After an arduous 2 1/2 months as a Canes fan watching other teams in the playoffs and trying to wait patiently for next year, next year, or at least the preparation for it is upon us. With the Canes picking 7th, there is a reasonable chance that whoever the team drafts will see the 2014-15 roster. There is also a decent chance that new Canes GM Ron Francis will start to put his marks on the team with a trade or 2. While Francis is on record as thinking only tweaking is necessary, when you miss the playoffs in 5 straight years there must be at least a few changes.
So with that, here is the first installment of my draft preview. This part focuses on the draft itself. This draft is supposedly not as deep and talented as the 2013-14 draft, but things line up pretty well for the Canes in terms of needs/wants. The Canes have expressed a need and desire to get bigger and more physical. In today's NHL, that means roster players (think Columbus and most of the good teams out West like StL, Ana, LA, etc.) who play 15+ minutes of real hockey not old school goons who play 4 and fight someone.
The 2014-15 draft lines up pretty well for the Canes getting a chance at a big, physical wing at #7. Most of what I read has some variation of Ekblad, Reinhart, Bennett, Draisaitl and Dal Colle as the top 5. If you take that at face value, that would mean that at least 1 of Jake Virtanen (6-0 208 lbs) and Nicholas Ritchie (6-2 226 lbs) would be available for the Canes at #7 giving the team a chance to add 1 of the top power forwards available in the 2014 draft.
The best available power forward seems to be the most likely outcome for the Canes, but there are some wild cards. I am not a huge fan of drafting for specific need or position. None of these players are sure things. Would you rather have Jeff Skinner in 2010? Or whatever power forward went right ahead of him (that would be Nino Niederreiter and Brett Connolly)? It is much better to focus on getting a good player than to focus on position or skill set. It becomes much easier to fill other holes via trade or free agency if you can land a top half of the roster player who gets there young and plays a year or 2 in that role while still on a cheap entry level contract.
So with that, I introduce a couple wild cards:
--Kasperi Kapanen. His dad is none other than former Cane Sami Kapanen, so despite being from Finland, he has likely seen the PNC Arena ice as young kid. His ranking varies, but some have him in the bottom half of the top 10.
--Haydn Fleury. Former Canes GM Jim Rutherford shied away from using high picks on defensemen because of the time it for them to develop. Will Francis go the same route as his mentor? If he changes this tactic, Fleury is the 2nd best defenseman available, and while he is not a flashy or sexy pick, he rates out as a relatively safe pick to develop into a dependable blueliner. Most mock drafts have him going about where the Canes pick or a little lower but as a clear #2 defenseman behind Ekblad who will not be available when the Canes pick.
--One of the smaller skilled players who seem less likely. The Canes have a history of going off the board picking in this neighborhood and doing well with it. Skinner was a bit of a surprise at #7 and Brandon Sutter was similarly ranked lower when the Canes picked him at #11 in 2007. Could the Canes again go off the board and find a gem in doing so?
Past the first round, this is an important draft for the Canes to start to rebuild its farm system. The Canes have had reasonable luck accelerating a couple players to the NHL level (most recently Ryan Murphy and Elias Lindholm). This combined with the Sekera trade and others has the farm system a bit depleted right now. The team could really use a couple of good picks in the 2nd through middle rounds that get players on track to play in the NHL in a couple years.
What say you Canes fans? Does Francis follow his mentors old ways of bringing players back - even their children - and draft Kapanen? Or does the logical move to take the best available power forward come to fruition? Or is it another head scratcher that we are okay with because of the success with Skinner and Sutter?
Twitter=@CarolinaMatt63
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