Hurricanes’ 2009 NHL Entry Draft Uncharacteristic In Many Ways
by Cory Lavalette on Jun 27, 2009 11:15 PM EDT
9 comments
The Carolina Hurricanes made Philippe Paradis the 27th overall pick Friday night at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, raising some eyebrows and leaving many fans saying, "Who?' But Paradis, a big forward with the QMJHL's Shawinigan Cataractes, caught the Canes eye and was one of the surprise picks of Round 1.
It was the first time the franchise had chosen a player from the QMJHL in the first round since moving to Raleigh, but this proved to be a weekend where you could throw out the trends normally associated with Carolina drafts and expect the unexpected. In that sense, GM Jim Rutherford and his staff didn't disappoint.
The past three drafts, the Hurricanes had selected just two European-born players — defensemen Justin Krueger (2006) and Michal Jordan (2008) — and both were already playing hockey in North America and had ties to the organization. Saturday, Carolina chose two Finns and one Swede, and only seventh-rounder d-man Tommi Kivisto — who is from Hurricanes forward Tuomo Ruutu's hometown of Vantaa, Finland — currently plays on this side of the Atlantic, suiting up this past season with Red Deer of the WHL. The other two both play in their home countries: third-round pick Mattias Lindstrom plays in Sweden, while stay-at-home defenseman Rasmus Rissanen is in Finland.
Fifth-rounder Matt Kennedy was more of a traditional Carolina choice. The Guelph (OHL) winger was the Storm's captain this season and notched 33 goals in 2008-09, nearly double what he scored a year earlier and more than he managed in his first three OHL seasons combined. At 20 years old, Kennedy could conceivably join the Albany River Rats next season — as a player who went undrafted his first two time through the draft, Kennedy was able to sign a free agent contract with the AHL's Syracuse Crunch at the tail end of last season, playing four games and scoring a goal.
As expected, Carolina addressed their need for quality depth on the back end, using their second round pick on U.S.-born blueliner Brian Dumoulin. Dumoulin, still just 17, will attend Boston College in the fall. Expect Dumoulin to take some time: not only was he among the youngest draft-eligible players, but defensemen generally need more development time before turning pro.
While this draft in no way mirrored the Hurricanes' past few drafts, it did come through on Rutherford's promise of adding more size to the talent pool. Every player was at least 6-1 and 185 pounds, with mammoth Lindstrom checking in at 6-4, 203. No wonder ISS called him "a monster around the puck" and "a huge truck on wheels" who is reminiscent of Detroit's Tomas Holmstrom.
It's early to grade the Canes on this year's draft, but there' no denying it was a "big" one.
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About Dumolin...
Rutherford noted that he was ok with the fact that it might be awhile before he went pro, and that the organization looked into where prospects were signed to play collegiately. He said that BC was a great spot for a young kid to learn and get better.
Remember, kids...don't ever let facts get in the way of your argument.
by MichaelProcton on Jun 27, 2009 11:56 PM EDT reply actions
I for one am glad they finally went for some size/grit and chose several defensemen. Not having enough of those has been our problem for a while. Its curious to me that JR finally decided to do that this year… he says it was the playoffs that made him go after size. It could also be that the game is getting closer and closer to pre-lockout hockey. Regardless, I wish I could watch these guys play!
now and later
I know we have focused on needing this grit/size to support our skill players now. But I would think that really these kids are the support of the future skill/speed players for the franchise in say, 13-14. I’m hoping that Boychuk, Sutter, Bowman and Terry are on the Raleigh roster fulltime, by then.
Next week JR will go back and figure out how best to help Staal, and how to tighten up the D for 09-10. Maybe also think about how to rely on Ward’s skill and focus, without exhausting him. I will follow the next weeks with great interest (though I was hoping most of it would have been done by now with the UFA’s – sigh.) Kind of a big $50mil jigsaw puzzle.
Let's go Canes!
Hakkaa Paalle!
I’m hoping that Boychuk, Sutter, Bowman and Terry are on the Raleigh roster fulltime, by then.
Don’t forget Dalpe. IMO if the above mentioned players aren’t starring for the home team by then…we are in trouble. Just think in 4-5 years Staal, Ward, Pitkanen, Gleason, and Rutuu will all be 29-31 years old with all the experience that goes with it. Combine these veterans with the youngins from last couple of years and the future looks very promising indeed. That’ s not even mentioning Carson, Borer, Rodney, McBain, and Mike Murphy! Even without this year’s draft this is the best our system has ever looked since the move the the Old North State.
I liike how you think
Sorry for the lapse on Dalpe – certainly can’t forget that one. There are so many good skill forwards in the system, but not yet in Raleigh, it’s hard to keep up with them all. (A good problem to have?)
It’d be nice to think that what we saw happen the first 6 months of 2009 was the beginning of long and happy story for the Canes franchise. Is that too much sunshine and light?
Let's go Canes!
Hakkaa Paalle!
by hockeymomof2 on Jun 28, 2009 12:07 PM EDT up reply actions
While this draft was very unpredictable for the Canes, I like the results. They got some size and filled in some question marks with depth. I’m not sure about Paradis yet as I think there were other players that would have been a better fit, but the Canes have a lot more resources than I do and I’ll reserve judgment for now. Really like the picks of LIndstrom and Dumoulin, think they could both be solid NHL’ers and both have size to work with.
Sounds like they watched Philly (is that what we’ll be calling Paradis in 5 years?) closely for a long time. They really wanted him in the first round. Depends if our scouts are reliable and capable…Anyone have a opinions on how confident we should be there?
Let's go Canes!
Hakkaa Paalle!
by hockeymomof2 on Jun 28, 2009 12:10 PM EDT up reply actions
Off-Topic-Pronger
I hated to hear that Pronger was traded to Philly yesterday. He hates, hates, hates, the Canes and now we have to deal with his wrath for I think 4 or 6 games this season insead of 1 game in the West. Crap, crap, crap. Hurricanes BEWARE, he’s a coming.
Was it Dalpe or another draft pick that JR commented on in the past couple of months about he did not think would ever be NHL ready? Or did I just dream that? It just seems that he made that comment lately about one of our past draft picks. I’ll have to go through his press conferences to see if I was dreaming it.-LOL.
C
It certainly wasn't Dalpe...
He had one of the best seasons by any freshman in the NCAA this past year, and they’re very pleased with his progression.
Remember, kids...don't ever let facts get in the way of your argument.
by MichaelProcton on Jun 28, 2009 5:59 PM EDT up reply actions
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