HF Habs: 2024 NHL Draft Thread

[Vachon23]

I like to see where they start the year off, too. Like Cam Allen looked off and never recovered, Yager looked great but never really had the season we expected.

Shane Wright last year

 

[montreal]

not much for the draft, I was just going to have Fowler but it was so boring I added in some plays from the '24 Finns.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Shane Wright last year

Don't think he played the Hlinka his draft year, did he?

 

[Vachon23]

Don't think he played the Hlinka his draft year, did he?

True, since the u18 that year was with the full Team Canada players and the only ga,es played by most of those players, I got completely mix up. My bad

 

[WeThreeKings]

Catton and Dickinson continue to impress.

Dickinson is going high, he has everything to be a number 1 LD.

 

[Playmaker09]

Connelly is going to be a big riser

 

[WeThreeKings]

Catton is unreal

Connelly is going to be a big riser

Well, maybe. His anti Semitic snap chat incident won't help things.

 

[NekkiChiconey]

Early early opinion after a couple Hlinka/WJSS games: there are some DYNAMIC forwards at the top. They may not be the biggest, but man these guys can skate, dangle and shoot. Most of them are fairly responsible defensively as well. Give me Celebrini, Eiserman, Helenius or Catton anyday of the week.

 

[SOLR]

Don't think he played the Hlinka his draft year, did he?

No, that was a Yager/Benson led team

 

[AHShadow]

Catton is unreal

Need to watch some footage on him. Would he put our offense over the top?

What's good about this year is that we have way more chances of having a dynamic forward falling to us (assuming we're closer to 10) since there's plenty of really good Ds in this draft as well.

The question is: If a D is BPA, do we take him or do we reach for the next F?

 

[NekkiChiconey]

Need to watch some footage on him. Would he put our offense over the top?

What's good about this year is that we have way more chances of having a dynamic forward falling to us (assuming we're closer to 10) since there's plenty of really good Ds in this draft as well.

The question is: If a D is BPA, do we take him or do we reach for the next F?

Highly dynamic. He's a bit in the mold of a Brayden Point for me, as he can do pretty much everything offensively, with or without the puck. Doesn't have Eiserman's shot, but still deadly. Doesn't have Benson/Carlsson's passing, but still a high-end playmaker. Skating base is very solid, he's involved all over and apparently his character's great. I'm curious how much he'll produce this year, and this will influence his projection a lot.

As for the BPA question, I personally think that this year's top-10 will be very "preference-based". Imo a lot of players will be very close in projection and it will all come down to position/playstyle. As of now I see 5 forwards who might be worthy of a top-5 selection, and potentially 5-6 defensemen as well. If we pick high enough, we should have the opportunity to select a game-breaking talent.

 

[montreal]

Early early opinion after a couple Hlinka/WJSS games: there are some DYNAMIC forwards at the top. They may not be the biggest, but man these guys can skate, dangle and shoot. Most of them are fairly responsible defensively as well. Give me Celebrini, Eiserman, Helenius or Catton anyday of the week.

I've liked what i've seen from Eiserman, he's shown some jam and the shot is legit. Not knowing much about this draft class he would be my #1 target to hope for us yes I'm aware the Habs could end up picking outside the top 10 but maybe they don't and you never know how the lottery will play out.

Celebrini I wasn't as impressed with from watching him in the USHL this season but it was only 1 game. The coasting is a red flag of mine so I tend to not like these kinds of players as much but I need to see more games.

Helenius I didn't noticed too much of but thought he was ok, still have a few more games to watch though.

Catton I never heard of before

 

[NekkiChiconey]

I've liked what i've seen from Eiserman, he's shown some jam and the shot is legit. Not knowing much about this draft class he would be my #1 target to hope for us yes I'm aware the Habs could end up picking outside the top 10 but maybe they don't and you never know how the lottery will play out.

Celebrini I wasn't as impressed with from watching him in the USHL this season but it was only 1 game. The coasting is a red flag of mine so I tend to not like these kinds of players as much but I need to see more games.

Helenius I didn't noticed too much of but thought he was ok, still have a few more games to watch though.

Catton I never heard of before

And I thought Eiserman coasted at times, while Celebrini was very much involved at the u18s! Good thing that there's still a long way to go and we have time to scout some more lmao.

What's interesting is that I see 5 (adding Demidov) quality forwards that would hypothetically fit our culture/style. Even though they have flaws, I think management would pick one of them if they had the chance.

 

[SlafySZN]

And I thought Eiserman coasted at times, while Celebrini was very much involved at the u18s! Good thing that there's still a long way to go and we have time to scout some more lmao.

What's interesting is that I see 5 (adding Demidov) quality forwards that would hypothetically fit our culture/style. Even though they have flaws, I think management would pick one of them if they had the chance.

Hope Demidov or Catton falls to us if we pick top 5 or very close to it again.

 

[Mrb1p]

Jesus Porter Martone is a real gem.

 

[phillytennis]

Ryder Ritchie is a great player...would be a terrific pick in the next draft.

 

[Michoulicious]

Hope Demidov or Catton falls to us if we pick top 5 or very close to it again.

We should suck plenty. St-Louis "system" is allowing goals at a crazy rate. Our #1 goalie is Montembault and we have no scoring depth after Suzuki/Caufield.

Only problem is I see many other teams being real bad as well (Anaheim, SJ, Arizona, Detroit, Philadelphia, among others), so top 5 will be tough.

 

[NekkiChiconey]

We should suck plenty. St-Louis "system" is allowing goals at a crazy rate. Our #1 goalie is Montembault and we have no scoring depth after Suzuki/Caufield.

Only problem is I see many other teams being real bad as well (Anaheim, SJ, Arizona, Detroit, Philadelphia, among others), so top 5 will be tough.

Detroit's pushing for the POs, Anaheim added vets and Arizona should be better than last year. Still a fair shot at top-5 imo.

Early on, how do you guys see the top quality in comparison to 2023? No Bedard obviously, but I'd think Celebrini, Eiserman and Demidov may all be in a similar tier as Fantilli, Carlsson and Michkov. Catton and Helenius I would say are close to Will Smith. For defensemen, I think Dickinson is top-3 worthy. Mews, Parekh and Jiricek are close to Reinbacher in quality; better offensively, but I don't see any of them being as sound all over the ice.

Anyway, lots to be played still, but it should be a very deep and talented top-10.

 

[SOLR]

Detroit's pushing for the POs, Anaheim added vets and Arizona should be better than last year. Still a fair shot at top-5 imo.

Early on, how do you guys see the top quality in comparison to 2023? No Bedard obviously, but I'd think Celebrini, Eiserman and Demidov may all be in a similar tier as Fantilli, Carlsson and Michkov. Catton and Helenius I would say are close to Will Smith. For defensemen, I think Dickinson is top-3 worthy. Mews, Parekh and Jiricek are close to Reinbacher in quality; better offensively, but I don't see any of them being as sound all over the ice.

Anyway, lots to be played still, but it should be a very deep and talented top-10.

I think Celebrini is alone in the Carlsson tier, Eiserman, Demidov Will Smith/Leonard tier, Catton more in the Dvorsky tier, Helenius in the Yager tier.

It's weaker than last year by a whole standard of deviation imo.

We won't get a draft like last year again for a few years, 2026 is a prospect to get there if McKenna shows Bedard-like qualities.

 

[rve24]

Catton and Dickinson continue to impress.

Dickinson is going high, he has everything to be a number 1 LD.

A treat to watch here in London game in and game out. We have been spoiled for 20 yrs watching high end prospects.
Having seen him in MM, was excited LK made the move to acquire him.
The Hunters rarely trust a 16 yr old true rookie D ( or player for that matter) like they did with SD and he just kept getting better n better and earned minutes on a very solid D core ( Mallioux, Bonk, George all older n high NHL picks) And he stepped up in their PO run with some key Gs. Total package for sure.
Kid is as complete as a youngin, at this age, as any D we had here in London.
( Wideman, Harrington, Mete, Bouchard, and euros thst were granted older, but rookies... in Matta, Zadarov, Joulevi ) Granted most of those didn't pan out as stars in pros....but SD will be a top 10 pick IMO easy.
Also had Syvret, Quincey, Carlson, Erksine, DelZotto, Methot.....to compare to with live viewings. I'd put him up with Carlson n Wideman as most impressive "1st yr D" in London. ( but Wideman came after playing in Sudbury(?) and Carlson was older)

 

[NekkiChiconey]

I think Celebrini is alone in the Carlsson tier, Eiserman, Demidov Will Smith/Leonard tier, Catton more in the Dvorsky tier, Helenius in the Yager tier.

It's weaker than last year by a whole standard of deviation imo.

We won't get a draft like last year again for a few years, 2026 is a prospect to get there if McKenna shows Bedard-like qualities.

I mean, Eiserman's track record has been pretty impressive up to now, and a lot of people are mentionning Demidov as Michkov-level. To be fair, I'm ambiguous about the ultimate upside of these 3. Howeverz I see Catton as a way better prospect than Dvorsky even in D-1, and Dvorsky had a disappointing DY.

A lot of projection now, we'll see.

 

[SOLR]

I mean, Eiserman's track record has been pretty impressive up to now, and a lot of people are mentionning Demidov as Michkov-level. To be fair, I'm ambiguous about the ultimate upside of these 3. Howeverz I see Catton as a way better prospect than Dvorsky even in D-1, and Dvorsky had a disappointing DY.

A lot of projection now, we'll see.

I'm not sure what is Michkov tier is, so I don't like the comparison. Demidov is so not in the same style as Michkov they are also hard to compare on that. Demidov is a Kucherov comparable. There is a significant risk there (why Kucherov was drafted lower than his profile), and it might happen again here. Then Kucherov developed way over-expectations, that won't happen every time.

Agree to disagree on Catton / Dvorsky, this was a much weaker Hlinka than last year (where Dvorsky was playing nearly D-1 age). Then Dvorsky played WJC and he impressed, Catton won't (not his fault) and Dvorsky dominated the U18, let's see how Catton does there in a stronger tournament.

 

[SlafySZN]

 

[Kaladin]

At least he's giving Levshunov more respect with this ranking. Pronman had him going 7th I think.

 

[SlafySZN]

At least he's giving Levshunov more respect with this ranking. Pronman had him going 7th I think.

Yeah, it’s too soon now to really know where the players are gonna go but in my opinion Levshunov will probably be the first dman selected. Jiricek will rise in the rankings.