Canes are not looking to trade up

RALEIGH -- In April, Carolina Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford said it was unlikely the team would trade up to take one of the high-profile defensemen in this weekend's NHL draft, as much as the Canes might need one.

Rutherford's position then was that by the time a defenseman has developed into an NHL player, he's ready to become a free agent.

But after going over the team's draft board and the available talent with amateur scouting director Tony MacDonald, Rutherford said this week that a defenseman may be on the Hurricanes' agenda with the 14th overall pick Friday.

"We could end up taking a defenseman with this pick," Rutherford said. "We've leaned toward forwards, and we may end up taking one. But there are a couple defensemen who could fall to us that we like."

The Canes are unlikely to move up in the first round (the price is too high, with six or seven potential franchise defensemen available) or move down and out of it (they need to add a first-round talent to their system), but that doesn't mean they won't be looking to deal.

Rutherford has been open in his desire to deal from Carolina's surplus of forwards and add a marquee defenseman to boost the talent level on the blue line as well as replace retiring Glen Wesley and departed Bret Hedican.

Carolina's failure to sign, so far, restricted free agent Tuomo Ruutu certainly will make him a prominent figure in draft-day rumors, an arena in which Erik Cole's name pops up on an annual basis. With one year left on Cole's contract, that won't change this year.

Even if a deal isn't completed this weekend, Rutherford will return from Ottawa with a handle on the market -- and an idea of what deals might be out there.

Overall, this draft -- the first round is Friday with rounds 2-7 on Saturday -- has earned praise from scouts who like the defensemen available as well as consensus No. 1 pick Steven Stamkos, a center. After Stamkos, the next five or six picks could be defensemen -- a few of whom, such as Drew Doughty and Luke Schenn, may be in the NHL this fall.

"There's a group of defensemen who are really good in this year's draft," MacDonald said. "There are some good forwards, but not the same number. There's an unusual number of quality defensemen. That's what has given this draft a lot of its hype.

"It's a good draft, but I don't think ... it's quite as deep as some people have alluded that it is. There are certainly going to be kids on our list we're going to be looking at in the second round, kids that we like, and hopefully into the third round. You always hope you might come up with a good pick in those later rounds."