GDT: 2024 NHL Draft Thread

[tunnelvision]

Read the same rumor, I don't think Levshunov gets by Anaheim if Chicago goes Demidov.

NHL Draft Preview with Assistant GM Martin Madden | Anaheim Ducks

The hard work is (nearly) finished and it's almost time to meet some new Anaheim Ducks next week in Las Vegas. The Ducks will be busy early and often at the 2024 NHL Draft, armed with the third overall selection, an additional first rounder and a total of eight picks

www.nhl.com

On the considerations for the third overall pick
We debated between eight players.

On top-ranked defensemen Artyom Levshunov, Anton Silayev and Zeev Buium
Levshunov is a solid two-way guy. He's got really good tools. He's physically mature, close to being able to play in the NHL. He still needs some seasoning but he's got a lot of tools that are close to being NHL ready. I think he's going to be able to play defensively and add a little offense, maybe a little bit more than that. And he's a right shot.

Silayev is a unicorn, just a big guy who can really skate and has a really good defensive awareness. He had a great start to the season and had to deal with some injuries in the second half, but showed he was able to adapt to different levels. He's a really interesting player.

And Buium is a winner. He's won everywhere he's been. He led that Denver team to a championship. He's a really smart, mobile modern defenseman. That's the way I would put it.

 

[Frostybrew]

Catton can really light it up.

 

[tunnelvision]

 

[koteka]

Trade another winger for a #2 center .. you can’t pass up this elite talent

I don’t now how many wingers in the NHL would return a legit 2C. Nobody on the Jackets would. Maybe we could trade KJ for Kadri, but I bet the Flames would want more.

 

[GoChill]

I just heard a twitter rumor, not from any reputable journalists, that it's the Blackhawks scouts that predominantly want Levshunov, but GM Kyle Davidson wants to take Demidov.

So:

1) Davidson should fire his scouts.

2) I'm upset now that we might not be able to draft Demidov

3) I'm upset that we might draft Levshunov.

I was not terribly impressed with Levshunov in the Frozen Four but that said given all the scouts that rank him #1 out of the big 6 defenseman I would sleep well if we ended up with him. Plus it sounds like he has a great work ethic on the practice rink, in the gym and when learning English.

 

[stevo61]

Could see the draft progressing this way ..
Thinking back on the Cayden Lindstrom interview .. the fact he acknowledged nerve pain down leg , and sciatica, seems to be consistent with that lower back L4-5 area

a number of things can cause sciatica maybe if I google all his symptoms ill find out he may only have weeks to live.

I had sciatica along with other severe back pain 3-4 years ago, nothing after it healed. Cases on both sides

 

[majormajor]

I'm upset that some other team is likely going to get Pulkkinen. Newest shift-by-shift upload on youtube:



I see ridiculous amount of potential in that performance. HP scout Brad Allen said that late in the season Pulkkinen really began using his frame to his advantage in checks and closing in on players, and I think it's quite visible here in a game in late March. Once he adds more quickness to his skating I'm sure he can be a real pain in the ass for oppositions.

Shooting mechanics still look little undeveloped and I'm not a fan of his style of blocking shots/passing lanes in front of the net on PK, but those things can be improved and it's not as if they're not the most concerning flaws I've ever seen in a player.

Here's a Liiga game from February.



Given where he's usually ranked, we might land Pulkkinen at #36.

I'm considering him around #10 on my list. He's got a lot to fall back on. It's hard to tell upside with him, given how much he's improving right now perhaps there is some #1D upside here.

 

[KJ Dangler]

Hopefully this alleviates some of the panic , made me feel better.. starts 36:18

 

[majormajor]

Hopefully this alleviates some of the panic , made me feel better.. starts 36:18

That's really encouraging.

I hope we have consulting doctors that know the literature as well as this guy.

 

[Ice9]

a number of things can cause sciatica maybe if I google all his symptoms ill find out he may only have weeks to live.

I had sciatica along with other severe back pain 3-4 years ago, nothing after it healed. Cases on both sides

But is getting the hell knocked out of you and knocking the hell out of people and being partially stooped for extended periods part of your job? Nobody disagrees that the injury could possibly never arise again but rather the vast majority are aggravated to some degree perpetually. Some are even near total disability.

It is indeed a gamble they have to think about.

 

[CalBuckeyeRob]

I think the doctor is underplaying this back injury too much. While plenty of players likely have some back issues during their careers, it is not common for 18 year old players to miss 2+ months with a herniated disc. Also, Lindstrom's game seems to be very physical which will lend itself to more aggravations. I think it is a dangerous risk that high in the draft.

 

[stevo61]

But is getting the hell knocked out of you and knocking the hell out of people and being partially stooped for extended periods part of your job? Nobody disagrees that the injury could possibly never arise again but rather the vast majority are aggravated to some degree perpetually. Some are even near total disability.

It is indeed a gamble they have to think about.

I work in oil and gas, wouldnt exactly call it an easy on the body job

 

[Ice9]

I work in oil and gas, wouldnt exactly call it an easy on the body job

Nope, I wouldn't either. Anything with squat and stand and twist/lift and lean is nasty on the back in the best situations. I was in trucking/warehousing/shipping/receiving industry. I pay for it in retirement with anything I do. Have had 2 surgeries.

 

[stevo61]

Nope, I wouldn't either. Anything with squat and stand and twist/lift and lean is nasty on the back in the best situations. I was in trucking/warehousing/shipping/receiving industry. I pay for it in retirement with anything I do. Have had 2 surgeries.

Yoga or atleast basic stretching makes a world of difference. Honestly one of the worst things we do for our backs is sit so trucking in your case probably caused as much damage as anything

 

[majormajor]

Yoga or atleast basic stretching makes a world of difference. Honestly one of the worst things we do for our backs is sit so trucking in your case probably caused as much damage as anything

There appears to be a huge difference in how athletes recover from back injuries and how most of the population does. Everyone with a back injury is currently writing in to talk about how much it has permanently ruined them. Maybe the difference is somewhat genetic. But I suspect sedentary lifestyles are probably most of the difference.

 

[Ice9]

I didn't drive. I ran supply chain management. Alot of my problems are inherited too. They couldn't have been rich so all I was left was a strong but susceptible spine!

 

[CBJx614]

Seems interesting. They break down the categories in another post

https://x.com/i/web/status/1804575176920588544

 

[tunnelvision]

Given where he's usually ranked, we might land Pulkkinen at #36.

I'm considering him around #10 on my list. He's got a lot to fall back on. It's hard to tell upside with him, given how much he's improving right now perhaps there is some #1D upside here.

I can't see him dropping that low, I think he'll go in the teens or twenties.

Unless at some point of the season NHL scouts collectively have started ignoring him because they didn't see enough progress in an overager to include him in a narrowed-down list of players they would focus on watching later in the year.

I say that because I recall listening to one interview of Jarmo (or some other GM) a few years ago where he told that the preparation for an NHL draft starts with regional scouts trying to gather information and viewings from a lot of players in a certain area, and that at some point those regional guys will select top-? players of that area and put them on a list, and then all regional scouts will combine the players of their lists together and start watching and ranking them exclusively (or at least this is how I interpreted the description of their scouting process). This is also usually the point where head scouts come in and continue working on the foundation (studying top-X players of areas A, B and C) regional scouts have created. At the end of the day they would have a fixed list of roughly 100 players which all are going to be in their final list.

I wonder if there are many teams that follow a scouting plan similar to this which may lead to some prospects with late sharp development curves not making the cut on NHL team's own list.

 

[majormajor]

I can't see him dropping that low, I think he'll go in the teens or twenties.

Unless at some point of the season NHL scouts collectively have started ignoring him because they didn't see enough progress in an overager to include him in a narrowed-down list of players they would focus on watching later in the year.

I say that because I recall listening to one interview of Jarmo (or some other GM) a few years ago where he told that the preparation for an NHL draft starts with regional scouts trying to gather information and viewings from a lot of players in a certain area, and that at some point those regional guys will select top-? players of that area and put them on a list, and then all regional scouts will combine the players of their lists together and start watching and ranking them exclusively (or at least this is how I interpreted the description of their scouting process). This is also usually the point where head scouts come in and continue working on the foundation (studying top-X players of areas A, B and C) regional scouts have created. At the end of the day they would have a fixed list of roughly 100 players which all are going to be in their final list.

I wonder if there are many teams that follow a scouting plan similar to this which may lead to some prospects with late sharp development curves not making the cut on NHL team's own list.

I would guess 20s or 30s, yes.

I can't see Pulkkinen being cut from draft lists but perhaps head scouts just haven't looked at him until recent weeks. Overagers will go last on the list.

 

[majormajor]

I requested that Brad do an hour long rant picking apart Artyom Levshunov. And they mentioned it here:



It was 10 minutes, but I greatly enjoyed it nonetheless.

 

[tunnelvision]

I requested that Brad do an hour long rant picking apart Artyom Levshunov. And they mentioned it here:



It was 10 minutes, but I greatly enjoyed it nonetheless.

"that's right majormajor I will get to 20 minutes" lol. That breakdown of Levshunov's game processing ability was very interesting, especially considering how long they've followed his development (or the lack of).

What did you think about the part where drew parallel between Catton and Fantilli, mentioning poor playmaking and questioning their capability to play C position long-term in the NHL because of that?

 

[majormajor]

"that's right majormajor I will get to 20 minutes" lol. That breakdown of Levshunov's game processing ability was very interesting, especially considering how long they've followed his development (or the lack of).

Yeah I didn't know that about Lev. Everyone talks about the amazing trajectory he's been on, since he was in Belarus just two years ago. But they say he was great back then and hasn't improved enough.

I'd lower Lev based on that info but I already have him around 20, and people will just laugh at me.

What did you think about the part where drew parallel between Catton and Fantilli, mentioning poor playmaking and questioning their capability to play C position long-term in the NHL because of that?

I think that's overly harsh for the both of them.

Catton I think played way too many minutes and the schedule was just brutal for him. He has games where his playmaking is incredible and other games where he is going through the motions. I think he's going to be a Keller/Gaudreau type. I doubt he's a center but it won't be because of lack of playmaking, it'll just save his energy for offense and he won't be overmatched in the defensive zone by bigger players.

Fantilli isn't the best playmaker, I get that to an extent. And I prefer Leo Carlsson too. But Brad talks about it like there's some huge gulf between them and I don't see that overall. And I don't think you have to be a top end playmaker to be a center. I could give you a long list of NHL centers that aren't better playmakers than Fantilli. I'm okay with Fantilli playing either position.

 

[tunnelvision]

Fantilli isn't the best playmaker, I get that to an extent. And I prefer Leo Carlsson too. But Brad talks about it like there's some huge gulf between them and I don't see that overall. And I don't think you have to be a top end playmaker to be a center. I could give you a long list of NHL centers that aren't better playmakers than Fantilli. I'm okay with Fantilli playing either position.

Right. For a long time I've been under an assumption that a player doesn't have to display excellent vision and playmaking skills in the offensive zone to be successful in a top-6 C role. I'm not worried if Fantilli never develops that eyes on the back of his head ability on the attack that Gaudreau or other offensively gifted players possess.

Two biggest concerns I've had with Fantilli at center position are his reads in breakouts and play without the puck in dzone. If those two aspects don't improve much then it might be better to have him on the wing long-term.

It would be nice to hear them elaborate on this matter in another video but it seems like they have already recorded Q&A video for this year's draft which should be up soon on the YT channel so I guess it's too late to try to think of a good question for them.

 

[majormajor]

Right. For a long time I've been under an assumption that a player doesn't have to display excellent vision and playmaking skills in the offensive zone to be successful in a top-6 C role. I'm not worried if Fantilli never develops that eyes on the back of his head ability on the attack that Gaudreau or other offensively gifted players possess.

Two biggest concerns I've had with Fantilli at center position are his reads in breakouts and play without the puck in dzone. If those two aspects don't improve much then it might be better to have him on the wing long-term.

It would be nice to hear them elaborate on this matter in another video but it seems like they have already recorded Q&A video for this year's draft which should be up soon on the YT channel so I guess it's too late to try to think of a good question for them.

Brad and Jerome say that they'll be doing regular video content next season.

FWIW, Brad spoke about how he didn't like Fantilli's defensive awareness a year ago, when they were making a similar final video for the 2023 draft.

 

[AnonCommentary]

Scott Wheeler Mock Draft

4. Ivan Demidov

I thought this pick was going to be Lindstrom (the idea of Fantilli and Lindstrom as a 1-2 down the middle is too exciting/rare to pass up, right?) right up until the last few days when I started hearing about just how impressive Demidov was in Fort Lauderdale. He’s in excellent physical shape (him looking 6 feet got the press but I was told he looks really strong and I have only heard good things about his work ethic). His English is stronger than expected. He was confident in himself and his timeline. All I kept hearing was that he was the real deal. The Blue Jackets have already got a pair of pure-skill wingers in Johnny Gaudreau and Kent Johnson, but I think Demidov plays a more competitive and driven style than either and it just feels like teams are going to have a tough time passing on him. I know they had dinner with Tij Iginla at the combine as well, but Iginla feels more like a backup plan/move-back candidate. Same goes for Zeev Buium, who I think belongs in this range and who I think the Blue Jackets like. Others will likely draw a line between Silayev and the Russians within the Blue Jackets organization or point to him being different than David Jiricek and Denton Mateychuk and therefore a fit, but he just doesn’t strike me as their type. The Russian connections also help with Demidov and I don’t get the sense that concerns some have expressed in recent months about SKA, his brother being there, etc., hang over him quite as much anymore.

36. Andrew Basha

I was told the Blue Jackets taking Michigan teammates Fantilli and Gavin Brindley and Youngstown Phantoms teammates William Whitelaw and Andrew Strathmann in 2023 was more coincidence than an actual approach, but whether or not the Blue Jackets take Lindstrom (I have them taking Demidov, obviously, but it feels close to me), they would have had a lot of eyes on Basha while scouting Lindstrom this year and I could still see them liking him here. I wonder if this is about the start of where overager Jesse Pulkkinen could go, too.