Canes Pick a Dalpe, a Whaler, and a Goalie

In a draft that set a record for the number of draft day trades made during the 1st round, there were no trades and no big surprises for the Carolina Hurricanes at the draft this year. After selecting the highest rated player at the time in the 1st, Zach Boychuk, they repeated the process and picked the highest rated player when their time came in the 2nd, Zac Dalpe.

Borrowing a quip from the now famous "East of Here", could this be the Canes future "ZZ Top Line"?

Dalpe was actually rated much higher than 45th overall and some scouts even had him going in the 1st round. The Canes apparently had Jared Staal in their sights, but couldn't resist Dalpe and considered themselves fortunate when he was still on the board.

We posted a story here on the Canes Country Blog about the potential interest in Dalpe a few weeks ago when USA Today published an article by the Red Line Report concerning him. Funny how things work out.

The youngest Staal was eventually picked up at number 49 by Phoenix. It's hard to believe that a kid who is 6'3 and who scored 21 goals and had 28 assists in 60 games on the worst team in the OHL, was rated so poorly. Those stats are not much different than what Brandon Sutter had when the Canes drafted him last year.

The Canes didn't have a 3rd round pick, but selected a Plymouth Whaler in round 4, (huge surprise), defenseman Michal Jordan. At least Michal's parents have a sense of humor!

Again Carolina had no pick in round 5, but selected the OHL goaltender of the year in round number 6, Mike Murphy, then finished up their draft with the selection of left winger, Samuel Morneau from the QMJHL.

While one can't criticize the draft too much because they all seem like solid picks, especially at the time they were chosen, there doesn't seem to be much for fans to get excited about with these picks either. The Canes didn't trade up or down and seemed pretty complacent throughout.

Boychuk likes to compare himself with Daniel Briere because of his size, and wouldn't that be nice if his future worked out like that? He reminds me more of a Brian Gionta, and that wouldn't be bad either.

The huge impending deal for a defenseman was apparently put on hold. Everyone will have to keep wondering how that will work out.

The Canes have a running blog about the draft here which is definitely worth a look-see. Canes Country will examine the draft picks and the overall draft in more detail a bit later.