GDT: 2024 NHL Draft Talk - Picked 2nd, 18th, 27th, 67th, 72nd, 92nd, 138th, & 163rd Overall

[Kevin Musto]

Davidson throwing some serious damper on my pre draft euphoria.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1806422558163804414

Ben Pope is reporting the opposite

https://x.com/i/web/status/1806426501388304737

 

[ClydeLee]

Ugh.

I told you guys Taylor hall is the offseason top 6 addition... I guess it's how you interpret the phrase depends

 

[Kevin Musto]

Despite what LeBrun (I think it was him) reported yesterday, Kyle is saying there haven't been many calls about 2nd overall

https://x.com/i/web/status/1806423291265233074

 

[Larmer83]

Lev better than every draft eligible defensemen in college history statistically. He’s not getting credit because Buium was better statistically. Dragged an 18-18 msu team to 25-10. Buium joined a 30-10 team.

Levy was +27. Only one other player was above +13. Most of the team was around even. He’s a great player not a good one. Can’t go wrong either way.

I've seen this posted a few times now and it ignores all context around Michigan State. Last year was year 1 of Nightingale and a rebuilding year for State. This year was year 2 and they built a competitive team.

They had a strong transfer class with 3 impact transfers

Isaac Howard (Tampa 1st rounder)
Red Savage (Detroit pick)
Joey Larson (MSU top 6 forward)

On top of that they had a good freshman class with

Levshunov
Trey Augustine (Detroit 2nd rounder)
Maxim Strbak (Buffalo 2nd rounder)
Gavin O'Connell (MSU top 6 forward)
Patrick Geary (USA world jr prelim roster)
Tommi Männistö (Finn world junior)

It wasn't even close to the same team from last year. It's fair to give Levshunov credit, but it would be incorrect to say he single-handedly turned around their program.

With Buium at one point I thought that too. 'Yeah the points are impressive, but look at his team'. The more the season progressed, it became more clear that was wrong. Buium was DU's best player down the stretch in the NCHC playoffs and Frozen Four.

@95snipes did a fine job dispelling your notion. Since you're the driver and navigator of the Lev clown car, I know it won't make any difference.

 

[ClydeLee]

Despite what LeBrun (I think it was him) reported yesterday, Kyle is saying there haven't been many calls about 2nd overall

https://x.com/i/web/status/1806423291265233074

Despite? That confirms it as true. LeBrun didn't say many. He said they're getting calls. KD and LeBruns statements are entirely equal.

 

[Wally1112pac]

 

[TLEH]

It’s really f***ing easy to make a team suck and pick Bedard.

 

[ClydeLee]

If they don't take Levshunov, it seems Anaheim would. So if he truly is their guy, a trade down offer would have to be worth a lot to have them agree

 

[Dion TheFluff]

Despite what LeBrun (I think it was him) reported yesterday, Kyle is saying there haven't been many calls about 2nd overall

https://x.com/i/web/status/1806423291265233074

Demidov or Levshunov?

 

[clydesdale line]

Okay. The scouts pretty unanimously have Demidov at #2-3.

The Hawks scouts. Scouts from other teams don't matter in this scenario. We will see if they agree with that assessment or not.

 

[HawksDub89]

The meltdown here (and especially on social media) is going to be catastrophic tomorrow. I seriously don’t understand how we’ve gotten to the point where Demidov is considered to be a surefire can’t miss 100 point scorer and Levshunov is a guaranteed #4. Mind boggling

Combination of YouTube highlights and fan boy bloggers with big followings.

I’m not a bears fan but this feels very similar to the fields v williams weirdness

 

[ello]

Not gonna belabour it any more after this but one last time.

I think the most baffling part about this whole saga to me is how much I literally just don't see it with Levshunov. Every other top prospect in this draft I can see the tantalizing abilities that, if all goes well, can make them superstars one day

Demidov: you might not even find a player in most drafts with his hands, puck skills and offensive IQ
Buium: his ability to manipulate defenders and make plays out of nothing is remeniscint of Fox
Lindstrom: size, skating, great soft skills, very heavy shot, can score from distance or create separation with his stickhandling.
Silayev: lower on him, but with his size and skating combo he could be Vlasic on steroids and be the best defensive dman in the world one day

Lev's just..meh. Honestly, I don't care about his stats. Players can have seasons where bounces go perfectly for them and frankly I would bet against Levshunov putting up similar point totals next year. Adam Larsson had a monster, HISTORIC D-1 in the SHL yet his point totals were cut in half in the next season.

He does the simple things well. Good first passes. Can get the puck to the net from the blueline with low wrist shots. Moves well in a straight line and you can see the tools needed for him be a strong rush defender.

But man, those aren't star qualities. He doesn't carry the puck much up the ice. He doesn't walk the blueline and utilize four way mobility to force defenders to adapt. He doesn't have a booming slapshot from the point. He loses battles and board postioning to more competitive players far too frequently. And to top it all off, he's not even THAT big or THAT fast.

For all the people saying "its easier to trade for/sign a high scoring winger". Oh yeah? Tell that to Carolina, who's probably a 100 point winger away from making the Cup Final with no conceivable way of acquiring one any time soon. Tell that to a team like Winnipeg who hasn't had a player hit 100 points since moving back in 2011.


I know drafting is so subjective, but everything is set up for KD to make a slam dunk pick in Demidov. It's the consensus pick. It fills a bigger need. He's over 6 foot and probably plays at 200 pounds. He's as talented a winger as you'll ever see at the top of the draft board.

Please KD just overlook the skating thing for once

 

[Kevin Musto]

Not gonna belabour it any more after this but one last time.

I think the most baffling part about this whole saga to me is how much I literally just don't see it with Levshunov. Every other top prospect in this draft I can see the tantalizing abilities that, if all goes well, can make them superstars one day

Demidov: you might not even find a player in most drafts with his hands, puck skills and offensive IQ
Buium: his ability to manipulate defenders and make plays out of nothing is remeniscint of Fox
Lindstrom: size, skating, great soft skills, very heavy shot, can score from distance or create separation with his stickhandling.
Silayev: lower on him, but with his size and skating combo he could be Vlasic on steroids and be the best defensive dman in the world one day

Lev's just..meh. Honestly, I don't care about his stats. Players can have seasons where bounces go perfectly for them and frankly I would bet against Levshunov putting up similar point totals next year. Adam Larsson had a monster, HISTORIC D-1 in the SHL yet his point totals were cut in half in the next season.

He does the simple things well. Good first passes. Can get the puck to the net from the blueline with low wrist shots. Moves well in a straight line and you can see the tools needed for him be a strong rush defender.

But man, those aren't star qualities. He doesn't carry the puck much up the ice. He doesn't walk the blueline and utilize four way mobility to force defenders to adapt. He doesn't have a booming slapshot from the point. He loses battles and board postioning to more competitive players far too frequently. And to top it all off, he's not even THAT big or THAT fast.

For all the people saying "its easier to trade for/sign a high scoring winger". Oh yeah? Tell that to Carolina, who's probably a 100 point winger away from making the Cup Final with no conceivable way of acquiring one any time soon. Tell that to a team like Winnipeg who hasn't had a player hit 100 points since moving back in 2011.


I know drafting is so subjective, but everything is set up for KD to make a slam dunk pick in Demidov. It's the consensus pick. It fills a bigger need. He's over 6 foot and probably plays at 200 pounds. He's as talented a winger as you'll ever see at the top of the draft board.

Please KD just overlook the skating thing for once

I agree with most of this, but projecting Demidov as a 100 point player is just as silly as anyone projecting Levshunov to be a 1D.

 

[ndgt10]

Scaling further in to Levshunov to Hawks at 2. Paid -300. Currently have 750 bucks invested on it.

 

[Kevin Musto]

Scaling further in to Levshunov to Hawks at 2. Paid -300. Currently have 750 bucks invested on it.

Stop before Kyle's smokescreen bankrupts you

 

[Malaka]

When Kyle talks about demidov idk if he’s trying to hold his cards tight and shelling up to sell levshunov as the pick(and maybe force a trade with say Anaheim), but the sentiment I get is he’s going levshunov

 

[TLEH]

I mean it’s overwhelming the smoke around Lev so it’s not shocking.

Pronman comparing Levshunov to young Dahlin .. I’m like .. are we watching the same player lol

 

[EddieTheEagle]

I mean it’s overwhelming the smoke around Lev so it’s not shocking.

Pronman comparing Levshunov to young Dahlin .. I’m like .. are we watching the same player lol

Certainly sounds like they are trying to feed us cow shit and tell us it is chocolate.

Prepping the fans for the pick perhaps, but I am hopeful to be surprised tomorrow.

 

[TheDachKnight]

this is the one consistent thing i hear about lev from people that aren't tripping over themselves to say he's nic lidstrom wrapped in drew doughty with a hint of erik karlsson, which is the primary reason i am pulling for demidov.

I don’t think anyone has actually said this. I have heard Karlsson stylistically. I personally see Dobson, who was good at everything and was seen as a defenseman who could play in any situation. I’ve also seen multiple posters call Demidov the next Kucherov. I’m Demidov over Levshunov but the idea that Demidov is this guaranteed superstar while Levshunov is a high floor, low ceiling pick is just absurd. Both have a chance to be really special players imo. Not liking Levshunov is fine, but there’s hyperbole on both sides.

 

[Kevin Musto]

When Kyle talks about demidov idk if he’s trying to hold his cards tight and shelling up to sell levshunov as the pick(and maybe force a trade with say Anaheim), but the sentiment I get is he’s going levshunov

Smokescreen king

 

[belfour30]

I don’t think anyone has actually said this. I have heard Karlsson stylistically. I personally see Dobson, who was good at everything and was seen as a defenseman who could play in any situation. I’ve also seen multiple posters call Demidov the next Kucherov. I’m Demidov over Levshunov but the idea that Demidov is this guaranteed superstar while Levshunov is a high floor, low ceiling pick is just absurd. Both have a chance to be really special players imo. Not liking Levshunov is fine, but there’s hyperbole on both sides.

From what I've seen, everyone acknowledges the risks with Demidov, but it seems like a lot of people think that Lev is going to be an NHL player, but they don't think he's a top pairing guy. If that's the case, he should be going nowhere near the top 10 and should be available at 18.

I only know about prospects from what I read, and a lot of the public scouts are all over the place on Lev. Pronman and Peters love him, Wheeler has him ranked 3rd, but on the flipside Scouch doesn't like him all that much and I have seen other sites on Twitter have Lev ranked as low as 16th.

 

[TheDachKnight]

From what I've seen, everyone acknowledges the risks with Demidov, but it seems like a lot of people think that Lev is going to be an NHL player, but they don't think he's a top pairing guy. If that's the case, he should be going nowhere near the top 10 and should be available at 18.

I only know about prospects from what I read, and a lot of the public scouts are all over the place on Lev. Pronman and Peters love him, Wheeler has him ranked 3rd, but on the flipside Scouch doesn't like him all that much and I have seen other sites on Twitter have Lev ranked as low as 16th.

Scouch has weird rankings. I like his content but he doesn’t seem to like a lot of the top D.

 

[dj Mahoney]

Sick podcasters just did a video drooling over Demidov . They commented how his agent saw him at 12 year's old and has been in his corner since . He works his ass off to get the puck back when he doesnt have it ,(not lazy) and knocked the interview out of the park . If Blackhawks had the #1 pick I think it would be a toss up (for me ) Demidov or Celebrini .

 

[TLEH]

A lot of the people that talk to teams and list accordingly have him 2-4. A lot of the people that just watch and scout have him lower.

 

[belfour30]

A lot of the people that talk to teams and list accordingly have him 2-4. A lot of the people that just watch and scout have him lower.

That's what it seems