Justin Faulk

Carolina Hurricanes select Noah Hanifin No. 5 overall in NHL Draft

Published Jun. 26, 2015 9:22 p.m. ET

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The Carolina Hurricanes have missed the playoffs for six straight seasons, and so they clearly had a lot of needs. One of those needs is on defense, and they addressed that in the first round of the NHL Draft by picking Boston College's Noah Hanifin with the No. 5 overall pick.

Hanifin was rated as the No. 3 overall prospect by NHL Central Scouting among North American skaters, and so the Hurricanes certainly got a highly-touted prospect that could potentially help the team for years to come.

Head coach Bill Peters, coming off of his first season at the helm in Carolina, has made no secret of his desire for a defenseman. And he got a good one in Hanifin, an 18-year-old who was the first defenseman on the board. Hanifin was clearly the best available player in all senses of the phrase.

There's some work to do with Hanifin's offense -- the announcers on the NBC Sports broadcast rated his shot a two out of five -- but that's not what they're getting the youngster for, at least not early on.

He's one of the better skaters in the draft, and he's a quick learner, surprisingly mature for his age. He became the youngest player ever to play for Boston College at age 17, and he was the captain of the U-17 Team USA squad that won gold in the 2014 World Hockey Challenge.

The more important part of this pick is that the Hurricanes now have a future defenseman to pair with the team's centerpiece in Justin Faulk, who is just 23 years old. Once Hanifin becomes acclimated to the NHL, the Hurricanes hope that he and Faulk become the team's top defenseman pairing and one of the better top pairings in the league. And young, too.

General manager Ron Francis -- concluding his first full year on the job as well -- has said repeatedly that he's not going to look for a quick fix. He's going to build for the future.

The future might not begin right away. Hanifin is just 18 years old and could go back to Boston College for another year. Either way, it's clear that the Hurricanes think that he's the future. Hanifin was excited in the immediate aftermath, and the consensus seems to be that the youngster was a steal for the Hurricanes when he fell as far as he did.  

Tony McDonald, the Hurricanes' chief amateur scout, said of Hanifin before the draft to the Hurricanes' official website: "There's not much to like about Noah Hanifin. He should play in the NHL for a long, long time."

Current Hurricanes were happy to see Hanifin, too.

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Justin Faulk

Carolina Hurricanes

National Hockey League