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Red & Black Hockey

Canes start big, stay big in draft.

by David Lee on 06/27/09 at 09:19 PM ET
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Jim Rutherford promised that the Canes would add some size and some toughness this weekend.  There was some speculation that any number of trades might go down, but none did.  For the first time since I can remember, the Hurricanes got a big man with every one of their draft picks.  There’s always a run of 5’10” Ontario-born skaters, and a Michigander or two, but there was none of that this draft. 
I already commented about the unusual selection of a French-Canadian.  I’m still not sure why the Canes didn’s select Carter Ashton with the 27th pick.  Their selection, Philippe Paradis, probably would have still been available at 51.  I’m not sure who was driving the crazy train there, and I hope that all of us doubting Thomases will be proven wrong about this. From then on, there were some good picks, even if they continued to be unusual ones. 

Of Carolina’s six picks, three are North American, and only two speak English as a first language.  But the good thing is that every one of them is over six feet and over 180 pounds. 

The Hurricanes’ second round pick was one of their two English-as-first-language guys, even if he has a French name.  Brian Dumoulin.  This might have been a really good pick late in the second round.  A defenseman, he’s 6’3” and 197 pounds.  Of all the guys at the scouting combine, Dumoulin was first in body fat (meaning he has the least) and second in wingspan.  He was also one of the youngest players in the draft pool.  The 17 year old native of Maine will be headed to Boston College this fall.  He played on the New Hampshire Junior Monarchs in the Eastern Junior Hockey League and also spent some time on the Team USA u-18 team.  Critics compare him to Ryan Whitney, and if he turns out to be a Ryan Whitney-type, I’ll be okay with that. 

Carolina’s third round pick is a really big guy.  Left wing Mattias Lindström is 6’4”, 203 pounds.  He was the 22nd ranked European skater in the draft.  He has spent the last couple of years playing junior hockey in his native Sweden for the Skellefteå junior team, but he had a stint with the big team in the Swedish Elite League.  He played in seven regular season games, scoring one goal.  He also played in seven playoff games, scoring one goal.  He was the youngest player on the Elite team and was teammates with Tim Erixon, who was selected 23rd overall in this draft by Calgary.  He’ll most likely remain with Skellefteå for two more years at least. 

The Hurricanes did not have a fourth round draft pick.

In the fifth round, the Hurricanes returned to North America for another big winger.  With the tenth pick of the fifth round, they chose 20-year old Matt Kennedy, who stands 6’2” and weighs 202 pounds.  He has used up his junior hockey eligibility, so his options will be Albany or the big team.  He led the Guelph Storm with 73 (33/40) points in 67 regular season games and he added five (3/2) points in four postseason games. He won all kinds of team awards including the team scoring leader, the team MVP and the fan club fan favorite.  In 2008-09, he more than tripled his previous season totals; he had just 21 (17/4) points in 2007-08 and 22 (10/12) the previous season.  I’ve seen his hometown listed as Richmond Hill, ONT or Shanty Bay, ONT.  As Chip Alexander pointed out in the N&O, the fact that he’s from Richmond Hill and used up his junior hockey eligibility playing for the Guelph Storm should remind us of Jeff O’Neill.  O was an absolute beast for the Storm, then moved all the way to the big leagues, playing for the Whale before they relocated to North Carolina.  Let’s hope that Kennedy isn’t like O’Neill in any other ways. 

In the sixth and seventh rounds, the Canes went to their new favorite place—Finland.  In round six, they selected defenseman Rasmus Rissanen, who most recently played the KalPa junior hockey team in Kuipio, Finland.  The senior team is owned by former Hurricane Sami Kapanen.  Rissanen is 6’2” and at 185 pounds is the lightest player the Canes drafted.  Still, he outweighs every player the Canes drafted in 2008.

In the final round, the Hurricanes selected another Finnish defenseman.  Tommi Kivistö is 6’1” and 195 pounds.  He played for the Red Deer Rebels in 2008-09 and registered 22 (1/21) points.  He hails from the same town (Vantaa) as Tuomo Ruutu and played for the same team (Jokerit Helsinki) that Ruutu used to play for.  For the sake of trivia, Vantaa is also the hometown of Formula One superstud Mika Häkkinen. 

I don’t really know anything about any of these players other than what I’ve read.  If I had to, I would wager my money on Matt Kennedy to be the first to make an impact in the organization.  He might not ever be on the big team, but he’s probably going to be able to play a big role on the River Rats. 

Now that the draft is done, it’s time to focus on getting Chad LaRose re-signed before he hits the market on Wednesday. 

Whether through free agency or through trade, I still expect the Hurricanes to acquire a winger.  Not Dany Heatley.  And I also hope that they improve the defense.  Jim Rutherford is already doing his “we’re going to lay low” speech, so I’m not going to expect anything major, but I’m still hoping for something big. 

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About Red & Black Hockey

David Lee is a restaurant manager with an unused degree in political science.  He can be found at Carolina Hurricanes games, Scrabble tournaments and indie-rock shows.  Sometimes, all in the same day. 

David has contributed to CBC.ca for their Stanley Cup playoff coverage in 2006 and to the New York Times Slapshot blog for theirs in 2008.  Red and Black Hockey was founded in July of 2005.