Canes go overseas for offense

RALEIGH, NC – The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Boston Bruins in the playoffs using a mixture of talent, playoff savvy and grit. However, they did not have enough talent to push the eventual Stanley Cup-winning Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference finals. The upcoming draft will be about starting to inject more talent into the Hurricanes lineup which will hopefully develop into a mixture which can take the Hurricanes to their second Stanley Cup in franchise history. The Hurricanes have long been known to stick to North America for their top prospects. They would prefer not to draft a defenseman with their first pick. However, all bets are off the table due to the fact the club is drafting late in the first round and the club needs an infusion of top end talent. Led by last season’s top pick, Zach Boychuk, the club has more prospects up front than on the back line, although the club’s defensive prospects are closer to being in the NHL. In addition to Boychuk, the club has Drayson Bowman and Zac Dalpe, both are considered to having top end talent, Chris Terry, Nicolas Blanchard and Justin McRae will also given shots to make the Hurricanes roster some day. Brandon Sutter, the club’s top pick in 2007, is an important part of the team’s future on the forward line. Jamie McBain is the club’s top hope on the blueline. The team thought enough of him to sign him after his junior season in college. However, there are players who are closer to joining the team full-time such as Casey Borer and Brett Carson. Michal Jordan (isn’t that a great name for a hockey player in North Carolina?) will also be given plenty of time to develop before much is expected of him. Cam Ward is the past, present and future in the Hurricanes goal and he is backed up by Michael Leighton. There is no doubt the Hurricanes would like for Justin Peters to push Leighton, but at the same time it would be better for Peters to start in the AHL for another season before moving up to the NHL behind Ward. Mike Murphy has graduated from junior hockey and will be given a chance to compete with Peters for playing time.

It would be easy to pencil in a high-ranking junior skater here, but as mentioned previously the club may expand their horizons a bit in order to grab a player who has slid in the draft. After watching PHN’s mock draft unfold, the best available player still on the board would be Jacob Josefson. Josefson is known as a two-way player who is good in all facets of the game. He has played against top competition in the Swedish league and produced 16 points while playing for Djurgarden despite playing on the fourth line. Josefson steadily improved during his rookie season and advanced to the third line by season’s end. Many believe he will be long gone before this selection comes in the draft based upon his potential and play in Sweden this year. “Josefson is among an elite band of 1991 birth-year players, there are just three, in fact, playing regularly in the Elitserien,” said Djurgarden head coach Tomas Monten. “He’s not that big, but he’s physically built. He looks like a player that is 25. When we were making that decision (to play him in junior or with the senior team), we couldn’t look at his age, just how he was competing against the other players on the team. His strengths are that he can read the play, he’s strong with the puck, moves his feet really well and he always gets himself time when he gets the puck on his stick.” With those kinds of attributes it will indeed be a wonder if Josefson is available this late in the draft, but if he is, the Hurricanes surely would be wise to break out of their mold and grab the young Swedish skater. “With the 27^th pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, the Carolina Hurricanes select, from the Swedish Elite League, center Jacob Josefson.”
 
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