Prospect Info: 2024 NHL Draft Thread

[Guttersniped]

They really should not allow these writers to "trade" picks in the mock. It's stupid, it's way too tempting for the writers to go into fantasy mode, and it almost never happens in real life. Can't remember the last time a top 15 pick was traded at the draft. I'm guessing it's 10-15 years.

The fantasy trade was infuriating lol, just pick for Montreal you cowards.

There’s been mid-round 1sts traded recently.

We traded our #11 in 2016 and moved to #12. Arizona traded for the #11 twice recently, in 2019 and 2022.

In 2021, Detroit traded for #15 to grab Cossa and then Dallas drafted Wyatt Johnston with the #23 they got in return.

A Top 10 pick hasn’t moved since 2008 though. The Islanders traded #5 to Toronto for #7+ and then traded #7 to Nashville for #9+. (Snow was a very active and fun pick trader.)

 

[Xirik]

Helenius for C, Buium for LD, Nygaard for Power Forward. all three are needs for us, I'd be thrilled with any of the three.

Center becomes even more dire when you realize we only have 3 more years of Hischier signed...

I think Dickinson would be a better fit over Buium

 

[Guttersniped]

I looked up a few more post-lottery mock drafts:

Sporting News: Catton
Pronman: Catton
FloHockey: Iginla
Button/TSN: Buium
Sportsnet: Buium
HockeyWriters: Iginla
DailyFaceoff: Eiserman
SBNation: Helenius

That's all I could dig up right now, but I'd guess many more are coming out in the next day or two. We can ask the neighborhood research genius @Guttersniped if we're feeling lazy.

Personally, if I was forced to bet right now, I'd say "Buium or Dickinson if they fall to us, Helenius if they do not". This is not my personal preference, this is just years of studying Fitzgerald and the Devils organization.

Fitzgerald has yet to draft a sub-6'0 forward in the first 5 rounds. While Helenius, Iginla and Catton are all listed at 5'11, Helenius and Iginla are both more solidly built and both play a more physical, interior style. Catton is by no means soft and he's certainly willing to go to the net, but I don't think anyone would argue he does most of his work on the perimeter.

I think Buium or Dickinson are the pick if they fall to #10, which I'd say amounts to very low odds for Dickinson and so-so odds for Buium. Fitzgerald seems to want to build more from the blueline out and get more difficult to play against, both of these players would fill this role, and the Devils could certainly use some more bolstering at LD beyond Hughes/Bahl even if they're pretty set for the future at RD with Nemec, Casey and a boatload of depth prospects.

Obviously, the Devils thinnest position organizationally speaking is center. Sure, Hischier and Hughes give the team a bright future long term, but the team's only viable prospect up the middle is Zakhar Bardakov. Unfortunately, this is not a draft very strong up the middle, and the top center available when the Devils pick is almost certain to be Helenius, unless New Jersey is blessed with some miracle and Cayden Lindstrom somehow falls.

I do not see the Devils picking Catton. Eiserman has to be considered a possibility, as he's pretty much a better-scoring, worse-playing-hockey version of Alexander Holtz, who I'd say Fitzgerald reached for a bit back in 2020. Again, I still think Holtz will be a 30+ goal scorer in the NHL, but while Eiserman's upside is more like 60+ goals, his downside is a terrifying possibility of washing out altogether and never making the NHL. Eiserman may be one of the scariest prospects we have ever seen come draft day because he is so elite at one thing but so questionable with so many other things.

I've saved Iginla for last because I really cannot see Calgary passing on him. They have no high scoring snipers in the system and, even though they probably need defensemen more, it's going to be really tough to justify to their fanbase if they pass on Tij.

I refuse to look up mock drafts because they’re basically random guessing, particularly this early. (Yes, it’s still early lol.)

McKenzie is mostly all that matters in the end, Pronman’s last mock is vaguely useful since he has some info.

 

[StevenToddIves]

2024 Draft Profile:

RD Charlie Elick, Brandon WHL
Elick is a simple player but also, quite simply, he's my kind of player. He's a 6'3-200 defenseman who hits hard and often and prioritizes defending as his bread-and-butter. What makes him interesting is that, unlike many players of this ilk, Elick is a terrific skater -- one of the fastest defensemen we've seen in the WHL this season.

The combination of Elick's ferocity, strength and speed make it very hard to beat him anywhere on the ice, but along the boards and in the crease he's nearly impossible. Easily intimidated forwards barely challenge him, often preferring to just pull up and wave their sticks. He's essentially a defensive wall, impenetrable for anyone but for the highest skill opposition. Predictably, he's also at his best on the penalty kill, where he excels at covering large swaths of ice, able to quickly close in on a puck-handler, separate them from the puck, and clear the zone.

Elick is not a perfect defensive player, but he certainly possesses the potential to grow into a shut-down player at any level. Sometimes he is certainly guilty of leaving his positioning to give a huge hit. While I'd call him smart in general, he's not a high-end IQ player and his game involves more reaction than anticipation. As a result, he can be forced to making errors with the puck, though it would be equally unfair to call him error prone. He's mostly a catch and release player who prefers to make simple passes to clear the zone.

Offensively, Elick has some potential but not a ton. He has a hard shot. He's a "fine-enough" puck handler and passer and in the O zone, like everywhere else on the ice, prefers to make the safe, simple play 95% of the time.

This is a player I feel deserves consideration for late in the 1st round. To be fair, he's not a *sexy* pick, but potential shut down defensemen with this mix of speed and physicality are not exactly common. Combine that with the fact Elick is a right-shot D and I feel this is a very valuable player worth paying attention to.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Not sure if it's been mentioned here but if Ottawa forfeits their pick this year for the Dadanov punishment, we go up to 9th.

 

[StevenToddIves]

2024 Draft Profile:

RD Adam Jiricek, HC Plzen CZE
In a draft filled with highly regarded defensemen on both sides, an injury-plagued draft eligible season has left Adam Jiricek a bit overlooked for the 2024 draft. The younger brother of Columbus' 2022 #6 overall selection David, Adam's consensus rankings are generally in the teens with a couple outlying (and poorly conceived) rankings listing him as low as #30 overall.

In my opinion, Adam Jiricek has a lot going for him, and the few things working against him are all rather inane. First is that he's Czech -- as we've seen in recent years Czech and Slovak draft prospects are often under-ranked by the general consensus. Second are the injuries, which really robbed him of a year of development -- even more crucially important because third, he's a June birthday and one of the younger players in the 2024 draft class.

What's going for him is why we should all be big fans of Adam Jiricek. This is a 6'2-170 kid who skates very very well, and is one of the rare defensemen his age who excels both with and without the puck. He's an extremely smart and hard-working player whose head is always on a swivel, able to quickly assess virtually any situation he might have to overcome in a hockey game. He plays with consistently remarkable effort and physicality and is versatile enough to be a guy to log time on both the power play and penalty kill. He's just a good all-around player in every sense of the words, and because of his relative youth and lost development time, he might only be scratching the surface.

Jiricek does not have the booming cannon of shot of his older brother David, but he's more capable of high-end passing vision. He is extremely advanced at manipulating defenders in the offensive zone to open up passing lanes, so -- while he is not exactly Cale Makar -- he is one of the rare defensemen who can create offense rather than simply provide offense. He is a good stickhandler, expert at using his body to shield the puck. He rarely makes mistakes, and most of his errors are due to trying to do too much himself.

Defensively, Jiricek is advanced positionally and in his gaps. He excels at reading the play and his teammates' positioning and quick at reacting and anticipating. He uses effective physicality and, for a slim guy, is capable of a bone-jarring hit should the opportunity arrive. Though there is not one single area where Jiricek is elite, he excels at virtually every aspect of hockey.

I expect Adam Jiricek to go somewhere in the middle of the first round, which he is certainly deserving of. Though he lacks the high-octane offense of a Parekh, Mews or Yakemchuk, there is a very real chance he winds up being a more complete NHL RD than any of them. And again, it's important to note that his lost draft-eligible season and relative youth might have masked a possibility that his upside is even higher than the evidence thus far has led us to believe.

 

[ZYXWVUT]

Let's say the Devils cooked up a hypothetical deal with Vegas (given their need to shed some salary) that included swapping first rounders (i.e. 10 & 19 overall). What is the deal w/ the Russian Chernyshov? Seems like he could be in that area - is that a guy who would be a good add? How much risk is there these days with some of these Russians?

 

[Monsieur Verdoux]

Not sure if it's been mentioned here but if Ottawa forfeits their pick this year for the Dadanov punishment, we go up to 9th.

Yeah, they keep the pick.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Let's say the Devils cooked up a hypothetical deal with Vegas (given their need to shed some salary) that included swapping first rounders (i.e. 10 & 19 overall). What is the deal w/ the Russian Chernyshov? Seems like he could be in that area - is that a guy who would be a good add? How much risk is there these days with some of these Russians?

Igor Chernyshov would be a very solid pick at #10 overall. He'd be a complete steal at #19 overall.

 

[StevenToddIves]

2024 Draft Profile:

RD Dominik Badinka, Malmo SHL
One of my early picks for "most underrated players for the 2024 draft" is Dominik Badinka, a defense-first Czech rearguard who played near-shut-down quality D as a teenager in the top men's league in Sweden.

Badinka strikes you immediately because he's 6'3-185 and skates very well. He has good 4-way mobility, decent edges and top speeds, and exceptional balance on his skates. The next facet which gets your attention is that he's extremely smart -- able to anticipate plays instead of simply reacting, excellent in his gaps, positioning and reads, and expert at identifying passing and shooting lanes so he can use his big frame and long reach to immediately shut them down.

In one-on-one defending, as well as along the boards and in the crease, Badinka is an absolute beast. He uses his strength and terrific balance to out-muscle and out work much older players with relative ease, which combined with his high-end thinking of the game makes him very difficult to beat anywhere in the defensive zone. He's effectively physical more than a head-hunter, but I've seen him line up a couple nice hits. Though he's still a bit lanky, he's already extremely strong, and by the time the weight room pushes him up to the 200-210 pound range he's going to be an absolute monster.

With the puck and in the offensive game, Badinka is actually far superior to most players of his ilk. He's actually an excellent passer, capable of stretch passes out of the D zone and some surprisingly creative dishes in the O zone. He has a good, solid shot but it's not exactly high end. If he has one caveat, it's that Badinka does not have soft hands. As he is apparently quite aware of this, he simply does not try to dangle around players. When pressured, Badinka is more likely to make a safe pass or chip up the boards. You can't really pressure him into mistakes, but you can pressure him into becoming ultra-conservative with the puck, which is better although still not ideal.

Malmo did not utilize Badinka on the penalty kill, but I wonder if that had more to do with his youth than anything else as he was one of the youngest players in the entire SHL. Given the generalities of his game, I'd expect him to one day be a feature member of an NHL penalty kill.

Badinka's neighborhood consensus rating is almost foolishly low, usually in the early 2nd round. Seeing his potential as a physical, high-effort and high-intelligence NHL shut down defenseman with good skating and breakout passing, I would certainly consider him as early as the low 20s.

 

[Guadana]

Let's say the Devils cooked up a hypothetical deal with Vegas (given their need to shed some salary) that included swapping first rounders (i.e. 10 & 19 overall). What is the deal w/ the Russian Chernyshov? Seems like he could be in that area - is that a guy who would be a good add? How much risk is there these days with some of these Russians?

You can find profile of him from Steve and me in previous posts. Overall he will complement both centers as scoring power forward with good positional game. But I dont think he will be available at 19. Even if he will be - its very risky. There are 15-18 players with more obvious top-6/top-4 potential, its much better to just pick your player.

 

[evnted]

2024 Draft Profile:

RD Dominik Badinka, Malmo SHL
One of my early picks for "most underrated players for the 2024 draft" is Dominik Badinka, a defense-first Czech rearguard who played near-shut-down quality D as a teenager in the top men's league in Sweden.

Badinka strikes you immediately because he's 6'3-185 and skates very well. He has good 4-way mobility, decent edges and top speeds, and exceptional balance on his skates. The next facet which gets your attention is that he's extremely smart -- able to anticipate plays instead of simply reacting, excellent in his gaps, positioning and reads, and expert at identifying passing and shooting lanes so he can use his big frame and long reach to immediately shut them down.

In one-on-one defending, as well as along the boards and in the crease, Badinka is an absolute beast. He uses his strength and terrific balance to out-muscle and out work much older players with relative ease, which combined with his high-end thinking of the game makes him very difficult to beat anywhere in the defensive zone. He's effectively physical more than a head-hunter, but I've seen him line up a couple nice hits. Though he's still a bit lanky, he's already extremely strong, and by the time the weight room pushes him up to the 200-210 pound range he's going to be an absolute monster.

With the puck and in the offensive game, Badinka is actually far superior to most players of his ilk. He's actually an excellent passer, capable of stretch passes out of the D zone and some surprisingly creative dishes in the O zone. He has a good, solid shot but it's not exactly high end. If he has one caveat, it's that Badinka does not have soft hands. As he is apparently quite aware of this, he simply does not try to dangle around players. When pressured, Badinka is more likely to make a safe pass or chip up the boards. You can't really pressure him into mistakes, but you can pressure him into becoming ultra-conservative with the puck, which is better although still not ideal.

Malmo did not utilize Badinka on the penalty kill, but I wonder if that had more to do with his youth than anything else as he was one of the youngest players in the entire SHL. Given the generalities of his game, I'd expect him to one day be a feature member of an NHL penalty kill.

Badinka's neighborhood consensus rating is almost foolishly low, usually in the early 2nd round. Seeing his potential as a physical, high-effort and high-intelligence NHL shut down defenseman with good skating and breakout passing, I would certainly consider him as early as the low 20s.

heavily agree on this one, badinka is the classic player everyone undervalues at the draft and then a couple years later begs to add to their team. real easy pick in the 20s, particularly for a team with multiple 1sts

at this point i would say he's my favorite of the shutdown RD who expect to go late day 1/early day 2. i think his approach to the defensive zone is the most refined (even if he may be a little aggressive at challenging in the neutral zone) and while all of them generally have limited pure skill/offensive upside, i trust his ability to move the puck (both carrying and distributing) a bit more than the others. i do like elick in this region, though i think i prefer emery's more cerebral defensive presence and potential to be a bit more helpful if he jumps up on the rush a little more (not to bias any of your next profiles )

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Iginla is one of the youngest players in the draft, He probably has the biggest chance to have a small growth spurt.

If you’re talking height wise that biggest chance is still very slim at this point/age.

I think Dickinson would be a better fit over Buium

Dickinson is probably my least favorite guy we could potentially take. Don’t see much upside and think his game and particularly his skating is overrated. Have already said it a few times but I’m not very interested in him it all. Might end up as an ok 2nd pairing dman but I doubt he’s ever gonna be anything better. Buium on the other hand is my favorite option. Elite skillset and I could see him turning out better than either of Luke and Nemec. If he gets to us we should jump on thay

 

[Alex NJD]

In all likelihood, Catton will not play center in the NHL, he will slot as a LW. I'd say his closest NHL comparable is Cole Perfetti, both in CHL production and play style. Perfetti has been employed exclusively as a wing in his pro career.

We can say Catton is a bit more of a finisher and Perfetti a bit more of a vision guy, but they are both left-shots who played center in the CHL, they are similar in their size and skating combos and skill levels, and Perfetti actually had a slightly better PPG in his draft year (111 pts in 61 games) than Catton (116 pts in 68 games).

Perfetti actually went a bit lower than expected in the 2020 draft, falling to Winnipeg at -- you guessed it -- #10 overall, exactly where the Devils pick this year. His consensus rating was, also much like Catton this year, generally in the 5-8 range.

Where it gets interesting is that, in a 2020 redraft, Perfetti likely drops a bit further. While his future as a high scoring top-6 winger is certainly still attainable, I do not think he would still be picked ahead of Dawson Mercer, much less Seth Jarvis and Kaiden Guhle.

Ultimately, it's a mistake to draft a player strictly on statistical measures more than it's a mistake to not draft a player because they put up great statistics. Stats are simply one of the many factors one must utilize when assessing a prospect come draft day.

I really like Berkly Catton. I think he'll be top 6 LW in the NHL someday for some team, and I think he'll be a productive scorer. But -- especially in a draft year as unpredictable as this one -- I'd have a tough time saying with confidence he'll be the best fit in New Jersey at #10 overall come draft day. The Devils need centers and Konsta Helenius will likely be the best one available, and he's also a heck of a player. The Devils need LD and Zeev Buium could be available and put up an even more impressive stat line than Catton. There are many possibilities to consider.

Was reading your write up on Catton the other day and couldn't quite put my finger on who it reminded me of with the high IQ, great hands, won't stick at C long term, not a great skater etc etc. Feels great to finally realize who I was thinking of

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

A Top 10 pick hasn’t moved since 2008 though. The Islanders traded #5 to Toronto for #7+ and then traded #7 to Nashville for #9+. (Snow was a very active and fun pick trader.)

Lou traded the 2013 9th overall pick (Horvat) for Schneider.

 

[My3Sons]

Was reading your write up on Catton the other day and couldn't quite put my finger on who it reminded me of with the high IQ, great hands, won't stick at C long term, not a great skater etc etc. Feels great to finally realize who I was thinking of

If NJ went for a Perfetti style of player I’d be disappointed. They need to get faster not slower.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Yeah, they keep the pick.

Ya, that's the assumption that they push until the punishment comes to fruition but never know is all. Was just a small piece of housekeeping per se lol

 

[Guttersniped]

Lou traded the 2013 9th overall pick (Horvat) for Schneider.

Just to be clear, I was only talking about pick trades because The Athletic had an (annoying) imaginary pick trade in their Mock Draft.

DeBrincat cost a #7 in 2022. Seth Jones cost a #12 in 2021 (and a #6 in 2022 because whoops).

In 2017 Arizona traded a #7 & Deangelo the Rags for Stepan/Raanta, in a trade where the only winner was Stepan’s golf game.

 

[StevenToddIves]

heavily agree on this one, badinka is the classic player everyone undervalues at the draft and then a couple years later begs to add to their team. real easy pick in the 20s, particularly for a team with multiple 1sts

at this point i would say he's my favorite of the shutdown RD who expect to go late day 1/early day 2. i think his approach to the defensive zone is the most refined (even if he may be a little aggressive at challenging in the neutral zone) and while all of them generally have limited pure skill/offensive upside, i trust his ability to move the puck (both carrying and distributing) a bit more than the others. i do like elick in this region, though i think i prefer emery's more cerebral defensive presence and potential to be a bit more helpful if he jumps up on the rush a little more (not to bias any of your next profiles )

I was hoping to write up Emery, Hutson and Skahan later this week after reviewing some more US-NTDP tape. Spoiler: I really like EJ Emery.

I'm not going to have time for like 150 draft profiles like I did during the pandemic years, but hopefully I'll be able to pump out like 50 or so.

I'm glad you agree with me on Badinka, I really like this kid. When I do a rankings list prior to the draft I might raise a few eyebrows because I prefer him to a couple of the bigger name RDs.

I'm sure I'm not alone in saying I'd also love to see you write up a few prospects, your assessments are always well-researched and excellent.

If NJ went for a Perfetti style of player I’d be disappointed. They need to get faster not slower.

Catton probably keeps the team speed in stasis. But Brandsegg-Nygard and Helenius are two forwards who would make the team generally faster in the top 6, both terrific skaters though neither is elite in that respect.

 

[Guadana]

I was hoping to write up Emery, Hutson and Skahan later this week after reviewing some more US-NTDP tape. Spoiler: I really like EJ Emery.

I'm not going to have time for like 150 draft profiles like I did during the pandemic years, but hopefully I'll be able to pump out like 50 or so.

I'm glad you agree with me on Badinka, I really like this kid. When I do a rankings list prior to the draft I might raise a few eyebrows because I prefer him to a couple of the bigger name RDs.

I'm sure I'm not alone in saying I'd also love to see you write up a few prospects, your assessments are always well-researched and excellent.

Yeah, you are not alone. Im trying to not talk a lot about players who will not be drafted by Devils because of our 10th pick and lack of later picks. Enough of bold takes from me in top-15 range.

 

[Guadana]

I hope its a year of Button. I want to believe.

 

[My3Sons]

View attachment 867410


I hope its a year of Button. I want to believe.

Forget Button. My mock has Celebrini falling to 10.

 

[R8Devs]

Helenius would be cool, the way the Devils center/forward prospect pool is looking he'd be a nice jolt there if they end up making the pick. Shouldn't be too far from the NHL either since he's producing pretty well already in Liiga and 180 pounds/5'11 for someone who hasn't turned 18 yet is pretty good. Being a right shot is a bonus. The defenseman are cool but I'm hoping they go before the pick so more forwards are available for the Devils.

Out of Saros/Ullmark/Markstrom the only one I'd consider the first for is Saros but even that is kind of high value for someone who'll be UFA in 1 year. Hopefully they'll be able to trade for one of them with the 26 first as the first going in the deal.

 

[Goptor]

View attachment 867410


I hope its a year of Button. I want to believe.

Button's top 10 having the same players as everyone else tells a lot about this draft.

 

[SKNJD9]

Unless it's a sign and trade for Saros or a Askarov trade, you keep the pick.

No interest in shopping it to Boston for Ullmark. Def not offering it to Cgy for Markstrom given his age and I'm very high on Markstrom.

If Ullmark or Markstrom is the target they can be had in separate deals.