The Carolina Hurricanes traded their first-round draft pick for the fourth time in five years, acquiring two second-round selections this year and a fifth-rounder in 2027 from Chicago for the No. 29 overall pick late Friday night.
Carolina acquired picks No. 34 and No. 62 in the trade. It is the third time since 2021 that Hurricanes traded out of the first round for additional picks.
“We have several players we like in this part of the draft,” Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky said. “We felt like we could slide down and still get one of the guys we’re very high on and then have an extra pick to hopefully pick up another one of the guys we’re looking at.”
The NHL Draft continues Saturday with rounds two through seven (noon, NHL Network). Carolina has seven draft picks remaining.
Oops, we did it again 🔀 pic.twitter.com/MqUYabDO9a
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) June 28, 2025
The first round featured four in-draft trades. The New York Islanders picked up two first-round picks in a pre-draft draft earlier in the day.
“Before the draft even started, I was talking to teams about, if we are going to move back, here’s what we would be asking for,” Tulsky said. “And then as we get closer, I sort through the teams that actually have a guy there that they want to move up and get, compare the offers and try and pick one.”
Arizona State center Cullen Porter was drafted at No. 32, the final pick of the first round. Porter was a player linked to the Hurricanes in several mock drafts.
“You can never know for sure, but we feel like we’re in a good position to get two players that we really want out of those two picks,” Tulsky said.
Carolina didn’t pick in the first round of the 2024 draft, trading the No. 27 pick for two second-round selections (No. 34 and No. 50). In 2022, they dealt the pick to Montreal as compensation for signing Jesperi Kotkaniemi. In 2021, Carolina traded No. 27 to Nashville for two second-round picks.
The Hurricanes took Bradly Nadeau, now a top prospect, at No. 30 overall in 2023.
The draft is the beginning of a quick sprint for player movement with free agency beginning on July 1. The Hurricanes have plenty of salary cap space and are aggressively seeking roster upgrades after reaching the Eastern Conference Final for the second time in three seasons.
Tulsky said it has been difficult to trade for players because so many NHL teams are looking to compete next season and they’re less interested in trading established players for draft picks or prospects.
“We still have to see who gets to the free-agent market and what we can get done,” Tulsky said.
“We’re also continuing to look at trades. I think one of the things we’ll see is after July 1st, teams will realize what they did and didn’t get, and there may be a secondary wave of movement there. And there may be a tertiary wave of movement during the season because every team is trying to get better now and not all of them will and as we get halfway through the season, there may be players that come available then that aren’t available right now.”
The draft was held in Los Angeles, but the teams were in their own cities in draft rooms. Tulsky said the decentralized draft made it easier to communicate with your own staff as well as with other teams.
“In this setting, we can talk across the room and we can get everyone involved and we can have the scouts see our process for thinking through our decision making,” Tulsky said.
— Adam Gold (@AGoldFan) June 28, 2025
Carolina in 2025 NHL Draft
Round 1: Traded to Chicago
Round 2: No. 34 (from Chicago), No. 62 (from Chicago)
Round 3: No. 87 (from Tampa Bay)
Round 4: No. 125
Round 6: No. 183 (from Tampa Bay) and No. 189
Round 7: No. 221
The Hurricanes’ original second-round pick belongs to Boston via Colorado. The team’s original third-round selection belongs to Washington. Carolina’s fifth-round pick belongs to Philadelphia.
After the draft, most picks meet their teams at development camp.
The Carolina Hurricanes 2025 Prospects Development Camp will be held at Invisalign Arena from June 29 to July 3. In addition to any 2025 draft picks, four players from the 2024 draft class will attend, including second-round pick Dominik Badinka, third-round pick Noel Fransen, and fifth-round picks Oskar Vuollet and Justin Poirier. Also attending camp for the first time will be 2023 fourth-round selection Alexander Rykov.
More draft coverage:
Hurricanes ‘open to everything’ ahead of key offseason, NHL Draft
New York Islanders choose defenseman Matthew Schaefer with No. 1 pick in NHL Draft
Emotional tribute to ‘Johnny Hockey’ as Meredith Gaudreau announces Blue Jackets’ 1st-round picks