Carolina Hurricanes Must Convert Quantity into Quality in 2015 NHL Draft

The Carolina Hurricanes currently hold 10 picks in this weekend's 2015 NHL draft, the most selections they've owned in a single draft since 1998.

If the team's drafting trends of the 17 years since then hold true once again, however, that mass of picks will soon begin to fade slowly into a mediocre collection of lifetime AHL players and forgotten prospects.

Since 1999, just two players picked by the 'Canes in the fourth round or later of any given year (Brett Bellemore in 2007 and Tyson Strachan in 2003) have gone on to play 100 NHL games, and neither have hit the 200-game milestone.

The past two decades have seen the franchise hit a number of jackpots with early picks—including Eric Staal, Cam Ward, Andrew Ladd, Jeff Skinner, Jack Johnson and others—but whiff repeatedly on late-round fliers year after year after year. I described the pattern as a "lifeless swamp of late-round strikeouts" prior to last June's draft after an eye-opening study on the matter by the Section 328 blog. 

Matt Slocum/Associated Press

Admittedly, the crop of seven players chosen in general manager Ron Francis' debut draft have had almost no time to prove themselves, and three (No. 7 pick Haydn Fleury, No. 37 pick Alex Nedeljkovic and No. 97 pick Lucas Wallmark) have already signed entry-level contracts. It's far too early to analyze the success of the draft class.

But the same man—Tony MacDonald—has been the 'Canes director of amateur scouting for eight consecutive draft classes now and part of the scouting team for 21. He's a common link through both the Jim Rutherford and Francis eras of 'Canes history.

In Chip Alexander's Sunday column for the News & Observer, MacDonald is referenced thinking back to the 1998 draft, when Carolina landed four quality players in the later rounds. Not mentioned is the decade-plus of lean years since, nor the irony of MacDonald's quote, "You can get good value on your picks all the way through the draft."

It's certainly unfair to place the entirety of the blame on MacDonald's shoulders, especially considering that pre-2007 director Sheldon Ferguson did no better.

Round	Pick No.
One	5
Two	35
Three	66
Four	93
	96
Five	126
	138
Six	156
	169
Seven	186

Yet when MacDonald and the rest of the Hurricanes' scouting team's season of work is acted upon with utmost importance on Friday and Saturday, one must hope that the trust given to the plethora of reports and evaluations is well placed. 

Said Francis to Alexander, "Every draft is critical and every pick is valuable."

Francis has done most of his job already, executing trades to set up the franchise with a healthy 10 selections (as well as an additional first-round pick next year, too).

While he'll still be manning the phone lines and announcing picks at the podium this weekend, almost all of the strategizing and decision-making have already occurred behind closed doors. 

All that's left to do is convert it all into tangible prospects and, later, impact-making NHL players.

Hopefully.

Mark Jones has been a Carolina Hurricanes Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report since 2009. Visit his profile to read more or follow him on Twitter.