Prospect Info: 2024 NHL Draft Thread

[Unknown Caller]

My impression is that teams either offer trade downs with more picks or the usual declining overpaid vets. I get doing that for Markstrom but for an equivalent position player? Seems like bad value to me. I guess it’s up to the scouting department to decide if a McGroarty is a good target.

Why does it have to be a declining overpaid vet and who would give up a top 10 pick for that anyway?

Everyone is obsessed with picks and prospects, but at a certain point it makes more sense to get the established impact NHL player. For the Devils that time is now.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

This comment came to my mind when I read an article about Sennecke from the EP Rinkside and watched his highlight reel that was linked in the article. I understand if you don't like the player, but his puck skills are really something. Or as Mitch Brown wrote: "Sennecke's creativity with the puck is unmatched; his highlight reel might be the best in the entire draft class."



Film Room: Beckett Sennecke's dynamic skill and versatility make him a top-10 talent (+)

This literally goes to exactly what I’ve been saying this entire time on this thread. I think his creativity, elusiveness, and highlight real are great. I think they make his puck skills overrated.

The moves he’s pulling off in all those highlights are moves that every single player in the this class could execute. It’s his mind and the creativity that is standing out. I think people are getting overly swayed by the highlight reel. The way he’s creating his offense and putting pucks through defenders triangles and stuff is cool and all but is a thousand times harder to pull off against faster, stronger, and smarter NHL defensemen. It’s not very translatable and frankly I don’t think he’s fast or skilled enough to play that type of game in the NHL and be an elite NHL forward.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Important reminder. We’re trying to find the best NHL player. Not the best junior, college or European player. How transferable a players skillset is is one of the most important things. Can be hard to evaluate though.

 

[My3Sons]

Why does it have to be a declining overpaid vet and who would give up a top 10 pick for that anyway?

Everyone is obsessed with picks and prospects, but at a certain point it makes more sense to get the established impact NHL player. For the Devils that time is now.

I’m skeptical an established impact NHL player is offered. Markstrom cost a first and Bahl. What would the cost be for an impact skater with any term? I think much more than pick 10. We will see.

 

[Alex NJD]

I’m skeptical an established impact NHL player is offered. Markstrom cost a first and Bahl. What would the cost be for an impact skater with any term? I think much more than pick 10. We will see.

Have you heard of elite power forward Josh Anderson in Montreal?

 

[My3Sons]

Have you heard of elite power forward Josh Anderson in Montreal?

Like I said he’d cost more than pick 10. Maybe if NJ is willing to package 10 with Nemec.

 

[Unknown Caller]

I’m skeptical an established impact NHL player is offered. Markstrom cost a first and Bahl. What would the cost be for an impact skater with any term? I think much more than pick 10. We will see.

DeBrincat brought back 7th overall in the initial trade to Ottawa, Fiala brought back Faber and 19, just as an example. Kirby Dach got traded for 13 on the draft floor.

I'm not saying the Devils would go after a guy like Fiala or DeBrincat and obviously contract status has to be considered with whoever they acquire, but those are two recent trades that brought back impact NHL players in their prime with high/mid 1sts in the package around the time of the draft.

 

[Monsieur Verdoux]

Important reminder. We’re trying to find the best NHL player. Not the best junior, college or European player. How transferable a players skillset is is one of the most important things. Can be hard to evaluate though.

Yeah, I understand that. But there are different views about how these prospects translatable their skills to the NHL. In the NHL Draft Black Book Sennecke's floor is 7 and ceiling 9. The grades are based on a 3 to 9 scale also used by an NHL team.

Cole Eiserman's floor is 4 and ceiling 8. I only mention this because I read earlier that you like his game a lot.

I think Sennecke's floor isn't as high as is mentioned in the NHL Draft Black Book, but I also think that his skills are more translatable to the NHL than Eiserman's. So maybe I should remind you that we're trying to find the best NHL player. Not the best junior, college or European player.

 

[Unknown Caller]

Yeah, I understand that. But there are different views about how these prospects translatable their skills to the NHL. In the NHL Draft Black Book Sennecke's floor is 7 and ceiling 9. The grades are based on a 3 to 9 scale also used by an NHL team.

Cole Eiserman's floor is 4 and ceiling 8. I only mention this because I read earlier that you like his game a lot.

I think Sennecke's floor isn't as high as is mentioned in the NHL Draft Black Book, but I also think that his skills are more translatable to the NHL than Eiserman's. So maybe I should remind you that we're trying to find the best NHL player. Not the best junior, college or European player.

Ceiling is also stupid because there's a huge scale as to how likely it is that a player reaches that ceiling.

Josh Ho-Sang's ceiling was probably a 10, but it was always a huge question mark if he could ever get near it.

From my viewings of Sennecke, I just don't see a 9 ceiling either, but that's beside the point.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Yeah, I understand that. But there are different views about how these prospects translatable their skills to the NHL. In the NHL Draft Black Book Sennecke's floor is 7 and ceiling 9. The grades are based on a 3 to 9 scale also used by an NHL team.

Cole Eiserman's floor is 4 and ceiling 8. I only mention this because I read earlier that you like his game a lot.

I think Sennecke's floor isn't as high as is mentioned in the NHL Draft Black Book, but I also think that his skills are more translatable to the NHL than Eiserman's. So maybe I should remind you that we're trying to find the best NHL player. Not the best junior, college or European player.

I wouldn’t say I like Eiserman’s game a lot. There’s some holes in it but I like his skillset a lot. Elite shot, good hands, underratedly pretty good skater IMO, good offensive mind, and more physical of a player than he’s given credit for. Has the tools to be an elite offensive forward.

I don’t think Sennecke’s close to him skill wise despite having a nice highlight reel.

The comment about the best NHL player had a lot to do with not just the highlight tape but people who are extremely swayed by Sennecke’s production increase, as well as his OHL microstats. These are obviously worth looking at but just a small part of the picture and evaluating him. Also wasn’t just to do with Sennecke as I see it all the time. People talk to much about how well prospects have done in their respective leagues and sometimes not enough about their skillsets and how well they think they will translate and adjust to the NHL.

 

[My3Sons]

DeBrincat brought back 7th overall in the initial trade to Ottawa, Fiala brought back Faber and 19, just as an example. Kirby Dach got traded for 13 on the draft floor.

I'm not saying the Devils would go after a guy like Fiala or DeBrincat and obviously contract status has to be considered with whoever they acquire, but those are two recent trades that brought back impact NHL players in their prime with high/mid 1sts in the package around the time of the draft.

Those are good examples. Maybe something like that become available.

 

[Monsieur Verdoux]

I wouldn’t say I like Eiserman’s game a lot. There’s some holes in it but I like his skillset a lot. Elite shot, good hands, underratedly pretty good skater IMO, good offensive mind, and more physical of a player than he’s given credit for. Has the tools to be an elite offensive forward.

I don’t think Sennecke’s close to him skill wise despite having a nice highlight reel.

The comment about the best NHL player had a lot to do with not just the highlight tape but people who are extremely swayed by Sennecke’s production increase, as well as his OHL microstats. These are obviously worth looking at but just a small part of the picture and evaluating him.

Yeah, Sennecke's highlight reel was just a one little example why I like him as a prospect. I try to watch few shift-by-shift games and read analysis about all of the prospects that the Devils could pick with the 10th pick, and for me Sennecke's skillset and other attributes are more attractive than Eiserman's. But that's the fun thing about the draft that we can argue and evaluate these players differently.

 

[Alex NJD]

So far we got an article from Novo late last week that said Fitz wants guys who are "hard to play against". Sunday we got a Helenius article. MBN article today. I assume we probably get one a day for the next 3 days at least, maybe a 4th on draft day.

I'll be interested to see who else Novo asked about, whether it's guys expected to go around 10th or guys who more closely follow the hard to play against stuff (both guys so far are an overlap of both groups). He's good at this job so I'm sure he did his research before talking to Dennehy.


Also love that they mentioned MBN's performance at the world championship. He stepped up playing at a higher level against tons of NHL players for the first time in his career. I read somewhere that he (and Solberg) showed a ton of heart during both the WJC and WC, consistently playing with intensity and working hard all over the ice no matter the score (Norway as you can imagine was on the losing side for most of those games, some badly). Definitely can't go wrong injecting that level of heart into a team.

Also read (I think something that was linked in the prospect section of the main board) that one guy at the combine saw MBN and thought for a second that some NHL player showed up as a joke because of how well built he was.

 

[Nubmer6]

I assume we probably get one a day for the next 3 days at least, maybe a 4th on draft day.

He said he talked to Dennehy about 5 prospects. Helenius and MBN were the first 2 he wrote up, so ya, 3 more to come then probably a draft primer the day of the draft.

 

[longislanddevil]

I thought McKenzie’s final rankings were coming out this morning. I was really looking forward to it. Maybe it’s being held off a bit longer since the NHL Final is still hanging in the balance?

 

[NiWa]

I thought McKenzie’s final rankings were coming out this morning. I was really looking forward to it. Maybe it’s being held off a bit longer since the NHL Final is still hanging in the balance?

He stated on Social Media that it was moved back to Tuesday.

 

[StevenToddIves]

This comment came to my mind when I read an article about Sennecke from the EP Rinkside and watched his highlight reel that was linked in the article. I understand if you don't like the player, but his puck skills are really something. Or as Mitch Brown wrote: "Sennecke's creativity with the puck is unmatched; his highlight reel might be the best in the entire draft class."



Film Room: Beckett Sennecke's dynamic skill and versatility make him a top-10 talent (+)

Well, I have a few responses here for a fw points raised. First, no one on this board dislikes Sennecke -- we all have him as a 1st round pick. Second, no one on this board has dismissed Sennecke's puck-handling skill as anything short of elite -- he's a brilliant stickhandler and it's been stated and re-stated at length (he's also a great passer, great at zone entries, and a good shooter). Third, Mitch Brown obviously, like many in the draft community, not watched any Demidov film.

I will say it again -- Sennecke is not close to Demidov's tier, and they are similar-type players. They are not close now and their upsides aren't close. They are about equal as skaters, and Demidov is a level ahead of Sennecke in puck-handling and shooting, while being several levels above Sennecke in passing vision, hockey IQ, compete level, defensive play, physicality, pretty much anything else we can come up with.

Conversely, Sennecke is ahead of Demidov in being tall and being Canadian instead of Russian.

In a nutshell, no one is complaining about Sennecke being defined as good or 1st round worthy. The complaints are about the hype outweighing the possibility by a country mile. Another similar-type player to Sennecke is Berkly Catton -- what does Sennecke do better than Catton?

Ultimately, we should all be happy here because this overhyping is turning into a best-case scenario for New Jersey -- if Sennecke is drafted in the top 9, it will push a significantly superior prospect with significantly higher upside down to the Devils. I mean, how great would it be if a division rival like Columbus took Sennecke at #4 and passed up on a forward two to three tiers ahead of him like Demidov or Cayden Lindstrom? It would be cause for celebration.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Sennecke’s microstats looked really good in all areas of the game (not a huge sample, but at least we have something measurable), so I don’t think he’s just getting hype for some highlight reel plays.

“Defense” in general seems hard to project at the next level, especially for a wing, given that there are so many ways to impact the game defensively. Mitch Marner and Tomas Tatar were two of the best defensive forwards in the NHL in 22-23 in terms of actual measurable impacts…and they’re both branded as softies that don’t play a “playoff style”.

Again, I don't see the relevance in micro stats, but I'm not here to put them down, but rather to ask you if Sennecke's micro stats are better than Catton or Demidov. Because those are two similar-type wingers who, according to all my draft analysis experience, are far better prospects with appreciably higher upside than Sennecke.

 

[StevenToddIves]

DeBrincat brought back 7th overall in the initial trade to Ottawa, Fiala brought back Faber and 19, just as an example. Kirby Dach got traded for 13 on the draft floor.

I'm not saying the Devils would go after a guy like Fiala or DeBrincat and obviously contract status has to be considered with whoever they acquire, but those are two recent trades that brought back impact NHL players in their prime with high/mid 1sts in the package around the time of the draft.

I think it's also rather important to consider than Ottawa and Los Angeles both got murdered in those trades, and Montreal did not win their deal, either.

I mean, right now if the deal was just Faber for Fiala straight up, you'd have to give the edge to Minnesota.

It's fine to give up picks so high if you are drafting a franchise-type player. But not for a simply *good* player. This is to say it's ok to trade #10 if it's for Brady Tkachuk, but not for Ehlers or Necas.

 

[StevenToddIves]

I wouldn’t say I like Eiserman’s game a lot. There’s some holes in it but I like his skillset a lot. Elite shot, good hands, underratedly pretty good skater IMO, good offensive mind, and more physical of a player than he’s given credit for. Has the tools to be an elite offensive forward.

I don’t think Sennecke’s close to him skill wise despite having a nice highlight reel.

The comment about the best NHL player had a lot to do with not just the highlight tape but people who are extremely swayed by Sennecke’s production increase, as well as his OHL microstats. These are obviously worth looking at but just a small part of the picture and evaluating him. Also wasn’t just to do with Sennecke as I see it all the time. People talk to much about how well prospects have done in their respective leagues and sometimes not enough about their skillsets and how well they think they will translate and adjust to the NHL.

Eiserman's hands and passing vision are underrated. They are both extremely high-end.

No player in the draft except Demidov is better at manipulating defenders with quick moves to set up their shot, and no player in the draft at all is better at releasing high-quality shots from a variety of release points and body angles. Eiserman is a master at this.

He is also capable of high-creativity, brilliant passing plays. I mean, normally he foregoes this to say "f**k it, I'm blasting it top corns". But when he wants to make high-end passing plays, he sure as hell can.

Skill wise and upside wise, Sennecke is not in Eiserman's league. They are equivalent skaters, I'd give Eiserman a slight edge maybe. Size-wise, Sennecke has more length but Eiserman is more solid. Where Sennecke gets the edge over Eiserman is that he has a higher floor. This is because Eiserman is brimming with red flags when it comes to consistency of compete, play without the puck and decision making. While none of these areas are Sennecke's strengths, he's ok in all of those respects and not alarmingly in need of fixing them like Eiserman.

So to put it simply, if you're deciding between Sennecke or Eiserman? It's easy -- if you want floor you go Sennecke, if you want ceiling you go Eiserman.

 

[StevenToddIves]

So far we got an article from Novo late last week that said Fitz wants guys who are "hard to play against". Sunday we got a Helenius article. MBN article today. I assume we probably get one a day for the next 3 days at least, maybe a 4th on draft day.

I'll be interested to see who else Novo asked about, whether it's guys expected to go around 10th or guys who more closely follow the hard to play against stuff (both guys so far are an overlap of both groups). He's good at this job so I'm sure he did his research before talking to Dennehy.


Also love that they mentioned MBN's performance at the world championship. He stepped up playing at a higher level against tons of NHL players for the first time in his career. I read somewhere that he (and Solberg) showed a ton of heart during both the WJC and WC, consistently playing with intensity and working hard all over the ice no matter the score (Norway as you can imagine was on the losing side for most of those games, some badly). Definitely can't go wrong injecting that level of heart into a team.

Also read (I think something that was linked in the prospect section of the main board) that one guy at the combine saw MBN and thought for a second that some NHL player showed up as a joke because of how well built he was.

This is why I keep repeating that I do not realistically see the Devils using the #10 pick on Eiserman or Catton or Sennecke. Fitzgerald is making a huge effort to turn NJ into a tougher team to face off against, and there will be players of similar upside available to fill this role, whether it be Nygard or Helenius or Dickinson or Solberg or Silayev or Iginla or even Lindstrom.

I feel Fitzgerald would prefer a physical, two-way, competitive 70-point forward or a strong, dependable two-way defenseman to a perimeter 75-80 point forward and I think that's very wise.

 

[Monsieur Verdoux]

Well, I have a few responses here for a fw points raised. First, no one on this board dislikes Sennecke -- we all have him as a 1st round pick. Second, no one on this board has dismissed Sennecke's puck-handling skill as anything short of elite -- he's a brilliant stickhandler and it's been stated and re-stated at length (he's also a great passer, great at zone entries, and a good shooter). Third, Mitch Brown obviously, like many in the draft community, not watched any Demidov film.

I will say it again -- Sennecke is not close to Demidov's tier, and they are similar-type players. They are not close now and their upsides aren't close. They are about equal as skaters, and Demidov is a level ahead of Sennecke in puck-handling and shooting, while being several levels above Sennecke in passing vision, hockey IQ, compete level, defensive play, physicality, pretty much anything else we can come up with.

Conversely, Sennecke is ahead of Demidov in being tall and being Canadian instead of Russian.

In a nutshell, no one is complaining about Sennecke being defined as good or 1st round worthy. The complaints are about the hype outweighing the possibility by a country mile. Another similar-type player to Sennecke is Berkly Catton -- what does Sennecke do better than Catton?

Ultimately, we should all be happy here because this overhyping is turning into a best-case scenario for New Jersey -- if Sennecke is drafted in the top 9, it will push a significantly superior prospect with significantly higher upside down to the Devils. I mean, how great would it be if a division rival like Columbus took Sennecke at #4 and passed up on a forward two to three tiers ahead of him like Demidov or Cayden Lindstrom? It would be cause for celebration.

Yeah, I appreciate your comment. However, I definitely can see why some of the scouts and scouting writers see Sennecke as a more attractive prospect than Catton. As you said, they are similar-type players, but another is 5-foot-10.25 and another 6-foot-2.75. If their skillset aren't too far from each other, I definitely would bet on the bigger player.

I'm not saying the Devils should draft Sennecke. I just think he is underrated here.

 

[Guadana]

Devils scout Mark Dennehy on Michael Brandsegg-Nygard: “Another guy who plays against men. Pretty big body, good shot, strong on his skates. He does not just get on players on the opponent, he also reads his linemates well, so he’s able to stay above when it calls for it. He’s not just running around banging bodies, but he’s got a good body, so when he lays it on somebody, it’s an asset for him for sure. Good shot. The other thing you’re looking for from these guys is continued development. They’re going to have to continue to get better if they’re going to have the same impact in the NHL. You watch how he played in the World Championships, he elevated his game. That’s huge. That’s a big sign. Our guys travel all over the planet to find these guys and (Norway) was not an easy place to get to, but he made it well worth it.”

Thank you very much! If there something to tell me more you can send me in personal massages.

 

[Guadana]

Well, I have a few responses here for a fw points raised. First, no one on this board dislikes Sennecke -- we all have him as a 1st round pick. Second, no one on this board has dismissed Sennecke's puck-handling skill as anything short of elite -- he's a brilliant stickhandler and it's been stated and re-stated at length (he's also a great passer, great at zone entries, and a good shooter). Third, Mitch Brown obviously, like many in the draft community, not watched any Demidov film.

I will say it again -- Sennecke is not close to Demidov's tier, and they are similar-type players. They are not close now and their upsides aren't close. They are about equal as skaters, and Demidov is a level ahead of Sennecke in puck-handling and shooting, while being several levels above Sennecke in passing vision, hockey IQ, compete level, defensive play, physicality, pretty much anything else we can come up with.

Conversely, Sennecke is ahead of Demidov in being tall and being Canadian instead of Russian.

In a nutshell, no one is complaining about Sennecke being defined as good or 1st round worthy. The complaints are about the hype outweighing the possibility by a country mile. Another similar-type player to Sennecke is Berkly Catton -- what does Sennecke do better than Catton?

Ultimately, we should all be happy here because this overhyping is turning into a best-case scenario for New Jersey -- if Sennecke is drafted in the top 9, it will push a significantly superior prospect with significantly higher upside down to the Devils. I mean, how great would it be if a division rival like Columbus took Sennecke at #4 and passed up on a forward two to three tiers ahead of him like Demidov or Cayden Lindstrom? It would be cause for celebration.

I would prefer MTL to take Sennecke. It would be in their style. Dont wanna see Lindstrom or Demidov in their jersey at all.

 

[StevenToddIves]

I would prefer MTL to take Sennecke. It would be in their style. Dont wanna see Lindstrom or Demidov in their jersey at all.

I'm starting to think Sennecke is going top 9 and that just makes me thrilled. The hype train could quite possibly push down a far superior prospect to the Devils at #10.