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Draft 2024 NHL Draft Prospects & Undrafted Free Agents

Hopefully Drury finds a way to recoup some lost picks. One of my favorite players flying a bit under the radar is Simon Zether. Big right handed center. I've mentioned him before. The consensus right now is putting him all the way in the 3rd round. You have to wonder how much of that is based on the role he played rather than his overall talent. He destroyed the Swedish junior league, 27 points in 18 games. But then spent the majority of the season in the SHL where he played a limited 4th line role. Just 4 assists and 0 goals in 42 games... but he only averaged 7 minutes a game. I wonder if his draft stock would look different if he spent more time eating minutes in juniors. Just for comparison, his production in the Nationell is essentially on par with with many of the high end Swedes the last few years... Öhgren, Östlund, Lekkerimäki, etc... Zether looks seriously undervalued, could be a real steal
 
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Don’t know where to put it so heard on 32 Thoughts that in the next bargaining agreement they will discuss cutting draft down to less rounds. They mentioned 4. It would benefit a little those lesser prospects - more potential opportunities to sign contracts without being limited by rights of the team that otherwise drafted them and ultimately don’t sign to a contract. From the team’s perspective not only they lose the rights but these picks also serve as trade currency. Not sure if it gains any real traction.
 
B17 Apricots said:
Hopefully Drury finds a way to recoup some lost picks. One of my favorite players flying a bit under the radar is Simon Zether. Big right handed center. I've mentioned him before. The consensus right now is putting him all the way in the 3rd round.
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He's definitely an interesting prospect. According to the following article, his biggest issue is his skating:

thehockeywriters.com

Simon Zether - 2024 NHL Draft Prospect Profile - The Hockey Writers Latest News, Analysis & More

Simon Zether is a polarizing forward prospect who has scored a ton against his peers but struggled against pros thus far.
thehockeywriters.com thehockeywriters.com

So why is Zether being talked about as a late-second round pick by many outlets, rather than a clear first rounder?

The first reason is his footspeed. Zether’s skating needs some serious work, especially if he wants to stick at center as a pro, because he simply can’t keep up against men at this point. He’s a smart player, tracking plays and reacting quickly, but his feet really can’t match the speed of his mind at this point, which really limits his effectiveness as a pro.
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The article mentions how little playing time he got with Rogle, so I wouldn't say he's flying under the radar, exactly. The author does suggest that he has a high floor:

Zether is someone who I see as a high-floor, low-ceiling type at this point, with enough hockey sense to be a strong two-way forward. If things go just alright development-wise for him from this point on, I think it’s possible he becomes a scoring winger in an NHL bottom-six, likely topping out as a third-liner. However, any amount of skating improvement would change his projection favorably.
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As a 3rd or 4th round pick, I can see him being worth the gamble.
 
Letourneau's been playing at St. Andrew's college--a kind of prep program in Ontario that the Rangers drafted Morgan Barron out of before he went to Cornell U. My guess is he's not going to be around at #30. To some degree he's high risk because of competition but 6'7 guys with good offensive instincts and who can skate don't grown on trees.
 
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Finally getting the chance to do more of a dive into this draft class, and it’s easy to see why the Rangers are rumored to like dmen like Elick and Emery. I’d bet that Sam O’Reilly was a big riser on their list too with how he’s progressed over the second half of the season in London, and there’s something about John Mustard that screams prototypical Rangers forward. I could see them loving Beaudoin too, even though it’ll cause immediate nonsense here where people google a scouting report and complain about his skating.

It’ll be interesting to see how the board falls, but if I had to guess, the Rangers won’t stay put at 30.
 
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kovazub94 said:
Don’t know where to put it so heard on 32 Thoughts that in the next bargaining agreement they will discuss cutting draft down to less rounds. They mentioned 4. It would benefit a little those lesser prospects - more potential opportunities to sign contracts without being limited by rights of the team that otherwise drafted them and ultimately don’t sign to a contract. From the team’s perspective not only they lose the rights but these picks also serve as trade currency. Not sure if it gains any real traction.
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I understand the reasoning behind it, and it could very well be paired with longer draft rights for NCAA players. However, teams need to realise that you can't have it both ways. If you want to kinda force prospects to sign with the team that drafted them, then you should also force teams to sign every prospect they draft.
 
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Mac n Gs said:
Finally getting the chance to do more of a dive into this draft class, and it’s easy to see why the Rangers are rumored to like dmen like Elick and Emery. I’d bet that Sam O’Reilly was a big riser on their list too with how he’s progressed over the second half of the season in London, and there’s something about John Mustard that screams prototypical Rangers forward. I could see them loving Beaudoin too, even though it’ll cause immediate nonsense here where people google a scouting report and complain about his skating.

It’ll be interesting to see how the board falls, but if I had to guess, the Rangers won’t stay put at 30.
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What does 30 and Kakko get in a trade at the draft?
 
HP's Black Book was released, so y'all can expect stuff from there from me on guys we pick. Or if you have particular prospects you want a bit more on

Their 25 to 35 is:
25. LD Matvei Gridin USHL
26. C/LW Yegor Surin Russia JR
27. LD Alfons Freij Sweden JR
28. LW Andrew Basha WHL
29. C Nathan Villeneuve OHL
30. C Sacha Boisvert USHL
31. LD Jesse Pulkkinen Finland
32. C/RW Sam O'Reilly OHL
33. LD Leon Muggli Swiss
34. C Dean Letorneau Prep-Ontario
35. LD Leo Sahlin Wallenius Sweden JR
 
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UnSandvich said:
HP's Black Book was released, so y'all can expect stuff from there from me on guys we pick. Or if you have particular prospects you want a bit more on

Their 25 to 35 is:
25. LD Matvei Gridin USHL
26. C/LW Yegor Surin Russia JR
27. LD Alfons Freij Sweden JR
28. LW Andrew Basha WHL
29. C Nathan Villeneuve OHL
30. C Sacha Boisvert USHL
31. LD Jesse Pulkkinen Finland
32. C/RW Sam O'Reilly OHL
33. LD Leon Muggli Swiss
34. C Dean Letorneau Prep-Ontario
35. LD Leo Sahlin Wallenius Sweden JR
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I like O'Reilly for his name but he's also a good player but if I were picking with these guys---Boisvert, Letourneau and Pulkkinen would be who I'd be looking at. Pulkkinen is a beast and he was really impressive for Finland at the WJC's. IMO he'll be in the NHL within 2 years.
 
I have doubts about Boisvert falling within our range. Very projectable game that will translate to C at the next level, has shown flashes of some game-breaking ability. The kid also rips the puck and is a great goal scorer. He seems like a kid that teams have ranked higher than the consensus, but I’d be thrilled if we had the chance to take him. Hage was the other kid that I spoke about all year that we’d be lucky to draft
 
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eco's bones said:
I like O'Reilly for his name but he's also a good player but if I were picking with these guys---Boisvert, Letourneau and Pulkkinen would be who I'd be looking at. Pulkkinen is a beast and he was really impressive for Finland at the WJC's. IMO he'll be in the NHL within 2 years.
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They have Connelly at 36, but no way am I touching him
 
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