They waited until the last second to announce—actually beyond the last second—a trade everyone knew was coming.
It sure looked like the Canes might actually make their first round pick. The cameras went into the draft room, and we got to see the upper management of the Canes decked out in their matching grey tops. Despite the usual commercial break before the Canes picked (hat tip to Luke DeCock), the clock continued to run and the ESPN panel had to actually talk about the Carolina Hurricanes.
It was all for not.
Four hours after the start of the NHL draft that could have been done via email with rough technological moments and bits that just didn’t land, Commisioner Gary Bettman slapped the Trade Alert Buzzer to announce to everyone that Carolina had traded their pick to the Chicago Blackhawks. The Canes got Chicago’s first second round pick—number 34, so five spots lower—as well as their other second round pick which is number 62. This helps fill a void as the Canes didn’t have a second round pick this year and 62 is about where they would have picked had they kept it. They also picked up Chicago’s fifth round pick in the 2027 draft.
As tends to happen on Draft Day several prospects expected to be First Rounders slipped and the Hurricanes saw an opportunity to get more chances to stock the pipeline in lieu of taking their pick at the regular spot.
The Hurricanes have only picked in the first round twice since 2020—Seth Jarvis and Bradley Nadeau. This team did the same thing last season—as their pick approached they traded down.
In fact, 34 is where the Canes traded down to last season to take Dominik Badinka.
Oops, we did it again pic.twitter.com/MqUYabDO9a
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) June 28, 2025
So now we wait for Noon Saturday and the rest of the Canes draft, and it’s doubtful this will be the last trade the Canes make as they prefer to just load up on picks whenever possible. Here’s their slate for Saturday, and we’ll have all the picks as they come in.
- Round 2-#34, #62
- Round 3-#87
- Round 4-#125
- Round 5-None (*fooooooor nooooow)
- Round 6-#183, #189
- Round 7-#221