Young Russian takes Hurricanes by storm
Ryan Pyette
Updated: October 10, 2018
Six players picked in the first round of the NHL draft in June have already played at least one regular season game for their big teams over the last week.
Andrei Svechnikov has been the most productive.
The 18-year-old Russian, selected second overall by the Hurricanes, has two goals and four points in the first four games of his career.
That’s the same numbers the former No. 1 pick in the Canadian Hockey League import draft put up in his first four games with Barrie a year ago. Clearly it’s apples and oranges, but he went on to score 40 goals and 72 points in just 44 games with the Colts.
If he comes anywhere close to that, he’ll be holding the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year next summer. He looks comfortable – and Carolina is one of the few remaining NHL clubs still without a regulation loss.
Young Russian takes Hurricanes by storm