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2019-20 Hurricanes Prospects and Checkers Thread

Luke Martin seems like a bust, how that guy ended up as a second round draft pick is still puzzling, someone missed on that pick and he really has not done much of anything in college to date that stands out as an early round draft pick.
 
Luke Martin seems like a bust, how that guy ended up as a second round draft pick is still puzzling, someone missed on that pick and he really has not done much of anything in college to date that stands out as an early round draft pick.

Martin was ranked 61st among North American skaters, so picking him at #52 was a reach. By comparison, Mattheos was 38th and Geekie 45th so getting them at #67 and #73 was a relative steal. Necas was 5th among European skaters and was expected to go in the top 10 but dropped to us at 12. Eetu Luostarinen was picked 42nd overall, but was a staggering 83rd on the European list.
 
Yeah, IIRC the Canes fell in love with Martin at a time with the US development program was churning out a fair number of big-ish do-it-all defenders. It was clearly a reach to take him that early, and in retrospect a swing and a miss ... but it happens. At the time the Canes were trying to re-stock the cupboard and were largely successful ... as the rest of that draft class shows. You can't get 'em all right.
 
52 vs 61 is not a big difference in ranking. Remember quite a few 1st round picks are busts too. Canes certainly had some of those right after the move.
 
52 vs 61 is not a big difference in ranking. Remember quite a few 1st round picks are busts too. Canes certainly had some of those right after the move.
Actually they are...#52 is for all picks regardless of where they come from, #61 was only among North Americans.
 
Actually they are...#52 is for all picks regardless of where they come from, #61 was only among North Americans.

Yep, there were 17 international players chosen before Martin. That includes the very overslotted Eetu Luostarinen.
 
Its hard to call Luke Martin a full bust yet. If you look at the picks after him in that 2017 draft, the Dmen that have actually played an NHL game so far only include "Little Bro" Cale Fleury, Michael Anderson (LA, 2 games), and "Don't call me SeaBass" Aho (22 games). Its a long way to go before we can say that any Dmen drafted after Luke Martin will amount to much of anything.

Amongst forwards drafted after Luke Martin in that 2017 draft, Morgan Geekie, with his 3 goals in 2 NHL games, is the 3rd highest goal scorer of the bunch (all 5 of them).

No sign of a superstar or anything more than filler who was drafted after Luke Martin in the 2017 draft (yet). We will see how things progress. I'm not saying it was smart to draft Luke Martin that early and well above slot and I probably have called him a bust a few times, but it likely is too early to try to use hindsight to say what the better picks were at that spot. Who knows, maybe Luke Martin signs with Toronto and ends up their missing blueline piece on the way to a Cup. Sure doesn't look like he is trending that way. I don't care that he doesn;'t sign with the Canes, he likely is at best a #8/9 organizational depth DMan like a Trevor Carrick. He might have a hard time finding anything more than an AHL deal out there.
 
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Small data point set, but watching him at his development camp scrimmages highlighted his defensive skills. What was notable to me was no one got by him in the one-on-one drills. Stoned or stripped every time. And he did have size (6'2" 219lbs at the 2018 camp).

Guess the offensive side of his game just never emerged. This is a tough roster to make, particularly for defensemen.
 
Cnes Prospects tweeted that Jake Kucharski is transferring from Providence to American International College in Springfield. MA. They play D1 in the Atlantic Hockey Conference, which includes teams in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and...Colorado. AIC won the conference tournament in 2019 and beat St. Cloud State in the West Regional before losing to Denver in the final. New Hurricane Jason Cotton played at Sacred Heart in that conference.

Kucharski did not play at all for Providence last season.
 
Hopefully the kid gets to actually play games. He only played 9 USHL games in the season before the goose egg at Providence. He was a 7th round pick, so there is little invested as far as the Canes are concerned. Its still bizarre that he has played so little since being drafted.
 
Hopefully the kid gets to actually play games. He only played 9 USHL games in the season before the goose egg at Providence. He was a 7th round pick, so there is little invested as far as the Canes are concerned. Its still bizarre that he has played so little since being drafted.

AIC had 3 goalies on their roster this year, a senior who played 19 games, a junior who played 17 and a freshman who played 2, for a total of 5 minutes. But if he has to sit out a season, the junior will have also graduated.
 
It would be pretty cruel if Kucharski has to sit out as a transfer considering he didn't play a single minute at Providence.
 
Joey Keane, who we acquired from the Rangers in the Gauthier trade, was named to the AHL All Rookie team.

Jake Bean was named to the First All Star Team.
 
Joey Keane, who we acquired from the Rangers in the Gauthier trade, was named to the AHL All Rookie team.

Jake Bean was named to the First All Star Team.
Keane was weirdly good in Carolina's system in Charlotte. By all scouting accounts I read when the Canes acquired him I figured he would just be a hole plugger in this system but the dude flourished with the added responsibility. Maybe Carolina's pro scouting department is finally starting to add some value after all these years. Still not sold on the input that lead to a couple of other deals ... primarily thinking about Dzingle here ... but the curve is headed up over the last couple of years.
 
Yeah the D situation for the Canes as it relates to the expansion draft will be a tough call for management between now and the expansion draft.

So the rules say you can protect seven forwards, three defensemen and one goalie, or eight skaters (forwards/defensemen) and one goalie, under the following conditions.

* All players with no movement clauses at the time of the draft, and who decline to waive those clauses, must be protected and will be counted toward their team's applicable protection limits.

* All first- and second-year NHL players, and all unsigned draft choices, will be exempt from selection (and will not be counted toward protection limits.

So I assume Bean is non-exempt?

If you go with the 3 D protect option, Slavin, Pesce and Hamilton (if extended by the Canes). If you go the eight skater option I guess you could protect 4 D, again let's assume Hamilton stays long term and they protect Slavin/Pesce/Hamilton/Skjei.

That leaves Gardiner, Fleury, Bean available...along with any other defenseman that is added or signed along the way between now and then...

Whenever next season starts, a core seven on D of Slavin/Hamilton...Pesce/Skjei...and Gardiner/Fleury with Bean seems like the obvious choice right now. I do not see Edmunson, TVR or Vatanen being a part of the mix with the financial implications and UFA opportunities perhaps elsewhere for those guys.
 
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