The Carolina Hurricanes' pool of young talent received a big boost at the 2015 NHL Draft.
General manager Ron Francis had the fifth pick in the first round and wound up with the consensus No. 1 defenseman, Noah Hanifin, who excelled in his freshman season at Boston College. Francis wasted little time getting Hanifan's signature on a contract during development camp last month.
Hanifin joins a prospect pool that's already deep on defense but thinner in scoring punch. Most of the Hurricanes' top young players are defensemen, though 2015 second-round pick Sebastian Aho, a right wing, turned heads at development camp.