StevenToddIves
Registered User
Draft Day Winners & Losers/ Best Available for Draft Day Two
It was a fun 1st round, with lots of twists, turns and surprises. Our Devils did quite well in getting LD Anton Silayev, who is an extremely unique potential shut down D with a size/speed combination the NHL may never have seen to quite his level.
Though several teams did well, I feel there are a few standout winners and losers of the day.
WINNERS
LOSERS
Best Available for Day Two:
There’s still a lot of talent left on the board. My ideal scenario would be for the Devils to trade up (John Marino as bait) into the 2nd round and select former Bergen Catholic standout C John Mustard. But some of these guys should also last deeper into the draft.
11 W Igor Chernyshov
21 LW Andrew Basha
24 LW Nikita Artamonov
26 LD Matvei Shuravin
27 RD Dominik Badinka
28 RW Ryder Ritchie
29 C/LW John Mustard
31 RD Charlie Elick
32 LW Teddy Stiga
34 LD Daniil Ustinkov
36 LD Will Skahan
37 C Linus Eriksson
38 LD Alfons Freij
39 LW Tanner Howe
40 LW Kevin He
41 LD Leon Muggli
42 LD Aron Kiviharju
46 LW Ondrej Kos
47 RD Tory Pitner
49 RD Harrison Brunicke
50 RW Justin Poirier
51 C Kamil Bednarik
52 RW Miguel Marques
53 RW Carson Wetsch
54 C/LW Kieron Walton
55 LW Eriks Mateiko
56 LD Veeti Vaisanen
57 RW Hiroki Gojsic
58 C Julius Miettinen
59 RD Henry Mews
60 LD Timur Kol
It was a fun 1st round, with lots of twists, turns and surprises. Our Devils did quite well in getting LD Anton Silayev, who is an extremely unique potential shut down D with a size/speed combination the NHL may never have seen to quite his level.
Though several teams did well, I feel there are a few standout winners and losers of the day.
WINNERS
- San Jose: a future franchise C in Macklin Celebrini was only the beginning, as they also lucked out with LD Sam Dickinson falling to them at #11. Just an incredible haul for the Sharks.
- Montreal: a franchise-caliber wing in Ivan Demidov fell to them at #5 — he’s closer to Celebrini in talent than the rest of the 2024 draft class. But they weren’t done yet, as my #10 overall prospect Michael Hage fell to them at #21, giving them 2/3 of a potentially dominant future 1st line in a single draft.
- Utah: after breaking all the hearts in Calgary with a #6 overall grab of potential 40+ goal-scorer Tij Iginla, Utah again knocked it out of the park at #24 with C Cole Beaudoin who might have the best intangibles in the draft would be a top 10 pick if he skated better.
- Minnesota: the single steal of Day One was getting the best defenseman in the draft in Zeev Buium at #12 overall after a shrewd trade with Philadelphia to move up. Buium has elite potential on both sides of the puck and a hockey IQ so high it can rightly be considered rare.
LOSERS
- Vegas: Trevor Connelly at #19 was a slap in the face of the hometown draft crowd — a low character kid both on and off the ice who was reputedly on several teams “No Draft” lists.
- Boston: Dean Letourneau’s singular elite skill is his height measurement. He certainly has the ability to develop into a strong bottom 6 center, but he’s miles away from the NHL and #25 overall is certainly a reach pick.
- Toronto: the body language of the Maple Leafs braintrust seemed to sink as their reported intended pick of RD EJ Emery went one pick earlier to the Rangers. Instead of pivoting to another position, they seemed to throw a dart at “best available Canadian RD” with Ben Danford when not only were there far better foreign RD options in Badinka or Pitner, but also far better Canadian options in Elick and Brunicke.
Best Available for Day Two:
There’s still a lot of talent left on the board. My ideal scenario would be for the Devils to trade up (John Marino as bait) into the 2nd round and select former Bergen Catholic standout C John Mustard. But some of these guys should also last deeper into the draft.
11 W Igor Chernyshov
21 LW Andrew Basha
24 LW Nikita Artamonov
26 LD Matvei Shuravin
27 RD Dominik Badinka
28 RW Ryder Ritchie
29 C/LW John Mustard
31 RD Charlie Elick
32 LW Teddy Stiga
34 LD Daniil Ustinkov
36 LD Will Skahan
37 C Linus Eriksson
38 LD Alfons Freij
39 LW Tanner Howe
40 LW Kevin He
41 LD Leon Muggli
42 LD Aron Kiviharju
46 LW Ondrej Kos
47 RD Tory Pitner
49 RD Harrison Brunicke
50 RW Justin Poirier
51 C Kamil Bednarik
52 RW Miguel Marques
53 RW Carson Wetsch
54 C/LW Kieron Walton
55 LW Eriks Mateiko
56 LD Veeti Vaisanen
57 RW Hiroki Gojsic
58 C Julius Miettinen
59 RD Henry Mews
60 LD Timur Kol
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