Pre-Game Talk: 2024 Draft Thread

[PerryTurnbullfan]

That is where I am at. Solberg is probably my top choice among guys who I think could be on board for us, but if he is picked before us and it allows Catton or Helenius to slip to us, I'm good with that.

I agree definitely. I can’t say o will be happy if Jiricek is our pick. He really didn’t do anything in the Czech pro league and put up no numbers. Why not just take Emery as a known commodity then? I’m still like Ferrari though. Freij is the guy we will be talking about in 5 years. I’ll post my most current spreadsheet soon too. Couple more to add. Been a few guys that have been just coming out of the woodwork in the 3rd and 4th round.

 

[sfvega]

That is where I am at. Solberg is probably my top choice among guys who I think could be on board for us, but if he is picked before us and it allows Catton or Helenius to slip to us, I'm good with that.

It has been quite clear that Solberg is your new Willander, but that top 10 ranking just seals it.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Thanks to all for your contributions so far. This thread has been a fantastic read.

There are so many players to like this year that could be available at 16. I keep getting the feeling that Sennecke is the one to slip to 16 after a run on D-men at the top of the draft.

Sennecke is one I have a hard time gauging where he might go. I could see him go as early as 3-4 or as late as 14. I’ll be pretty surprised if he lasts to 16. At that size and the playoffs he had…that’s like catnip to an NHL GM.

 

[Blueston]

It has been quite clear that Solberg is your new Willander, but that top 10 ranking just seals it.

I have a type!!!

I'd love if we had Willander! But I didn't think we would have shot at Dvo, who I did and still love more.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Sennecke is one I have a hard time gauging where he might go. I could see him go as early as 3-4 or as late as 14. I’ll be pretty surprised if he lasts to 16. At that size and the playoffs he had…that’s like catnip to an NHL GM.

I'd be pretty shocked if he makes it past Jersey.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

So what is your opinion of the different draft guides so far?

 

[Blueston]

So what is your opinion of the different draft guides so far?

The EP guide was nearly 2,000 pages, which felt excessive. Lots of great info, but I would have liked it even more if it was half as long. Still, I found it far superior to Athletic or the various free ones out there.

Overall, and I think you know this but not everyone does, EP, McKeens, and guides like that which are more collaborative I find superior to lists put together by Pronman or Wheeler and the like. I don’t mean this as criticism of Athletic guys, who do fine job and I enjoy reading them, but there is no way one person can have enough viewings of all these guys (especially outside ncaa, ushl, and CHL guys) to provide truly in depth analysis.

The sites like EP and McKeens (I haven’t read this years guide in full but the lists and analysis available for free are generally really good) have multiple “scouts” who focus on different regions and then they come together for overall list, which is much more similar to how NHL teams do. So even if I don’t agree with their rankings, they have far more detailed analysis which, combined with my own (online or tv) viewings better enables me to contextualize what I see. So even if I don’t agree with their rankings all the time, I get great benefit from them.

 

[bleedblue1223]

For those that pay, if you had to pick one of the sources, which one would you pay for?

 

[Blueston]

For those that pay, if you had to pick one of the sources, which one would you pay for?

Personally, I pay for EP for draft content and Athletic for hockey coverage in general. I chose EP over McKeens bc I am on site looking up players all the time anyway, but I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen from them even though I haven’t bought.

 

[STL fan in MN]

The EP guide was nearly 2,000 pages, which felt excessive. Lots of great info, but I would have liked it even more if it was half as long. Still, I found it far superior to Athletic or the various free ones out there.

Overall, and I think you know this but not everyone does, EP, McKeens, and guides like that which are more collaborative I find superior to lists put together by Pronman or Wheeler and the like. I don’t mean this as criticism of Athletic guys, who do fine job and I enjoy reading them, but there is no way one person can have enough viewings of all these guys (especially outside ncaa, ushl, and CHL guys) to provide truly in depth analysis.

The sites like EP and McKeens (I haven’t read this years guide in full but the lists and analysis available for free are generally really good) have multiple “scouts” who focus on different regions and then they come together for overall list, which is much more similar to how NHL teams do. So even if I don’t agree with their rankings, they have far more detailed analysis which, combined with my own (online or tv) viewings better enables me to contextualize what I see. So even if I don’t agree with their rankings all the time, I get great benefit from them.

Totally agree with this.

I have a friend that used to be a scout for McKeen’s. One time I asked him his opinion on a bunch of players. I recall asking about Schwartz (back when he played in the USHL) and my friend gushed and went on and on. I then asked about another player and he said he had no idea. Said that player wasn’t in his region so he didn’t have an opinion. The part of me that wanted that info was annoyed but another part of me was impressed with the process of how they do it.

I like Pronman and Wheeler for what they are but it’s near impossible to watch enough hockey to have a valid opinion on 120ish draft prospects every year plus the top 15-20 prospects of each team (15x32 = 480). So these singular guys are really watching 600ish guys enough to truly form an opinion on them? I have my doubts.

The weakness of the group approach is if Scout A has seen Player X and Scout B has seen Player Y, how do they determine which is better? NHL teams do that by having the Director (Feltrin in the Blues case) watch pretty much everyone at least a few times so I would guess these scouting services try to emulate that but I’m not 100% sure. And TBH, I’m not sure how qualified some of these scouts are. My friend played Jr hockey (NAHL) and now works in broadcasting for a college program but not sure of the backgrounds of some of these guys. But you could say the same about me and the rest of us there that watch these players and share our opinions.

 

[STL fan in MN]

For those that pay, if you had to pick one of the sources, which one would you pay for?

My preference is usually McKeen’s but EP is good too. I’ve never bought ISS, FC, Dobber, Smaht or any of the other fringe ones. For EP, you can just subscribe to their premium service for a month and you’ll be able to download their draft guide.

As for individuals, I like to read Ferrari, Button, Bukala and of course McKenzie’s scouting poll (not a true ranking but more an average but still the gold standard).

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

For those that pay, if you had to pick one of the sources, which one would you pay for?

For the most hockey knowledge, EP. It isn’t close. For the draft and scouting, McKeens and the blackbook (down year for them with podcasts) giving McKeens the edge. I don’t think EP’s scouting (and it may just be a personality thing) for Europe is much weaker and indecisive. Stancl was an F last year and many guys this year are Fs that are clearly better than what I saw out of the CHL. Kind of confusing actually with some of the other resources like the draft analyst that are more thorough in Europe. Good time to be a fan.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Personally, I pay for EP for draft content and Athletic for hockey coverage in general. I chose EP over McKeens bc I am on site looking up players all the time anyway, but I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen from them even though I haven’t bought.

where McKeen shines is with footage explaining what guys do and don’t do. Some of it is free to view. Also Recrutes scouting has some good free YouTube stuff. Have the “draft for the playoffs” mentality rather than “look at the tricks this guy can do” mentality.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Well that’s interesting.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1803043226904899877

https://x.com/i/web/status/1803083273695908314

If Demidov is indeed 6’1” or even 6’0”, that pretty much erases his “undersized” flag.

Prior to this, most were projecting Levshunov to the Hawks. But the Hawks are now taking Demidov out to dinner tonight. Hopefully they stick with Levshunov as I don’t think he’s going to be anything special. But Demidov has elite winger potential and would be deadly with Bedard.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Demidov with Bedard or having them on separate lines will be gross.

 

[LGB]

Well that’s interesting.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1803043226904899877

https://x.com/i/web/status/1803083273695908314

If Demidov is indeed 6’1” or even 6’0”, that pretty much erases his “undersized” flag.

Prior to this, most were projecting Levshunov to the Hawks. But the Hawks are now taking Demidov out to dinner tonight. Hopefully they stick with Levshunov as I don’t think he’s going to be anything special. But Demidov has elite winger potential and would be deadly with Bedard.

His size was not an issue in action I saw of him in the KHL preseason, that was a weird narrative even if he measured 5'11. I'm praying the Levshunov rumors are true, Demidov is going to be a stud.

 

[STL fan in MN]

His size was not an issue in action I saw of him in the KHL preseason, that was a weird narrative even if he measured 5'11. I'm praying the Levshunov rumors are true, Demidov is going to be a stud.

Yeah, I watched some of his games this season, mostly the MHL playoffs and he looked about average sized to me. More than held his own physically.

Lots of SKA 1946 games are on YouTube: 9.04.2024. «СÐÐ-1946» â «ÐелÑе Ðедведи» | (ÐолÑÑинал ÐÑбка ХаÑламова) â ÐÑÑÐ¼Ð°Ñ ÑÑанÑлÑÑиÑ
Demidov is #11 in blue. As a bonus, Arseny Koromyslov is #9 in blue.

 

[Blueston]

Yeah, I watched some of his games this season, mostly the MHL playoffs and he looked about average sized to me. More than held his own physically.

Lots of SKA 1946 games are on YouTube: 9.04.2024. «СÐÐ-1946» â «ÐелÑе Ðедведи» | (ÐолÑÑинал ÐÑбка ХаÑламова) â ÐÑÑÐ¼Ð°Ñ ÑÑанÑлÑÑиÑ
Demidov is #11 in blue. As a bonus, Arseny Koromyslov is #9 in blue.

#11 looks much better than #9, unfortunately.

 

[sfvega]

I don't expect any big moves this off-season, but it would be nice to upgrade one of our 2nds to a pick between 25-40. Should be relatively cheap, we have pick ammo, the value is there in this particular class, and we need years of development if we're actually going to develop defensive prospects anytime soon. We need talent and time on D, and if we're going to take a forward in round 1 then there will be pressure on whoever we take in round 2. For instance, Tankathon has us drafting at 48 the 18th defenseman taken. Hard to rely on someone that deep in the class to be a surefire top 4, especially with the lack of a blue chip prospect.

 

[STL fan in MN]

I don't expect any big moves this off-season, but it would be nice to upgrade one of our 2nds to a pick between 25-40. Should be relatively cheap, we have pick ammo, the value is there in this particular class, and we need years of development if we're actually going to develop defensive prospects anytime soon. We need talent and time on D, and if we're going to take a forward in round 1 then there will be pressure on whoever we take in round 2. For instance, Tankathon has us drafting at 48 the 18th defenseman taken. Hard to rely on someone that deep in the class to be a surefire top 4, especially with the lack of a blue chip prospect.

Why should it be relatively cheap?

But it’s not a bad idea to see if we could move up. The odds of a 2nd rounder having an NHL career is around 20%. I want to say the cutoff for “NHL career” in the study I’m thinking of was 200 games. Probably safe to say those odds are notably higher around pick 33 than pick 64 so if there’s a player you really like, sure, try to move up.

 

[sfvega]

Why should it be relatively cheap?

But it’s not a bad idea to see if we could move up. The odds of a 2nd rounder having an NHL career is around 20%. I want to say the cutoff for “NHL career” in the study I’m thinking of was 200 games. Probably safe to say those odds are notably higher around pick 33 than pick 64 so if there’s a player you really like, sure, try to move up.

I mean, compared to what people are proposing in the Offseason thread or here to try and move up in the 1st. Moving up 15 spots in the 2nd or a bit higher; it's not dirt cheap but it is cheap relative to other moves. Especially with the Buchnevich situation looking murky with the forward market stagnant in the last deadline, him not being able to extend pre-draft, and trade partners for him having been mentioned as slim pickins post-lottery. Those picks in very late round 1 and early round 2 tend to move with much more regularity as well. We have three 2nds in this draft and next, as well as three 3rds so we have some wiggle room to try and upgrade one of these into a more premium pick. And I'd much rather do that now if we feel our window is opening up again 2 years from now.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Below are my 2024 Draft Rankings. I waited to post them until the Russian combine currently happening in Florida…which didn’t really end up impacting my list at all. I had a hard time starting at spot 3. I see a very solid top-2 but who’s the 3rdbest player in this draft? I probably had the grouping of 3-13 in about every order possible at some point throughout the season. An underlined name indicates a tier shift.

I have a cut-off after the first 17. If the Blues pick one of these 17 guys at pick 16, I’ll be happy. Obviously, at least 2 of them will be available.

1​	Celebrini, Macklin
2​	Demidov, Ivan
3​	Silayev, Anton
4​	Buium, Zeev
5​	Levshunov, Artyom
6​	Catton, Berkly
7​	Iginla, Tij
8​	Lindstrom, Cayden
9​	Helenius, Konsta
10​	Dickinson, Sam
11​	Parekh, Zayne
12​	Sennecke, Beckett
13​	Luchanko, Jett
14​	Yakemchuk, Carter
15​	Brandsegg-Nygard, Michael
16​	Solberg, Stian
17​	Hage, Michael
18​	Eiserman, Cole
19​	Jiricek, Adam
20​	Surin, Yegor
21​	Freij, Alfons
22​	Chernyshov, Igor
23​	Vanacker, Marek
24​	Artamonov, Nikita
25​	Miettienen, Julius
26​	Beaudoin, Cole
27​	Greentree, Liam
28​	Parascak, Terik
29​	Boisvert, Sasha
30​	Basha, Andrew
31​	Emery, EJ
32​	Petterson, Lucas
33​	O'Reilly, Sam
34​	Shuravin, Matvei
35​	Badinka, Dominik
36​	Eriksson, Linus
37​	Gridin, Matvei
38​	Sahlin-Wallenius, Leo
39​	Stiga, Teddy
40​	Connelly, Trevor
41​	Brunicke, Harrison
42​	Fischer, Lukas
43​	Muggli, Leon
44​	Skahan, Will
45​	Hemming, Emil
46​	Mews, Henry
47​	Pulkkinen, Jesse
48​	Smith, Tarin
49​	Danford, Ben
50​	Kleber, Adam
51​	Wetsch, Carson
52​	Mustard, John
53​	Letourneau, Dean
54​	Plante, Max
55​	Hutson, Cole
56​	Elick, Charlie
57​	Ritchie, Ryder
58​	George, Carter
59​	Howe, Tanner
60​	Ziemer, Brodie
61​	Yegorov, Mikhail
62​	Masse, Maxim
63​	Misa, Luke
64​	Roberts, Colton
65​	He, Kevin
66​	Marrelli, Luca
67​	Boilard, Raoul
68​	Battaglia, Jacob
69​	Kiviharju, Aron
70​	Zether, Simon
71​	Villeneuve, Nathan
72​	Fernstrom, Melvin
73​	Hynninen, Topias
74​	Vaisanen, Veeti
75​	Caswell, Clarke
76​	Ruohonen, Heikki
77​	Fransen, Noel
78​	Soini, Sebastian
79​	Gill, Spencer
80​	Curran, Max
81​	Jecho, Adam
82​	Pikkarainen, Kasper
83​	Ustinkov, Daniil
84​	Bednarik, Kamil
85​	Koivu, Aatos
86​	Lavoie, Tomas
87​	Patterson, Riley
88​	Berglund, Jack
89​	Humphreys, Christian
90​	Josephson, Ollie
91​	Mateiko, Eriks
92​	Osborn, Luke
93​	Galvas, Tomas
94​	Romani, Anthony
95​	Fibigr, Jakub
96​	Poirier, Justin
97​	Zetterberg, Alexander
98​	Protas, Ilya
99​	Muhonen, Niilopekka
100​	Traff, Herman

Others that caught my eye that I’d like in rounds 4 and beyond:

Kol, Timur

Marques, Miguel

Nabokov, Ilya

Jokinen, Mitja

Eliasson, Gabriel

Bodin, Jack

Spellacy, AJ

Ralph, Colin

Swanson, Mac

Satan Jr, Miroslav

Van Vliet, Lucas

Whipple, John

Phalsson, Erik

Lassila, Jere

Zellers, William

Meier, Gian

Gidlof, Marcus

Allard, Owen

Hendrickson, Kam

Suoniemi, Tuomas

Loponen, Markus

Becher, Ordrej

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Below are my 2024 Draft Rankings. I waited to post them until the Russian combine currently happening in Florida…which didn’t really end up impacting my list at all. I had a hard time starting at spot 3. I see a very solid top-2 but who’s the 3rdbest player in this draft? I probably had the grouping of 3-13 in about every order possible at some point throughout the season. An underlined name indicates a tier shift.

I have a cut-off after the first 17. If the Blues pick one of these 17 guys at pick 16, I’ll be happy. Obviously, at least 2 of them will be available.

1​	Celebrini, Macklin
2​	Demidov, Ivan
3​	Silayev, Anton
4​	Buium, Zeev
5​	Levshunov, Artyom
6​	Catton, Berkly
7​	Iginla, Tij
8​	Lindstrom, Cayden
9​	Helenius, Konsta
10​	Dickinson, Sam
11​	Parekh, Zayne
12​	Sennecke, Beckett
13​	Luchanko, Jett
14​	Yakemchuk, Carter
15​	Brandsegg-Nygard, Michael
16​	Solberg, Stian
17​	Hage, Michael
18​	Eiserman, Cole
19​	Jiricek, Adam
20​	Surin, Yegor
21​	Freij, Alfons
22​	Chernyshov, Igor
23​	Vanacker, Marek
24​	Artamonov, Nikita
25​	Miettienen, Julius
26​	Beaudoin, Cole
27​	Greentree, Liam
28​	Parascak, Terik
29​	Boisvert, Sasha
30​	Basha, Andrew
31​	Emery, EJ
32​	Petterson, Lucas
33​	O'Reilly, Sam
34​	Shuravin, Matvei
35​	Badinka, Dominik
36​	Eriksson, Linus
37​	Gridin, Matvei
38​	Sahlin-Wallenius, Leo
39​	Stiga, Teddy
40​	Connelly, Trevor
41​	Brunicke, Harrison
42​	Fischer, Lukas
43​	Muggli, Leon
44​	Skahan, Will
45​	Hemming, Emil
46​	Mews, Henry
47​	Pulkkinen, Jesse
48​	Smith, Tarin
49​	Danford, Ben
50​	Kleber, Adam
51​	Wetsch, Carson
52​	Mustard, John
53​	Letourneau, Dean
54​	Plante, Max
55​	Hutson, Cole
56​	Elick, Charlie
57​	Ritchie, Ryder
58​	George, Carter
59​	Howe, Tanner
60​	Ziemer, Brodie
61​	Yegorov, Mikhail
62​	Masse, Maxim
63​	Misa, Luke
64​	Roberts, Colton
65​	He, Kevin
66​	Marrelli, Luca
67​	Boilard, Raoul
68​	Battaglia, Jacob
69​	Kiviharju, Aron
70​	Zether, Simon
71​	Villeneuve, Nathan
72​	Fernstrom, Melvin
73​	Hynninen, Topias
74​	Vaisanen, Veeti
75​	Caswell, Clarke
76​	Ruohonen, Heikki
77​	Fransen, Noel
78​	Soini, Sebastian
79​	Gill, Spencer
80​	Curran, Max
81​	Jecho, Adam
82​	Pikkarainen, Kasper
83​	Ustinkov, Daniil
84​	Bednarik, Kamil
85​	Koivu, Aatos
86​	Lavoie, Tomas
87​	Patterson, Riley
88​	Berglund, Jack
89​	Humphreys, Christian
90​	Josephson, Ollie
91​	Mateiko, Eriks
92​	Osborn, Luke
93​	Galvas, Tomas
94​	Romani, Anthony
95​	Fibigr, Jakub
96​	Poirier, Justin
97​	Zetterberg, Alexander
98​	Protas, Ilya
99​	Muhonen, Niilopekka
100​	Traff, Herman

Others that caught my eye that I’d like in rounds 4 and beyond:

Kol, Timur

Marques, Miguel

Nabokov, Ilya

Jokinen, Mitja

Eliasson, Gabriel

Bodin, Jack

Spellacy, AJ

Ralph, Colin

Swanson, Mac

Satan Jr, Miroslav

Van Vliet, Lucas

Whipple, John

Phalsson, Erik

Lassila, Jere

Zellers, William

Meier, Gian

Gidlof, Marcus

Allard, Owen

Hendrickson, Kam

Suoniemi, Tuomas

Loponen, Markus

Becher, Ordrej

Solid list! I too really like Spellacy. IF somehow the offensive light would come on…look out! He is very talented and hard working.

I’m in information overload. Hope to get my spreadsheet cleaned up to follow all the rankings and mocks. New names keep popping up. Crazy year!

 

[STL fan in MN]

Solid list! I too really like Spellacy. IF somehow the offensive light would come on…look out! He is very talented and hard working.

I’m in information overload. Hope to get my spreadsheet cleaned up to follow all the rankings and mocks. New names keep popping up. Crazy year!

I have a feeling Spellacy will go as early as the 2nd but probably sometime in the 3rd. He’s a freak athlete and blazingly fast. But he’s not actually that great at hockey IMO so the hope is it’s because this was his first season focusing solely on hockey but it’s hard to catch up on the hockey sense like that so I wouldn’t take him until the 4th. Intriguing potential if he can make strides thinking the game though.

 

[Blueswin]

here is a new 2 round mock draft from Flohockey -https://www.flohockey.tv/articles/12650697-nhl-mock-draft-2024-predicting-every-pick-in-the-first-two-rounds