Tweetmail No. 187: Assets, 2nd Pick & Dudley

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Tweetmail is a weekly feature on CarolinaHurricanes.com in which I take your Twitter questions about the Carolina Hurricanes or other assorted topics and answer them in mailbag form. Hopefully the final product is insightful to some degree, and maybe we have some fun along the way.
Let's get to it.

Tweet from @the_dave_mike: Are you also tired of people overreacting and thinking we are going to trade the 2nd overall pick?
Well, look, here's the thing: you have to at least explore the option, right? Here's a quote from Canes majority owner Tom Dundon at his end-of-season press conference: "It's about getting the most out of those assets."
The second overall pick is an asset, and the Hurricanes want to get the most out of it. So, they will be weighing the option of using the pick versus the option of trading the pick in an attempt to maximize the return.
Personally, I think the Canes should make the pick. Any draft pick is a gamble because you're betting on the long-term projection of a teenager, but at No. 2, you're more than likely getting a player who can have an immediate impact with your club. The Hurricanes need that player, and the Hurricanes can get that player with the second overall pick in this year's draft.
So …

This will be the question of the week from now until the 2018 NHL Draft in Dallas on June 22. We'll do a much deeper dive on potential picks, including both Andrei Svechnikov and Filip Zadina, in June, but here are my initial thoughts - and they're really just that because the No. 2 pick wasn't even on my radar before the draft lottery - on who the Canes should select with the second overall pick.
Of the two players mentioned above, I'd go with Andrei Svechnikov. The Russian-born winger, who clocks in at 6-foot-2 and 188 pounds, is the NHL Central Scouting Service's top-ranked forward. Svechnikov netted 40 goals and recorded 32 assists in 44 games with the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League in 2017-18.
That sounds like offensive production that the Hurricanes would be downright giddy to have.
Zadina is an intriguing option, considering his chemistry alongside Canes top prospect Martin Necas in the World Junior Championship, but Svechnikov has the edge for me in the early going - not that my opinion means anything come draft day.
Tweet from @JasonmkNHL: I���m sure you���ll address this on the next CanesCast, but your thoughts on Rick Dudley? Wait, you���ll be on vacation! TV���s @mikemaniscalco!! Your thoughts?
We for sure will address this on the next #CanesCast - more on that below - but my early impressions are that it's a savvy hire. Dudley, who has spent more than 45 years in professional hockey and 25 years as a senior executive in the NHL, knows the league and seems to have an eye for identifying needs and then identifying talent to fit those needs. He's extremely well-connected in the league. He excels in scouting talent. He's been there, and he's done that. Now, he's ready for a new challenge and after what he called a disappointing year in Montreal, he's ready to win.
"I'm probably not that long for the game anymore, but I'd like my last stop to be a very successful one. My gut tells me this could be," he said. "I hope this is my last stop."
Speaking of Dudley …
Tweet from @ehwaltz: What is Dudley���s draft history when he has held a top 5 pick for any previous teams?
This is somewhat of a complicated question to tackle because he's held many a position for many a team, and each team functions a little differently from the next.
With that said, his fingerprints are on a number of draft moves, especially when he served as general manager for four teams. As GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1999, Dudley traded the first overall pick (which Atlanta used on Patrik Stefan) to move down to four and then traded out of the first round entirely (the Rangers picked Pavel Brendl fourth overall, while the Vancouver Canucks picked the Sedin twins at second and third). And, other than the Sedin twins, there wasn't a whole lot to write home about in that first round. The next year, Dudley traded the Lightning's fifth overall pick to the New York Islanders in a package deal that brought Kevin Weekes to Tampa (the Islanders, meanwhile, selected Raffi Torres fifth overall). Dudley then picked Nikita Alexeev three picks later at eight in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. In 2001, Dudley's final draft with the team, the Lightning selected Alexandr Svitov third overall.
With the Florida Panthers in 2002, Dudley again dealt the first overall pick, swapping spots with Columbus at three; the Blue Jackets selected Rick Nash, while the Panthers took Jay Bouwmeester. Dudley again moved the Panthers from one to three in 2003, when Marc-Andre Fleury went to Pittsburgh at one, Eric Staal went to Carolina at two and Nathan Horton went to Florida at three.
Dudley's contributions with the Blackhawks are tougher to discern because he wasn't the team's general manager, but he's
highly regarded for the work he did)
in helping to build their 2010 Stanley Cup Championship team.
So, what to take from all of this? I caution against jumping to conclusions based on trades he made some 20 years ago; those were different times and different situations. Rather, what I see is someone who is a trusted hockey mind, and with many years of experience under his belt, he'll no doubt he leaned upon with the Canes.

I'd say there is a good chance of both a podcast being recorded this week (just in time for me to skip town) and it being called "Everything is Happening" because that accurately describes what all has transpired as of late.
Stay tuned,
#CanesCast
listeners!
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I'll be on vacation next week, so join me in two weeks for more questions and more answers!
If you have a question you'd like answered or you have a suggestion for our podcast, you can find me on Twitter at
@MSmithCanes
or drop an email
here
.