2019 NHL Draft: Hurricanes Select Ryan Suzuki with the 28th Overall Pick in the 2019 NHL Draft

With their latest first draft selection since 2012, the Carolina Hurricanes drafted center Ryan Suzuki from the OHL’s Barrie Colts with the 28th overall selection in the 2019 NHL Draft.

Suzuki, the first overall pick in the 2017 OHL Priority Draft, racked up 50 assists and 75 points in 65 games last season with the Barrie Colts. He was teammates with Carolina’s second-overall pick from 2018, Andrei Svechnikov, in Barrie during the 2017-18 season and is the brother of 2017 first-round pick Nick Suzuki.

The Hurricanes are slated to have three second round picks and nine total picks on day two of the draft tomorrow in Vancouver. Only time will tell how many of them will actually be used.

Scouting Analysis

As the first round moved on, a few forwards slipped farther than the consensus expected. Suzuki is a consummate playmaker, and as a pass first center he sees the ice better than most players in this draft. The pivot does a terrific job of setting his line-mates up in high-danger scoring chances both at even strength and on the power play.

He will continue to add weight and improve on the defensive side of the puck over the next couple developmental seasons, but expect him to be among the OHL’s top scorers in his draft plus one season. -Kevin LeBlanc