2024 NHL Draft Thread - Upd: Draft Lottery is May 7th

[TheFridge]

Fedotov finally being allowed to come to NA may calm some of the concerns around Russian prospects

I don't think a 27-year-old coming over 9 years after being drafted is going to do much of anything to dispel concerns over drafting Russian players in the current geopolitical environment.

 

[WarriorofTime]

I don't think a 27-year-old coming over 9 years after being drafted is going to do much of anything to dispel concerns over drafting Russian players in the current geopolitical environment.

Nah, you're missing context for what prior poster said. Fedotov is the only case of a player that recently tried to leave Russia to play in the NHL but wasn't allowed to. So the fact that he is allowed suggests players aren't being systematically blocked. For what it's worth, what I've heard is Fedotov tried to forge some papers to avoid compulsory service (it's not that uncommon for well connected people to get out of it to the surprise of nobody). They made him "serve" his year which kept him in the KHL and now he is cleared to leave.

The thing is, dozens of Russians sign in North America from the KHL every year. All the hysteria is just that. There are definitely KHL factors to consider but the whole "geopolitical" concerns are just flat out wrong. Every notable Russian will give it at least a go in North America. It may just be a few years and they will probably head back home if they don't have a clear NHL role rather than grind it out as a 13th/AHL player for multiple years for an uncertain NHL future.

 

[dj Mahoney]

Alfons Freij Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com

Statistics of Alfons Freij, a hockey player from Solvesborg, Sweden born Feb 12 2006 who was active from 2021 to 2025.

www.hockeydb.com

This guy or Andrew Basha would be realistic and look good with the Tampa Bay 1st rounder .

 

[TLEH]

To say there aren't geopolitical concerns in Russia is wrong. The guy had a valid contract with an NHL team and the KHL and Russia basically told him/the IIHF/the NHL to f*** off.

I agree that all notable Russians will be given their chance to come and play in the NHL. This case with Fedotov is less notable because he wasn't any good. They still directly denied a guy with an NHL contract from playing.


I wouldn't be concerned about drafting Demidov because I think the guys after Celebrini are all bunched together and won't be contributing for a year or two anyway. Demidov played this year in the MHL because of what essentially boils down to is, political issues.

 

[WarriorofTime]

To say there aren't geopolitical concerns in Russia is wrong. The guy had a valid contract with an NHL team and the KHL and Russia basically told him/the IIHF/the NHL to f*** off.

What is very likely the case is that he had compulsory military obligations under law, and rather go through "proper" (heavy air quotes there) channels to do what he needed to do, tried to just fake it. Putin (extended down to KHL people) did not randomly decide a random KHL Goalie trying to sign with the Flyers was where he was going to make a stand. Hence why every other Russian that signs an NHL deal out of the KHL/MHL comes over and there are literally no issues.

I agree that all notable Russians will be given their chance to come and play in the NHL. This case with Fedotov is less notable because he wasn't any good. They still directly denied a guy with an NHL contract from playing.

It's less so the contract more than the legal obligation to fulfill his military service. Even in democracies like South Korea, I don't think you can just skip out on compulsory service without some sort of waiver.

I wouldn't be concerned about drafting Demidov because I think the guys after Celebrini are all bunched together and won't be contributing for a year or two anyway. Demidov played this year in the MHL because of what essentially boils down to is, political issues.

Yes, Demidov has likely been trapped in the MHL because he won't sign an extension and St. Petersburg is run by an underqualified nepo hire control freak. He and Michkov are better than a number of players they were icing in the postseason. Perhaps if they were run smarter they wouldn't have been eliminated in the 2nd round.

 

[Putt Pirate]

Looking at our schedule I don’t see a winnable game the rest of the season.

 

[Kevin Musto]

Looking at our schedule I don’t see a winnable game the rest of the season.

Hockey is a funny sport

 

[clydesdale line]

The making of Dean Letourneau, the 2024 NHL Draft's towering one-of-one forward

At 'a hair under 6-foot-7,' Letourneau has a chance to be one of few players his height to have ever had a career as an NHL forward.

theathletic.com

Would love to take a swing at Letourneau with one of our 2nd round picks if he's there.

 

[Joemoe]

Looking at our schedule I don’t see a winnable game the rest of the season.

Could say the same about the Ducks to be honest, most teams are just way better than the bottom feeders, I guess they have the Flames twice but the way the Ducks have been playing I am not even sure they can beat them.

 

[Northernhawk]

With the loss last night Chicago can finish as high as 29th overall(4th pick) currently sitting 31st(2nd pick)

The worst case scenario for the draft is picking as follows

6-finish 29th and get leapfrogged by two teams in draft lottery
32-Tampa Bay wins Stanley Cup
36
62-Los Angeles loses to Vancouver in WCF
64-Vancouver loses to Tampa Bay in SCF
69
79-Ottawa finishes 18th overall

 

[dreadpirateroberts]

Craig’s List: Russian winger Ivan Demidov soars to No. 2 behind Macklin Celebrini | TSN

Miettinen at 17, Elick at 47, and Artamonov at 51 are all pretty surprising.

Miettinen, Luchanko, Surin, or Vanacker would be my targets with the Hawks 2nd. If you could come out of the 2nd with at least 2 of those 6 players, I think you’d be in a great spot

 

[dreadpirateroberts]

My top 3 right now would Celebrini, Demidov, and Levshunov. Catton and Dickinson would be in that next tier

 

[MicronMega]

I watched Parehk in Saginaw the other day. He had 3 assists but I would not touch the kid. In junior hockey he can be a stud. He is Boqvist 2.0. Once he starts playing with men they will blow right past him. First shift of the game Owen Sound went right after him and cross-checked him in the face.

 

[Castle8130]

Alfons Freij Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com

Statistics of Alfons Freij, a hockey player from Solvesborg, Sweden born Feb 12 2006 who was active from 2021 to 2025.

www.hockeydb.com

This guy or Andrew Basha would be realistic and look good with the Tampa Bay 1st rounder .

My targets right now are Yegor Surin, Michael Hage, a possible falling Adam Jiricek, or Raoul Boilard. Depending on where we are drafting from, I like all these guys. Andrew Basha is a good one for a small forward.

Edit; Marek Vanacker is another I really love

 

[dreadpirateroberts]

T. McGee’s 5-Round Mock NHL Draft

Long-time DBTB reader and our resident prospect expert T McGee takes a stab at who he thinks the Buffalo Sabres should be picking in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft

www.diebytheblade.com

Stumbled upon this mock draft. I’d probably want Demidov instead of Buium, but overall, I think this would be a solid draft for the Hawks

1st Round:
#3: Zeev Buium, 6’1 LHD, NCAA
#18 (TAMPA BAY): Michael Braddsegg-Nygard, 6’1 RW, SWE

2nd Round:
#2: Michael Hage, 6’1 C, USHL
#22 (LOS ANGELES): Karl Sterner, 6’3 RW, SWE
#31 (VANCOUVER): Kamil Bednarek, 6’0 C, US NTDP

3rd Round:
#2: Marek Vanacker, 6’0 LW, OHL
#6 (OTTAWA): Harrison Brunicke, 6’2 RHD, WHL

5th Round:
#2: Carter George, 6’1 G, OHL
#10 (CALGARY): Carson Woodall, 5’11 LHD, OHL
#20 (NASHVILLE): Aiden Park, 6’0 C/W, US HS

 

[Castle8130]

T. McGee’s 5-Round Mock NHL Draft

Long-time DBTB reader and our resident prospect expert T McGee takes a stab at who he thinks the Buffalo Sabres should be picking in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft

www.diebytheblade.com

Stumbled upon this mock draft. I’d probably want Demidov instead of Buium, but overall, I think this would be a solid draft for the Hawks

1st Round:
#3: Zeev Buium, 6’1 LHD, NCAA
#18 (TAMPA BAY): Michael Braddsegg-Nygard, 6’1 RW, SWE

2nd Round:
#2: Michael Hage, 6’1 C, USHL
#22 (LOS ANGELES): Karl Sterner, 6’3 RW, SWE
#31 (VANCOUVER): Kamil Bednarek, 6’0 C, US NTDP

3rd Round:
#2: Marek Vanacker, 6’0 LW, OHL
#6 (OTTAWA): Harrison Brunicke, 6’2 RHD, WHL

5th Round:
#2: Carter George, 6’1 G, OHL
#10 (CALGARY): Carson Woodall, 5’11 LHD, OHL
#20 (NASHVILLE): Aiden Park, 6’0 C/W, US HS

There is no way Hage, Vanacker, and George fall that far. This is very wishful thinking. Even Bunicke in the 3rd round would be lucky.

I've been looking at the players KD has selected in the past and grouped together players I'm pretty sure the Hawks won't ever draft.

My suspected KD do not draft list for the first round is;

Buium
Greentree
Connelly
Yakemchuk
Parascak

Chernyshov is another one I can see being on there because of his poor lateral agility, but he has elite explosiveness and good top speed, so you never know.

 

[belfour30]

There is no way Hage, Vanacker, and George fall that far. This is very wishful thinking. Even Bunicke in the 3rd round would be lucky.

I've been looking at the players KD has selected in the past and grouped together players I'm pretty sure the Hawks won't ever draft.

My suspected KD do not draft list for the first round is;

Buium
Greentree
Connelly
Yakemchuk
Parascak

Chernyshov is another one I can see being on there because of his poor lateral agility, but he has elite explosiveness and good top speed, so you never know.

Why Buium?

 

[eklund2chicago]

There is no way Hage, Vanacker, and George fall that far. This is very wishful thinking. Even Bunicke in the 3rd round would be lucky.

I've been looking at the players KD has selected in the past and grouped together players I'm pretty sure the Hawks won't ever draft.

My suspected KD do not draft list for the first round is;

Buium
Greentree
Connelly
Yakemchuk
Parascak

Chernyshov is another one I can see being on there because of his poor lateral agility, but he has elite explosiveness and good top speed, so you never know.

Why Buium? I agree with the others though.

 

[Castle8130]

Buiums Top end speed isn’t that great and KD has made it known he likes size on the back end

Why Buium? I agree with the others though.

 

[Northernhawk]

Top 6 pick is a lock…so we’re getting one of these guys!

 

[thedarkstark]

The Hawks are somehow impossibly going to pass the Ducks in the standings, they have a brutal final stretch of games against strong opponents.

What a dumpster fire organization, they have soooo much more talent but the leadership, the coaching, or something is severely wrong in that locker room.

 

[bwanajamba]

The Hawks are somehow impossibly going to pass the Ducks in the standings, they have a brutal final stretch of games against strong opponents.

What a dumpster fire organization, they have soooo much more talent but the leadership, the coaching, or something is severely wrong in that locker room.

Yeah. You look at that roster and they should be roughly where the 07-08 Blackhawks were. Carlsson being hurt a lot doesn't help, but still.

I honestly don't love Verbeek's act. He runs that org like they're in a cap crunch and making deep runs every year and all he's done is alienate every guy who has hit RFA under his watch. The Yzerman-school hardass smartest guy in the room schtick is just sad when the results aren't there.

 

[hawksfan50]

Well with 8 game remaining for the Hawks now,I just made my 5th out of 12 attempts (since I started this project with 12 games remaining) to see if tge Tankathon NGK Draft Simulator algorithm is goingvto be kind tobthe Hawks or not...

The first 4 attemots prior to this morning gave results of 2 3rd landing positions and 2 4th landing positions...So either a bump down of 1 or 2 spots from 2nd last assumed regular season finish. (But we are onlyc3 points behind Anaheim and could catch them ...risking a drip even further to 5th overalk pick if the lotto gives us bad luck.

HOWEVER on thisx5th press of the button,the algorithm finally spit out a 2st pick overall spot for our beloved Blackhawks ...


I shall continue to hit that button 7 more times in this experiment continuing once we get to 7 games remaining after the next game vs. NyI..

But at least force day in fantasy land we got Celebrini.

 

[dj Mahoney]

Yeah. You look at that roster and they should be roughly where the 07-08 Blackhawks were. Carlsson being hurt a lot doesn't help, but still.

I honestly don't love Verbeek's act. He runs that org like they're in a cap crunch and making deep runs every year and all he's done is alienate every guy who has hit RFA under his watch. The Yzerman-school hardass smartest guy in the room schtick is just sad when the results aren't there.

Listening to Yzerman speak you would think he took the punches that Probert Took (As Yzerman hid behiind him ) Dumb as a stump
, look at all the swing and misses in the 2nd round lol .

 

[ColbyChaos]

Listening to Yzerman speak you would think he took the punches that Probert Took (As Yzerman hid behiind him ) Dumb as a stump
, look at all the swing and misses in the 2nd round lol .

A gm is only good as their staff around them. At one point Ken Holland was seen as a top gm then when Yzerman, Verbeek, Jim Nill among others left Detroit started having a very slow decline