Pre-Game Talk: 2024 Draft Thread

[Bye Bye Blueston]

Obviously there's still a lot of season left and things could change quickly; but it's really starting to look like the Blues will be a PO team this year.

If we pick somewhere between 16-22, I'm not sure that a defenseman will be the BPA at that spot. Don't get me wrong, I fully agree that defense is our biggest need right now; but reaching for need is what gets teams in trouble.

As much as I'm sure that some of you don't want to have the conversation shift; I think we need to start discussing some of the forwards that might be available in the 2nd half of the 1st round.

Just to toss a few names out there: Cayden Lindstrom, Tanner Howe, Sacha Boisvert, Beckett Sennecke, Maxim Masse, Igor Chernyshov

It is early, but if we are picking between 10-20, I think it’s more likely defenseman will be bpa. It’s in top 10 that I think you potentially have more intriguing forward than defense options.

 

[kimzey59]

It is early, but if we are picking between 10-20, I think it’s more likely defenseman will be bpa. It’s in top 10 that I think you potentially have more intriguing forward than defense options.

I'm worried about us picking after the run on good D men expires.
I agree that it looks like the run on D men will be in the middle of the 1st.
If we're picking closer to the 20-25 range, it might be too late to snag a good one. You might be looking more at the Kiviharju/Cole Hutson's or Tomas Lavoie/Will Skahan types and I'm not sure they're worth taking over some of the late 1st fowards.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

I'm worried about us picking after the run on good D men expires.
I agree that it looks like the run on D men will be in the middle of the 1st.
If we're picking closer to the 20-25 range, it might be too late to snag a good one. You might be looking more at the Kiviharju/Cole Hutson's or Tomas Lavoie/Will Skahan types and I'm not sure they're worth taking over some of the late 1st fowards.

I think it’s unlikely our first pick is outside top 20, but if it is we do have an extra 2 and extra 3 if we want to move up handful of spots for guy we have targeted.

that said, I think it’s likely too far out to get full sense of who might be available mid-late first. I don’t know how at this time last year that many folks had Danielson, simashev, or but as high as they went. Yager and sale and benson were all thought to be much higher. and on d there were a few late risers into the 1st too.

so you may be right, it may be best guys when we pick are forwards, but I think it’s too early to project that with much certainty. and given the depth on d that it looks like this draft will have, I think it’s rather likely that a d worth taking at our spot will be available for us if we aren’t picking in top 5 of this draft.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

All I know is I want our last pick, (if he doesn’t rise up the rankings) to be Lukas Nikolaj Pettersen-Finckenhagen just to see them get it on a jersey and hockey card. He can score goals….all I know

 

[AyeBah]

how is his mobility? he looks a bit lumbering, but it may just be bc he has no neck.

He is a fluid skater with good mobility for his size. You're right though it isn't always pretty

 

[Celtic Note]

Right now we are 15th in points and 10th in point percentage as an FYI.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Right now we are 15th in points and 10th in point percentage as an FYI.

We also just went on a tear against a Struggling Lightning team without Vasi, a struggling Avs team, we barely beat the Yotes, a NJD team who had their top two players out injured, and the Canadiens. Before that we were a .500 team. on pace for around 85 points. I'm not ready to buy in just yet.

 

[Celtic Note]

We also just went on a tear against a Struggling Lightning team without Vasi, a struggling Avs team, we barely beat the Yotes, a NJD team who had their top two players out injured, and the Canadiens. Before that we were a .500 team. on pace for around 85 points. I'm not ready to buy in just yet.

Agreed. It wasn’t an argument or a point of view just an FYI “this is where we are today” post. And that changed fast.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Agreed. It wasn’t an argument or a point of view just an FYI “this is where we are today” post. And that changed fast.

Ahhh, my apologies, I misread the context of what you were stating

 

[kimzey59]

Right now we are 15th in points and 10th in point percentage as an FYI.

At this point, I'm preparring myself for a pick in the 13-19 range.
And I am not convinced a D man will be the best option in that area.
Like I said earlier; If Cayden Lindstrom is available that is a really hard package to pass up(even with the foward depth we currently have).

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

At this point, I'm preparring myself for a pick in the 13-19 range.
And I am not convinced a D man will be the best option in that area.
Like I said earlier; If Cayden Lindstrom is available that is a really hard package to pass up(even with the foward depth we currently have).

I see him creeping into the top 10. Too many tools and too good of season.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

At this point, I'm preparring myself for a pick in the 13-19 range.
And I am not convinced a D man will be the best option in that area.
Like I said earlier; If Cayden Lindstrom is available that is a really hard package to pass up(even with the foward depth we currently have).

After last night, I wouldn’t rule out a top 10 pick…..

 

[Mike Liut]

After last night, I wouldn’t rule out a top 10 pick…..

Binny will steal too many points imo

 

[Mike Liut]

After last nights display, i think a top 10 pick is back on the table. Ive reconsidered and agree with Turnbull

 

[Linkens Mastery]

After last nights display, i think a top 10 pick is back on the table. Ive reconsidered and agree with Turnbull

It was never off the table. Very soon we are gonna be going against a lot of good teams in a row.

 

[Mike Liut]

It was never off the table. Very soon we are gonna be going against a lot of good teams in a row.

I thought they were starting to figure it out defensively. Maybe it’s just a bad game and they over looked a bad team. Maybe the other wins were a fluke against a struggling Avs and Bolts. Hell, I have no clue who this team is.

 

[oPlaiD]

Good teams lose to bad teams all the time, and vice versa. If they win tonight and and more often than not on the road trip, the Sharks game will quickly be forgotten.

I don't think that's the most likely outcome, but they've certainly bucked my expectations before, so here's hoping...

 

[Thallis]

I thought they were starting to figure it out defensively. Maybe it’s just a bad game and they over looked a bad team. Maybe the other wins were a fluke against a struggling Avs and Bolts. Hell, I have no clue who this team is.

Defensively we've looked okay to fine for most of the season and I don't think that changed much in the win streak. We still had the break downs and got timely saves from our Goalies that bailed us out. The big difference was that our offense was getting more chances and converting them when the other team was getting frustrated and we kept building on it in those games. The Tampa game for example, after we got the first goal Tampa pushed back hard and got a number of incredibly close chances, but once we got the two quick ones to make it 3-0 they lost that advantage.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Good teams lose to bad teams all the time, and vice versa. If they win tonight and and more often than not on the road trip, the Sharks game will quickly be forgotten.

I don't think that's the most likely outcome, but they've certainly bucked my expectations before, so here's hoping...

Sometimes bad teams lose to bad teams.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

I thought they were starting to figure it out defensively. Maybe it’s just a bad game and they over looked a bad team. Maybe the other wins were a fluke against a struggling Avs and Bolts. Hell, I have no clue who this team is.

We could have had a hot streak without it being a fluke. We still have some real good NHL players on our team. Our top two lines were looking real good for the 6 game stretch. But expecting only those 4-6 players to carry us offensively through the entire 82 game season isn't gonna end too well for us.

This team is what a lot of us really expected it to be, a team where when Thomas/Buch/Schenn/Kyrou/Saad/Faulk/Parayko/Krug/Binnington are on, the team is gonna look good. But when they are off, we are gonna look bad. Those players are good enough to win games by themselves when they are all clicking.

Looking at the end of last year and Expecting Vrana, Kapanen, and Blais to continue where they left off was always gonna bite whoever expected them to in the rear. They were players with a chip on their shoulders getting more ice time than they would have on their former teams we got for pennies. Hayes was never gonna be a player who puts us over the hump. We are treading water until Dvorsky and Snuggerud hit the NHL and hoping they hit top 6 level while we still have Kyrou and Thomas under 30 years old.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

i watched levshunov both games against bc and he didn't impress me. his feet seemed heavy. he wasn't good on outlet passes. he fumbled pucks. he's obviously doing something right, as the numbers are there. will try to get more viewings as year progresses.

i need to watch more yak too. i think he will be a player, but not sure if he is more a #4d or potential top 2 guy.

elick looked really raw to me, both at hlinka and in whl. that size and agility though is worth taking chance on, and i think he is quite likely a 1st just not where i think our first pick will be.

i want to see more of the ntdp guys on d. numbers don't look great (for the ones who are most intrguing) but not sure that means much.

lsw is listed at 6', so he is at very bottom of where you want height to be. but if he were 2" taller he'd be in top 10 conversation i think.

I will have to check out Badinka, haven't seen much on him.

2024 NHL DRAFT: EARLY SEASON FAVOURITES - European Video Scout - Veeti Väisänen, Sebastian Soini, Dominik Badinka, Ondrej Kos

McKeen's European Video Scout, Steven Graves, provides detailed reports on four 2024 NHL Draft prospects.

www.mckeenshockey.com

 

[TK 421]

Our 2nds are currently at 50th and 55th where we could use one of them to select D Daniil Ustinkov, no way he busts with a name like that.

 

[sfvega]

2024 NHL DRAFT: EARLY SEASON FAVOURITES - European Video Scout - Veeti Väisänen, Sebastian Soini, Dominik Badinka, Ondrej Kos

McKeen's European Video Scout, Steven Graves, provides detailed reports on four 2024 NHL Draft prospects.

www.mckeenshockey.com

Never heard of him beforehand but I love what he has to say about Dominik Badinka. I'll have to keep an eye out.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Here is my current 2024 draft excel spreadsheet through the first quarter of the season of players I have decided to follow with all of the prospect rankings that I've found. Any more information is always appreciated.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Parekh can learn to defend, he's already solid defending the rush but he makes obvious mistakes at times like not picking up the right guy when things get scrambly in his own end and his team doesn't have possession. Regardless he's not out there to play defense, he's there to drive play 5v5 and run your 1st PP unit. There isn't a single defender in the '24 class on par with his offensive game, he's just heads and shoulders above everybody else. He also has by far the best shot of all D in this class and is better than most of the forwards as well. So if you're going to call him out for bad defense you damn sure better mention he's the prime OFD in this class and teams would be picking him for that, not his defense or lack thereof.

I’m not sure what happened, but if you look the last 10 games or so, he is really picked it up defensively. He is the kind of player if he can just play average defense with the other tools he has then he is well worth it. He has cut the number of goals scored while he was on the ice in half in the last 10 games. That’s pretty impressive for me anyway, that puts him in mid first round status there are other guys I still like better. I don’t see him as a number one, but I do see him in your top four running your PowerPlay. Maybe a Cale makar high ceiling to a Torey Krug in need of a solid partner.