GDT: 2024 NHL Draft Thread

[Napoli]

sub 6'0" center along with all the defensemen available it will be interesting to see how things shake out. If he continues his pace over the same games played as Benson he would match his total from a year ago exactly. Maybe Benson looking as good as he did early makes a team or 2 realize maybe they shouldnt overthink size if they like the player

I won't hate a defenseman just hope it's someone who projects as a first pair type/plays in all situations.

Someone made a comment that it should be Silayev so he can't be rushed by Jarmo. That made me laugh but is also sad at the same time.

 

[stevo61]

I won't hate a defenseman just hope it's someone who projects as a first pair type/plays in all situations.

Someone made a comment that it should be Silayev so he can't be rushed by Jarmo. That made me laugh but is also sad at the same time.

Yeah its not wrong. Silayev too will take time to fill out his frame so not seeing him until he's 21ish would be great. Lots of good choices that align with our needs to varying degree's

 

[cbjthrowaway]

given how the jackets have drafted… i wouldn't be surprised to see them go after zayne parekh.

they LOVE guys with high NHLe, they LOVE high-activation defensemen, and they don't overdraft guys with size. all bodes well for parekh. smooth-skating RHD with elite production, room to fill out his frame, and high hockey IQ. defensive game is a work in progress but he's a really good stick-on-puck defender.

i get that they have puck movers in the system and on the roster, but given how many NHLe darlings they've gone after recently… feels like he could jump to the front of the line, because his comps are REALLY encouraging.



"quinn hughes, but 6 feet tall and right handed" is a hell of a profile.

 

[Aaaarrgghh]

given how the jackets have drafted… i wouldn't be surprised to see them go after zayne parekh.

they LOVE guys with high NHLe, they LOVE high-activation defensemen, and they don't overdraft guys with size. all bodes well for parekh. smooth-skating RHD with elite production, room to fill out his frame, and high hockey IQ. defensive game is a work in progress but he's a really good stick-on-puck defender.

i get that they have puck movers in the system and on the roster, but given how many NHLe darlings they've gone after recently… feels like he could jump to the front of the line, because his comps are REALLY encouraging.



"quinn hughes, but 6 feet tall and right handed" is a hell of a profile.

From what I've heard, Buium shares many of his strengths, but is also solid defensively. If they love NHLe, he is a good candidate too. Personally, Buium is my favourite D in this class at the moment, so I would be very happy if they picked him.

 

[cbjthrowaway]

From what I've heard, Buium shares many of his strength, but is also solid defensively. If they love NHLe, he is a good candidate too. Personally, Buium is my favourite D in this class at the moment, so I would be very happy if they picked him.

yeah i'm definitely good with either one. my only concern with buium is that he's on a loaded team that feasts on weaker competition, so his profile may be inflated. but he definitely passes the eye test.

also it's easier to add strength/teach defense with guys like buium and parekh (who have more room to fill out) than it is to get guys like dickinson or silayev to add a dynamic offensive elemen. silayev's offense isn't a problem but i don't think he has a particularly high offensive ceiling, and dickinson seems like he'll be limited there in the NHL.

denver's roster lists buium at 6'2 180, so he's bigger than that card says.

 

[majormajor]

given how the jackets have drafted… i wouldn't be surprised to see them go after zayne parekh.

they LOVE guys with high NHLe, they LOVE high-activation defensemen, and they don't overdraft guys with size. all bodes well for parekh. smooth-skating RHD with elite production, room to fill out his frame, and high hockey IQ. defensive game is a work in progress but he's a really good stick-on-puck defender.

i get that they have puck movers in the system and on the roster, but given how many NHLe darlings they've gone after recently… feels like he could jump to the front of the line, because his comps are REALLY encouraging.



"quinn hughes, but 6 feet tall and right handed" is a hell of a profile.

I watched some Parekh video earlier and his defensive game felt like a nightmare. And he didn't look like a Quinn Hughes level skater. Just a 4th forward running around. He was not a good stick on puck defender or any type of defender, just completely porous.

That is just one viewing, hopefully "work in progress" is literal.

 

[Napoli]

given how the jackets have drafted… i wouldn't be surprised to see them go after zayne parekh.

they LOVE guys with high NHLe, they LOVE high-activation defensemen, and they don't overdraft guys with size. all bodes well for parekh. smooth-skating RHD with elite production, room to fill out his frame, and high hockey IQ. defensive game is a work in progress but he's a really good stick-on-puck defender.

i get that they have puck movers in the system and on the roster, but given how many NHLe darlings they've gone after recently… feels like he could jump to the front of the line, because his comps are REALLY encouraging.



"quinn hughes, but 6 feet tall and right handed" is a hell of a profile.

This is probably the defenseman I hope they draft the least. While the offense is insane, I really would prefer a guy who can play defense. This feels like a Werenski type mold and who knows if how he pans out
Nothing against Parekh personally but this team could really use an all situation hard to play against d man. I think we have enough "puck moving D" who aren't great at defense.

 

[cbjthrowaway]

I watched some Parekh video earlier and his defensive game felt like a nightmare. And he didn't look like a Quinn Hughes level skater. Just a 4th forward running around. He was not a good stick on puck defender or any type of defender, just completely porous.

That is just one viewing, hopefully "work in progress" is literal.

to be fair, that was also the book on cale makar and adam fox when they were young NCAA players.

he wouldn't be a plug-and-play guy (draft-eligible defensemen very rarely are) but the instincts and traits combine to make him a potentially elite player. i don't really see that with some of the other defensemen in the draft.

Nothing against Parekh personally but this team could really use an all situation hard to play against d man. I think we have enough "puck moving D" who aren't great at defense.

it's just a difference in draft philosophies.

i don't think current roster needs should factor into the draft since 99% of these guys are going to take at least a year (and likely 2+) before they're even NHL regulars, and after that there's still a steep learning curve.

yes, the current roster can use a rugged defenseman or two. but:

1. no 18-year-old defenseman is going to solve that problem
2. they may not even have that problem in 2+ years
3. they can find complimentary players to bring that element instead of a top-pair guy
4. they could add ruggedness via free agency or trade within the next two years
5. jiricek/mateychuk project to be big-minutes, all-situations guys too, and jiricek will grow into the physicality he showed as a draft-eligible player

the long-term top-four is very clearly werenski-jiricek / mateychuk-severson – i'd argue that the type of defenseman who could throw a wrench into that isn't a big bruiser, but rather a dynamic adam fox type.

also, as the team gets better, they'll play with the puck more, which means adding players who are really good with the puck could have more benefit. right now, they never have the puck, hence the apparent need.

 

[majormajor]

This is probably the defenseman I hope they draft the least. While the offense is insane, I really would prefer a guy who can play defense. This feels like a Werenski type mold and who knows if how he pans out
Nothing against Parekh personally but this team could really use an all situation hard to play against d man. I think we have enough "puck moving D" who aren't great at defense.

Werenski, FWIW, had a lot more defensive ability at that age than Parekh and was already built like a tank. He wasn't ready to be a good defender in the NHL when he came up but he was light years better than Parekh is. Silayev, Dickinson, and Levshunov are all big athletic players who occasionally show strong defense but they all have big question marks about decision making too. I'm skeptical whether they're actually better defenders compared to Werenski at that age.

I agree that the club currently doesn't need more offensive D but if we identify a Werenski in this draft, he's a clear cut #2 pick after Celebrini. Z is a pretty good player in my opinion!

to be fair, that was also the book on cale makar and adam fox when they were young NCAA players.

That's not true at all.

I didn't watch Fox personally but folks here held him in some regard for his all around game. I did watch Makar personally - I was at UMass in grad school when he was a player there (many of his teammates were my students), and Makar was a beast at both ends.

Quinn Hughes is a closer comparison to Parekh, he really could not defend at the NHL level until the last couple years really. But like I said above Hughes' skating is on another tier. I'll check back on Parekh to see how close he is but my first impression was not close to that skating ability.

The more obvious comparison that a lot of folks will draw is Mintyukov, because he was also a rover in the Saginaw 5 man offense who wasn't in defensive position much of the time. But my take in Mintyukov's draft year was that when he was in position, you could see really good instincts for the job. Mintyukov is also crazy powerful on his edges, closer to Makar in that regard, again I didn't think Parekh's skating was elite in any way.

i don't think current roster needs should factor into the draft since 99% of these guys are going to take at least a year (and likely 2+) before they're even NHL regulars, and after that there's still a steep learning curve.

I agree that we shouldn't care too much about current team needs. These prospects are many years away from being difference makers.

 

[Napoli]

to be fair, that was also the book on cale makar and adam fox when they were young NCAA players.

he wouldn't be a plug-and-play guy (draft-eligible defensemen very rarely are) but the instincts and traits combine to make him a potentially elite player. i don't really see that with some of the other defensemen in the draft.

it's just a difference in draft philosophies.

i don't think current roster needs should factor into the draft since 99% of these guys are going to take at least a year (and likely 2+) before they're even NHL regulars, and after that there's still a steep learning curve.

yes, the current roster can use a rugged defenseman or two. but:

1. no 18-year-old defenseman is going to solve that problem
2. they may not even have that problem in 2+ years
3. they can find complimentary players to bring that element instead of a top-pair guy
4. they could add ruggedness via free agency or trade within the next two years
5. jiricek/mateychuk project to be big-minutes, all-situations guys too, and jiricek will grow into the physicality he showed as a draft-eligible player

the long-term top-four is very clearly werenski-jiricek / mateychuk-severson – i'd argue that the type of defenseman who could throw a wrench into that isn't a big bruiser, but rather a dynamic adam fox type.

also, as the team gets better, they'll play with the puck more, which means adding players who are really good with the puck could have more benefit. right now, they never have the puck, hence the apparent need.

I'm interested in drafting the best overall talent, I see that d type having a certain makeup that I'm not convinced Parekh has.

I also don't want the top 4 to be Werenski Jiricek, Mateychuk, Severson. Mateychuk and Jiricek aside, I don't think Severson is all that great. There's questions about the other 3 but that said, give me a big dman that can skate and play some defense in that top 4.

Parekh could definitely be useful but is this the franchise to develop him? I wouldn't bet on that, there's already questions with Jiricek. There's potential to be a Cale Makar type, all offense, average d but give me Levshunov, someone that at least projects to be well rounded.

 

[Cowumbus]

Now down (up?) to 4OA

 

[JohnnyJacket13]

 

[Cowumbus]

 

[majormajor]

Demidov's finishing ability has taken a big step.

 

[Cowumbus]

Demidov's finishing ability has taken a big step.

 

[majormajor]

The anti-Laine.

 

[Cowumbus]

The anti-Laine.

5!

 

[Jovavic]

Would be great if he wasn't playing in Russian Juniors, but SKA is punishing him for not signing a contract extension. Someone in the main thread said he looks a bit like Zherdev and I agree, toe drag first goal.

 

[DarkandStormy]

A huge stretch Feb 13-21 -> at Ottawa, at San Jose, at Los Angeles, at Anaheim. Very well may decide The Tank.

March 2nd @ Chicago

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Huge? Do you mean critical?

 

[Cowumbus]

A huge stretch Feb 13-21 -> at Ottawa, at San Jose, at Los Angeles, at Anaheim. Very well may decide The Tank.

March 2nd @ Chicago

With all of the team pretty much healthy again, I’d expect a win streak sometime soon. Well maybe not a win streak since that hasn’t happened in years, but something like 10 wins in 17 games with some loser points thrown in along the way.

 

[Doggy]

I think this is my first time posting in this thread. While not cheering for the CBJ to lose games...I am certainly watching the bottom of the standings and keeping track of Ottawa, Chicago, San Jose and Anaheim.

 

[Johansen2Foligno]

I think this is my first time posting in this thread. While not cheering for the CBJ to lose games...I am certainly watching the bottom of the standings and keeping track of Ottawa, Chicago, San Jose and Anaheim.

I think we are blessed in that we don't have to hope for them to lose.

They are in full control of that

 

[EspenK]

Huge? Do you mean critical?

Every game (point) is critical. You know that....

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Yeah I can’t go through the hard core tanking thing like last year. Celebrinni seems great but we’re not even in the running for first overall (points wise) because of how bad Chicago and San Jose are.

Still rooting for wins. If we win the lottery, great, and if there comes a time later in the season where a few losses here or there can move us up a spot or two then we’ll revisit. But yeah, no tank following for me this season until April at best.