The One-Time Accidental Champions

The Carolina Hurricanes originally came into existence as the former Hartford Whalers in 1997. Since then, they've always had struggles in gaining a foothold in the Carolinas, as they are currently the lowest drawing team in the league. So, how did a team that accidentally won a Stanley Cup, and accidentally made another Stanley Cup Final get to this point? Besides poor ownership, it would be wise to look at the team's Draft history since they came to the Tar Heel State.

• 1997 was the first year that the Hurricanes would be entering the Draft. Their first pick as a team was Nikos Tselios, who is related to Hall of Famer Chris Chelios. Unfortunately, Tselios had very little of the talent that made the more well-known Chelios a Hall of Famer, as he played just two games. The players with the most games played in this draft class were Francis Lessard (115), who spent most of his time in Atlanta, and Shane Willis (174), who spent time in Tampa. Great start.
• The following year, the Hurricanes drafted another first round bust in Jeff Heerema, who played just 30 games. However, they actually did better this time around overall, as Erik Cole would be one of the franchise's better players in the Carolina era while the late Josef Vasicek carved out a nice career with the Hurricanes. Tommy Westlund and Jaroslav Svoboda also cracked the century mark in games played from this draft class.
• 1999 was the first year their first round pick played more than 50 games in a season. David Tanabe wasn't great, but he did play 449 games over his NHL career, bouncing around and being serviceable. However, he was also the only guy to play any more than 2 games from that  year, as three other players played a combined five games while five more picks didn't even play in the NHL, including Ryan Murphy (they would later draft another Ryan Murphy who hasn't panned out thus far).
• The Hurricanes did not have a first round pick in 2000, as it was traded to Colorado. Of their picks, only Ryan Bayda (179) and Niclas Wallin (614) played significant games in the NHL.
• If their first year at the Draft was brutal, then 2001 was even worse. Only Michael Zigomanis played over 100 games, and only one other player (Rob Zepp) played any games at all in the NHL. Worse, their first round pick, Igor Knyazev, didn't play a game at all in the NHL, as he spent just two seasons in North America and the AHL before going back to Russia in 2004.
• 2002 was marginally better, as the Hurricanes had just four picks that year, and only one of them actually played any games. That player? Cam Ward, who until last week, had played all 512 games in a Hurricanes uniform. The next game he will play will be in a Chicago Blackhawks uniform, as he signed a one-year deal to back up Corey Crawford.
• 2003 was status quo for the Hurricanes at the draft, as half of their picks didn't even play, and they still managed to find at least one significant contributor in Eric Staal, who recently cracked the 1000 game mark. Largely inconsistent in Carolina, he has rediscovered his game in Minnesota. Tyson Strachan was the only other player to play over 100 games from this class.
• 2004 was in line with the other classes, as only one player has had a long career in the NHL. Andrew Ladd had won a Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes in 2006 as a rookie, but was traded to Chicago for Tuomo Ruutu. In Chicago, he won another Cup with them in 2010. He has also spent time with Atlanta/Winnipeg, a short second run in Chicago, and now the New York Islanders. The next players with time in the NHL were Brett Carson (90) and Justin Peters (80).
• 2005 was the definiton of brutal, as the only player to net any real time in the NHL was Jack Johnson, who never played a game with them. Johnson's rights were traded a few months after the draft along with Oleg Tverdovsky in exhcange for Tim Gleason and Eric Belanger. No one else even cracked the double digit barrier, that is, if they played at all.
• 2006 also saw another year of just one player making any time in the NHL, as Jamie McBain was the only player to be in the NHL. He did play 348 games, but you were hoping for at least another diamond in the rough to go along with it.
• 2007 was actually the most successful draft overall for the Hurricanes thus far, as Brandon Sutter has played the most games of the group. Drayson Bowman, Chris Terry, and Brett Bellemore also had time with the Hurricanes, though it should be noted that all only had minor success with the team.
• 2008 may have seen most of their class play at least 60 games each, but like 2007, no one really distinguished themselves. Zach Boychuk and Zac Dalpe played around 125 games each, but because the Hurricanes missed on those picks (notice a trend?), it would begin setting the team back.
• 2009 was not nice to the Hurricanes, as their first round pick Philippe Paradis hasn't played at all in the NHL, and the one player to have any time in the NHL, Brian Dumolin, didn't even suit up for Carolina at all, as he was part of the trade to bring in Jordan Staal in 2012.
• The Hurricanes actually hit on their first two picks of 2010, as Jeff Skinner and Justin Faulk have been major contributors on the current Hurricanes squad. However, they could have had three, as Frederik Andersen was drafted, but never signed and was taken by Anaheim in 2012 when he re-entered the Draft.
• 2011 wasn't as kind, as Ryan Murphy didn't pan out despite playing 151 games, the last few in Chicago, and Victor Rask has been merely okay in 242 games.The rest of the group hasn't been memorable.
• 2012 saw the Hurricanes lose their first round pick to Pittsburgh in the Jordan Staal trade. Phil Di Giuseppe and Brock McGinn have played for the team, but their best pick that year is Jaccob Slavin, who looks like a solid building block on the blue line.
• 2013 has seen decent returns despite only having four picks. Elias Lindholm, who was recently traded to Calgary, was solid, though not the player Carolina was hoping for at fifth overall, while Brett Pesce figures to be another solid player on the blue line.
• 2014 hasn't seen many returns thus far, although Haydn Fleury did play his first NHL games this past season. He figures to split time between the NHL and the AHL next season.
• 2015 has already seen some major returns, as Sebastian Aho is a stud to the point of the team's owner saying he was the only untouchable, while Noah Hanifin made the All-Star team last season. However, it remains to be seen if Hanifin will be one that got away, as he was also trade to Calgary along with Lindholm to get Dougie Hamilton.

The 2016 and 2017 drafts haven't seen much in the way of contributions yet, but those figure to be coming soon.

With a draft history like Carolina has had, is it any wonder why they seem to accidentally back into success at random times? That luck hasn't been there in the last nine years, and the attendance numbers reflect that. Will it change this time around? If they keep drafting like this, the answer will be no.

NHL Free Agency: Burning Money Edition

July 1 is known as a money burning day, as the first day of both NBA and NHL free-agency begins, as well as the New York Mets' tradition of giving long-gone Bobby Bonilla a million plus interest a year until 2035. So, how will the NHL make me laugh this time?

• The big shoe that needed to drop, did, as John Tavares announced that he would be taking the Toronto Maple Leafs' offer of seven years, and an annual amount of 11 million. It's a steep price for Toronto, and it still doesn't solve their defensive woes, but Tavares potentially shoves both Auston Matthews and Nazem Kadri down a slot, which improves their offensive output. The big concern would be what happens next offseason, when both Matthews and Mitch Marner are coming off their ELCs.
• The Maple Leafs' 11 million dollar gamble wasn't actually the worst move made. No, the worst happened this morning, as the Calgary Flames decided to throw five years and an annual cap hit of 5.75 million at James Neal. You might say that's better than what Washington threw at TJ Oshie, but even four years is excessive for a 30-goal scorer that is on the wrong side of 30, has major streaks of production and non-production, and may be headed for a steep decline ala Dany Heatley. The Flames also threw over 3 million to some guy named Derek Grant. Have fun with the RFA contracts of Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin.
• Los Angeles did the expected, and signed Ilya Kovalchuk to a three year deal. The hit carries a 6 million dollar price tag a year, and it had been announced that the Kings intended to make him the focal point of their offense. If you're paying him that much, he better be, and if he can still score 30 goals per year, it's not bad. So, where are the Kings screwed? The eight year extension that will be carrying an 11 million dollar hit that is going to Drew Doughty. The Kings learned nothing from the Dustin Brown and Marian Gaborik sagas. The Kings will be in Cap Hell even after Kovalchuk is gone thanks to the ridiculous contracts being handed out.
• Detroit likes to kick the can down the road, and signing both Jonathan Bernier and Thomas Vanek to deals, as well as re-signing Mike Green to a new two year deal is proof. On a contending team, these signings would actually be praised. However, Detroit is not even close to contending. I know there's the albatross contracts of Justin Abdelkader, Darren Helm, and Jonathan Ericsson, but there is no way they are a Jonathan Bernier away from playoff contention.
• Chicago actually didn't do badly with signing Cam Ward to one year, as he proved that he had something left, although that wasn't necessarily by choice in Carolina, as Scott Darling self-immolated. Brandon Manning is just a warm body on defense while I absolutely don't understand how Chris Kunitz will fit with the team.
• Vegas made moves, as they slightly overpaid for four years Paul Stastny and inexplicably threw 2.75 million a year for two years at Ryan Reaves.
• Pittsburgh signed Jack Johnson. The issue with Johnson isn't money, as about 3 million a year is sensible, but term, as five years is a little long. They also brought back Matt Cullen because I don't know.
• Boston signed Jaroslav Halak for two years and a 2.75 million annual deal. Halak had a bad year, but he should rebound somewhat, since Boston is a stronger defensive team and he won't have to be overextended, as he backs up Tuukka Rask. The Bruins also signed John Moore to the same 2.75 million a year hit, but for five years. I don't know if Moore is worth that much money-wise, but he's still relatively young, and you can do worse than him if you're a Boston team that figures to be led by Charlie MacAvoy and Brandon Carlo in the future.
• Buffalo moved on from the volatile Robin Lehner in favor of an older, but calmer Carter Hutton. Hutton is getting three years, and 2.75 million per year. The bigger news is that they traded Ryan O'Reilly to St. Louis and are getting back Patrik Berglund, Vladimir Sobotka, and two draft picks. The change was needed for both Buffalo and O'Reilly, which showed cracks late season. O'Reilly instantly gives St. Louis a second line center and takes the albatross contracts of both Berglund and Sobotka off the books.
• Speaking of the Blues, they gave David Perron four years and four million per year to make his return for a third time. Inconsistent as he is, it isn't a bad number, and he showed that he has something left. They also gave Tyler Bozak a three year, 5 million a year contract because I don't know. The money is too high for what will amount to a third line center, especially now that Brayden Schenn and O'Reilly will be in front of him. They also picked up a year rental of Chad Johnson for 1.75 million. Again, too high of a price, given his lack of production lately.
• Vancouver continues to want to tread water, as they handed out identical four year, 3 million per year contracts to Jay Beagle and Antoine Roussel. Two years and just under 2 million a year for Tim Schaller and three years and 3.36 million a year to Sven Baertschi were also handed out. None of those are Loui Eriksson bad, which is good, but only the Baertschi signing makes sense, as he can still deliver on some of his offensive upside. Roussel, Beagle, and Schaller do provide a defensive presence up front that had been sorely lacking since Ryan Kesler bolted town.
• If I began with the Maple Leafs, I have to end with the New York Islanders, the team Tavares is leaving behind. I don't think Tavares leaving is a death blow, as Mat Barzal looks like he will be the best player on the Islanders by this time next year, but it certainly hurts. Saying that, the Islanders signed Leo Komarov to four years and 3 million per year. The term may be a little long, and Komarov isn't going to provide major offense, but he will provide leadership and at a reasonable price, the Islanders will have room to move. They also re-signed Thomas Hickey for four years and 2.5 million. Thought to have been a bust after failing to crack the Kings roster in the time after he was drafted in 2007, he's turned out to be a respectable defender with the Islanders, and he was one of the few bright spots on a blue line that was awful last year. The big problem was signing Valtteri Filppula for 2.75 million. It's only one year, but the Islanders did not need Filppula, who clearly has nothing left at this stage of his career.

If I didn't mention your team, it's because there weren't any good or bad moves made.