When the Carolina Hurricanes took to the podium at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft in Sunrise, Florida, they were coming off a tough year. The first season under general manager Ron Francis and head coach Bill Peters did not yield positive results, with Carolina finishing as the fifth-worst squad in the NHL. If there was a silver lining, it was landing the fifth-overall pick in that draft, and being able to draft talented offensive-defenseman Noah Hanifin to help jumpstart the team’s rebuild.
Fast-forward two years, and that rebuild is close to done, with Hanifin looking to play a key role in the finished product. The smooth-skating blueliner out of Boston College made the jump to the NHL in his first year, and it has been a big learning curve over the past two years. Hanifin has learned, along with the standout offensive game that made him a top-five draft pick, the importance of playing a strong overall game.
“For me individually, I think the most important thing that I’ve learned is how important it is to be responsible defensively and in your own zone,” Hanifin said. “The better you are in your own zone, the more you have the puck on your stick, the better you can play offensively. My whole life it’s always been all offense. I think the last year or so, I’ve really focused on my defensive game. I think towards the end of last year and coming into the beginning of this year, I definitely feel that’s something I’ve improved on, and I feel I have the puck a lot more because of that.”
That’s not to say that Hanifin has forgotten the central aspect of his game. His skating and puck-moving abilities have not quite broken through on a consistent basis in the big leagues, but he has shown bigger and bigger flashes of his ability to carry the puck and make an impact in the offensive zone.
Hanifin has improved his numbers from year to year, going from 22 points as a rookie to 29 last season. He will look to bring that offensive ability on a nightly basis to a Canes lineup that will need increased scoring to end its eight-year playoff drought this season.
Hanifin’s game saw a big jump after last season’s trade deadline. For most of the year, his minutes came on the third pairing, with less-than-ideal partners for a developing young defender. However, after veteran Ron Hainsey was shipped to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the deadline, Hanifin stepped up into the top four, pairing with either Brett Pesce or Justin Faulk.
He handled those increased responsibilities well, with two goals, 13 points and a plus-two over the season’s final 23 games. He will look to bring that from game one in a full-time, top-four role this season. One person he impressed with last year’s finish was his bench boss.
“His numbers when you look at them from the trade deadline on were real solid last year,” Peters said. “You look at him from the trade deadline on, I think he was a plus [two] and his ice time was up minimally but his production was up greatly.”
Hanifin was not alone in breaking into the league as a rookie blueliner in 2015-16. Joining him was Pesce and Jaccob Slavin, and the trio has developed together to become a key part of the Canes’ talented young defensive core on the ice.
Off the ice, Hanifin, Pesce and Slavin have developed into great friends as well, which has helped them to lead the Carolina blue line at the ages of 20, 22 and 23, respectively.
“It’s awesome,” Hanifin said. “I think it’s really cool; we’re all really close. I think that’s important to have, good chemistry, good buddies. Me, Brett and Jaccob, we’re good buddies away from the rink, and I think it definitely carries over to on the ice.”
In the NHL, year three is often eyed as the big breakout season for a young player. If Hanifin has his way, he will follow that trend, and play a key role with his strong two-way game and skating ability for a Canes team looking to reach its first postseason since 2009.
“For me, I’m just kind of focused on getting better,” Hanifin said. “Something I want to do this year is try and get better every game. I play 82 games, each game I want to learn something new and get better. The first two years were my years where I could kind of learn and figure out the league a little bit, but I think now is kind of the year where I want to take off a bit here and start to really make an impact on the game.”
While a poor season is never fun for a team and its fans, the prize can often be a key piece to long-term success in a high draft pick. If his current development track is anything to judge by, that’s exactly what the Canes got with Hanifin two years ago in south Florida.
