Prospect Info: 2024 Top 100 + 10 HM

[evnted]

Here's my final board for the 2024 NHL Draft. There's a bit of Devils influence in it, but mainly only for tie-breaking purposes. A couple thoughts to add before sharing:

• So the big question all year has been draft strength. A while back, I said this class lacked easily projectable high end talent, and the depth was largely made up of role guys rather than swings. In my opinion, the draft rebounded a bit down the stretch, particularly in terms of the forwards. I think a number of kids closed strongly, and while I'm still not that thrilled with the projections outside of the top 20 or so, the class as a whole is in a better place than I was expecting. That said, the depth is still largely roster fill-ins or major, major projects.
• Much has been said about the lack of goalie talent this year, too. I do find it to be a weaker year, but only in North America. There are a number of European (and Russian specifically) targets that are very interesting and likely closer to making a main roster impact than their Canadian/American counterparts. We all know why they're being overlooked, so for a team that's completely comfortable drafting out of the MHL, hopefully it's to our benefit.
• The weirder a placement looks, the more I've watched the player, so please feel free to ask about anything that seems off. I know there's more than a few that'll attract some attention.
• Don't think of the honorable mentions as being players ranked 101-110. I don't really know how I'd rank them, they all have major projection concerns. I'm just listing them because I find them more interesting than the remaining kids I looked at.

Rank	Position	Player	Commentary
1​	C	Celebrini	All-situations, do-all center who's an automatic franchise pillar. Not much more to say.
2​	RW	Demidov	High intensity dual-threat offensive option with some of the best puck skills we've seen. Only certainty behind Celebrini.
3​	C/RW	Lindstrom	Extremely rare package of skill/compete/physicality. Remains to be seen how much of a true play driver he is.
4​	LD	Dickinson	Easy top 4 projection given his speed/compete/shutdown ability with some underrated offensive instincts.
5​	LD	Buium	Off the charts vision and creativity with a defensive game that showed great adaptability over the course of the season.
6​	LW	Iginla	Meteoric riser who could even trend toward stardom thanks to his diverse offensive skillset and elite progression, forechecking, and small area play.
7​	C	Helenius	All-day center and one of the smartest and most competitive players in the class with good skill and even some bite.
8​	RW/C	Brandsegg-Nygård	Guaranteed top 9 option with pro-ready skating, forechecking, and defense. Makes up for a lack of high end vision with his puck battles and dominance down low.
9​	LD	Silayev	As good of a shutdown projection as you'll find, particularly for a mobile 6'7" giant, but with some concern about on-puck play.
10​	LD	Solberg	Smooth-skating bully who terrorizes opposing forwards. Sneaky good skill and ideas on the puck as well.
11​	RD	Yakemchuk	Super rare package of high-end offensive skill and raw brutality, but needs to iron out his decision making issues.
12​	LW/C	Catton	Puck-dominant, offensive dynamo with incredible vision, but struggles under contact and isn't as good of a skater as some think.
13​	RW	Sennecke	Incredible one-on-one skill and creativity with great off-puck anticipation. Dominance down the stretch might be masking compete/decision making concerns.
14​	LW/RW	Chernyshov	Checks all the boxes for a quick, skilled, high-compete power winger. Only concern is just how good the offensive touch really is.
15​	RD	Parekh	Otherworldly offensive vision and talent, yet his poor defensive compete/reads coupled with an aversion to contact casts doubt on stardom.
16​	C	Luchanko	Sublime two-way pivot with exceptional speed. Young, smart, and competitive, which is easy to bet on.
17​	RD	Levshunov	Impressive athleticism and overall toolkit, but plenty of reason to doubt given his inconsistent compete, poor processing, and lack of a singular elite trait.
18​	RD	Jiříček	Lots to like as a well-balanced top 4 defender, but some development concern given struggles with injuries and poor pro league showings.
19​	C/RW	Hage	Speedy dual-threat attacker with an explosive second half. Needs to continue to work on engagement and efficiency.
20​	LW/C	Surin	All-out agitator with very good skill. Shows some junior league tendencies but no reason to think he can't work them out.
21​	RD	Emery	Shutdown defender built for the modern game. Big, mobile, and competitive. Puck play isn't great, but not a total weakness.
22​	C	Beaudoin	The ultimate checking line center who's also an athletic beast. No-doubt middle 6er with improved speed.
23​	LW	Eiserman	As elite of a shooter as you'll find, but with major, major concerns in basically every other facet of his game.
24​	RW	Parascak	Savvy goal scorer who some incredible anticipation. Skating concerns exist, but all he ever does is prove people wrong.
25​	LD	Shuravin	A big, mobile, and elite shutdown presence. Lack of offensive tools and some difficulty under pressure keeps him a little lower.
26​	RD	Badinka	Great-skating defender with high compete and physical intensity. A bit risk-friendly, and not a majorly offensive player.
27​	RW	Greentree	Dynamic offensive threat that's held back by a multitude of concerns: skating, compete, and decision making.
28​	LW	Vanacker	Versatile scorer who offers good speed, compete, and two-way play. More of an easy projection than a big swing.
29​	RW/LW	Artamonov	High compete, elite vision winger who's already shown he can hold down a pro-league role and thrive.
30​	LW	Basha	Explosive skater with fantastic playmaking instincts. Struggles with physical play and an overreliance on speed to solve problems.
31​	C/RW	O'Reilly	Premier defensive forward who shows up in big moments. Knows how to compensate for skating concerns and lack of offensive upside.
32​	LD	Freij	Silky puck mover with some of the best playmaking in the draft but also some alarmingly poor defensive compete at times.
33​	C	Miettinen	Skates very well for a big man and thrives outside the crease. Streaky and not majorly skilled in spite of his projectable passing game.
34​	C	Boisvert	His size, skill, smarts, and 200ft impact are easy to like in theory, but it feels like it only occasionally comes together on the ice.
35​	C	Pettersson	Excellent combo of energy and skill with elite vision. Needs to focus more on interior play and cleaning up his pass attempts.
36​	LW	Stiga	All-out competitor who grinds out the puck and fights for every chance he can get. Concern there's no fallback game due to lack of raw talent.
37​	LD	Muggli	Modern-day shutdown defender who excels in transition. Lacks size, but showcases strong physical instincts.
38​	C	Eriksson	Mobile, competitive, defensive center who earned a well-deserved professional role midway through the season despite lacking size/tools.
39​	RD	Danford	Shot blocking machine with mobility and underappreciated physicality. Low-maintenance game without a lot of upside.
40​	LW/C	Mustard	Elite skating forechecker with excellent shooting instincts. Question over how much of a play driver he'll be given his intermittent tunnel vision.
41​	RD	Kleber	Hulking, defense-first defender who's a surprisingly better skater and handler than his frame would suggest.
42​	G	Moysevich	Towering presence in net who shows no major weaknesses. Overager, and not an elite athlete, but tracks pucks well and is hard to beat low.
43​	C/LW	Villeneuve	Built for playoff hockey. Intense, physical forechecker with decent goal scoring ability. Also a bit of a psycho.
44​	LD	Pulkkinen	Gigantic defender with tons of skill, physicality, and confidence. Needs a lot of structure and is already behind the curve as an overager.
45​	G	Zarubin	Big goalie with decent athleticism, great instincts, and quick reflexes. Numbers aren't there, but he had to work hard behind a terrible defense.
46​	LW	Howe	Elite compete scorer who causes havoc around the net. Undersized, and a bit limited beyond that.
47​	LD	Skahan	Huge, mean, shutdown presence. Lacks skill and makes questionable decisions with the puck, but should still play.
48​	RD	Elick	Great skater and impressive physical play, but terrible handling and not quite the shutdown presence he's made out to be.
49​	C	Letourneau	A total what-if pick. Huge and with great hands/shooting, but struggles against speed and is far from proven above the prep level.
50​	RW	Ritchie	Great pace, ideas, and overall skillset, yet hard to project given his perimeter play, overhandlings, and general inconsistency.
51​	LW	He	Blazing skater with a great shot and high compete level. Limited beyond that, but perhaps some upside might be masked by his poor surroundings.
52​	RD	Pitner	Genius-level understanding of the defensive game but a lack of tools likely caps how good he can become.
53​	RD	Roberts	Defender with size, mobility and occasional offensive instincts. Needs to lean more into shutdown projection and tighten up decision making.
54​	LD	Sahlin Wallenius	Immaculate skater who shows flashes of capable two-way defense but can really struggle with reads and decisions on the puck.
55​	C	Zether	Big, strong, puck dominant center who excels with his body along the boards and around the crease. Occasionally shows off high level handling.
56​	LW	Kos	Grindy, high intensity forechecker with good physicality and respectable skill. Flashes of more were held back by injury troubles.
57​	C/RW	Ziemer	Smart, intense forechecker who has proven he can mesh with talent. Skating and lack of upside make him less of a slam dunk pick, but he'll be a favorite.
58​	C	Boilard	Extremely efficient pivot with a low-maintenance albeit relatively passive game. Lack of production partially explained by team depth.
59​	LW	Plante	Elite playmaking talent with great vision who showed commendable improvement in terms of his pace and interior drive.
60​	RD	Brunicke	Mobile defender with size and interesting ideas on the puck who is as inconsistent offensively as he is defensively.
61​	RW	Poirier	Tiny yet absurdly physical scoring winger. Skating isn't great, but with his tenacity and stockiness, he still might be able to play.
62​	RW	Hemming	High end shooter with a decent overall skillset, yet his viewings never really inspire confidence that he can consistently apply it.
63​	G	Nabokov	Undersized triple overager with unprecedented KHL success. Incredible positional instincts and consistency, but lower end athleticism.
64​	LW/RW	Gridin	All the offensive skill in the world with horrid compete, engagement, and off-puck intensity. As boom or bust as it gets.
65​	RW/LW	Traff	Elite compete power winger who makes up for his lack of offensive instincts and skill with his intensity and pest-like behavior.
66​	C	Bednarik	Boring yet effective two-way center. Needs to simplify his play on the puck and lean more into a defense-first projection.
67​	G	Yegorov	Great size in net with solid athleticism and reflexes. Struggles with angles, his glove, and lateral movement, but extremely competitive.
68​	RW	Fernström	Fantastic scoring upside with major consistency issues in terms of pace, passing ability, and defensive compete. Poor body language at times as well.
69​	C/RW	Gojsic	Projectable size, shooting, handling, and physical play in package that seems to be just scratching the surface of putting it all together.
70​	LD	Ustinkov	Young, smooth-skating defender with projectable size. Easy to like the upside, but really struggles to read play.
71​	RW	Wetsch	Classic bottom 6 projection as a speedy, north-south forechecker who competes hard and lives for interior play. Not exciting, but useful.
72​	C/RW	Spellacy	Supreme athlete. Huge, fast, and an intense forechecker. Doesn't think the game well but with his physical traits he might not have to.
73​	LD	Hutson	Smart, slippery puck distributor with tremendous vision and a defensive/physical game that's borderline scary to ice.
74​	RD	Mews	A super talented defender in an awkward middle ground. Not quite a high-end offensive threat, not quite a good enough defensive presence.
75​	RW/C	Jecho	The size, forechecking, and shooting should theoretically produce a top prospect, but the consistency, processing, and skill hold his projection back.
76​	LW/RW	Mateiko	Big, competitive, and physical forward who thrives around the net. Clunky, and far from a play driver, but excels in his role.
77​	RW	Marques	At his best, he's a chippy, deceptive playmaker who can still score. The issue is his pace, compete, and even interest can waver to a significant degree.
78​	RW	Massé	Respectable checking line upside with good scoring ability, though nothing stands out and his game regressed over the course of the year.
79​	G	Gidlöf	Imposing presence in net with excellent scanning and anticipation. Low pace, and without great lateral mobility, but a valuable framework.
80​	C/LW	Berglund	Great defensive presence and dominant on the puck, particularly down low. Some flashes of skill. Very poor skater with no way to compensate for it.
81​	LD	Kol	Great shooting and mobility from the backend. Poor decisions with the puck and a lack of positional instincts make him a big time project.
82​	RW	Battaglia	Strong playmaker with solid vision and a willingness to park himself around the net, but also a wavering compete level and brutal skating.
83​	LW/C	Misa	On the puck, he's a speedy, rush-centric attacker who can push play quickly. Off it, the tiny forward struggles to make much of an impact.
84​	LD	Kiviharju	Extremely crafty thinker and puck distributor. Poor trajectory, performances, and physical toolkit make him hard to buy into.
85​	LW	Walton	Home run swing on a huge forward with a ton of tools: skating, shooting, passing and handling, but a long way off from being a player.
86​	LW	Montgomery	Excellent mix of size, skating, and play driving for a big, overage winger. Needs to leverage his frame more and play with more consistent intensity.
87​	RD	Gill	Impressive offensive instincts and ability to jump into play, and while his defensive game isn't there yet, his frame could help the projection.
88​	RW	Pikkarainen	Great mix of raw physicality, interior play, and flashes of high end playmaking, but a long way to go to put it all together.
89​	C/LW	Josephson	Elite forechecker with great compete and puck movement in transition. Minimal offensive tools or ideas to be bet on.
90​	LD	Smith	Confident, intense, and as flashy as a defender can be, yet lacking tools and without a sound fallback game at this point.
91​	LW	Moore	Video game-like presence on the ice given his size, mobility, skill, and physical intensity, yet struggles processing the game even at the high school level.
92​	LD	Väisänen	Mobile, jack-of-all-trades type defender with extreme poise on the puck. Difficult to project given a lot of lukewarm showings.
93​	LW	Swanson	Elite yet tiny playmaker who might not even be a pick, but he has a nose for the net and competes well enough to justify the gamble.
94​	LD	Ralph	Aggressive, physical defender with a ton of size. Basically a dice roll since he bullied kids at the prep level all year.
95​	G	George	Incredible mental fortitude in net, as well as a proven big game player. Lack of size, athleticism, and high end reflexes make him a difficult hit.
96​	LD	Fischer	Enviable combination of size, mobility, and youth give a lot of runway, but very little of his game is rosterable at this point.
97​	RW/C	Procyszyn	Dangerous off-puck threat in transition. Not a ton of skill, but facilitates plays and brings an extremely heavy physical game.
98​	LD	Eliasson	Total goon. Not much of a hockey player at this point, but as physically violent as a prospect can be. A bit of skating ability to build off of.
99​	RD	Bernier	Balanced two-way presence. Decent offensive instincts, strong defensive foundation. Maybe not enough to bank on for a defender out of the QMJHL.
100​	LW/C	Van Vliet	Flashes of 1st round caliber skating/shooting/play driving, though intermittent compete and lack opportunity hides his true upside.
-	-	-	- ​
HM	LW/C	Caswell	Solid puck distributor without major weakness and who can elevate his line, yet never really stands out due to a lack of high end compete or skill.
HM	LD	Fransén	Skating, vision, and play driving are all easy to like, yet his decision making and engagement can crumble very quickly and very easily.
HM	LD	Galvas	Great mobility and defensive intent for an undersized defender, but near impossible to project to an NHL roster without elite skill.
HM	LW	Hynninen	High pace/intensity winger with solid skating. A bit of playmaking ability, but difficult to project as a forechecker at his size and without real skill.
HM	C/RW	Koivu	Excellent shooter and high intensity forechecker, but a ways to go in terms of having any sort of overall game. Good runway, and needs all of it.
HM	C	Park	Not sure there's much of an outlook for a sound, two-way prep kid without elite skill, but he's always effective in viewings.
HM	C/RW	Patterson	Electric offensive talent who heavily relies on linemates to do the work for him. Interesting gamble since he just graduated from the OJHL.
HM	RW	Powell	Huge overager who thrives off interior play. Rough skater with puck management issues, but a much savvier playmaker than his profile suggests.
HM	G	Saarinen	Impressive size, puck tracking, and adjustments in net, but little else. Betting on skating, athleticism, and recoverability to develop in time.
HM	LW	Vuollet	Incredibly crafty winger with solid scoring upside and poise on the puck. Inconsistent pace, and not super toolsy, but shows intent as a backchecker.

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[Guadana]

Incredible work. Overall it was a story of this post season. Hope you will find a way to monetize it Even if we are not agree in some details, I really like your way of breaking down players.

 

[Guttersniped]

Here's my final board for the 2024 NHL Draft. There's a bit of Devils influence in it, but mainly only for tie-breaking purposes. A couple thoughts to add before sharing:

• So the big question all year has been draft strength. A while back, I said this class lacked easily projectable high end talent, and the depth was largely made up of role guys rather than swings. In my opinion, the draft rebounded a bit down the stretch, particularly in terms of the forwards. I think a number of kids closed strongly, and while I'm still not that thrilled with the projections outside of the top 20 or so, the class as a whole is in a better place than I was expecting. That said, the depth is still largely roster fill-ins or major, major projects.
• Much has been said about the lack of goalie talent this year, too. I do find it to be a weaker year, but only in North America. There are a number of European (and Russian specifically) targets that are very interesting and likely closer to making a main roster impact than their Canadian/American counterparts. We all know why they're being overlooked, so for a team that's completely comfortable drafting out of the MHL, hopefully it's to our benefit.
• The weirder a placement looks, the more I've watched the player, so please feel free to ask about anything that seems off. I know there's more than a few that'll attract some attention.
• Don't think of the honorable mentions as being players ranked 101-110. I don't really know how I'd rank them, they all have major projection concerns. I'm just listing them because I find them more interesting than the remaining kids I looked at.

Rank	Position	Player	Commentary
1​	C	Celebrini	All-situations, do-all center who's an automatic franchise pillar. Not much more to say.
2​	RW	Demidov	High intensity dual-threat offensive option with some of the best puck skills we've seen. Only certainty behind Celebrini.
3​	C/RW	Lindstrom	Extremely rare package of skill/compete/physicality. Remains to be seen how much of a true play driver he is.
4​	LD	Dickinson	Easy top 4 projection given his speed/compete/shutdown ability with some underrated offensive instincts.
5​	LD	Buium	Off the charts vision and creativity with a defensive game that showed great adaptability over the course of the season.
6​	LW	Iginla	Meteoric riser who could even trend toward stardom thanks to his diverse offensive skillset and elite progression, forechecking, and small area play.
7​	C	Helenius	All-day center and one of the smartest and most competitive players in the class with good skill and even some bite.
8​	RW/C	Brandsegg-Nygård	Guaranteed top 9 option with pro-ready skating, forechecking, and defense. Makes up for a lack of high end vision with his puck battles and dominance down low.
9​	LD	Silayev	As good of a shutdown projection as you'll find, particularly for a mobile 6'7" giant, but with some concern about on-puck play.
10​	LD	Solberg	Smooth-skating bully who terrorizes opposing forwards. Sneaky good skill and ideas on the puck as well.
11​	RD	Yakemchuk	Super rare package of high-end offensive skill and raw brutality, but needs to iron out his decision making issues.
12​	LW/C	Catton	Puck-dominant, offensive dynamo with incredible vision, but struggles under contact and isn't as good of a skater as some think.
13​	RW	Sennecke	Incredible one-on-one skill and creativity with great off-puck anticipation. Dominance down the stretch might be masking compete/decision making concerns.
14​	LW/RW	Chernyshov	Checks all the boxes for a quick, skilled, high-compete power winger. Only concern is just how good the offensive touch really is.
15​	RD	Parekh	Otherworldly offensive vision and talent, yet his poor defensive compete/reads coupled with an aversion to contact casts doubt on stardom.
16​	C	Luchanko	Sublime two-way pivot with exceptional speed. Young, smart, and competitive, which is easy to bet on.
17​	RD	Levshunov	Impressive athleticism and overall toolkit, but plenty of reason to doubt given his inconsistent compete, poor processing, and lack of a singular elite trait.
18​	RD	Jiříček	Lots to like as a well-balanced top 4 defender, but some development concern given struggles with injuries and poor pro league showings.
19​	C/RW	Hage	Speedy dual-threat attacker with an explosive second half. Needs to continue to work on engagement and efficiency.
20​	LW/C	Surin	All-out agitator with very good skill. Shows some junior league tendencies but no reason to think he can't work them out.
21​	RD	Emery	Shutdown defender built for the modern game. Big, mobile, and competitive. Puck play isn't great, but not a total weakness.
22​	C	Beaudoin	The ultimate checking line center who's also an athletic beast. No-doubt middle 6er with improved speed.
23​	LW	Eiserman	As elite of a shooter as you'll find, but with major, major concerns in basically every other facet of his game.
24​	RW	Parascak	Savvy goal scorer who some incredible anticipation. Skating concerns exist, but all he ever does is prove people wrong.
25​	LD	Shuravin	A big, mobile, and elite shutdown presence. Lack of offensive tools and some difficulty under pressure keeps him a little lower.
26​	RD	Badinka	Great-skating defender with high compete and physical intensity. A bit risk-friendly, and not a majorly offensive player.
27​	RW	Greentree	Dynamic offensive threat that's held back by a multitude of concerns: skating, compete, and decision making.
28​	LW	Vanacker	Versatile scorer who offers good speed, compete, and two-way play. More of an easy projection than a big swing.
29​	RW/LW	Artamonov	High compete, elite vision winger who's already shown he can hold down a pro-league role and thrive.
30​	LW	Basha	Explosive skater with fantastic playmaking instincts. Struggles with physical play and an overreliance on speed to solve problems.
31​	C/RW	O'Reilly	Premier defensive forward who shows up in big moments. Knows how to compensate for skating concerns and lack of offensive upside.
32​	LD	Freij	Silky puck mover with some of the best playmaking in the draft but also some alarmingly poor defensive compete at times.
33​	C	Miettinen	Skates very well for a big man and thrives outside the crease. Streaky and not majorly skilled in spite of his projectable passing game.
34​	C	Boisvert	His size, skill, smarts, and 200ft impact are easy to like in theory, but it feels like it only occasionally comes together on the ice.
35​	C	Pettersson	Excellent combo of energy and skill with elite vision. Needs to focus more on interior play and cleaning up his pass attempts.
36​	LW	Stiga	All-out competitor who grinds out the puck and fights for every chance he can get. Concern there's no fallback game due to lack of raw talent.
37​	LD	Muggli	Modern-day shutdown defender who excels in transition. Lacks size, but showcases strong physical instincts.
38​	C	Eriksson	Mobile, competitive, defensive center who earned a well-deserved professional role midway through the season despite lacking size/tools.
39​	RD	Danford	Shot blocking machine with mobility and underappreciated physicality. Low-maintenance game without a lot of upside.
40​	LW/C	Mustard	Elite skating forechecker with excellent shooting instincts. Question over how much of a play driver he'll be given his intermittent tunnel vision.
41​	RD	Kleber	Hulking, defense-first defender who's a surprisingly better skater and handler than his frame would suggest.
42​	G	Moysevich	Towering presence in net who shows no major weaknesses. Overager, and not an elite athlete, but tracks pucks well and is hard to beat low.
43​	C/LW	Villeneuve	Built for playoff hockey. Intense, physical forechecker with decent goal scoring ability. Also a bit of a psycho.
44​	LD	Pulkkinen	Gigantic defender with tons of skill, physicality, and confidence. Needs a lot of structure and is already behind the curve as an overager.
45​	G	Zarubin	Big goalie with decent athleticism, great instincts, and quick reflexes. Numbers aren't there, but he had to work hard behind a terrible defense.
46​	LW	Howe	Elite compete scorer who causes havoc around the net. Undersized, and a bit limited beyond that.
47​	LD	Skahan	Huge, mean, shutdown presence. Lacks skill and makes questionable decisions with the puck, but should still play.
48​	RD	Elick	Great skater and impressive physical play, but terrible handling and not quite the shutdown presence he's made out to be.
49​	C	Letourneau	A total what-if pick. Huge and with great hands/shooting, but struggles against speed and is far from proven above the prep level.
50​	RW	Ritchie	Great pace, ideas, and overall skillset, yet hard to project given his perimeter play, overhandlings, and general inconsistency.
51​	LW	He	Blazing skater with a great shot and high compete level. Limited beyond that, but perhaps some upside might be masked by his poor surroundings.
52​	RD	Pitner	Genius-level understanding of the defensive game but a lack of tools likely caps how good he can become.
53​	RD	Roberts	Defender with size, mobility and occasional offensive instincts. Needs to lean more into shutdown projection and tighten up decision making.
54​	LD	Sahlin Wallenius	Immaculate skater who shows flashes of capable two-way defense but can really struggle with reads and decisions on the puck.
55​	C	Zether	Big, strong, puck dominant center who excels with his body along the boards and around the crease. Occasionally shows off high level handling.
56​	LW	Kos	Grindy, high intensity forechecker with good physicality and respectable skill. Flashes of more were held back by injury troubles.
57​	C/RW	Ziemer	Smart, intense forechecker who has proven he can mesh with talent. Skating and lack of upside make him less of a slam dunk pick, but he'll be a favorite.
58​	C	Boilard	Extremely efficient pivot with a low-maintenance albeit relatively passive game. Lack of production partially explained by team depth.
59​	LW	Plante	Elite playmaking talent with great vision who showed commendable improvement in terms of his pace and interior drive.
60​	RD	Brunicke	Mobile defender with size and interesting ideas on the puck who is as inconsistent offensively as he is defensively.
61​	RW	Poirier	Tiny yet absurdly physical scoring winger. Skating isn't great, but with his tenacity and stockiness, he still might be able to play.
62​	RW	Hemming	High end shooter with a decent overall skillset, yet his viewings never really inspire confidence that he can consistently apply it.
63​	G	Nabokov	Undersized triple overager with unprecedented KHL success. Incredible positional instincts and consistency, but lower end athleticism.
64​	LW/RW	Gridin	All the offensive skill in the world with horrid compete, engagement, and off-puck intensity. As boom or bust as it gets.
65​	RW/LW	Traff	Elite compete power winger who makes up for his lack of offensive instincts and skill with his intensity and pest-like behavior.
66​	C	Bednarik	Boring yet effective two-way center. Needs to simplify his play on the puck and lean more into a defense-first projection.
67​	G	Yegorov	Great size in net with solid athleticism and reflexes. Struggles with angles, his glove, and lateral movement, but extremely competitive.
68​	RW	Fernström	Fantastic scoring upside with major consistency issues in terms of pace, passing ability, and defensive compete. Poor body language at times as well.
69​	C/RW	Gojsic	Projectable size, shooting, handling, and physical play in package that seems to be just scratching the surface of putting it all together.
70​	LD	Ustinkov	Young, smooth-skating defender with projectable size. Easy to like the upside, but really struggles to read play.
71​	RW	Wetsch	Classic bottom 6 projection as a speedy, north-south forechecker who competes hard and lives for interior play. Not exciting, but useful.
72​	C/RW	Spellacy	Supreme athlete. Huge, fast, and an intense forechecker. Doesn't think the game well but with his physical traits he might not have to.
73​	LD	Hutson	Smart, slippery puck distributor with tremendous vision and a defensive/physical game that's borderline scary to ice.
74​	RD	Mews	A super talented defender in an awkward middle ground. Not quite a high-end offensive threat, not quite a good enough defensive presence.
75​	RW/C	Jecho	The size, forechecking, and shooting should theoretically produce a top prospect, but the consistency, processing, and skill hold his projection back.
76​	LW/RW	Mateiko	Big, competitive, and physical forward who thrives around the net. Clunky, and far from a play driver, but excels in his role.
77​	RW	Marques	At his best, he's a chippy, deceptive playmaker who can still score. The issue is his pace, compete, and even interest can waver to a significant degree.
78​	RW	Massé	Respectable checking line upside with good scoring ability, though nothing stands out and his game regressed over the course of the year.
79​	G	Gidlöf	Imposing presence in net with excellent scanning and anticipation. Low pace, and without great lateral mobility, but a valuable framework.
80​	C/LW	Berglund	Great defensive presence and dominant on the puck, particularly down low. Some flashes of skill. Very poor skater with no way to compensate for it.
81​	LD	Kol	Great shooting and mobility from the backend. Poor decisions with the puck and a lack of positional instincts make him a big time project.
82​	RW	Battaglia	Strong playmaker with solid vision and a willingness to park himself around the net, but also a wavering compete level and brutal skating.
83​	LW/C	Misa	On the puck, he's a speedy, rush-centric attacker who can push play quickly. Off it, the tiny forward struggles to make much of an impact.
84​	LD	Kiviharju	Extremely crafty thinker and puck distributor. Poor trajectory, performances, and physical toolkit make him hard to buy into.
85​	LW	Walton	Home run swing on a huge forward with a ton of tools: skating, shooting, passing and handling, but a long way off from being a player.
86​	LW	Montgomery	Excellent mix of size, skating, and play driving for a big, overage winger. Needs to leverage his frame more and play with more consistent intensity.
87​	RD	Gill	Impressive offensive instincts and ability to jump into play, and while his defensive game isn't there yet, his frame could help the projection.
88​	RW	Pikkarainen	Great mix of raw physicality, interior play, and flashes of high end playmaking, but a long way to go to put it all together.
89​	C/LW	Josephson	Elite forechecker with great compete and puck movement in transition. Minimal offensive tools or ideas to be bet on.
90​	LD	Smith	Confident, intense, and as flashy as a defender can be, yet lacking tools and without a sound fallback game at this point.
91​	LW	Moore	Video game-like presence on the ice given his size, mobility, skill, and physical intensity, yet struggles processing the game even at the high school level.
92​	LD	Väisänen	Mobile, jack-of-all-trades type defender with extreme poise on the puck. Difficult to project given a lot of lukewarm showings.
93​	LW	Swanson	Elite yet tiny playmaker who might not even be a pick, but he has a nose for the net and competes well enough to justify the gamble.
94​	LD	Ralph	Aggressive, physical defender with a ton of size. Basically a dice roll since he bullied kids at the prep level all year.
95​	G	George	Incredible mental fortitude in net, as well as a proven big game player. Lack of size, athleticism, and high end reflexes make him a difficult hit.
96​	LD	Fischer	Enviable combination of size, mobility, and youth give a lot of runway, but very little of his game is rosterable at this point.
97​	RW/C	Procyszyn	Dangerous off-puck threat in transition. Not a ton of skill, but facilitates plays and brings an extremely heavy physical game.
98​	LD	Eliasson	Total goon. Not much of a hockey player at this point, but as physically violent as a prospect can be. A bit of skating ability to build off of.
99​	RD	Bernier	Balanced two-way presence. Decent offensive instincts, strong defensive foundation. Maybe not enough to bank on for a defender out of the QMJHL.
100​	LW/C	Van Vliet	Flashes of 1st round caliber skating/shooting/play driving, though intermittent compete and lack opportunity hides his true upside.
-	-	-	- ​
HM	LW/C	Caswell	Solid puck distributor without major weakness and who can elevate his line, yet never really stands out due to a lack of high end compete or skill.
HM	LD	Fransén	Skating, vision, and play driving are all easy to like, yet his decision making and engagement can crumble very quickly and very easily.
HM	LD	Galvas	Great mobility and defensive intent for an undersized defender, but near impossible to project to an NHL roster without elite skill.
HM	LW	Hynninen	High pace/intensity winger with solid skating. A bit of playmaking ability, but difficult to project as a forechecker at his size and without real skill.
HM	C/RW	Koivu	Excellent shooter and high intensity forechecker, but a ways to go in terms of having any sort of overall game. Good runway, and needs all of it.
HM	C	Park	Not sure there's much of an outlook for a sound, two-way prep kid without elite skill, but he's always effective in viewings.
HM	C/RW	Patterson	Electric offensive talent who heavily relies on linemates to do the work for him. Interesting gamble since he just graduated from the OJHL.
HM	RW	Powell	Huge overager who thrives off interior play. Rough skater with puck management issues, but a much savvier playmaker than his profile suggests.
HM	G	Saarinen	Impressive size, puck tracking, and adjustments in net, but little else. Betting on skating, athleticism, and recoverability to develop in time.
HM	LW	Vuollet	Incredibly crafty winger with solid scoring upside and poise on the puck. Inconsistent pace, and not super toolsy, but shows intent as a backchecker.

Goalies too! And oh boy, there’s not a lot of consensus with them this year. I’m very curious when the goalie rush starts.

 

[evnted]

Goalies too! And oh boy, there’s not a lot of consensus with them this year. I’m very curious when the goalie rush starts.

very, very unusual class for goalies. theres been a few things that have come out since, but up until the last couple weeks i thought i was going crazy seeing little to no support for the guys i liked the most lol. in spite of the online consensus, i really struggle to think teams view this major junior class as being anywhere close to the level of the RUS/SWE/etc. talent. its not that they arent worth being picked, but against the likes of moysevich, zarubin, gildof, and so on, they just dont stack up

funny enough, the one non-NA option a lot of people do like (vinni) i find to be pretty overrated. showy, exciting to watch move around in net, but monumental struggles trying to mentally keep up with play, and while i know he was playing up a level in mestis, i saw him completely implode too often. his name has been around for so long i feel like people are just afraid to give up on him at this point

 

[Its Always Sundstrom]

very, very unusual class for goalies. theres been a few things that have come out since, but up until the last couple weeks i thought i was going crazy seeing little to no support for the guys i liked the most lol. in spite of the online consensus, i really struggle to think teams view this major junior class as being anywhere close to the level of the RUS/SWE/etc. talent. its not that they arent worth being picked, but against the likes of moysevich, zarubin, gildof, and so on, they just dont stack up

funny enough, the one non-NA option a lot of people do like (vinni) i find to be pretty overrated. showy, exciting to watch move around in net, but monumental struggles trying to mentally keep up with play, and while i know he was playing up a level in mestis, i saw him completely implode too often. his name has been around for so long i feel like people are just afraid to give up on him at this point

Leave Vinni alone! I’m working on my sandwich recipe to name after him.

On a serious note, is that Michael Misa who got granted exceptional status? And it if it is, what happened to him, didn’t develop as expected?

 

[evnted]

Leave Vinni alone! I’m working on my sandwich recipe to name after him.

On a serious note, is that Michael Misa who got granted exceptional status? And it if it is, what happened to him, didn’t develop as expected?

luke misa, his brother. although michael's d-1 season was definitely not where people were expecting given his rookie year, so the answer to your question might very well be yes anyway. just have to re-ask it this time next year lol

 

[Its Always Sundstrom]

luke misa, his brother. although michael's d-1 season was definitely not where people were expecting given his rookie year, so the answer to your question might very well be yes anyway. just have to re-ask it this time next year lol

Cool, thank you. I thought it might’ve been a year too early, didn’t realize he had an older brother.

I hope the draft strategy for round 3 and beyond is speedy righty centers with good two-way play. Get a bunch of them like when they took a ton of RDs in ‘22.

Still pissed the traded away the Zohan. He should be competing for a 4th line gig this year. @Guadana Did you say he bought a house so he might now be coming over anytime soon?

 

[StevenToddIves]

Absolutely outstanding job, @evnted -- truly impressive work here. I'm super proud to have worked with you on the draft this year. You're one of the most talented NHL draft writers I've seen emerge in the past decade.

 

[Guadana]

Cool, thank you. I thought it might’ve been a year too early, didn’t realize he had an older brother.

I hope the draft strategy for round 3 and beyond is speedy righty centers with good two-way play. Get a bunch of them like when they took a ton of RDs in ‘22.

Still pissed the traded away the Zohan. He should be competing for a 4th line gig this year. @Guadana Did you say he bought a house so he might now be coming over anytime soon?

I think he will spend this year on Russia because he is young father. I believe Fitz decided to go other way. Overall Bardakov isn't very productive, he is playing defensive role, so. I still not happy about the move, hope Fitz wil find players like him for our system.

 

[evnted]

Absolutely outstanding job, @evnted -- truly impressive work here. I'm super proud to have worked with you on the draft this year. You're one of the most talented NHL draft writers I've seen emerge in the past decade.

must be something in the water on these boards but much appreciated, esp coming from one of the gold standards of draft analysis (@Guadana too lol)

it kinda feels like this year is the big sendoff from being a draft-focused team to being a prime contender for the next number of years, so im glad we were able to go a bit over the top with coverage (please ignore that we said all of this in 2022 as well lmao). feedback in general has been great, too. appreciative of everyone jumping in the conversation so much

hopefully tom rewards the effort by picking a board favorite tomorrow. i am definitely still game to do some group post-draft analysis of our haul btw