Boston University centre Macklin Celebrini is the crown jewel and favourite to go first overall in the 2024 NHL Draft but expect defence to dominate draft day.
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Boston University centre Macklin Celebrini is the crown jewel and favourite to go first overall in the 2024 NHL Draft but expect defence to dominate draft day.
TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button has seven defencemen in his top 12, starting with Torpedo’s Anton Silayev at No. 3, followed by Michigan State’s Artyom Levshunov (No. 4), London’s Sam Dickinson (No. 7), Saginaw’s Zayne Parekh (No. 8), HC Plzen’s Adam Jiricek (No. 9), Denver’s Zeev Buium (No. 11) and Calgary’s Carter Yakemchuk (No. 12).
While each player brings their own unique skill set to the table, Button believes all seven have potential to be top-pairing defencemen at the NHL level.
“The first thing that applies when you’re going to project somebody as top pair, they’ve got to be able to handle the responsibilities and playing big minutes against the other team’s top players,” said Button. “Every single [one] of those defencemen, they all skate, think and compete and they can all play the big, responsible, demanding minutes.”
“One of the things that impresses me about all seven of them is how calm, composed, and settled they are playing the game at this age.”
Jiricek and Buium both skated at the World Juniors but had vastly different experiences.
Jiricek got injured early in the tournament for Czechia and will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury as the Czechs earned bronze with a stunning comeback win over Finland.
In comparison, Buium had three goals and five points in seven games as he helped the United States win gold as the lone draft-eligible player on the American roster.
Buium also leads the NCAA in scoring among defencemen as a freshman with five goals and 25 points in 18 games.
While other players from this draft class also skated at the World Juniors in Finland’s Konsta Helenius (No. 6) and Emil Hemming (No. 17) as well as Norway’s Michael Brandsegg-Nygard (No. 27), it was Celebrini who once again stole the show.