Hurricanes take four Russians among seven new players at NHL Draft. Why so many?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Hurricanes traded down, added extra picks, and selected seven prospects total
- Team drafted four Russian players in early rounds, continuing recent trend
- Penn State center Charlie Cerrato taken at No. 49 as sole American selection
After taking a pass in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft, the Carolina Hurricanes had a lot of business to complete Saturday.
The Canes contingent, headed by general manager Eric Tulsky, again set up shop in their “war room” at the Lenovo headquarters in Morrisville. They quickly got to work and soon started drafting Russians.
The Canes’ first pick of the 2025 draft came at No. 41, in the second round: Goalie Semyon Frolov, the first of four Russian prospects selected in the first three rounds by Carolina.
No surprise there. The Canes have made a run on Russians in recent years — 10 in the past two drafts and 18 in the past four.
Why so many?
“It’s really just how it’s fallen,” associate general manager Darren Yorke said Saturday, “It’s not something where we go into this and we say, ‘OK, we’re going to get X amount of players from any one country.’ It’s just how it falls.
“So if other organizations are afraid to take them, we can’t control that. It’s really just how it shakes out. We evaluate the Russians the same way we evaluate every other country. If other organizations aren’t selecting them, we can’t really control that. We put them on our list regardless of what passport they have.”
Yorke, who oversees amateur scouting and the draft for the Canes, said the four Russians drafted were in the U.S. and would be at the team’s prospects development camp that begins Sunday and has its first on-ice sessions Monday.
The Hurricanes went into this year’s draft with the No. 29 overall selection, but traded the first-round pick Friday to the Chicago Blackhawks for two second-rounders – Nos. 34 and 62 – and a fifth-round pick in 2027.
Then came another swap of picks Saturday. The Canes sent their 34th and 189th selections to the Montreal Canadiens for Nos. 41 and 49.
The Canes took Frolov, who again will play for the Spartak junior team in Moscow this season. At 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, Frolov is said to be athletic and quick on his skates in net by those who have scouted him.
With their second pick in the second round, the Canes took center Charlie Cerrato from Penn State at No. 49. Cerrato, 20, had 42 points in 38 games for the Nittany Lions last season.
Cerrato’s father, Vinny, is a former NFL executive in San Francisco and Washington but Charlie took to hockey and has been a Washington Capitals fan — until Saturday. Listed at 6 feet and 190 pounds, he was in the USA Hockey National Team Development program in 2021 and initially was to play for Michigan before going to Penn State.
The Canes finished off their second-round work by taking Russian center Ivan Ryabkin with the 62nd pick. The 5-11 forward played for the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the United States Hockey League last season — 27 regular-season and 14 playoff games — but also got into two games with Dynamo Moskva of the KHL and is called a hard-nosed type.
Canes add duo of Russian D
The Canes made a trade with the L.A. Kings, moved up to the 67th pick in the third round and took Russian defenseman Kurban Limatov of the Dynamo junior team.
Listed at 6-4 and 190 pounds, the left-shot D-man had eight goals and 15 assists in 46 games and scored another couple of goals in the playoffs.
The NHL sent out a “fun fact” about Limatov on Saturday, noting he had been asked who was the best defenseman in the NHL. His response: “Me, in five years.”
Later in the third, at No. 87, the Canes went with a second Russian defenseman, Roman Bausov from the Dynamo St. Petersburg junior team. The 6-5, 179-pounder, a right-hand shot, played 41 games for St. Petersburg last season and scouts were impressed with his long stride and stickwork.
Finishing up the draft
The Canes did not have a fourth- or fifth-round draft pick. With the 183rd selection, in the sixth round, Carolina drafted forward Viggo Nordlund of Sweden.
Nordlund does not have a lot of size — he’s 5-9 and 168 pounds — but is said to have offensive playmaking flair and an accurate shot. He competed in 22 regular-season and playoff games with Skelleftea in the SHL in 2024-25 and starred for the Skelleftea junior team.
The Hurricanes closed out their draft work with the No. 221 selection, selecting another Swedish forward in Filip Ekberg of the Ottawa 67’s of the OHL. Ekberg is another undersized player (5-10, 170) who has played for Sweden in international competition as a junior.
Draft assessment
Canes associate GM Darren Yorke
Semyon Frolov, goalie, Russia
Yorke: “Our top-rated goalie. Really athletic in side-to-side movement and being able to read the play.”
Charlie Cerrato, F, U.S.
Yorke: “Probably could have been drafted last year. Goes into Penn State and has an unbelievable year. Strong on faceoffs, strong two-way game, smart defensively.”
Ivan Ryabkin, F, Russia
Yorke: “Basically an unbelievable goal scorer with bite to his game. He drives the net, he can hit you, he can take hits. He can score off the rush, off the one-timer. He can make plays in tight.”
Kurban Limatov, D, Russia
Yorke: “Strong skater, great reach. Rarely do you see Russian defensemen who like to be aggressive getting up in the play and flushing down in the neutral zone. We wanted to step up and get him.”
Roman Bausov, D, Russia
Yorke: “Massive reach (with) 6-5 frame that can skate. You look at taking away time and space and he’s able to it both with his speed and his reach.”
Viggo Nordlund, F, Sweden
Yorke: “Strong offensive player, one-on-one skill, able to be a little bit more of a playmaker. Got time against the men (SHL) to show that offensive dynamic.”
Filip Ekberg, F, Sweden
Yorke: “Got off to a slow start and was battling illness in Ottawa that went a little undiagnosed. Once he was able to manage it, his season took off. Led Sweden in scoring at the under-18s.”
This story was originally published June 28, 2025 at 5:44 PM.
