Draft Week: Recent First Rounds & Notable #30's

Taking a look at who has been selected at the Canes' first slot in this year's event, and what the team has done with their first choice in the past few years

By Walt Ruff

@WaltRuff Hurricanes.com

June 26, 2023

RALEIGH, NC. -A big stretch of seven days lies ahead, y'all.

The 2023 NHL Draft will take place on Wednesday and Thursday of this week and free agency opens on Saturday.

Before we get to the latter, let's get you set for the event in Nashville.

First Up...

For the first time since 2020, the Carolina Hurricanes are primed to pick in the first round.

Last year, their first-round selection went to the Montreal Canadiens as a part of the compensation for the successful offer sheet for Jesperi Kotkaniemi.

In 2021, the team was slated to select 27th overall, until they made a trade with the Nashville Predators in the moments leading up to the choice. In exchange, the Canes received the 40th and 51st selections, picking now highly-touted prospect Scott Morrow and forward Ville Koivunen.

That makes Seth Jarvis the franchise's most recent first-round pick when he was chosen at #13 overall from the Portland Winterhawks in the COVID-19 delayed draft in October of 2020.

With 79 points in 150 games already, and all the makings of an entertaining player for a long time, there's plenty of reason to feel that the Hockey Operations staff made a successful choice in their most recent go-around.

Rod and Don welcome Seth Jarvis to the family 👊 pic.twitter.com/drBO3I2FTY
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) October 7, 2020

Other Recent First-Round Choices

2019: Ryan Suzuki

Injuries have unfortunately plagued a good deal of Suzuki's pro career thus far, but this past season he played a career-high 50 games with the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League.

Registering 32 points, the 2023-24 season will be the last season on the now 22-year-old's entry-level contract.

2018: Andrei Svechnikov

The Canes had the fortune of the draft lottery on their side ahead of the 2018 draft, landing in the top three despite having just a 3% shot of it happening. With that, they were able to select the budding superstar from Barnaul, Russia.

Since shaking up the scene of the league with his lacrosse-style goals, Svechnikov has already played in 347 NHL games over five seasons, living up to all of the hype that came behind him when he was chosen #2 overall.

2017: Martin Necas

Another player that has become a lineup mainstay, Necas took a massive step forward during the 2022-23 season.

He'd long possessed the tools to become a star player in the league, but this past year #88 produced a career-high in nearly every major statistical category, recording 28 goals, as well as a team-high 43 assists, and 71 points.

OTT@CAR: Necas wires home OT winner from the slot

Notable #30's

The Canes have never picked at the #30 slot before in team history, but over the years there have been a handful of high-quality players taken with it. Here are a few of them:

2011: Rickard Rakell - Anaheim Ducks

2010: Brock Nelson - New York Islanders

1991: Sandis Ozolins - San Jose Sharks

1989: Patrice Brisebois - Montreal Canadiens

1976: Randy Carlyle - Toronto Maple Leafs

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