The National Hockey League is again taking its annual draft on the road this year, but it’s not what it used to be.
Many of the top prospects will be at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles when the 2025 NHL draft begins Friday, nervously sitting and waiting for their name to be called. But there will be no team delegations this year, with 32 groups huddled around individual tables, talking quietly while eyeing each other.
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The NHL has gone to a decentralized draft, modeling it more after the NBA and NFL versions. Commissioner Gary Bettman will announce the first pick – the New York Islanders have No. 1 overall selection – but the other teams can use a former player or special guest for their selections, adding a little more glitz and star power to what often has been a staid event.
Carolina Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky and the Canes group will be in Morrisville, in their version of the “war room” during the two days of the draft. The conversations can be louder — about the Canes’ six draft picks or trade offers — and the discussions could be livelier.
“We’re trying to build a team that can compete year after year,” Tulsky said after the season. “But competing isn’t enough. We want to win. So you have to find a way to do that, and the picks and the prospects can help us by producing players in the future or help us by being used in trades to bring in players who help us now.
“We’re open to everything.”
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The Canes, after reaching the Eastern Conference final in the Stanley Cup playoffs, have the No. 29 overall pick in this year’s draft. That’s a byproduct of success on the ice: being pushed to the end of the opening round in the draft.
A year ago, when the draft was held at Sphere in Las Vegas, the Canes had the 27th pick in the opening round and traded it to the Chicago Blackhawks for a pair of second-round draft choices. They then took defenseman Dominik Badinka with the 35th pick and forward Nikita Artamonov with the 50th – call it a two-for-one.
The Hurricanes could do something like that again or stick with their pick, as they did in 2023 when they took forward Bradly Nadeau at No. 30.
Carolina Hurricanes draft pick Bradly Nadeau talks with head coach Rod BrindAmour after being selected with the thirtieth pick in round one of the 2023 NHL Draft at Bridgestone Arena.
Whatever the decision, Tulsky will be in the middle of it. A physicist by training and education, he first cut his NHL teeth with hockey analytics, was hired by the Canes and advanced up the ladder to the role of general manager.
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It’s his team now. Tulsky knows what he’s looking for – in the draft, in free agency or in deals with other teams.
In his end-of-year press conference, Tulsky said until the Canes had the “20 best players in the league” there would be room for improvement. That’s a commitment to assembling a team capable of winning the franchise’s second Stanley Cup.
“We set the bar very, very high,” he said.
The Florida Panthers have set their own bar and been the league‘s best team the past two seasons, proving it on the ice and twice holding Stanley Cup championship celebrations. The Panthers have been a team with impressive skill and goaltending, but also a roughhouse group with snarl, size and toughness.
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Tulsky was asked if the Canes would be looking to add more size, through the draft, free agency or trade acquisitions.
“We want players who can really apply pressure and compete,” he said. “That’s not just about size, but obviously size helps with that. I wouldn’t say we’re looking at size. I would say we’re looking at how effective they are at applying pressure.
“But size is a big component of that. Obviously you can pressure someone more if you’re physically intimidating.”
Judging by the NHL mock drafts, the Canes could be looking at such players in the first round as forward Will Horcuff of Michigan (6-4, 190 pounds) or defenseman Blake Fiddler of the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings(6-4, 209). Both are the sons of former NHL players – Shawn Horcutt and Vernon Fiddler. The hockey pedigree is there. The size.
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Given Carolina’s trend in recent years, it could be a Russian prospect. Daniil Prokhorov is a 6-6, 219-pound forward who played for St. Petersburg in the MHL, a level below the KHL. Alexander Zharovsky is a puck-handling winger who should be available.
But that, like mock drafts, is a guesstimate. The draft has long been called a “crap shoot” and will continue to be. For every first- or second-rounder who doesn’t work out, there’s a Jaccob Slavin emerging from a fourth-round selection – and he was the second defenseman the Canes picked that round in 2012 – to become one the league’s best.
The 2025 draft concludes Saturday with rounds two through seven but the Hurricanes will remain busy. Their prospect development camp begins Sunday and free agency cranks up Tuesday.
The Canes on Thursday re-signed Finnish forward Juha Jaaska to a two-year contract that will be a two-way deal in 2025-26 and a one-way NHL contract in 2026-27. Jaaska, 27, played 18 games for the Canes last season, making his NHL debut against the Florida Panthers in January.
2025 NHL Draft
Hurricanes draft picks
Round 1, No. 29
Round 3, No. 87
Round 4, No. 125
Round 6, No. 183
Round 6, No. 189
Round 7, No. 221