NHL mock draft: Final projections for every first-round pick

2. Carolina Hurricanes – RW Andrei Svechnikov

The Carolina Hurricanes could be one of the busiest teams of the offseason. There has been talk about their entire roster being available for trade, and even the second overall pick is on the table. Assuming the Hurricanes keep the pick they have a relatively simple choice to make. Andrei Svechnikov is the missing piece the Hurricanes need — that is, considering they don’t make any trades. Weakening the offense or defense in a trade opens up other needs. Svechnikov is good enough to give them a legitimate top line threat and hopefully pair with Sebastian Aho for a long time.

The Carolina Hurricanes have had good offensive players in past seasons, but they have lacked a true offensive engine — someone that night in and night out makes the offense go. Svechnikov can join the team and be that engine. He is so strong on the puck and has all of the offensive talent you can ask for. He will continue to grow and get better making him more and more dangerous. In five years Svechnikov will be a top offensive threat in this league. One of the things that will make him so talented will be his consistency.

To become a great player Svechnikov will need to become better defensively. However, when you draft Svechnikov, you know you are not drafting him for defense. He is the player who, when you are down a goal late in the game, the coach sends out there to make something happen. Depending on how far the Carolina Hurricanes get stripped down this season will affect how productive he can be his rookie season. If players like Jeff Skinner are traded away, Svechnikov may struggle. At some point he will be the offensive focal point, but he may not be ready to carry a team yet.