Carolina Hurricanes Draft Preview: Wants and Needs

Part 1 of 4

Welcome to the start of a big ole draft preview, where I will go through and first explain the wants and needs of the pipeline, and then go into each position group and give players that I think could be drafted by the Hurricanes. To start off, we have wants and needs.

Need: Goalie(s)

Matt did a much better job at explaining why goalie is such a big need in this draft, but I’ll still take a stab at it. Even with signing Nikita Quapp, which shocked me at first but then slowly made more and more sense, and the potential signing of Amir Miftakhov, the Canes goalie pipeline is downright ugly to look at.

Ruslan Khazheyev has great potential, but needs much more development time. Egor Velmakin has solid stats in the KHL, but doesn’t get enough consistent playing time to truly continue his development, even with his good counting stats. I think the Canes signing Quapp signals the end of Yaniv Perets’ time with the team. Jakub Vondras isn’t bad, but he had an up and down year with Pardubice B and only saw game time in one game in the top Czech league. Depending on the time this comes out, Patrik Hamrla’s rights will no longer be with the Hurricanes.

To put it bluntly, they desperately need to draft at least one goalie, if not more.

Want: Forwards with size

Someone asked about this a couple days ago, wondering if the pipeline had any forwards with size. They do, but there are only five forwards 6’1 and taller, those being Fyodor Avramov, Gleb Trikozov, Noel Gunler, Ryan Suzuki, and Michael Emerson.

Now the reason it’s a want is because height isn’t the end all, be all when it comes to hockey. Yes, you probably want a couple forwards that have some size to them but that’s not everything that makes a player. Logan Stankoven was one of the better Hurricanes players in the playoffs and he stands at a massive 5’9.

That being said, you probably want to add one or two forwards that are a little bigger than others.

Want: Right-handed defenseman

This, truthfully, is barely a want for the prospect pool but I’m leaving the most controversial take for last and this is something that the Canes should at least take a look at. The Canes absolutely loaded up on LHD last draft, with 4 out of 5 defenseman taken being lefties. The lefties outnumber the righties in the system 8 to 5, depending on if you see guys as prospects or not.

My point being, it’s nice to keep the cupboard full. Plus, Joel Nystrom is 23 and close to graduating prospect status. Charles-Alexis Legault, Dominik Badinka, and Scott Morrow (depending on who you ask) have real NHL potential, so it’s not a pressing need but again, I have a point to make about a need vs a want.

Want: Centers

Here is the thing folks. The Canes have maybe 1 prospect in the system that could stick at center in the NHL, that being Justin Robidas. Even he looked better as a winger. Ryan Suzuki could, but he’s out of a contract. Bradly Nadeau is a winger, Oskar Vuollet is a winger, Skyler Brind’Amour isn’t a prospect, Felix Unger Sorum is much better as a winger, Stanislav Yarovoi is trying to move to center and he’s played center in the past, but that experiment hasn’t started yet.

Here’s the other thing folks, unless you draft in the top 10, it’s extremely hard to draft a center that stays at center in the NHL. Let’s look at the 2022 NHL draft for examples.

• In the top 11, Logan Cooley and Shane Wright will stick at center. Marco Kaspar, Conor Geekie, and Matthew Savoie have been tried at both wing and center, casting doubt on their ability.

• Frank Nazar, Rutger McGroaraty, Liam Ohgren, and Brad Lambert all look better on the wing. Nazar is up for discussion, though.

• Noah Ostlund has been a center for Sweden at WJC. Unsure about in the AHL

• Jiri Kulich was a center for Buffalo. He seems like the one player drafted outside the top 10-11 that can stick at center.

It’s just incredibly hard with where the Hurricanes draft to take a center that sticks at center. While the Canes do probably need more centers in the system, it’s a want more than a need due to the circumstances around drafting centers.

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There are definitely more specific things to note, but those are the few that come to mind. Next week, I’ll cover the forward prospects that could be potential Canes Prospects come end of June.