2024 Sleeper Picks

[NotProkofievian]

Who has not attracted the attention they deserve in your opinion?

I'll start, Noel Fransén.

Click to read more...

 

[TLEH]

I haven't seen a ton of discussion on Tarin Smith, but I would take him in the early to mid 2nd round.

 

[NotProkofievian]

I haven't seen a ton of discussion on Tarin Smith, but I would take him in the early to mid 2nd round.

Thanks for your contribution, not the first time I've heard his name in this context. I haven't watched Everett this year, do what makes Tarin Smith so special?

 

[dr1234]

Marcus Kearsay

 

[Kevin Musto]

I like Eriks Mateiko and Kevin He

They're barely talked about

 

[austin63867]

Even though his defensive game needs a good bit of work, I can still see John Mustard sneaking into the 30's. Alexander Siryatsky is a player who's been rising for me out of Russia as well in the past while. Simon Zether I think has some respect but not as high as he should being a good two-way forward with size who can play both Center and Wing.

Will throw out Tomas Mrsic as well. Went a bit unnoticed on a team with Lindstrom/Basha/McKenna but looks like someone who deserves a selection around R3/4.

 

[neelynugs]

WHL: tyler thorpe - huge right wing, late bloomer type
QMJHL: matyas melovsky - well rounded guy with size
OHL: aj spellacy - could be elite bottom 6 guy
USHL: ilya protas - skating is ok but massive dude with vision

just to add a few guys of interest...

 

[Grinner]

Tory Pitner

 

[Cubebrick]

Alexander Siryatsky is a player who's been rising for me out of Russia as well in the past while.

I second that. Siryatsky is criminally underrated in my opinion. Strong skater with quality plays over 200 ft, reads the game well and is aggressive at breaking off plays. His offensive numbers may not amount to anything crazy but he's solid on the transition to help out the rush. He does need to get stronger though. To me, he's easily a second rounder.

Timur Kol is another interesting Russian defenseman that I find interesting. Big and mobile with smart defensive reads. Not the fastest but his edges are pretty good. Not the most creative puck handler but his wrist short can be a serious threat. Good gap control and can also beat opponents in 50-50s. The big question mark is putting it all together and finding consistency.

I cannot for the life of me figure out why Kirill Zarubin is on nobody's radar, at least for the mid to late rounds. Maybe I'm not reading him well, but I came out impressed every single time I watched him. Massive goalie who's very raw talentwise and not the best technically, but moves well and fights to track the puck and to stop every single shot. The amount of times he bailed his trash team out is nothing short is ridiculous...

Also, Pavel Moysevich is an overraging goalie who isn't nearly talked about enough. He's got size, puck tracking and technique that are above average. His lateral movement could use a bit more power though as I find him fluid but not very fast at moving around in his net. Still, I like his potential way more than the huge majority of goalies who are featured on many lists.

 

[austin63867]

I second that. Siryatsky is criminally underrated in my opinion. Strong skater with quality plays over 200 ft, reads the game well and is aggressive at breaking off plays. His offensive numbers may not amount to anything crazy but he's solid on the transition to help out the rush. He does need to get stronger though.

Timur Kol is another interesting Russian defenseman that I find interesting. Big and mobile with smart defensive reads. Not the fastest but his edges are pretty good. Not the most creative puck handler but his wrist short can be a serious threat. Good gap control and can also beat opponents in 50-50s. The big question mark is putting it all together and finding consistency.

I cannot for the life of me figure out why Kirill Zarubin is on nobody's radar, at least for the mid to late rounds. Maybe I'm not reading him well, but I came out impressed every single time I watched him. Massive goalie who's very raw talentwise and not the best technically, but moves well and fights to track the puck and to stop every single shot. The amount of times he bailed his trash team out is nothing short is ridiculous...

Also, Pavel Moysevich is an overraging goalie who isn't nearly talked about enough. He's got size, puck tracking and technique that are above average. His lateral movement could use a bit more power though as I find him fluid but not very fast at moving around in his net. Still, I like his potential way more than the huge majority of goalies who are featured on many lists.

Zarubin is a goalie I like but I'd be slightly higher on him if he wasn't a late 05 birthday. Borderline Top 100 guy and top 5 goalie in the draft for me.

 

[Hinterland]

Who has not attracted the attention they deserve in your opinion?

I'll start, Noel Fransén.

Who are your favorite late picks/hidden gems for the 2024 draft?

sorry I don't have a list or anything. just more curious who you all like and think will become NHLers from late in the draft. I always see lots of stuff on 1st rounders but rarely chatter on potential late picks

forums.hfboards.com

Might as well have posted in here. Also, Fransén is top of my no draft list.

 

[Czechboy]

I'm not sure what more Becher could possibly do.

 

[NotProkofievian]

Who are your favorite late picks/hidden gems for the 2024 draft?

sorry I don't have a list or anything. just more curious who you all like and think will become NHLers from late in the draft. I always see lots of stuff on 1st rounders but rarely chatter on potential late picks

forums.hfboards.com

Might as well have posted in here. Also, Fransén is top of my no draft list.

Why is Fransén a ND for you?

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Dylan Hryckowian (2004 born, NCAA), was a point per game freshman at Northeastern after tearing up the USHL last year, somehow didn't get drafted in 2023. Good bet to take, as he's a producer who will continue to have value on the market at minimum.

 

[Hinterland]

Why is Fransén a ND for you?

You know...sometimes looking at a player's EP profile you wonder why he was ignored by his federation for years. However, in most cases there's a reason for that. In this case we're talking about the Swedish federation, a federation with a lot of knowledge and expertise. This season I saw Fransén at a tournament in Switzerland and that suddenly answered all the questions I had previously. He was the worst player of the tournament and it wasn't close. I noticed he's a good skater with good hands but he was honestly just bad in every area of the game. Turnover after turnover, wild positioning against the puck and he was dominated physically as well. Even against a terrible German team he still looked bad. Responsible for countless goals against.

You can see he's talented but given the fact that he's an 05 late birthday that's a clear no draft for me. Perfect example of a player that works in a particular system even though his overall game is a complete mess. I'm not gonna say that he won't turn into something but there's just too many red flags right now.

 

[MS]

Thanks for your contribution, not the first time I've heard his name in this context. I haven't watched Everett this year, do what makes Tarin Smith so special?

I'm not who you asked, but he'd be on my list as well.

He's one of the best-skating D in this draft, highly mobile and has a high IQ and shows well defensively inside a very good defensive system in Everett. Isn't huge but isn't tiny and is actually pretty gritty/competitive for a mobile skill defender.

He's had shockingly little discussion for a guy who to me is going to go in the top 40 picks of this draft and has an outside shot at being a 1st rounder a la Tanner Molendyk.

The other name on my WHL sleepers list would be Will McIsaac of Spokane. 6'3 physical RHD who was the 3rd highest ES scorer in the WHL amongst 1st time draft-eligible defenders. I don't even think there's a thread on him here but I'd expect him to go in the first 3 rounds. Skating is average but he's a nice combination of size/puck skills/grit and teams LOVE adding big RHD to their systems.

 

[Skip To My Lou]

I was a big fan last year of Francesco Dell'Elce, and he went undrafted. Interested to see if he goes this year. Think he has an unreal amount of potential.

 

[neelynugs]

i really like luke osburn from youngstown. one of youngest kids eligible this year.
had a solid year as a rookie D in the USHL. think he may go earlier than anyone
expects - personally like him in that 70-75 range.

 

[Mrb1p]

Artyom Schuchinov

 

[shaner8989]

Any chance Jackson Unger goes? He was incredible tonight

 

[I am toxic]

I'm not who you asked, but he'd be on my list as well.

He's one of the best-skating D in this draft, highly mobile and has a high IQ and shows well defensively inside a very good defensive system in Everett. Isn't huge but isn't tiny and is actually pretty gritty/competitive for a mobile skill defender.

He's had shockingly little discussion for a guy who to me is going to go in the top 40 picks of this draft and has an outside shot at being a 1st rounder a la Tanner Molendyk.

The other name on my WHL sleepers list would be Will McIsaac of Spokane. 6'3 physical RHD who was the 3rd highest ES scorer in the WHL amongst 1st time draft-eligible defenders. I don't even think there's a thread on him here but I'd expect him to go in the first 3 rounds. Skating is average but he's a nice combination of size/puck skills/grit and teams LOVE adding big RHD to their systems.

iirc, Will has also played as some a forward at the T1 level when he was younger. At least, that's what I was being told at the time. Along with his shot, it really adds to the offense side of his game.

If teams get him in the 4th round, it would be a steal.

 

[neelynugs]

Any chance Jackson Unger goes? He was incredible tonight

i think he's a coin flip in the late rounds. lots of eyes on him this week.

 

[neelynugs]

I cannot for the life of me figure out why Kirill Zarubin is on nobody's radar, at least for the mid to late rounds. Maybe I'm not reading him well, but I came out impressed every single time I watched him. Massive goalie who's very raw talentwise and not the best technically, but moves well and fights to track the puck and to stop every single shot. The amount of times he bailed his trash team out is nothing short is ridiculous...

am not that versed in the workings of the MHL, but statistically, this guy was a monster for
the AKM tula team in 29 games. but the other 16 games didn't go so well. assuming that
wasn't a very good team (the name says AKM tula junior, which is also confusing). anyone
able to explain?

he looks like a guy that'll go from round 3 to 5.

 

[Cubebrick]

am not that versed in the workings of the MHL, but statistically, this guy was a monster for
the AKM tula team in 29 games. but the other 16 games didn't go so well. assuming that
wasn't a very good team (the name says AKM tula junior, which is also confusing). anyone
able to explain?

he looks like a guy that'll go from round 3 to 5.

I'm not super well versed in MHL team dynamics so I can't speak for a fact here, but from what it seems, AKM-Junior Tula Region to me almost sort of seems like AKM Tula's farm team despite being within the same league, although one division is much weaker than the other one. There are transfers between both teams and the top players from AKM-Junior end up with AKM Tula at some point. Someone will need to confirm this here, but that's how it seems to me.

Now, most of my viewings of Zarubin were with AKM-Tula. I love his profile and how he tracks the puck and fights for every save. He's technically very raw and I view him as a long-term project, but I was stunned to see that he wasn't on any list. I believe he's on Pronman's now at least.