Eastside's Hockey Elite Collide

After a highly disappointing playoffs in which the Hurricanes, one of the favorites for the cup, bowed out in the first round GM Dave Greybill decided to take a different direction with his drafting this year. Here's what direction the Canes went in the draft, and how it affects the future outlook of the team:

1st round - #21: RW Thomas Wilson - Plymouth Whalers
It was expected that the Canes would load up on forwards this year with the development of Jank and Gravel in the AHL this past season. And while it played out as expected, the lack of high end offense at the #21 spot, and the lack of physicality in their prospect pool made Wilson an intriguing and borderline obvious choice here. Offensively he should pan out to be a pretty nice scorer, eventually replacing Dustin Penner or Tuomo Ruutu in the teams lineup. But physically he trumps either of them and it could make Wilson one of the top power forwards in the league in the future.
ETA: 2013-14

2nd round - #51: W Sammu Markkula - JyP Jrs
While the Canes went physical in the first, Markkula being on the board in the 2nd lead them to take another route entirely. The undersized Finn winger is one of the best pure playmakers in the draft and is competent enough positionally in his defense to not be a liability out on the ice. He'll need protection down the middle, but pairing him on a line with countrymate Teemu Pulkkinen could pay dividends for the Hurricanes down the road. Markkula's skating ability should also help to negate the impact of his lower size. While he's projected to be a 3rd liner for the Canes due to their unusual roster build, he's projected to also be an impact player on the PP.
ETA: 2014-15

3rd round - #81: D Slater Koekkoek - Peterborough Petes
Koekkoek's presence on the board in the 3rd came as a surprise to GM Greybill, who had no qualms breaking his draft strategy to pick up the physical defenseman. While Koekkoek projects more as a #5 guy long term, the team also has little past him to take over for Gleason when he's ready to move on eventually. Offensively he shouldn't be too bad either as he has decent skills in that regard already. But with Pitkanen, McBain, and Jank in the fold already it's expected that he won't play much of a role in that regard, especially if the Canes keep running a forward on one of their PP unit points.
ETA: 2014-15

4th round - #111: W Andreas Athanasiou - London Knights
Keeping with the OHL trend of their draft, the Canes selected Athanasiou, a project of a player that should have tremendous skating and puck handling abilities. One of the most gifted offensive players in the draft, yet alone at this stage of the draft, his defense won't get much better then it currently is so he'll have to have protection in the lineup. Thankfully for the Canes, he projects as a possible top 6 forward and should be able to slot in on a line with Staal and Boychuk eventually should they decide to go that route. The key is going to be keeping him from busting so don't expect him in the AHL any time soon.
ETA: 2015-16

5th round - #141: G Frank Palazzese - Kitchener Rangers
The Kitchener tender was one of the best left at this spot in the draft, and while he's a bit undersized and is a long term prospect, he could eventually fill in as a backup for the Canes. Though with Ward, Peters, Murphy, Conz, and Mahalak in the organization that may take some doing.
ETA: 2016-17 unless traded

6th round - #171: C Matthew Deblouw - Muskegon
It's not expected that he'll have much of an NHL impact given his potential upside. But with that said, the Hurricanes could certainly use some more talent in their AHL as they re-tool the organization while still trying to remain contenders, and Deblouw might even luck out and crack the roster as a callup if necessary.
ETA: N/A, callup player/AHL star

7th round - #201 D Dillon Fournier, - Rouyn-Noranda Huskies
Another player like Deblouw who should, at least for the most part, remain an option only in case of emergency but also should make an impact at the AHL level. A solid all-around defenseman for that level, the only thing he seems to be lacking is much of a shot.
ETA: N/A, callup player/AHL star

so overall a good haul for the Hurricanes, and their roster crop going forward should look a bit like this:

Zach Boychuk - Eric Staal - Andreas Athanasiou
Thomas Wilson - Brandon Sutter - Mikko Koivu
Teemu Pulkkinen - Artem Voronin - Samu Markkula
Philippe Paradis - Nicolas Blanchard - Dmitri Mikhailov
Konstantin Komarek

Joni Pitkanen - Casey Borer
Martin Gravel - Bohumil Jank
Jamie McBain - Slater Koekkoek

Cam Ward
Matt Mahalak

Of course, future draft picks can change that entirely, especially on the front end.

In 3 years the Hurricanes haven't taken a dman in the first round. All that changed this draft, as well as the organizations entire depth chart. For analysis we turned to the man who made the selections himself, GM Dave Greybill:

1st round #23 OA - D Jonathan-Ismael Diaby - Victoriaville (QMJHL)
The Hurricanes have one of the leagues best defensive teams in place already, but there's always room for improvement. Diaby is a step in that direction, and while he projects to be a one-dimensional defensive specialist it's not like we don't know how to deal with that situation. Jon will bring a legitimate physical element to our defense that it's been lacking for a while, and by the time he hits his prime he should be one of the best defensive dmen in hockey.
projection: #2 dman
ETA: 2015-16

2nd round #53 OA - W Kerby Rychel - Windsor (OHL)
While not an elite forward prospect in his own right, offensively Rychel projects to be solid if not elite offensively. Now, his stickhandling skills are expected to be a bit lacking, but as both a passer and scorer he should fit right in on a top 6 role with plenty of PP time to go with it.
projection: top 6 winger
ETA: 2014-15

3rd round #83 OA - W Evgeni Zakurin - Yaroslaval (RUS)
Projects to be a pure playmaker at the NHL level if he makes it there. Offensively he's solid enough to be a specialist 13th forward at the NHL level, but he lacks quite a bit of the defensive profile that would make him a lineup regular. If he had more size he'd be absolutely ideal, but as is he should still be a good player or at least great AHL depth.
projection: offensive role player
ETA: 2016-17

4th round #113 OA - D Nikolai Glukhov - Omsk (RUS)
Another physical defenseman, while he's exceptionally inconsistent he brings so much to the table in terms of pure projectable ability that he should be one of the best two-way dmen in the league when his time comes. As a playmaker he's absolutely elite, though the rest of his offensive game runs behind a bit. Defensively he doesn't use his stick that effectively but he's a positional rock and a physical nightmare to match up against. Could potentially even be a partner for Diaby long term.
projection: top 4 dman
ETA: 2016-17

5th round #143 OA - W Edgars Kalvins - AIK (SEL)
The Latvian power forward prospect is an interesting one. Unlike our first round pick last year he doesn't have that ability to make a top 6 player long term, but he's an ideal candidate for a physical 3rd or 4th line role and could be the first one from the Canes entire draft to make it to the show. He looks like an absolute sure thing, but we'll see what happens.
Projection: checking line player
ETA: 2014-15

6th round #173 OA - W Rasmus Fyrphil - Linkoping (SEL)
The international trend continued here. Another checking line specialist selected here in Fyrpihl, he's a long term project but his defensive ability could at the very least have him as a 4th line or 13th forward type player long term. Absolutely what we were look for with a selection this late in the draft
Projection: defensive role player
ETA: 2016-17

7th round #203 OA - D Maxime Gravel - Rimouski (QMJHL)
No relation to our stud defensive youngster Kevin Gravel, Maxime projects as an elite AHL dman and that's exactly what we want out of him. Nothing more nothing less.
ETA: none

Heckles were indeed heard out of some of the Canes fans when these picks were made. One fairly well educated one is believed to have been yelling that he would do things differently, but offering absolutely no alternatives. Another declared that GM Greybill was a biased asshole that could go fuck himself, considering himself to be always right in the face of such biased things as facts.