Greentree has terrific skill, size and scoring but he has a concerning mix of poor skating and a tendency to float. There's certainly potential, but I don't see him as a legitimate top 15 overall candidate.
Prospect Info: 2024 NHL Draft Thread
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Mr. Kournianos certainly marches to his own drummer. One of the reason he's so good is that, while being diligent in his research regardless of where a prospect plays, he kind of exists in a vacuum and doesn't much care what the consensus has to say.
2024 NHL Mock Draft: Post-Lottery Edition
The Sharks will take can't-miss prospect Macklin Celebrini to open the 2024 draft, but get ready for some hand-wringing with every pick thereafter.thedraftanalyst.substack.com
Kournianos has Iginla going at 3OA. Haven’t seen anyone else have him this high. For those MBN fans like myself, he has him as our pick. Interestingly enough, Helenius goes to Buffalo at 11OA.
In other words, yes -- Michael Brandsegg-Nygard is a very possible pick for the Devils at #10 overall.
R8Devs
1-5-6-12
Well if the draft order shakes out to have Helenius going before the Devils pick and one of the two d-man (Buium or Dickinson) available at the pick -- San Jose would be an interesting trade down candidate at #14 with the Devils original 2nd round pick coming back as part of the deal if the Devils think someone like Brandsegg-Nygard will be available then. San Jose has used basically all of their high picks on forwards and will again on Celebrini so if Buium or Dickinson fall they could be inclined to trade up for it.
I wouldn't be upset if the Devils traded down for Hage, Chernyshov, MBN... I don't wanna say we could see a really fun first round this year cuz I feel like that never happens, but we could see a really fun first round this year!
2024 Draft Profile:
LD Stian Solberg, Valerenga NOR
Will hockey draft writers never learn? This is not football, where you can watch the NCAA and every single NFL prospect plays there. Sometimes you need to branch out, put in some effort, and watch great players in lesser known leagues. It seems a much better call than, you know, lazily not watching a player as utterly fantastic as Stian Solberg except on a completely overmatched Norwegian team in tournament play vs. Canada or the USA and then ranking him as a late 2nd or even 3rd/4th rounder... or, in many cases, not ranking him at all.
Stian Solberg is a 6'2-205 two-way defenseman who skates like the wind, hits like a Sherman tank, shuts down the opposition with smothering defense, activates offensively, and affects the game positively on every inch of ice. His average consensus ranking in the 50-60 overall range is quite possibly the most illogical and baffling story in the entire 2024 draft class.
Though he still has some work to do in gap control and positioning, defensive play is Solberg's bread and butter. Solberg's length and speed give him a ton of zone coverage. When combined with outstanding awareness, anticipation and overall hockey IQ, he's always quick on pucks and puck-carriers alike. If Solberg closes a gap on you or you meet him in the corner or crease for a puck battle, you might as well just throw up a white flag and skate like hell in the other direction. Solberg features an elite compete level and a penchant for physicality which, when combined with his almost uncanny level of strength, makes him an absolute force. He's a terrifying open-ice hitter who can separate an unsuspecting opponent from his helmet and stick. I would describe his mix of intelligence, compete and raw power as "controlled ferocity" if forced to describe it in a draft profile such as this, but were I watching him play alongside you I'd probably just sit there repeating "holy s**t, this dude is a beast!"
What distinguishes Solberg from the typical shut-down, hard-hitting defender is how impressive he is with the puck when he gets it, and how accomplished he is at activating offensively in order to create scoring opportunities. Solberg is the rare player of his ilk who cannot only strip the puck or dig it out, but can feature high-end ability with the puck once he gets it. Exiting the zone, he is a dual threat, both an excellent outlet passer and a player with the skill and speed required to rush it out himself.
Solberg is very good at zone entries, and I've seen him go end to end more than once, blowing by the opposing defenders and often utilizing his favorite move, which is a straight rush adjacent to the left-wing boards and rifling a very strong wrist shot towards the corner of the twine.
Though I wouldn't describe any of Solberg's offensive tools as elite, they are impressive across the board. With all amateur defensemen who concentrate strongly on preventing goals against, it's important to take the time and effort to project if their statistical output is a result of offensive ability or situational context. In my viewings, I'd have to say Solberg is certainly a player capable of producing very good offense at any level. This is to say, I'd say this is a player whose ultimate ceiling is very high in every aspect of hockey. He can be the rare shut-down defensive beast who also contributes offensively on a consistent basis and mans the point on a 2PP unit.
If any of this sounds like a player who has no business being ranked in the late 2nd or 3rd round or not ranked at all, it's because Stian Solberg is far, far better than his consensus draft ranking. In my humble opinion, the only question is where in the 1st round you snatch him up. This is a terrific hockey prospect with a lot of room to grow, and as such I would sincerely love the pick if a team took him inside the top 20. My own ranking of him will feature him somewhere in that range. This is not a hot take, Solberg is just that good.
LD Stian Solberg, Valerenga NOR
Will hockey draft writers never learn? This is not football, where you can watch the NCAA and every single NFL prospect plays there. Sometimes you need to branch out, put in some effort, and watch great players in lesser known leagues. It seems a much better call than, you know, lazily not watching a player as utterly fantastic as Stian Solberg except on a completely overmatched Norwegian team in tournament play vs. Canada or the USA and then ranking him as a late 2nd or even 3rd/4th rounder... or, in many cases, not ranking him at all.
Stian Solberg is a 6'2-205 two-way defenseman who skates like the wind, hits like a Sherman tank, shuts down the opposition with smothering defense, activates offensively, and affects the game positively on every inch of ice. His average consensus ranking in the 50-60 overall range is quite possibly the most illogical and baffling story in the entire 2024 draft class.
Though he still has some work to do in gap control and positioning, defensive play is Solberg's bread and butter. Solberg's length and speed give him a ton of zone coverage. When combined with outstanding awareness, anticipation and overall hockey IQ, he's always quick on pucks and puck-carriers alike. If Solberg closes a gap on you or you meet him in the corner or crease for a puck battle, you might as well just throw up a white flag and skate like hell in the other direction. Solberg features an elite compete level and a penchant for physicality which, when combined with his almost uncanny level of strength, makes him an absolute force. He's a terrifying open-ice hitter who can separate an unsuspecting opponent from his helmet and stick. I would describe his mix of intelligence, compete and raw power as "controlled ferocity" if forced to describe it in a draft profile such as this, but were I watching him play alongside you I'd probably just sit there repeating "holy s**t, this dude is a beast!"
What distinguishes Solberg from the typical shut-down, hard-hitting defender is how impressive he is with the puck when he gets it, and how accomplished he is at activating offensively in order to create scoring opportunities. Solberg is the rare player of his ilk who cannot only strip the puck or dig it out, but can feature high-end ability with the puck once he gets it. Exiting the zone, he is a dual threat, both an excellent outlet passer and a player with the skill and speed required to rush it out himself.
Solberg is very good at zone entries, and I've seen him go end to end more than once, blowing by the opposing defenders and often utilizing his favorite move, which is a straight rush adjacent to the left-wing boards and rifling a very strong wrist shot towards the corner of the twine.
Though I wouldn't describe any of Solberg's offensive tools as elite, they are impressive across the board. With all amateur defensemen who concentrate strongly on preventing goals against, it's important to take the time and effort to project if their statistical output is a result of offensive ability or situational context. In my viewings, I'd have to say Solberg is certainly a player capable of producing very good offense at any level. This is to say, I'd say this is a player whose ultimate ceiling is very high in every aspect of hockey. He can be the rare shut-down defensive beast who also contributes offensively on a consistent basis and mans the point on a 2PP unit.
If any of this sounds like a player who has no business being ranked in the late 2nd or 3rd round or not ranked at all, it's because Stian Solberg is far, far better than his consensus draft ranking. In my humble opinion, the only question is where in the 1st round you snatch him up. This is a terrific hockey prospect with a lot of room to grow, and as such I would sincerely love the pick if a team took him inside the top 20. My own ranking of him will feature him somewhere in that range. This is not a hot take, Solberg is just that good.
If either one of these defenders ends up in our spot we take them.
R8Devs
1-5-6-12
yeah I mean I'd be fine if the Devils do end up taking one of them but there probably isn't going to be a clearcut BPA at the Devils spot so in those cases you could tend to need a bit. Devils center/forward prospect depth is really bad and they've spent two high picks on Nemec and Hughes and I think it's a very safe bet to say they'll be the #1/#2 of the team for the long term. But at forward there will be more spots open and they'd need cheap good ELC talent to really help supplement the team in ways they need. That's why I'm onboard Helenius and Brandsegg-Nygard if they do end up making the pick
Monsieur Verdoux
Registered User
They need more a defensive defenseman (aka someone like Dickinson) than a right winger who might be a center.
Juxtaposer
Outro: Divina Comedia
Hey gang, wanted to pop in and say that I love lurking in this thread because you guys are some of the smartest prospect folks on this forum and it’s always fun to read up on your opinions.
To your post, if you guys are targeting one of those hard-nosed big wingers like MBN or Chernyshov and there’s one of the top-6 defensemen available at 10 that the Sharks are interested in, I think 10 for 14+42 would make a lot of sense for both parties.
You can't trade down for Brandsegg-Nygard. I'd say there is even a chance he will be drafted before the #10 pick. But I don't think there's any chance he would get past the #10-#15 pick, regardless.
With Hage or Chernyshov, you're rolling the dice with a trade-down but there's still a chance they could even fall past #20 overall.
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I’ve already fantasized about this potential trade so I can see it lol.
Fitz hasn’t made a pick trade outside of the 7th round in four drafts, so I’m not holding my breath here.
Also you guys haven’t had a ton of extra early picks yet so I don’t know if you move that extra 2nd yet.
Rebuilding teams often lean towards quantity early on and then start trading up when they’ve stocked up on assets.
It obviously depends on who’s left though.
A worst case scenario for the Devils, in my mind, isn’t far off from the top 9 in McKenzie’s pre-lottery Top 15.
In fact it’s just Parekh dropping out of the top 9.
- Celebrini
- Demidov
- Silayev
- Levshunov
- Lindstrom
- Dickinson
- Buium (8)
- Helenius (9)
- Iginla (10)
The rest of his Top 15 is:
Parekh (7)
Catton (11)
Yakemchuk (12)
Eiserman (13)
Sennecke (14)
Connelly (15)
But maybe Parekh would be an attractive target to trade up for then. (Maybe? Hopefully? lol)
Guadana
Registered User
There is a chance they will be picked between 10 and 14 pick so its a dangerous game for us.
2024 Draft Profile:
LD Aron Kiviharju, HIFK FIN
This could be the hardest high-ranked player to evaluate for the 2024 class, because he missed most of the season with a knee injury which required major surgery. This is certainly complicated by the fact Kiviharju is a rather small defenseman at 5'10-165 and has struggled through injury problems throughout his amateur career.
When healthy, Kiviharju is certainly an impressive young player. He is a plus skater who features high-end puck-handling ability and two absolutely elite traits in his sublime passing vision and an extraordinary hockey IQ. The combination of these abilities make him an absolute force in both zone exits and entries, as well as a deadly weapon in space and on the man advantage. You give Kiviharju an inch, and he can either posterize you with some slippery dangling or feather a pass to teammate in open ice. He's a quick thinker who seems to almost instinctually analyze several options at once, and he always seems to choose the optimal play.
Like many puck-moving defenders, Kiviharju is better with the puck than without it. He plays a smart and savvy positional game defensively, but he struggles in close-quarters battles and is not enthusiastic about physical hockey. He's a passable defender because he's so smart and only requires a split second with the puck to get it out of danger. Kiviharju is just so fast transitionally that it usually compensates for his weaknesses in the d-zone.
Kiviharju will be an interesting player to track come draft day. There is certainly a lot to like, but there are also myriad questions. How long will his knee injury take to fully recover? Will it affect his development skating? Are the injuries just a freak thing or is he injury-prone?
Most rankings have Kiviharju in the late 1st round, and he could fall even further due to the questions surrounding him. But there's a bit of Adam Fox in his game and undoubtedly a ton of upside here. If he slips into the 2nd, he could wind up being a major draft-day steal.
LD Aron Kiviharju, HIFK FIN
This could be the hardest high-ranked player to evaluate for the 2024 class, because he missed most of the season with a knee injury which required major surgery. This is certainly complicated by the fact Kiviharju is a rather small defenseman at 5'10-165 and has struggled through injury problems throughout his amateur career.
When healthy, Kiviharju is certainly an impressive young player. He is a plus skater who features high-end puck-handling ability and two absolutely elite traits in his sublime passing vision and an extraordinary hockey IQ. The combination of these abilities make him an absolute force in both zone exits and entries, as well as a deadly weapon in space and on the man advantage. You give Kiviharju an inch, and he can either posterize you with some slippery dangling or feather a pass to teammate in open ice. He's a quick thinker who seems to almost instinctually analyze several options at once, and he always seems to choose the optimal play.
Like many puck-moving defenders, Kiviharju is better with the puck than without it. He plays a smart and savvy positional game defensively, but he struggles in close-quarters battles and is not enthusiastic about physical hockey. He's a passable defender because he's so smart and only requires a split second with the puck to get it out of danger. Kiviharju is just so fast transitionally that it usually compensates for his weaknesses in the d-zone.
Kiviharju will be an interesting player to track come draft day. There is certainly a lot to like, but there are also myriad questions. How long will his knee injury take to fully recover? Will it affect his development skating? Are the injuries just a freak thing or is he injury-prone?
Most rankings have Kiviharju in the late 1st round, and he could fall even further due to the questions surrounding him. But there's a bit of Adam Fox in his game and undoubtedly a ton of upside here. If he slips into the 2nd, he could wind up being a major draft-day steal.
I don't think that's a worst-case scenario at all. If I'm the Devils, I just take Brandsegg-Nygard at #10 overall and come away extremely happy.
Juxtaposer
Outro: Divina Comedia
The Sharks are in an interesting situation where our U23 forward group (Celebrini, Smith, Eklund, Musty, Zetterlund, Bystedt, Edstrom, Halttunen, Graf, Bordeleau, Gushchin) is pretty darn good, but the only guy in the whole system we have that I think is a legit future top-4 guy is Mukhamadullin. We really need to start drafting D at some point, but the BPA at 14 will almost definitely be a winger. I love MBN as much as you guys and Sennecke is an interesting guy too, so either of those RWs with size do fit a need for us, but it would mean a lot to our organizational structure to grab a defenseman with high-end potential.
There are definitely some interesting defensemen that are likely to be available at 42, so I do think there’s value in that pick, but if we can get a guy who has a really good chance of being a future core defenseman for the Sharks, I think it’s worth moving the pick.
Totally, this sort of thing would obviously only go down if the Devils were confident they’d get someone they might have taken at 10 anyway at 14.
Just something to think about.
2024 Draft Profile:
LD Veeti Vaisanen, Kookoo FIN
Here we have a player who has not received a ton of attention leading up to the 2024 NHL draft, but who possesses several positive traits which make him projectable for future professional success. On first look, he's a 6'0-175 defense-first rearguard who skates exceptionally well, but the more you watch him the more there is to like.
Vaisanen is very smart defensively, and as such he's advanced in his positioning and reads. This has allowed him to log big minutes in a very competitive Finnish men's league, where most defensemen his age are still playing in juniors. He doesn't overthink the position, and although he has the ability to make a nice deke or pass, if that opportunity does not immediately present itself he's perfectly fine with just making a safe play to get pucks out of danger. Though not proactively physical, he does not shy from contact and will reciprocate, which certainly endeared him to his teammates in an often physical Liiga.
Offensively, though Vaisanen is by no means exceptional, he's certainly interesting. He's a terrific skater, giving him the ability to rush pucks for zone entries or activate off the point in a flash. I'd call his passing and puck-handling skills both good, and he has a decent shot too. This combination of good-across-the-board skills may not scream "point producer", but when juxtaposed with his high hockey IQ, willingness to join the play and quick skates, I think there will be some offense there at higher levels.
Vaisanen's consensus rankings normally fall into the early 3rd round range. I'm writing about him because I feel he would be a very good pick as early as the mid-2nd round and is probably a bit undervalued. Defensemen who skate this well and have capability on both sides of the puck are not easy to find, and Veeti Vaisanen certainly fits such a description.
LD Veeti Vaisanen, Kookoo FIN
Here we have a player who has not received a ton of attention leading up to the 2024 NHL draft, but who possesses several positive traits which make him projectable for future professional success. On first look, he's a 6'0-175 defense-first rearguard who skates exceptionally well, but the more you watch him the more there is to like.
Vaisanen is very smart defensively, and as such he's advanced in his positioning and reads. This has allowed him to log big minutes in a very competitive Finnish men's league, where most defensemen his age are still playing in juniors. He doesn't overthink the position, and although he has the ability to make a nice deke or pass, if that opportunity does not immediately present itself he's perfectly fine with just making a safe play to get pucks out of danger. Though not proactively physical, he does not shy from contact and will reciprocate, which certainly endeared him to his teammates in an often physical Liiga.
Offensively, though Vaisanen is by no means exceptional, he's certainly interesting. He's a terrific skater, giving him the ability to rush pucks for zone entries or activate off the point in a flash. I'd call his passing and puck-handling skills both good, and he has a decent shot too. This combination of good-across-the-board skills may not scream "point producer", but when juxtaposed with his high hockey IQ, willingness to join the play and quick skates, I think there will be some offense there at higher levels.
Vaisanen's consensus rankings normally fall into the early 3rd round range. I'm writing about him because I feel he would be a very good pick as early as the mid-2nd round and is probably a bit undervalued. Defensemen who skate this well and have capability on both sides of the puck are not easy to find, and Veeti Vaisanen certainly fits such a description.
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I love that you've already included Celebrini into your prospect pool. I recall doing the same thing with Jack Hughes.
I've done a couple of mini-mock drafts on this thread and had RD Adam Jiricek going to San Jose at #14 overall. He'd be a terrific pick there, and he's pretty likely to still be available. Mobile, two-way defensemen who are adept in all aspects of the game are very difficult to find, especially on the right side, and Jiricek checks every box in the scouting manual.
trading back to the sharks makes some sense, If getting that 2nd round pick would help us in a trade for a goalie I would be for it.
We still probably end up with a player we and Fitz want and get Marstrom or some other goalie.
I'd think all of the current factions on this board would find that an acceptable result.
We still probably end up with a player we and Fitz want and get Marstrom or some other goalie.
I'd think all of the current factions on this board would find that an acceptable result.
Guadana
Registered User
I believe If flyers could offer some NHL level goalie or very good goalie prospect. But I believe you will not trade 14 + Zavragin for 10th)
For me it does matter do we have Helenius, Buium, Nygard and Chernyshov on the table. But still in this situation smart gm will just pick his player. But again - I could live with Chernyshov\Nygard+Zavragin if I will lose Buium. But again I dont think Briere will)
In case of 14th pick I dont see any problem to draft Jiricek or even Frej if SJ wants D.
Juxtaposer
Outro: Divina Comedia
You don’t think 14 is too high for Jiricek? I remember liking him a lot as a potential top-15 player coming into this season because of he was really good at the U18, but from everything I’ve read he was not having a good season in the Czech men’s league and then was seriously injured at the WJC. And, probably unfairly, I’ve been a little offput by his brother’s situation in Columbus.
If he’s the player I thought he was coming into the season then I have no problem with him at 14. I just don’t think this season was good enough to justify a selection in the teens.
I wrote Jiricek up last week. He's a prospect I really like. I'd say his most-likely scenario is two-way, second-pairing NHL RD but because of his relative youth (a couple months from 2025 draft) and the injuries, he may have more untapped upside on either side of the puck than we may be aware of. Anyway, here it is:
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.
One of the reason at least I am down on Jiricek is pretty unreasonable, It's just that as soon as I look at him I just want to poke him with a stick and ask "Why aren't you like your brother?"
The pain of not being the eldest child I guess.
Unrelated to any prospects, but I wonder if we might borrow an idea from the Ducks and have Luke announce the pick? In 2022, Anaheim had Mason McTavish go on stage and announce the Nathan Gaucher selection. McTavish (like Luke) didn't get the usual pomp and circumstance since the 2021 Draft was remote.
Luke would be in town already for the Awards show the night before.
Luke would be in town already for the Awards show the night before.
I mean, most people would argue that Wayne Gretzky was better than Keith Gretzky.
- Dec 20, 2018
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2024 NHL Mock Draft: Post-Lottery Edition
The Sharks will take can't-miss prospect Macklin Celebrini to open the 2024 draft, but get ready for some hand-wringing with every pick thereafter.
Kournianos has Iginla going at 3OA. Haven’t seen anyone else have him this high. For those MBN fans like myself, he has him as our pick. Interestingly enough, Helenius goes to Buffalo at 11OA.
Carter George (G) at 20 is complete madness lol.
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