Prospect Info: 2024 NHL Draft Thread

[glenwo2]

Like Nico?

Man...I remember being skeptical (at best) at Nico's selection as I was drinking the shitty Nolan Patrick (though I didn't know how shitty) Kool-Aid.

This is why I'm not a GM or scout.

I would've Rogalski'd stuff up.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

More Sennecke propaganda

https://x.com/i/web/status/1804578201785475577

 

[Guadana]

based on his hockey IQ, skill, size, shot, passing, his room to fill out into his body etc.
He has the highest upside as a winger besides Demidov.

Sennecke?
Nygard, Chernyshov, Catton, Helenius, Iginla has better IQ.
All of them are better skaters. Nygard and Chernyshov especially. Others are better or on the level.
Nygard have better shot. May be Iginla and Chernyshov too, at least on the level.
Catton and Helenius have better passing. Iginla is on the level.
Nygard and Chernyshov are better physical players. I would say Helenius is better physical player now. Iginla is on the level.
All of them are better hard workers, some of them are in miles away better. Defensively too.

All the Sennecke talk is pure NA favoritism, size lovering and highlight scouting. Sennecke was great in the final of the season when he started to play with one of the best players Ritchie. Nygard was recordly great in harder league for his age with 19yo players on his line. Helenius played greatly in play off in much harder league. Catton is just smaller version of Sennecke who is better in every the same aspects, just smaller. Chernyshov is the big player who can play defense, who can play physical, who is as great or even greater as puckhandler.

So when you are saying that Sennecke is the second best winger, you should slow down a little bit.

 

[StevenToddIves]

More Sennecke propaganda

https://x.com/i/web/status/1804578201785475577

Yep, we can all agree Sennecke is worth a 1st round pick. I have no idea what that chart is saying, but I've said all along Sennecke is worth a pick around the middle of the 1st round.

What would make this interesting to the draft board would be to explain how Sennecke is superior in your eyes to other forwards the Devils might consider. We could start with the easiest, which is Berkly Catton, because they employ similar play-styles.

So, how is Sennecke a superior pick to Catton? We can open this up to anyone on the board who would, given the choice between Sennecke and Catton, prefer to pick Sennecke. I think it will be genuinely interesting to hear the responses.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Yep, we can all agree Sennecke is worth a 1st round pick. I have no idea what that chart is saying, but I've said all along Sennecke is worth a pick around the middle of the 1st round.

What would make this interesting to the draft board would be to explain how Sennecke is superior in your eyes to other forwards the Devils might consider. We could start with the easiest, which is Berkly Catton, because they employ similar play-styles.

So, how is Sennecke a superior pick to Catton? We can open this up to anyone on the board who would, given the choice between Sennecke and Catton, prefer to pick Sennecke. I think it will be genuinely interesting to hear the responses.

Looks like it was Mitchell Brown that manually tracked these games. He works at EP Rinkside. Very in depth categories he has there, I’ve never seen many of them.

 

[StevenToddIves]

View attachment 885778

Looks like it was Mitchell Brown that manually tracked these games. He works at EP Rinkside. Very in depth categories he has there, I’ve never seen many of them.

Is that better than Catton?

 

[Captain3rdLine]

What are the odds that the Devils look to pull a slight trade back in round one in hopes of adding a 2nd round draft pick to their bag? It seems like we could possibly go back 5 or 6 spots and still land a player they may covet. Is that enough of a move back to accomplish that? Snagging someone's 2nd might be appealing to the Devils.

Pretty unlikely. Doesn’t happen often.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Is that better than Catton?

No idea, I don’t pay for any of his stuff. I assume the percentiles are based on players in the same league. Most of the top end prospects look good in these types of charts. Except I did see some of Eiserman’s tracked stats earlier in the year and they were comically bad lol.

 

[Devs3cups]

I have a feeling it's going to be Buium, MBN or Helenius.

 

[Guadana]

I have a feeling it's going to be Buium, MBN or Helenius.

Devils need two forwards like Sennecke/Catton/Iginla in top 9 is real and one team should draft Parekh/Yakemchuk to fill huge RD need, or Silayev, than Devils will have an opportunity to draft at least one of Buium/Dickinson.

Celebrini is 1OA
2 Chicago will draft Demidov or Levshunov
3 Ducks should draft Levshunov, they have huge need in RD, if he isn’t available they not drafting from Russia, so it should be Lindstrom. Or Yakemchuk I hope.
4 Jackets have huge need in F. They will draft Demidov or Lindstrom.

5 Mtl have huge need in forward. That’s the first right place to help Devils. I believe they will draft Iginla, Sennecke or Catton.
6 Utah can do different things, but they need defenseman. It’s better for them to draft RD, but they are not afraid to draft Russian. But they still can draft Dickinson or Buium - they need top defenseman for PP. But it could be Parekh or Yakemchuk. Very important pick for Devils. They can draft to help us, they can draft to make it much harder for us.

7 Ottawa needs in RD. They have issues with forwards too. In the same time they are talking about moving this pick - I don’t know who is a trade partner so I will not take this situation into analysis. It should be the second team who can helps us.
8 Seattle has different needs. I believe they will pick BPA on their list. Feels like Buium (if he is available) is their pick. They don’t need centers, of course they need compliment Beniers and Wright, but I think they will make it harder for Devils. They still need RD too.

9 A lot of talks about Iginla for Calgary. I think they are hoping someone will draft him before. They need centers and defensemen. If Iginla isn’t available they can go different ways. Again - who is better on their list.
_____

So the chance for Devils to have Buium or Dickinson exist. And even if both are not available - there is a big chance to have many good players on the table. They can draft player they really want, if they have tier of players - they can talk with SJ about trading 14 and second round pick for 10OA. Because if Dickinson and Buium are not available - it does mean 5-6(or more) players from the group of Solberg, Iginla, Nygard, Catton, Hage, Chernyshov, Helenius, Silayev are available, Draft is really good and I’m not worry about 10 pick available talents or even 14 pick position. I’m worry Fitz will draft some player like Sennecke or Eiserman who are having talents but have question about translating their game to the new level. Both need learn more. If Fitz will trade back to the 16-18 spot, it would be okay to draft Sennecke, and there will be at least one more player from this big group of talents. Draft is really good.

 

[Zacha37]

I have a feeling it's going to be Buium, MBN or Helenius.

All would be a near slam dunk. I have the gut feeling we’re going to reach on Solberg, but the awesome scouts on here have warmed me up to the idea a little bit.

 

[Guadana]

All would be a near slam dunk. I have the gut feeling we’re going to reach on Solberg, but the awesome scouts on here have warmed me up to the idea a little bit.

Solberg is looking like less playmaking Seider. Even 30-35 points defensive defenseman with great skating, speed, physicality, who will play all hard defensive situation is a great option for 10 pick. He isn’t my number one or number two option for this pick but I will not regret any moment about this pick.

 

[Zacha37]

Solberg is looking like less playmaking Seider. Even 30-35 points defensive defenseman with great skating, speed, physicality, who will play all hard defensive situation is a great option for 10 pick. He isn’t my number one or number two option for this pick but I will not regret any moment about this pick.

Great traits that all align with what appears to be Fitz’s M.O. this offseason. He’s definitely high on their board if I had to guess.

 

[StevenToddIves]

All would be a near slam dunk. I have the gut feeling we’re going to reach on Solberg, but the awesome scouts on here have warmed me up to the idea a little bit.

I've been saying awhile that the Devils need to improve the team speed and the team physicality and the team defensive play. Solberg would achieve all three.

Stian Solberg is a terrific skater who plays outstanding, intelligent and high-compete defense. I often say he's the most "effectively physical" defenseman in the draft. This is to say he is one of the hardest hitting amateur blueliners you will see, but he does not often leave position in order to make hits. Again, he's a very smart hockey player, and he also takes measures to keep his hitting game legal and not hurt his team by taking penalties.

What makes Solberg truly intriguing is that, in my mind, he has more offensive potential than he's often given credit for. In addition to the great skating, he's pretty good at puck handling and puck protection, and an effective, if not overly creative, passer. His bread and butter is his shot, which is truly outstanding. Solberg can really blister the puck, with a nice quick release and pretty good accuracy. I think he has 2PP upside at the NHL level, but I don't think it's unrealistic to project Solberg as a intimidatingly physical, shut down defender who can also top 40+ points at the highest levels.

Solberg is not comparable to other highly-regarded 2024-eligible defensemen who have big-time scoring upside like Parekh, Levshunov, Yakemchuk and Buium -- but I would say he's certainly in the same class as Dickinson and Silayev, both of whom are likely to be taken in the top 10. Of the three, I'd say Silayev has the most defensive upside and Dickinson the most offensive upside with Solberg as the most physical of the three.

But most of all, if you want your team to be faster, meaner, tougher to score on and tougher to play -- well, Solberg is a very good pick.

 

[Zacha37]

I've been saying awhile that the Devils need to improve the team speed and the team physicality and the team defensive play. Solberg would achieve all three.

Stian Solberg is a terrific skater who plays outstanding, intelligent and high-compete defense. I often say he's the most "effectively physical" defenseman in the draft. This is to say he is one of the hardest hitting amateur blueliners you will see, but he does not often leave position in order to make hits. Again, he's a very smart hockey player, and he also takes measures to keep his hitting game legal and not hurt his team by taking penalties.

What makes Solberg truly intriguing is that, in my mind, he has more offensive potential than he's often given credit for. In addition to the great skating, he's pretty good at puck handling and puck protection, and an effective, if not overly creative, passer. His bread and butter is his shot, which is truly outstanding. Solberg can really blister the puck, with a nice quick release and pretty good accuracy. I think he has 2PP upside at the NHL level, but I don't think it's unrealistic to project Solberg as a intimidatingly physical, shut down defender who can also top 40+ points at the highest levels.

Solberg is not comparable to other highly-regarded 2024-eligible defensemen who have big-time scoring upside like Parekh, Levshunov, Yakemchuk and Buium -- but I would say he's certainly in the same class as Dickinson and Silayev, both of whom are likely to be taken in the top 10. Of the three, I'd say Silayev has the most defensive upside and Dickinson the most offensive upside with Solberg as the most physical of the three.

But most of all, if you want your team to be faster, meaner, tougher to score on and tougher to play -- well, Solberg is a very good pick.

Love and appreciate your write ups as well as @Guadana. Very insightful and have to be some of the best amongst everyone on the forum. I’ve seen your previous Seider comparisons and couldn’t agree more, where we see a team questioned for a “reach” but are later praised for doing something ballsy.

 

[evnted]

wanted to share a snippet from the latest hockeyprospect video (0:47-8:17). im a fan of their work in general, but the mbn discussion, particularly when getting compared to sennecke, is pretty relevant for the discussions going on here

there really isnt much difference between their read on the player and the ones being posted here. they defend him as being more skilled than people lead on, they argue against the notion of him being a finished product/lacking upside, they strongly support the projectability of his game, and they agree hes a pretty easy pick earlier than they have him ranked (16) due to how useful his game is for nhl rosters

what im trying to say is, i dont think this board is disproportionately high on mbn per se, i think a lot of people are seeing the same thing. to me, the ranking discrepancy is coming from a difference in priorities/ideologies. people who prefer sennecke are banking on a rawer game with a higher degree of playmaking/creativity that may translate into a better player if other things come along with it. on this board, i think a lot of us are responding more directly to the product in front of us and projecting what that looks like long term

 

[Alex NJD]

wanted to share a snippet from the latest hockeyprospect video (0:47-8:17). im a fan of their work in general, but the mbn discussion, particularly when getting compared to sennecke, is pretty relevant for the discussions going on here

there really isnt much difference between their read on the player and the ones being posted here. they defend him as being more skilled than people lead on, they argue against the notion of him being a finished product/lacking upside, they strongly support the projectability of his game, and they agree hes a pretty easy pick earlier than they have him ranked (16) due to how useful his game is for nhl rosters

what im trying to say is, i dont think this board is disproportionately high on mbn per se, i think a lot of people are seeing the same thing. to me, the ranking discrepancy is coming from a difference in priorities/ideologies. people who prefer sennecke are banking on a rawer game with a higher degree of playmaking/creativity that may translate into a better player if other things come along with it. on this board, i think a lot of us are responding more directly to the product in front of us and projecting what that looks like long term

I think a lot of people (myself included) see a core of Hischier, Bratt, Meier, Jack, Luke, and Nemec and figure we don't need to take a big home run type swing for another core player and prefer the safer bet of getting some more support for the core that provide some new elements.

Also hilarious that one guy in the comments from that video is passionately defending Catton and his "elite skating" and "elite compete level"

 

[StevenToddIves]

I think a lot of people (myself included) see a core of Hischier, Bratt, Meier, Jack, Luke, and Nemec and figure we don't need to take a big home run type swing for another core player and prefer the safer bet of getting some more support for the core that provide some new elements.

Also hilarious that one guy in the comments from that video is passionately defending Catton and his "elite skating" and "elite compete level"

Catton is a good skater with a good compete level. He's not close to elite in either category. It's not only unfair to us to categorize him as elite in those aspects, it's also unfair to him.

Catton is an outstanding prospect because he does, in fact, have elite abilities -- passing, puck handling and offensive hockey IQ. But several forwards in 1st round consideration are appreciably better skaters than him -- Nygard, Chernyshov, Hage, Basha, Luchenko, Stiga and Mustard all come to mind. And several have an appreciably higher compete -- Nygard, Helenius, Chernyshov, Artamonov, Surin, Luchanko, Ricthie, Stiga, Vanacker, Mustard all come to mind.

I'm not sure where people find it necessary to prevaricate additional elite abilities onto an already-great draft prospect. If Catton was elite in skating and compete, he would have 5 elite tools and be a slam dunk for the top 3 of this draft, because in this draft the only player with this many elite traits are Celebrini and Demidov.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

Does anyone can tell about what he is saying in this article?



Jarvis is a lot about winning puck battles, retrieve the puck, be positive in cycling, be fast and active.

So yeah, even if junior stuff is fun, modern NHL is a lot about cycling, battles in tranches, and when player can win puck battle, can take right position in different situation AND in the same time have skill and speed to include offensive impact - he will be very productive and impactful on the ice.

So yeah, Im very high on guys like Nygard.

From what I can tell by quotes, Dennehy thinks the exact same way as me and is responsible for 3 of our better picks the last two years. A key component is winning battles in unleveraged situations and being able to create offense from it. Obviously the skill aspect is extremely important as well but I don’t see us reaching at a McLeod type in this draft, he prioritizes different things with regards to team toughness.

 

[Guadana]

From what I can tell by quotes, Dennehy thinks the exact same way as me and is responsible for 3 of our better picks the last two years. A key component is winning battles in unleveraged situations and being able to create offense from it. Obviously the skill aspect is extremely important as well but I don’t see us reaching at a McLeod type in this draft, he prioritizes different things with regards to team toughness.

Even if I want Nygard/Chernyshov/Solberg little bit more, some people wants Sennecke, some people wants Catton, some people wants Iginla, some people wants Helenius(I still like him as a pick) I think Fitz will pick between Helenius and Iginla. Both are good in puck battles, have some skill, both are consensusly more hyped prospects.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

Even if I want Nygard/Chernyshov/Solberg little bit more, some people wants Sennecke, some people wants Catton, some people wants Iginla, some people wants Helenius(I still like him as a pick) I think Fitz will pick between Helenius and Iginla. Both are good in puck battles, have some skill, both are consensusly more hyped prospects.

I think Dickinson falls to NJ and they go that route. Fans won’t like it because he isn’t a flashy prospect, but one that will help win cups. He ends plays immediately all over the ice. Hockey sense is often misunderstood with defensmen, as long as they understand their limitations and make safe plays, you can still be a #1 defensmen. You would think fans would have learned that with Stevens.

 

[The Wumpus]

If McGroarty were available in this draft as a 2xOA, where would he go?

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

If McGroarty were available in this draft as a 2xOA, where would he go?

Around the 7 -10 range based on how developed he already is.

 

[Guadana]

I think Dickinson falls to NJ and they go that route. Fans won’t like it because he isn’t a flashy prospect, but one that will help win cups. He ends plays immediately all over the ice. Hockey sense is often misunderstood with defensmen, as long as they understand their limitations and make safe plays, you can still be a #1 defensmen. You would think fans would have learned that with Stevens.

Of course if Buium and/or Dickinson are available - they should be picked. I have some players ahead of Dickinson, im not very high on his positional game - he made wrong decisions against transition, he should learn better how to control zones, so its not like im worry about his playmaking. Im in one step away from putting Solberg ahead of him, but I understand the potential, I understand the fit, I understand how much time he will eat, I understand how impressive could be the pair of him with Nemec. So I will be happy with him, but I still see less chances for him to be available. Every gm in the league loves defenseman, who is big, mobile, can play with the puck, can play physical, can play defense, has huge shot.

But Devils should not wait Stevens from him.

 

[Guadana]

If McGroarty were available in this draft as a 2xOA, where would he go?

5-15 I would say. Because everybody needs defensemen and centers. Its still hard to evaluate because he already has two great seasons in NCAA, this draft class mostly didnt play agaisnt better competition, only Silayev, Artamonov, Chernyshov and Helenius did. Chernyshov wasnt productive. Silayev wasnt productive but still played smart defensive game, on the other hand his puck skills and decision making with the puck needs a lot of polishing, so he is more not ready product. McGroatry is showing progress, productivity, skills and physics. So if some has Sennecke at five, I dont see why he would not draft McGroarty at five. But its not every gm. McGroarty still has some questions with his skating, two way game and he isnt center. I believe many gms have Dickinson, Buium, even Yakemchuk and Silayev over him.