GDT: 2024 NHL Draft (June 28 - June 29, Las Vegas Sphere)

[BiPolar Caps]

A swastika is a little more than "inappropriate".

“When I posted it, I didn’t appreciate how offensive and hurtful the post would be,” he said. “But after posting it and talking about the symbol, I removed the picture.

“I’m very sorry for my ignorant mistake and since then I’ve been doing a lot to try to make up for it.”

Trevor Connelly has done several hours of volunteer community service work as he continues to better himself away from the rink. Connelly is pictured helping deliver meals at the Orangewood Foundation in April 2022 and will soon be volunteering as a coach at a Hockey Players of Color camp in Florida too.
Contributed / Connelly Family

Although the post was deleted minutes later, the photo was screen-shotted by someone first and has since circulated over the past 17 months.

Make no mistake, Connelly is the first to admit he regrets posting the photo and quickly felt the consequences.

While it’d be easy to say he was just an ignorant 16-year-old kid, Connelly has owned up to it and used it as a way to better himself.

“I wanted to learn from it and educate myself,” he said. “I visited the LA Holocaust Museum and I also read the book, 'Night' (by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel). That gave me a much better understanding of why the post and the swastika symbol are so hurtful, and that antisemitism is still a big problem today.

“Knowing what I know now, I would never post something like that and I regret doing it.”

So for those who want to throw this kid under the bus for the mistake that he made just after turning 16 I'll leave you with this quote "When you're demanding tolerance, where do you draw the line at giving it?"

 

[bacchist]

I have no tolerance for racists. I will die on that hill. I am going to err on the side of not giving him the benefit of the doubt, even if he did work on his image when he realized he potentially cost himself millions of dollars.

Went to the Holocaust museum lol gtfo

 

[Calicaps]

I have no tolerance for racists. I will die on that hill. I am going to err on the side of not giving him the benefit of the doubt, even if he did work on his image when he realized he potentially cost himself millions of dollars.

Went to the Holocaust museum lol gtfo

I tend to agree. But the caveat is that teenagers are all sociopaths anyhow. Were he even 20 when it happened, I'd be far less inclined to give him a second chance, but 16 years olds make mistakes, often bad ones, and they are immensely influenced by their peer groups.

I take the point that a lot of this feels like reputational rehab and PR, but it's also impossible to know whether it's genuinely affected him and helped him grow. I'd say he should get a chance, but also that that chance should come with a close microscope and a very short leash.

 

[bacchist]

I tend to agree. But the caveat is that teenagers are all sociopaths anyhow. Were he even 20 when it happened, I'd be far less inclined to give him a second chance, but 16 years olds make mistakes, often bad ones, and they are immensely influenced by their peer groups.

I take the point that a lot of this feels like reputational rehab and PR, but it's also impossible to know whether it's genuinely affected him and helped him grow. I'd say he should get a chance, but also that that chance should come with a close microscope and a very short leash.

I feel you. On an intellectual level I agree. But I don't want him on the caps. He'll always be sus to me, and I don't want to have that rattling around in my head when I'm trying to root for my favorite team.

 

[Calicaps]

I feel you. On an intellectual level I agree. But I don't want him on the caps. He'll always be sus to me, and I don't want to have that rattling around in my head when I'm trying to root for my favorite team.

Fair. And I don't see the Caps making that move. They have an active diversity initiative and prioritize locker room culture; bringing on a player with that baggage just doesn't fit the mold. (To say nothing of the fact that they already have Jewish prospects in the system so that would be awk.)

 

[Langway]

There's more mentioned in The Athletic article from his younger days in youth hockey. Nothing egregious compared to Miller or Mailloux maybe but also not an isolated incident. His on-ice comments hardly seemed to have been investigated seriously if this article is presenting the full story. (I also wonder about the necessity of working with Hockey Players of Color if there was truly nothing there.) Maybe it's all in the rear view and he's fully prepared to be a mature pro but I wouldn't be sold on his support system and wonder how he'll handle adversity as he progresses. There's educating himself, outreach and good deeds but culturally still someone that would need to prove a lot to earn trust to be considered a leader. He's talented but it's so difficult to overcome negative first impressions.

In the 20's in a weak draft I don't doubt someone gives him a shot given his offensive upside. But it's not like there may not be other sliding talents like Jiricek or Kiviharju due to injury. One thing the article didn't really delve into is how he's perceived currently in the USHL. No doubt scouts and front offices will dig into that to figure if he's truly got his head on right. I'm sure he's probably less of a shitty teammate these days but nonetheless it's a bad can of worms he's opened and will have to continue to deal with.

 

[Langway]

 

[HTFN]

welp, only seen the one thing but that kid's got the goods.

being fancy is one thing but his footwork is advanced for his age and arguably just the NHL in general. Gives himself a lot of options and is quick to get to crossovers to accelerate through unorthodox angles... hot damn, that was something.

 

[RedRocking]

Wow, he looks great. The way the puck is just glued to his stick as he effortlessly glides around reminds of Q. Hughes. His footwork and balance is really impressive.

No idea what he’s like defensively - but kid has got some serious offensive skill.

 

[Langway]

Defensively he can be sort of like Mike Green but the on puck upside is salivating. Carlson's not getting any younger. The Memorial Cup will be a very interesting test but I've got to think he's a top ten lock. Conceivably based on pure skilled upside he's a top 3-5 talent.

The Caps have played themselves right into the terrible middle and need to pick a direction. Either take on a cap dump to juice the top six or call it a day IMO. They don't want to be missing the playoffs and picking 14-16 in this draft. Someone could slide but I wouldn't count on it in a thin draft. I like MNB's combination of skill, strength, floor and ceiling after the top group but it's more of a consolation prize. Someone like Connelly requires tons of homework to where I'm sure some teams just won't bother (until perhaps his availability on the second day forces more scrutiny).

If they do manage to sustain this play and are positioned to miss out on the top group I'd be very willing to flip the first for immediate help. That may not necessarily get them Zegras but maybe Mittelstadt due to contract status.

 

[pman25]

Parekh is so good, he just scores and keeps scoring. Quite frankly, I don’t care what he’s like defensively. A player with that type of offensive skill set won’t be defending in his own zone very often. For any blunders he makes, he’ll double it the other way.

Hard to find a skillset and production like that (at RH shot to boot). He should be top 10, I would probably take him top 5

 

[Langway]

Ahem.

Scout’s Analysis: Ranking the top 40 prospects for the 2024 NHL Draft – Sportsnet.ca

Eiserman at 14 here.

 

[usiel]

Still like Jiricek in the teens.

 

[Langway]

Not going to be in range for this guy it doesn't look like. I was thinking the 9th/10th pick was still doable but decreasingly so barring a decisive (and likely controversial) decision to sell. The way Parekh is producing that's going to be too late anyway.

It's tough to be 100% sold on Jiricek due to time missed this season. I liked his steadiness at the Hlinka but his offensive upside is in some doubt. Is he more than a Fehervary? He'll also need to fill out considerably. I'll probably have him after MBN and Greentree at least, with Connelly somewhere in there purely from an upside/on-ice perspective. The Caps could definitely use another promising mobile D but after about 12 the top group may be gone. Drafting 14-18 looks be a tough range barring some curveballs.

 

[pman25]

Still seems like Buium is flying under the radar.

Silayev, Levshunov, Dickinson, Parekh, Buium, and Yakemchuk could go in any order. I could see Buium being the least attractive of the bunch given that he’s not that big or toolsy and doesn’t have the flash of Parekh.

I’d be very satisfied with him, but he’s also probably gone by 12. Seems like an Adam Fox-ish comparable. Doesn’t have overwhelming speed or skating but can freeze guys with subtle moves and his IQ. His production is also very good for college. Arguably just as impressive as Parekh

If we trend closer to 15 then I would take Artamonov or Basha in that range. Maybe they top out as middle six wingers but that’s not bad for a mid 1st

 

[Langway]

Those two are fairly small, though. Not tiny but a bit below average to where it seems a little early.

Boisvert is another intriguing option. Decent size, some center potential, currently third in the USHL in goals.

 

[Langway]

Red tank is back.

A top eight pick is probably out of range but somewhere between 9-13 should be doable. They're 14th-worst in points percentage currently. Adding one of Eiserman, Helenius, Catton, Buium or Iginla seems like it ought to now shift to being top priority. (For now I'm assuming a top eight of Celebrini, Lindstrom, Levshunov, Silayev, Dickinson, Parekh, Demidov & Yakemchuk barring the unexpected.)

Amassing picks to trade up may be ideal but in a relatively thin draft it's hard to say how realistic that may be. Not impossible one of the RD slide to them. Overall I'm guessing that's the hope.

 

[pman25]

I could see all six D gone by pick 10 kind of like 2012 and suddenly a pretty solid forward is available for us to snag. Maybe Demidov or Catton? I’d be down for that. Iginla would be fun to add to our mix.

I’m crushing on Buium and Yakemchuk lately

 

[trick9]

Top-12 pick and i'm happy. I think there is a drop-off after 12.

Also like that we picked up a 2nd round pick which we lost in the Brown -trade. Ideal scenario would be to pick up another 2nd in one of the deals and package them together to get into ~20-25 range and pick up either Kiviharju or Jiricek who are dropping because of injuries. Or well, the obvious best-case scenario is that a future 1st round loser pays up a 2024 1st for Nic Dowd, but i don't see it.

 

[Corby78]

I have no tolerance for racists. I will die on that hill. I am going to err on the side of not giving him the benefit of the doubt, even if he did work on his image when he realized he potentially cost himself millions of dollars.

Went to the Holocaust museum lol gtfo

There has to be room for change/growth/forgiveness. We can hate racism, but the goal should be about changing minds, not destroying people. If you hate him now because of a past event without any capability of mercy/forgiveness, then you are no better than racists hating people over the color of their skin.

I would agree with you if there was a pattern of repeated behavior, but right now I will side with he is legit sorry.

 

[bacchist]

There has to be room for change/growth/forgiveness. We can hate racism, but the goal should be about changing minds, not destroying people. If you hate him now because of a past event without any capability of mercy/forgiveness, then you are no better than racists hating people over the color of their skin.

I would agree with you if there was a pattern of repeated behavior, but right now I will side with he is legit sorry.

What is the world coming to? You post ONE swastika online and cancelled smh



There was also that time he was suspended for using a racial slur during a game, but something tells me that's no big deal to you.

On top of getting kicked out of school for urinating on another student's property and numerous complaints of bullying other students and teammates, it's clear this kid is bad news.

Also, I don't claim to be better than anyone. I just hate racists.

 

[Roshi]

What is the world coming to? You post ONE swastika online and cancelled smh



There was also that time he was suspended for using a racial slur during a game, but something tells me that's no big deal to you.

On top of getting kicked out of school for urinating on another student's property and numerous complaints of bullying other students and teammates, it's clear this kid is bad news.

Also, I don't claim to be better than anyone. I just hate racists.

I dont mean to sound judgemental or anything, but living in Finland its very tough being a Capitals fan right now because of Ovechkin and his instagram profile. He is the most despised characted in sports right now in here and gets a looooot of hate, which is plain out directed also at the whole Capitals as organization, and to its fans aswell. We get a lot of shit for this in the Finnish NHL forums.

So just based on that, I personally dont need anymore distractions for my favourite team. I can only imagine how this would amp up the heat for us over here. I want us to stay out of this, and rather get someone who is just pure perfect and mr sympathico in the internet.

And on the other hand, I fully agree on some others here that you should not be judged and weighted as a person for something you did when you was 16. Racism is terrible and im sure we all can agree with that, but a priviledged 16-year old doing something stupid like this is propably coming out of somewhere else than pure evil racism, and even if it did just the impact he has got to handle from all this has likely been quite a fastcourse on growing as a human being. Which also is a lot to ask from a 16 year old teenager who is still struggling to find acceptance, both from outside and internally.

Id wait him to fail again before cancelling him totally. Meanwhile, it is ok to have him under the microscope though.

As for the draft, its not as exciting when it comes to top end talent, but theres decent depth after the 1st is out. We should end up with a good player at the 10-16 spot. Not propably a star player, but a good one. Id go with upside before a sure thing. After he household names Buium has something going on I like. Iggy junior too. But if Eiserman keeps dropping, I want him. Thats a guy who was consensus nr2 just six months ago, viewed as a elite sniper to be. Having a rough season could be a learning curve, so the upside sounds really intriguing.

Now that we have a 2nd too, its even more interesting. While the top end talent isnt propably deep, I think the depth of good players keeps on running all the way to 50-60s. Theres some gems to be found. Like Eiserman, another big dropper I keep coming back to is Finnish guy Aron Kiviharju. He was there on the talks as possible first overall a year and half ago, but has been through injury-train since and had one bad WJC between to find himself ranked out of 1st round alltogether currently. His developement might have stalled a lot, and he is quite a project right now, but thats another guy with big upside if the stars go his way. Propably goes somewhere around early to mid 2nd at latest though, so likely not avaivable for VGK 2nd for us (as also being a Finn), but we could always trade up as we have 2x 3rds.

 

[BiPolar Caps]

Happen to watch the Spittin Chicklets broadcast where they're interviewing Brian Burke and they're talking about pre draft interviews. Burke said that Yakupov was the worse interview he ever experienced and that one of the scouts actually wanted to fight Yakupov. Burke was with the Leafs at the time and he was real high on Morgan Reilly which they took with the 5th pick in the 2012 draft where as the Oilers grabbed Yakupov with the first pick. Seems like only yesterday that you would see on the HF boards posts for "Fail for Nail".

All that being noted, I had to go back and look at that 2012 draft. Half of the players drafted in the top ten of that draft are no longer in the NHL. That was the draft where the Capitals took Forsberg and Wilson in the first round and then their next pick wasn't until the 3rd round when they selected Chandler Stephenson. Pretty decent draft for the Capitals that year.

 

[Langway]

Edit: Reportedly returned to game.

 

[Langway]

NHL Draft 2024 ranking: Celebrini No. 1 on Pronman's list, Silayev and Dickinson next

The top five picks in this year's draft class all look like potential impact players in the NHL.

theathletic.com

Jiricek 12, Eiserman 13, Iginla 16.