Ryan Kennedy
2010-06-18 12:30:00
The 2010 draft is one week away; it’s officially happy time if you’re a prospects fan. And while the merits of Taylor Hall vs. Tyler Seguin have been discussed ad nauseum, one thing still worth digesting is how certain teams are positioned big-picture heading into the draft in Los Angeles.

The order of picks is officially set and the NHL recently released a helpful breakdown of which teams select when and how often. For the sake of preview, let’s delve into the pre-draft winners and losers, shall we?

WINNERS
Carolina – The Canes head into the draft with a league-high 11 picks, including their first-rounder (seventh overall) and three second-round selections. Carolina only garnered a C+ rating in this year’s edition of THN’s Future Watch, so obviously there is room for improvement. That being said, youngsters such as Zach Boychuk and Drayson Bowman are ready to step up and Brandon Sutter appears to already be there, so the Canes can now focus on their defense. With so many picks, GM Jim Rutherford has the luxury of dangling a selection or two in exchange for a solid NHL D-man and still have enough choices to re-stack the cupboard.

http://www.thehockeynews.com/article...daily_20100619