible.

Nikishin is the one everyone is excited about but there's also excitement amongst the fanbase for the likes of Trikizov, Morrow, Unger-Sorum, Nadeau, Khazalev(6 foot 4 goaltender), Blake, and Heimosalami among others. They aren't all guarantees but they all seem to have some kind of shot at developing into what their ceiling is.

Regardless, it's looking a lot promise than the regimes before. Prior to Faulk in 2010, the Hurricanes were terrible on day 2. They still weren't great post Faulk but they did nab Slavin/Aho/Pesce/Foegele among a slew of others who provided some impact. Back then the strategy was to take Plymouth Whalers, sons of former players who had little upside if any, and North American forwards who at best would be 3rd liners on a meh team. A couple of drafts ended up being complete whiffs, 2016 a recent-ish one in particular was a dud all-around.

Time will tell, I think (and hope) we're getting close to seeing the new strategy start to pay off.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Nikishin was not widely praised I remember that most journalists had him as the player who would bust out of the Carolina picks that year. Bader didn’t like him and Patrick Bacon (his model sucks) didn’t either.

Read his thread here. He had his proponents. He wasn’t a random dart throw. He was getting Subban comparisons before the draft.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Their strategy will pay off dividends once Morrow, Blake, Nadeau, Nikishin, Unger Sorum, Trikozov, etc either start making big contributions to the NHL team and/or when they use more of their prospect pool in a "go for it" trade (like the Guentzel deal) and it results in a Cup.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

Especially for a Cup contender like Carolina, who doesn't have a top-heavy salary structure and doesn't rely on over-slotting ELCs to stay under the cap, it's going to take a long time to really see the end results of their drafting strategy. This year is a real opportunity for any of the Nadeau/Blake/Unger Sorum/Suzuki/Gunler (a long-shot but potentially) group of forwards to make noise in training camp and the AHL.

The one draft that was a bit of a dud was 2019, but there's one big caveat in that their top pick, Ryan Suzuki, sustained a severe eye injury not long after he was drafted. It's also very possible that this was the draft class that was most affected by the COVID shutdowns from a developmental perspective, considering the unusually-high amount of underachieving prospects throughout the upper echelons of the 2019 draft.

 

[MS]

They’re really good at drafting for the Prospect Pool Cup and the Most WJC Players Trophy but not so much at actually drafting and developing actual quality NHL players.

 

[Vector]

They’re really good at drafting for the Prospect Pool Cup and the Most WJC Players Trophy but not so much at actually drafting and developing actual quality NHL players.

It’s kind of even worse than that since they always win the Draft Day grades but the shine comes off pretty quick. I was looking at the last three drafts (2023, 2022, and 2021) and it wasn’t looking great despite having a lot of picks. Almost all of the forwards fit the exact same profile too.

 

[Jumptheshark]

they are gathering picks--I get that--but at the end of the day it is about getting players into the NHL

2022/2023 No picks have made the NHL (YET)
2021-- 2 players have played a combined 3 games
2020 -Seth Jarvis first round pick 13th overall --146 pts in 231 games--looks to be a steal--only 4 players from that draft have more pts
2019-Pyotr Kochetkov 36th overall starting goalie
2018--Drafted 2nd over all Andrei Svechnikov took Jack Drury at 42 114 games
2017--Martin Necas 362 games Eetu Luostarinen traded to FLorida 4 seasons ago, Morgan Geekie Seattle 2 seasons ago
2016-Jake Bean traded toColumbas 3 season ago Julien Gauthier traded to rangers 6 years ago Janne Kuokkanen already back in Europe
2015--Noah Hanifin traded to flames, Sebastian Aho stud pick, Nicolas Roy vegas Knights 5 years ago

Here is their drafting all time

Carolina Hurricanes Draft History at hockeydb.com

Now I am not bashing the thread idea but at the end it is not only about pointing and saying we have lots of prospects--but it about getting those assets or assets you get from those prospects into the nhl and win.

 

[Gurglesons]

they are gathering picks--I get that--but at the end of the day it is about getting players into the NHL

2022/2023 No picks have made the NHL (YET)
2021-- 2 players have played a combined 3 games
2020 -Seth Jarvis first round pick 13th overall --146 pts in 231 games--looks to be a steal--only 4 players from that draft have more pts
2019-Pyotr Kochetkov 36th overall starting goalie
2018--Drafted 2nd over all Andrei Svechnikov took Jack Drury at 42 114 games
2017--Martin Necas 362 games Eetu Luostarinen traded to FLorida 4 seasons ago, Morgan Geekie Seattle 2 seasons ago
2016-Jake Bean traded toColumbas 3 season ago Julien Gauthier traded to rangers 6 years ago Janne Kuokkanen already back in Europe
2015--Noah Hanifin traded to flames, Sebastian Aho stud pick, Nicolas Roy vegas Knights 5 years ago

Here is their drafting all time

Carolina Hurricanes Draft History at hockeydb.com

Now I am not bashing the thread idea but at the end it is not only about pointing and saying we have lots of prospects--but it about getting those assets or assets you get from those prospects into the nhl and win.

100% this.

We could see them really develop some players over the next few years tho.

 

[LemonSauceD]

I mean Nikishin hasn’t even played a single game and he’s been their top prospect for like 3-4 years now. And aren’t There concerns about his commitment (or lack thereof) to NA?

A lot of their prospects are just similar in profile. Smallish skilled forwards and a couple of NCAA long shots.

I will say Morrow looks to be a sure bet. Very good prospect. The rest I’m not entirely convinced. But really, the two most important pieces for Carolina are him and Nikishin anyway.

 

[Kaners PPGs]

It’s kind of even worse than that since they always win the Draft Day grades but the shine comes off pretty quick. I was looking at the last three drafts (2023, 2022, and 2021) and it wasn’t looking great despite having a lot of picks. Almost all of the forwards fit the exact same profile too.

It's almost like they don't scout too heavily (saves money) and pour over prospect rankings and continually draft players who fall.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

It's almost like they don't scout too heavily (saves money) and pour over prospect rankings and continually draft players who fall.

It's hilarious that they drafted Heimosalmi ahead of Stankoven. Might gotten to the Final and won the Cup with Stank this past season.

 

[BondraTime]

It’s kind of even worse than that since they always win the Draft Day grades but the shine comes off pretty quick. I was looking at the last three drafts (2023, 2022, and 2021) and it wasn’t looking great despite having a lot of picks. Almost all of the forwards fit the exact same profile too.

Yeah, they always win the Scouching, Bader and HF awards on draft days

They were able to get Baders 12th and 13th ranked prospects in the 2020 draft in Nybeck and Pashin in the 4th and 7th round, they were hands down the winners that year, whereas they were absolute longshots to ever step foot in an NHL game

 

[Vector]

Yeah, they always win the Scouching, Bader and HF awards on draft days

They were able to get Baders 12th and 13th ranked prospects in the 2020 draft in Nybeck and Pashin in the 4th and 7th round, they were hands down the winners that year, whereas they were absolute longshots to ever step foot in an NHL game

And it's been the same since. 2021-2023 drafts really haven't yielded much.

2021:
14 picks - Morrow, Blake, & Koivunen

2022:
7 picks - Lucius

2023:
10 picks - Nadeau & Legault

With Lucius and Koivunen getting traded.

Obviously there's time for things to change and a couple players to break out late. They've made an incredible amount of bets on undersized Russians so maybe one of them can figure it out. I think there's logic in what they are doing (more picks = more chances, draft for talent & upside) but I don't think I can disagree more with their execution.

 

[archangel2]

just to put things into perspective over the last 5 drafts

Arizona/Utah has taken 47 pick with 25 being in the top 100 picks
Canes have had 48 picks with 17 being in the first 100 picks
Sharks 45 picks with 19 being in the top 100 picks

As others have pointed out. They can have all the picks the like but until they start to do stuff in the nhl. They are the new toys on the block.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

It's hilarious that they drafted Heimosalmi ahead of Stankoven. Might gotten to the Final and won the Cup with Stank this past season.

C'mon. Every team in the NHL has examples like that. Once you get outside the top 5-10 it's a bit of a crap shoot. Look how many teams passed on Aho and Point for instance.

That said, I'm in the boat of "until these prospects start contributing at the NHL level, it's meaningless to say drafting is 'paying off'"

that said, sometimes drafting isn't that a player ends up on your team, but you use him for trades. For example: Luostarinen gave the Canes almost 3 years of Trocheck which has value to the team.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

C'mon. Every team in the NHL has examples like that. Once you get outside the top 5-10 it's a bit of a crap shoot. Look how many teams passed on Aho and Point for instance.

That said, I'm in the boat of "until these prospects start contributing at the NHL level, it's meaningless to say drafting is 'paying off'"

that said, sometimes drafting isn't that a player ends up on your team, but you use him for trades. For example: Luostarinen gave the Canes almost 3 years of Trocheck which has value to the team.

Stankoven was much more highly thought of than Heimosalmi, that's the point.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Stankoven was much more highly thought of than Heimosalmi, that's the point.

He was drafted 47th, so a lot teams took other players before him, that’s the point.

Secondly, saying that the canes might have made the finals and won the cup with a player that had 14 points in 24 games this year is a stretch to say the least.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

He was drafted 47th, so a lot teams took other players before him, that’s the point.

Secondly, saying that the canes might have made the finals and won the cup with a player that had 14 points in 24 games this year is a stretch to say the least.

Stankoven is such a gamer and fits any system. Perfect regular season and playoff style player

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Stankoven is such a gamer and fits any system. Perfect regular season and playoff style player

I don't disagree, I just think saying he might have allowed the canes to make it to the finals and win a cup is a big stretch, given it was special teams and goaltending this year that sunk them.

 

[ONO94]

And it's been the same since. 2021-2023 drafts really haven't yielded much.

2021:
14 picks - Morrow, Blake, & Koivunen

2022:
7 picks - Lucius

2023:
10 picks - Nadeau & Legault

With Lucius and Koivunen getting traded.

Obviously there's time for things to change and a couple players to break out late. They've made an incredible amount of bets on undersized Russians so maybe one of them can figure it out. I think there's logic in what they are doing (more picks = more chances, draft for talent & upside) but I don't think I can disagree more with their execution.

I'm not sure I follow the logic here. You say there is time for players to break out late from the 2021 draft on--yet only 38 players from that draft class have played a NHL game and 2 of those are Canes. The 2022 draft has 22 players who have played and only 9 of those in double digits. The 2021 draft will have Morrow likely up with the Canes this year and Blake will play more than a handful of games as well.

For Lucius and Koivunen getting traded--isn't that the point? The Canes can use them on the ice or to try and get better by trading them. They went all in on getting Jake but that trade failed not because of drafting but because the team didn't succeed. Without those players, the trade never happens and the Canes don't even have the chance to see if Jake would have helped.