Prospect Info: 2024 NHL Draft Thread

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Brodeur

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Maybe for mock drafting purposes, here's the top 10 prospects for each as per The Hockey News' recent Future Watch. Teams maybe don't draft for immediate need but moreso their prospect pipeline depth might be more of a consideration.

1. San Jose
[C W.Smith | LD S.Mukhamadullin | C D.Edstrom | C F.Bystedt | LW Q.Musty | LD H.Thrun | RW K.Halttunen | RD M.Havelid | C C.Lund | LD J.Furlong]

In an ideal world, maybe a RD but they may be able to target one with Pittsburgh's 1st. Probably a few more years in the rebuild, so probably take BPA and sort it out later.

2. Chicago
[C O.Moore | C/RW F.Nazar | G A.Gajan | LD W.Kaiser | RD S.Rinzel | C C.Dach | C I.Safonov | LD N.Allan | LD E.Del Mastro | G D.Commesso]

Long term linemate for Bedard? Or cornerstone D?

3. Anaheim
[LW/C C.Gauthier | LD O.Zellweger | RD T.Luneau | C N.Gaucher | LD T.Hinds | RD N.Warren | LW N.Myatovic | G D.Clara | C C.Terrance | RW C.Pitre]

Seem set down the middle for the foreseeable future. Maybe a RW (Demidov) or a RHD to replace Drysdale?

4. Columbus
[LD D.Mateychuk | RW G.Brindley | RW J.Dumais | RD C.Ceulemans | LD S.Svozil | C L.Del Bel Belluz | LD G.Richard | RW W.Whitelaw | LD A.Strathmann | C L.Pinelli]

New GM incoming. Could use a little bit of everything.

5. Montreal
[RD D.Reinbacher | LD L.Hutson | C O.Beck | RW J.Roy | RW F.Mesar | RD L.Mailloux | G J.Fowler | LD A.Engstrom | C S.Farrell | G J.Dobes]

Seems like a logical spot for a center.

6. Arizona
[LD D.Simashev | C C.Geekie | LW D.But | RD M.Lamoureux | G M.Hrabal | LD A.Duda | RW J.Doan | LW J.Lutz | RD V.Soderstrom | LD J.Kipkie]

Your guess is as good as mine.

7. Ottawa
[LD T.Kleven | G M.Sogaard | C Z.Ostapchuk | G L.Merilainen | RW T.Boucher | LD J.Donovan | C S.Halliday | RW O.Pettersson | LD M.Andonovski | LD T.Hamara]

New regime who inherited an odd mismash. GM seems to be stressing character, so maybe that would rule out certain guys. I've had them pigeonholed for a RD but could use wingers too.

8. Calgary
[RW M.Coronato | G D.Wolf | LW S.Honzek | RD H.Brzustewicz | LW J.Pelletier | LD J.Poirier | LD E.Morin | LW A.Suniev | C C.Schwindt | LD I.Solovyov]

First year of the rebuild so they could use anything. Team has been craving a #1 center for awhile.

9. Buffalo
[C J.Kulich | C N.Ostlund | C/RW M.Savoie | RW I.Rosen | LD R.Johnson | C A.Wahlberg | RD V.Komarov | RD M.Strbak | RW P.Poltapov | RD G.McCarthy]

Pretty solid prospects up front to go along with some young NHL forwards. A RHD could make sense.
 

Guadana

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Maybe for mock drafting purposes, here's the top 10 prospects for each as per The Hockey News' recent Future Watch. Teams maybe don't draft for immediate need but moreso their prospect pipeline depth might be more of a consideration.

1. San Jose
[C W.Smith | LD S.Mukhamadullin | C D.Edstrom | C F.Bystedt | LW Q.Musty | LD H.Thrun | RW K.Halttunen | RD M.Havelid | C C.Lund | LD J.Furlong]

In an ideal world, maybe a RD but they may be able to target one with Pittsburgh's 1st. Probably a few more years in the rebuild, so probably take BPA and sort it out later.

2. Chicago
[C O.Moore | C/RW F.Nazar | G A.Gajan | LD W.Kaiser | RD S.Rinzel | C C.Dach | C I.Safonov | LD N.Allan | LD E.Del Mastro | G D.Commesso]

Long term linemate for Bedard? Or cornerstone D?

3. Anaheim
[LW/C C.Gauthier | LD O.Zellweger | RD T.Luneau | C N.Gaucher | LD T.Hinds | RD N.Warren | LW N.Myatovic | G D.Clara | C C.Terrance | RW C.Pitre]

Seem set down the middle for the foreseeable future. Maybe a RW (Demidov) or a RHD to replace Drysdale?

4. Columbus
[LD D.Mateychuk | RW G.Brindley | RW J.Dumais | RD C.Ceulemans | LD S.Svozil | C L.Del Bel Belluz | LD G.Richard | RW W.Whitelaw | LD A.Strathmann | C L.Pinelli]

New GM incoming. Could use a little bit of everything.

5. Montreal
[RD D.Reinbacher | LD L.Hutson | C O.Beck | RW J.Roy | RW F.Mesar | RD L.Mailloux | G J.Fowler | LD A.Engstrom | C S.Farrell | G J.Dobes]

Seems like a logical spot for a center.

6. Arizona
[LD D.Simashev | C C.Geekie | LW D.But | RD M.Lamoureux | G M.Hrabal | LD A.Duda | RW J.Doan | LW J.Lutz | RD V.Soderstrom | LD J.Kipkie]

Your guess is as good as mine.

7. Ottawa
[LD T.Kleven | G M.Sogaard | C Z.Ostapchuk | G L.Merilainen | RW T.Boucher | LD J.Donovan | C S.Halliday | RW O.Pettersson | LD M.Andonovski | LD T.Hamara]

New regime who inherited an odd mismash. GM seems to be stressing character, so maybe that would rule out certain guys. I've had them pigeonholed for a RD but could use wingers too.

8. Calgary
[RW M.Coronato | G D.Wolf | LW S.Honzek | RD H.Brzustewicz | LW J.Pelletier | LD J.Poirier | LD E.Morin | LW A.Suniev | C C.Schwindt | LD I.Solovyov]

First year of the rebuild so they could use anything. Team has been craving a #1 center for awhile.

9. Buffalo
[C J.Kulich | C N.Ostlund | C/RW M.Savoie | RW I.Rosen | LD R.Johnson | C A.Wahlberg | RD V.Komarov | RD M.Strbak | RW P.Poltapov | RD G.McCarthy]

Pretty solid prospects up front to go along with some young NHL forwards. A RHD could make sense.
1OA is Celebrini

SJ needs 1a 1B center or D, if they will lose lottery, I think they will draft two defensemen.

Ducks needs RD hard. Levshunov should be more realistically their pick if they will not win a lottery.

We dont know what Chicago think about Nazar and Moore as about their potential options for second line center. Still have a lot of holes in D. Lindstrom or D.

Columbus have really good D prospect pool, need in center is really big. They should draft
Lindstrom if he is available or Catton.

Montreal have hard need in center. Their D prospect pool is strong but not as very good as Columbus. Its interesting how they will act if Lindstrom and Catton are not available. They told good things about Demidov before, may be he is their pick.

Arizona are not afraid to draft Russians, so I believe there is a good chance that Demidov or Silayev will be their pick. They have bigger need in defensive prospect, but Demidov is a good 1st star option for their team. They have bunch of young center to play with Demidov.

Ottawa is interesting case, but looks like they need defensemen much more. There are a lot of comparisons of Parekh with Karlsson, but I think they will want to draft bigger player. May be even Yakemchuk(they have big need in RD and I think Ducks will draft Levshunov).

Calgary need is 1C but there are could be Iginla available. Will see how they will draft.

Buffalo have big need in defensemen - should be available one or another big name for this pick.

I have little hope that Buium will be available for our pick. If we will be #9 or #10, at least one/two teams should draft someone from Yakemchuk/Parekh/Helenius/Iginla/Eiserman list.
 

longislanddevil

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With Tij Iginla having scored 8 goals and 10 points in 6 playoff games, do you guys think he will even be on the board in the 9-11 range where we pick?
 

evnted

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With Tij Iginla having scored 8 goals and 10 points in 6 playoff games, do you guys think he will even be on the board in the 9-11 range where we pick?
not particularly confident at this point (and it's actually 11pt btw, if you were referencing that cam robinson tweet it very quickly went out of date ;)). i think tij had an argument to go before that range regardless, but this start to the postseason is certainly ballooning his stock

one other factor thats helping him, at least in my opinion, is that many top prospects in this class have underwhelmed down the stretch and into the postseason. celebrini, demidov, helenius, and mbn are probably the only other ones i wouldnt complain about (some grey area on if youd consider sennecke/parascak top options, if so theyd also be included). obviously thats not to say everyone should start dropping, but i think its easier for people to be extra bullish on iginla when thats factored in
 

longislanddevil

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not particularly confident at this point (and it's actually 11pt btw, if you were referencing that cam robinson tweet it very quickly went out of date ;)). i think tij had an argument to go before that range regardless, but this start to the postseason is certainly ballooning his stock

one other factor thats helping him, at least in my opinion, is that many top prospects in this class have underwhelmed down the stretch and into the postseason. celebrini, demidov, helenius, and mbn are probably the only other ones i wouldnt complain about (some grey area on if youd consider sennecke/parascak top options, if so theyd also be included). obviously thats not to say everyone should start dropping, but i think its easier for people to be extra bullish on iginla when thats factored in

Can Tij be an effective center at the NHL level? I’ve read that some see him more as a winger. Calgary could really use a top center in their prospect pool and of course there’s a sentimental side of this due to his father. I would be really concerned the Flames grab him a pick or two before us.
 
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evnted

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Can Tij be an effective center at the NHL level? I’ve read that some see him more as a winger. Calgary could really use a top center in their prospect pool and of course there’s a sentimental side of this due to his father. I would be really concerned the Flames grab him a pick or two before us.
i wouldnt think so. there are elements to his game that could look good down the middle (strong transitional presence, attacks the middle, great one on one play, etc.) but hes not an elite skater, he lacks a sound 200ft game, and his playmaking/vision, while both fine, arent quite to a level where i think he would really elevate/support his wingers. plus, between his intensity on the puck, great forechecking game, elite ability to generate offense from the boards, etc., i almost think its a misuse of his abilities to slot him away from the wing

one other point, i know he opened up getting reps at C, but ever since gojsic really started to find his footing with kelowna i think tij has largely been playing wing anyway
 

Brodeur

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With Tij Iginla having scored 8 goals and 10 points in 6 playoff games, do you guys think he will even be on the board in the 9-11 range where we pick?

That might be an interesting question to pose to a scout, like how much stock would they put into a short playoff series.


Kelowna beat Wenatchee in the opening round. Even though Wenatchee finished ahead of Kelowna in the regular season, they seemed to be sellers after trading Conor Geekie and Matt Savoie in January. In typical CHL fashion they got a boat load of draft picks back. Maybe if Zac Benson hadn't made the Sabres, Wenatchee would have pushed all in instead?


But I guess the franchise (when it was in Winnipeg) went for it last year and GM decided to rebuild even though the team was in second place (23-12-3). After the trades they finished the season 11-18-1.

TL;DR Kelowna might have had an easier first round opponent.
 

Guadana

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Elite Prospects’ April Rankings now have Iginla at 6. This kid’s rise has been extraordinary from the start of the season.

@Guadana Buium is ranked 10. If he’s still on the board, do the Devils pick him? Is the kid LD (I hope so)?
Elite prospects like players with Iginlas profile. Reason why they have Parekh and Catton as 5 and 7. Im not argue with that, but Im not agree. Still have no problem with ranking him everywhere from 7 to 12. And they make a huge bet on Levshunov because of some of his skills but are closing the eyes on his obvious flaws(should be drafted as high as we can imagine outside 1OA).


We dont know how specific GMs rank specific players. Someone can have Iginla for example as 3rd best but they could have their 2nd best available. Other gms could have him lower. Someone could easily had him very high. Im not ready to say that Iginla will not be available for 9-10th pick(because a lot of teams need C and D) and I would be happy with Iginla. May be he will not past through Calgary.
Team ahead of us have great needs in RD and Centers so as Buium as Iginla(I dont see real opportunity for him to be NHL center, he is doing great on the boards) are LD and LW. I think Dickinson should be higher because of his combo of size and skating over Buium.
So I have hopes for Buium availability.
 
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MartyOwns

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We're going to win the #1OA

Cuz that's what we do
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longislanddevil

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I will feel almost a little bit dirty if we win another draft lottery.

Catton
Iginla
Brandsegg-Nygard
Helenius (warming up to him a little more)

These would be my four forward targets. Catton remains unlikely to fall to where we will be picking. Iginla may or may not. The latter two should be here. Is 9-11 a little early for Brandsegg-Nygard?
 

Guadana

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I will feel almost a little bit dirty if we win another draft lottery.

Catton
Iginla
Brandsegg-Nygard
Helenius (warming up to him a little more)

These would be my four forward targets. Catton remains unlikely to fall to where we will be picking. Iginla may or may not. The latter two should be here. Is 9-11 a little early for Brandsegg-Nygard?
Its okay to draft Nygard by 9th-11th pick. He is playing center role sometimes now, he is driving the net, he is great on the board and physical overall, he is making right plays. So if you are not worry about skating of Iginla - Nygard is better skater. Same with Helenius. Even as a winger Nygard has a lot of upside, thinks the game on the high speed(he is ready to making plays even before he has the puck, he is making plays with very short timing, IQ is on the very good level, compete level is the best\one of the best on the draft. And he is very productive in play off for his age. Of course some people want to see more flashy plays but first of all its not his nature and its not the nature of NHL and its much harder to do on the NHL level. Playmaking vision with the puck could be better but if its an issue for you than its an issue with Iginla.
Overall I think there are no real gap between Nygard, Iginla, Chernyshov and Helenius, so every player is good to draft in that range.

Overall Its better to watch their actual games, all of them are playing their best now. All of them are looking like a perfect players to draft by 9th pick. I like Nygard little bit more because he is doing what NHL center could and should do.
 

longislanddevil

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I wasn’t aware Nygard’s been playing center. If he can be versatile and play center at the NHL level, I am completely on board with that train. It sounds like he has more scoring upside and a higher ceiling than Helenius (with a solid floor, as well). We are in a position in which it’ll be hard to mess it up. Seems like a big drop off in talent after the first half of the round.
 

StevenToddIves

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Athletic article had some other interesting tidbits on Connelly.
There is no specific, definitive information -- a la Mitch Miller -- that Connelly is rotten to the core and absolutely beyond redemption. However, the overwhelming number of red flags would certainly make me favor the Devils avoiding him at all costs.
 

StevenToddIves

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Been watching a lot of Catton tape and really falling in love with him. Kinda mad we're probably not going to be in a position to draft him. Worried all the centers I really like will be gone, tbh.

I am not an Iginla boi.
I'm a big fan of Iginla, but if the season ended today Calgary would pick 8th, and there's probably no better bet aside from Celebrini at #1 overall than Iginla going to the Flames.

This would of course change if Calgary won the lottery. But if not...
 

StevenToddIves

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I wasn’t aware Nygard’s been playing center. If he can be versatile and play center at the NHL level, I am completely on board with that train. It sounds like he has more scoring upside and a higher ceiling than Helenius (with a solid floor, as well). We are in a position in which it’ll be hard to mess it up. Seems like a big drop off in talent after the first half of the round.
I'd be a big fan of Brantsegg-Nygard in the Devils likely pick range -- #9 or #10 overall. I think the people ranking him in the 15-25 range are undervaluing everything he brings to the table. The kid is going to be one heck of an NHL forward.

That being said, someone's likely going to fall from the consensus top 7. One interesting scenario would be if a team picking ahead of NJ rolled the dice on Eiserman and then Calgary took Iginla, which would likely push down a LD like Dickinson, Buium or Silayev.

I'm still hanging onto my ultimate dream of somehow landing Cayden Lindstrom, however unlikely it would seem.

But back to Brantsegg-Nygard, he's a heck of a two-way power forward, he skates extremely well and he possesses a great deal of offensive upside.
 

StevenToddIves

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May 18, 2013
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I will feel almost a little bit dirty if we win another draft lottery.

Catton
Iginla
Brandsegg-Nygard
Helenius (warming up to him a little more)

These would be my four forward targets. Catton remains unlikely to fall to where we will be picking. Iginla may or may not. The latter two should be here. Is 9-11 a little early for Brandsegg-Nygard?
There's really nothing NOT to like about Helenius. He checks every box in the scouting column without any elite physical abilities, but all of his physical attributes tick up due to his elite hockey IQ and excellent compete level. This makes him a very sure bet to be an excellent 2nd/3rd liner in the NHL. My only question is whether he makes the pros as a center or a wing. Were he a bona fide center candidate, I'd admittedly probably have him a bit higher on my Devils wish-list.

Catton has the most pure skill of the players you mentioned for sure, but there's also some risk. I've seen him compared to Benson because of his size/prolific scoring/lack of elite skates, but I have to say Benson has a better compete/IQ combo and is the better passer. I'd rank Catton a bit below Benson at the same age. I'd certainly draft him, but I'm not sure I like him for the Devils better than a Brantsegg-Nygard or Chernyshov or even Hage. I think the Devils need to get faster and tougher to play against, and, as good as he is, Catton accomplishes neither.

I absolutely love Tij Iginla. Heck of a player and heck of a kid. I just don't think he'll top my list when the Devils' turn to pick comes up. Both Brantsegg-Nygard and Chernyshov are bigger, faster and more complete. Hage is a center and might have more upside than any of them. That being said, it would be tough to be disappointed with Iginla, he's going to be an excellent NHL middle 6 F at the least. There's very little downside there.
 

Guadana

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There's really nothing NOT to like about Helenius. He checks every box in the scouting column without any elite physical abilities, but all of his physical attributes tick up due to his elite hockey IQ and excellent compete level. This makes him a very sure bet to be an excellent 2nd/3rd liner in the NHL. My only question is whether he makes the pros as a center or a wing. Were he a bona fide center candidate, I'd admittedly probably have him a bit higher on my Devils wish-list.

Catton has the most pure skill of the players you mentioned for sure, but there's also some risk. I've seen him compared to Benson because of his size/prolific scoring/lack of elite skates, but I have to say Benson has a better compete/IQ combo and is the better passer. I'd rank Catton a bit below Benson at the same age. I'd certainly draft him, but I'm not sure I like him for the Devils better than a Brantsegg-Nygard or Chernyshov or even Hage. I think the Devils need to get faster and tougher to play against, and, as good as he is, Catton accomplishes neither.

I absolutely love Tij Iginla. Heck of a player and heck of a kid. I just don't think he'll top my list when the Devils' turn to pick comes up. Both Brantsegg-Nygard and Chernyshov are bigger, faster and more complete. Hage is a center and might have more upside than any of them. That being said, it would be tough to be disappointed with Iginla, he's going to be an excellent NHL middle 6 F at the least. There's very little downside there.
Thanks, Steve. looks like you have similar opinion with me. I would that I have more questions about Catton, especially with his center potential. I still think that he has borderline elite potential as an offensive winger in NHL.


Its interesting case between Nygard and Chernyshov. I really like both, Chernyshov is more toolsy in some aspects like puckhandling through traffic or playmaking, Nygard is more consistent and accurate. Nygard looks little better defensively, Chernyshov looks like potential top-line producer(if everything will going well), overall I think more scouts have Nygard high for obvious reasons, even I have him little bit higher because of better defensive IQ and little bit better center potential.
 

StevenToddIves

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Thanks, Steve. looks like you have similar opinion with me. I would that I have more questions about Catton, especially with his center potential. I still think that he has borderline elite potential as an offensive winger in NHL.


Its interesting case between Nygard and Chernyshov. I really like both, Chernyshov is more toolsy in some aspects like puckhandling through traffic or playmaking, Nygard is more consistent and accurate. Nygard looks little better defensively, Chernyshov looks like potential top-line producer(if everything will going well), overall I think more scouts have Nygard high for obvious reasons, even I have him little bit higher because of better defensive IQ and little bit better center potential.
I think we'd both agree that both Brantsegg-Nygard and Chernyshov have been under-ranked by the consensus.

Having done this for a very long time, I'd have to assume this has more to do with their nationalities than their abilities. If both were from Ontario or Stockholm instead of Norway and Russia, I think they'd both be consensus top 10 prospects or at least very close.

I haven't researched enough yet for definitive rankings, but I'm pretty cliche in having Celebrini and Demidov as my top 2, and Lindstrom is not far behind Demidov at #3. I'd probably fill out my top 10 with 4 defenders (Buium, Dickinson, Silayev and Levshunov -- though I haven't ordered them yet in my head).

As for the final 3 players in my top 10? I think it's really tough because there are a lot of intriguing prospects bunched in there. But right now for me, it would probably be some ordering of Catton, Brantsegg-Nygard and Chernyshov, with my 11+12+13 being some ordering of Helenius, Iginla and Hage.

But back to my point, I think the people leaving Brantsegg-Nygard and Chernyshov out of their top 20 are smoking some serious amount of narcotics.
 
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