Carolina Hurricanes general manager Ron Francis got a jump on the 2016 offseason by acquiring forwards Teuvo Teravainen and Bryan Bickell from the Chicago Blackhawks in a June 15 trade, but he still has work to do at the NHL Draft June 24-25 in Buffalo. There are a lot of options for the Canes’ nine draft picks, and Francis will look to add to the Hurricanes for both the present and the future.
Francis has three main options for what he can do with the picks: He can simply sit back and make them; he can move around in the first round; or he can move them for help for the 2016-17 season. It’s likely he does a combination of the three.
The team holds one extra pick in the first round and two in the third, so it has five picks total in the first three rounds. Those picks could definitely add some great future pieces to the Canes prospect pool, particularly the two firsts.
With the team already loaded with young defensemen, the picks will likely be forwards. With the 13th overall pick, their original selection, the Canes’ options could include Tyson Jost, Clayton Keller, Keiffer Bellows, Michael McLeod and more, all good young scoring forwards. The 21st overall pick the team received for defenseman Andrej Sekera from the Los Angeles Kings at the 2015 trade deadline should yield a useful player at well.
“It’s a good year to have the extra picks because it’s a little deeper at the top,” Hurricanes Director of Amateur Scouting Tony MacDonald said. “As you get down into the draft, it’s not one of the deeper drafts we’ve ever had, but in terms of where we are and where we’re picking, it’s going to be helpful.”
Francis could also move around in the first round. He could package his picks, be it both firsts, a first plus a second or third, or possibly include one of the plethora of young defensemen to move up. Darren Dreger of TSN has mentioned the Columbus Blue Jackets are taking offers for the third overall pick, so the Canes could try to move up and land Finnish phenom Jesse Puljuajrvi to add to their young core. Or, as Francis mentioned, if the team gets to 13 and doesn’t like its options, it could look to move down.
“There have been a lot of phone conversations exploring what’s available as far as moving up or even if we get in a jam and we want to move back a little bit if we think there are players available,” Francis said. “We’ve had a lot of those conversations, and we’ll continue to have them I’m sure right up until we get to the table that night.”
Another thing Francis could do is look to make some moves to bolster next year’s roster. The recent trade with Chicago already added to an area of need at forward, adding promising young forward Teravainen in exchange for absorbing Bickell’s expensive contract to give Chicago some cap room. The team also had a need in net, but Francis resigned pending unrestricted free agent Cam Ward for two years, giving the team two goalies under contract for next season.
That doesn’t mean the team won’t make a move for a goalie, however. Last year’s subsequent trades that shipped out Anton Khudobin and brought in current backup Eddie Lack came out of nowhere, so we could see something similar. While Francis has said paying a high price for a goalie with one year left doesn’t make sense, he could make a move for a goalie with some term and a big contract.
The possibility of an expansion draft next summer where a team could only protect one goalie could lead to teams with two good netminders having to make some tough choices. Division rival Pittsburgh could provide a good option, as the Penguins just won the cup with rookie Matt Murray and will probably look to move veteran Marc-Andre Fleury. If the Pens want a goalie with some more experience, perhaps they would take Lack back as part of the return?
The team also has a glaring need at forward. The trade with Chicago was a good first step in that regard, but the Hurricanes are probably short at least one more true top-six forward. ESPN writer Pierre Lebrun mentioned in a recent article that it is believed the Canes are still “sniffing around” for another top-six piece.
The team could package some of its picks and a young defenseman for an impact forward. Options could include Jordan Eberle of the Edmonton Oilers or Rick Nash of the New York Rangers for scoring wingers. Or, if the team wants to land a bigger fish in a first-line center, Francis could go for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Oilers or Matt Duchene of the Colorado Avalanche.
Don’t be surprised to see another cap space trade either. The aforementioned Nash or Scott Hartnell of the Columbus Blue Jackets are good scoring forwards who could be cap casualties. An interesting case could be the Detroit Red Wings. The team’s star forward, Pavel Datsyuk, has decided to forgo the final year of his contract and return to his home country of Russia. No team would owe him actual salary, but the Red Wings are stuck with his $7.5 million salary cap hit. There has been speculation they could move his contract plus an asset such as a young forward or draft pick upgrade to a team (hello, Hurricanes) with a lot of cap space.
The 2016 NHL Entry Draft will determine the course of the Carolina Hurricanes for years to come. With moves to be made for both the present and future, one can be sure it will not be a boring time for the Hurricanes.
