Carolina Hurricanes Draft 2017: Please No Number 5
Is it too soon to be looking forward to the Carolina Hurricanes’ 2017 Draft?Maybe, but dreams are all I have left please don’t take them away.
Ok, the Carolina Hurricanes are 4-6-4 with twelve points. This places them at twenty-eighth in the league as of this article’s writing. To put it bluntly, things aren’t looking good. Not good at all. So why focus on all the bad things? Let’s look to the future where everything will be better and we’ll all have ponies. This future is the 2017 NHL entry draft where hopes of turning your franchise around are picked like numbers on a roulette wheel (no that isn’t a Vegas reference…or is it?). These three players project to be the top in the draft as of right now, hopefully with a little luck (good or bad who can tell the difference these days) Carolina will have the opportunity to pick one.
No. 1 Nolan Patrick
Nolan Patrick is the consensus pick for all the scouts right now. He plays for the Brandon Wheat Kings. In 2016 Patrick scored 102 points (41G, 61A) in 72 games. Patrick led his team to the WHL title while scoring 30 points to earn the WHL playoffs MVP. That was last year. Patrick played in only six games so far this year as he has battled an upper-body injury. Most scouts seem to think that his camp is just being extra cautious with his injury to keep him out so many games. Patrick is a center with great size (6’2″ 190 lbs.) who also shoots the puck with tremendous skill. Scouts say he’s not Connor McDavid or Auston Matthews, but even his floor has him at a franchise center. For a team that just lost their franchise center, picking up someone like Patrick could be a game changer
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No. 2 Timothy Liljegren
Timothy Liljegren is a defenseman who plays for Rogle BK in the SuperElit league. A lot of scouts are comparing his game to Drew Doughty who last time I checked seems to be pretty good. Like Patrick, he hasn’t played much this year. In fact, he hasn’t played at all although it isn’t due to injury but rather a sickness. Mono sidelined Liljegren this season and right now is skating and looking towards a return in late November. The Canes need another defenseman in their farm system like a person needs an extra hole in their head, but if he’s the best available pick they have to take him and hope to trade for forward talent.
No. 3 Gabriel Vilardi
Vilardi wasn’t on a lot of scouts list before this season, and if he was his listing wasn’t near this high. This season though he’s scored nineteen points in twelve games all the while playing on the wing instead of his natural center position. His performance moved him up a lot of lists to the number three spot. His skating has been criticized by a lot of scouts, but his skill with the puck and hockey IQ more than make up for it. A player that can play multiple positions and still put pucks in the net will be very valuable at the NHL level. Another big body at 6’2″ and 192 lbs he can protect the puck as well to allow him to create offense. At either wing or center, the Carolina Hurricanes could use another great forward to improve their offense.
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