Its Go Time

[Hanna Sniper]

ALL IN

The 2020 Draft is one of the most important drafts in Carolina Hurricanes history, after being a mediocre non playoff team for over a decade. The Canes decided to rebuild the organization from the ground up, zero short cuts allowed, no speeding up the process. No more making the same mistakes of the past by taking two steps backwards for every one forward.

After a decade of drafting with the likes of Matthew Barzal, Ryan Ellis and Guillaume Latendresse as our stand out franchise picks. Yes in 2012 I drafted Mikhail Grigorenko with the 2nd overall pick and followed it up by selecting Griffin Reinhart with the 9th. Check out the Hurricanes wonderful draft history in my Canes Draft Day Flashbacks a 12 year retrospect

The Carolina Hurricanes decided the only way to fix the franchise was to revamp the teams scouting department. Without any fresh blood coming up through the ranks the Hurricanes were never going to be anything more than a playoff bubble team. The Carolina Hurricanes fired their armature scout 3 drafts ago and hired a new Head Armature Scout and put complete faith in the rebuild.

The end of the 2020 draft brings an end to the rebuild, and by doing so the Hurricanes had one more thing they were curious about before calling it a say. For over a decade the Canes ended the draft with a handful picks scattered throughout the draft. With the uncertainty and chaotic fluctuation of my vision I was always afraid to take on too much, always kept my picks apart so if I ran into trouble during the draft I had time to recoup. I was always worried more about holding up the draft than getting my selection right. Every draft I went into with a couple throwing knives hoping to hit a target or two, which rarely happened. With the 2020 Draft the Hurricanes walked in with a katana and went full Kill Bill

My apologizes to teams looking to acquire picks this season, I had zero interest in moving any. It was more important for myself to do this draft than any trades I may or didn't make



Jamie Drysdale has been the Carolina Hurricanes first round selection for over two years now. The Canes were massively disappointed to see the rearguard climb the rankings last year to this and for the most part had given up on the possibility that I would be in position to draft him. Easily the No. 2 ranked player in this draft but would've been a difficult decision at 1 or 2. At 4, it was a no brainer




Connor Zary - I had the 16th pick in the first round and I had Zary rated 16. I figured that there would be someone fall to me at 16, but it never happened as the top 15 guys I had on my list went the first 15 in our draft. I had Zary or Holloway and Holloway went to the Devils with the very next selection




Tyson Foerster - I was fighting with myself all year long on whether to acquire another first in this dealt to select Foerster. I figured 16 was to high for him and didn't want to make the same mistake I made last year with Arthur Kaliyev by drafting way ahead. So winced and grinded my teeth for 12 picks as I prayed to Brian McGrattan for Foerster to fall to me. Thank you Big Ern, you never let me down

Quick draft review or I would never be able to finish and post. Just too much

Round 1
4 Jamie Drysdale
16 Connor Zary

Round 2
29 Tyson Foerster
38 Jake Neighbours
40 Ty Smilanic
48 Luke Tuch
49 Ryan O'Rourke
51 Justin Sourdif
55 Lukas Cormier

Round 3
57 Will Cuylle
58 Daniil Gushchin
70 Donovan Sebrango
72 Maxim Groshev
76 Brett Berard
79 Tristen Robins
81 William Villeneuve

Round 4
85 Michael Benning
90 Blake Biondi
94 Jack Thompson
96 Cross Hanas
105 Thimo Nickl

Round 5
113 Bogdan Trineev
115 Isaak Phillips
118 Luke Prokop
122 Kasper Puutio
123 Ethan Bowen
130 Joel Maatta
134 Jakub Konecy
137 Simon Kubicek
140 Stephen Halliday

[3thirty]

Nice draft, thats a lot of picks!

I was hoping Foerster made it to me at 31 so congrats on snagging him!

I would've taken Zary if you took Holloway, both should be good picks.

Franchise has some nice pieces after today and a strong roster already, the Canes are back and hopefully we can compete with them after our rebuild.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Great work. You were quick with your picks which is impressive given how many you had
And for what it’s worth I think Kaliyev will end up being a good pick when all said and done

[Jiri Hrdina]

Great work. You were quick with your picks which is impressive given how many you had
And for what it’s worth I think Kaliyev will end up being a good pick when all said and done

[Goffie]

Some nice picks there Doug! Very efficient with the picks as well!

I’m interested in seeing how the new Canes look in a few years.

[Flickered Flame]

FWIW, I think you got a heck of a player in Jake Neighbours.

Sent from my SM-G973W using Tapatalk

[Swayze11]

I am a big fan of Drysdale. He was the 1 guy I was targeting when I had 6th overall hoping there was a chance he would be there so I am happy I moved that pick instead.

[Hanna Sniper]

Originally Posted by 3thirty

Franchise has some nice pieces after today and a strong roster already, the Canes are back and hopefully we can compete with them after our rebuild.

you have a crazy rebuild going on, your next years draft is insane. I’m really curious how it plays out for you because that was a major gamble that not a lot of GMs would have the balls to do. It’s like you doubled down to break the house

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

And for what it’s worth I think Kaliyev will end up being a good pick when all said and done

Kaliyev was a real awakening for me. He’s a hell of a player and the amount of misinformation that was “expert” information spoken about him was just people repeating what they heard. The kid is a really good kid. He’s a star player, the question is will the LA Kings mold him into it or break him. The line of success and failure is really a fine line. The difference of the right organization is the really the difference

Originally Posted by Goffie

I’m interested in seeing how the new Canes look in a few years.

as long as it’s not he same as the old Canes, I’ll take it. Hopefully the Canadiens / Canes rivalry on’t be the lopsided beatdown the Penguins/Canes fizzled our to be.

I have Drysdale, Dobson, Sandin and Smith on defense. I keep reminding myself that the biggest problem this team will have is over management . There’s was a lot of big deals made this offseason where a lot of question marks were raised about the inactivity of other teams (I don’t mean that negatively) it was hard sitting on my hands but I had to keep reminding myself that I’m not there yet and to stay on the path I am

[MJK]

I’m on team Doug.

[simmer2]

Great overview of your draft.

Even if it is different than how I'd do it, I appreciate someone coming up with a plan and sticking with it.

Good stuff

[Goffie]

I used to enjoy meeting the Canes in the playoffs in my earlier years in the league. Lineup and matchups were always a challenge.

Hopefully we can see a Habs vs Canes matchup next season!