Elite Prospects 2024 Draft Guide

[DavidStLouis]

Which leads me to think you have Celebrini and Demidov clearly above the players in the 3-15 range. How closely do you have Celebrini and Demidov rated?

They are. The gap between Demidov and them is not that big, however. He's a bit of a risky prospect considering he played MHL all year and it's not a very good league.

At the start of the year, I thought he had a decent chance of becoming number one. Had he played a full season in the KHL and performed, maybe the debate would’ve continued. But we rapidly pulled the plug on it, seeing him (unfairly) demoted to the MHL as Celebrini dominated the NCAA, a much better league. Celebrini was also producing while playing a more NHL translatable, two-way, supportive game.

Now, it's not that close between them. Celebrini is a safer prospect while having similar offensive upside (north of 82 points).

 

[Giguere27]

As a fan from Germany, do you see some potential German draft picks this year?

Thanks in advance

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Out of the top ~15 players who do you think has the biggest chance of being a complete bust?

 

[GordieHowYaDoin]

Hello!

Thank you so much for promoting our guide. We think it's our best one yet. It features 400+ player profiles, manually tracked stats, NHL scouts quotes, and more than 5500 individual game reports. There's also a lighter version for those who don't want all the game reports. (I suggest you download the full version if you want more info on players, however).

It's available with a monthly subscription. And you also get access to the https://eprinkside.com/ platform with it and plenty of interesting search functions on Elite Prospects website. We will have dozens of articles on the draft over the next few weeks.

It's a pretty good deal, if you ask me.

Like last year, I can answer questions about prospects and our process here.

Here's our updated top-32.

View attachment 879430View attachment 879431

I about died when I saw its nearly 2,000 pdf pages lol

Quite enjoying it though. Great work, EP

 

[HockeyRobinson]

Out of the top ~15 players who do you think has the biggest chance of being a complete bust?

For me personally, there are a couple of candidates.

Cole Eiserman is one. We've seen elite junior goal scorers fail to transition due to a lack of diversity in their game, and a lack of focus away from the puck. He could become a 40-goal man, or he could become a tweener NHLer

The other one is Greentree. He needs to improve his skating and pace in order to bring along the habits and output that made him such an impact player this year. If he can't, he won't be able to keep up.

 

[DavidStLouis]

As a fan from Germany, do you see some potential German draft picks this year?

Thanks in advance

It's not the best year for Germany.

We watched Paul Mayer closely this season, but we came down on his potential as the season went on. Skating and reach may get him drafted. He has professional experience and he can engage opponents, block shots, and make the occasional offensive play. His game needs a lot of refinement to translate to the NHL.

Raphael Jakovlev and Henry Homann are also in our database. We liked Jokovlev's skill when we saw him, but he needs some tactical refinement and to better manage the puck when facing defensive pressure.

Next year, we want to improve our Central Europe coverage.

 

[GordieHowYaDoin]

Who is your favorite late round sleeper this draft, David or Cam?

The last several years especially there have been some really great (but very raw) talent taken in the later rounds then really elevated their game in D+ years (Tverberg, Squires, Fink jump out off the top of my head here)

 

[Mrfenn92]

Question can I buy the draft book without signing up for a premium account?

 

[Static]

Question can I buy the draft book without signing up for a premium account?

Just sign up for a month, download it, and immediately cancel the membership. It serves the same purpose and can be done in the span of five minutes.

As a bonus you will be a member and eligible to read all of their great post-draft stuff through the end of the month as well. Can't get a better deal.

 

[Mrfenn92]

Just sign up for a month, download it, and immediately cancel the membership. It serves the same purpose and can be done in the span of five minutes.

As a bonus you will be a member and eligible to read all of their great post-draft stuff through the end of the month as well. Can't get a better deal.

Thanks

 

[Habsfan18]

Question can I buy the draft book without signing up for a premium account?

No pressure, but if you want one man’s opinion..a premium subscription is 100% worth the cost. EP Rinkside is fantastic and worth the price of a subscription alone IMO, and the premium features on the EP website are pretty nice. I use the player tracker feature pretty much daily, and the game logs are highly useful for anyone following players/prospects. The Draft Guide is incredible value as well. This year’s edition is over 1,900 pages..!

 

[Mrfenn92]

No pressure, but if you want one man’s opinion..a premium subscription is 100% worth the cost. EP Rinkside is fantastic and worth the price of a subscription alone IMO, and the premium features on the EP website are pretty nice. I use the player tracker feature pretty much daily, and the game logs are highly useful for anyone following players/prospects. The Draft Guide is incredible value as well. This year’s edition is over 1,900 pages..!

Will be signing up this evening
Thanks

 

[GordieHowYaDoin]

Will be signing up this evening
Thanks

I second the EP Premium Value. The articles are fantastic and the information is some of the best out there. I got tired of The Athletic fluff/click bait pieces playing the "PC" game , so I dropped them and gave my money to EP.

For the draft guide, you'd be hard pressed to find such a thorough guide for $11.99usd, so that in itself along with Rink Side is a massive value, even if for only one month.

 

[TLEH]

Thoughts on Tarin Smith? Watched a ton of WHL this year and thought he stood out in the games I saw.

 

[DavidStLouis]

Who is your favorite late round sleeper this draft, David or Cam?

The last several years especially there have been some really great (but very raw) talent taken in the later rounds then really elevated their game in D+ years (Tverberg, Squires, Fink jump out off the top of my head here)

AJ Spellacy is a good one. He didn't score a lot this season, but he just recently made hockey is primary focus (he had football offers). One of the fastest players in the draft with a powerforward frame. Real boom potential.

Noel Fransén is a mobile, elusive defencemen with a large collection of one-on-one moves at the offensive blue line. Similar to Alfons Freij but should be available later.

Tory Pitner is one of the smartest players in the entire draft. He can dissect the game at a genius level. Tools are average, but he's really invested in his development. Interesting RDH profile.

Alexis Bernier has really strong details and NHL projectable tools. Big part of a strong Baie-Comeau team this season. Good value later in the draft.

Thoughts on Tarin Smith? Watched a ton of WHL this year and thought he stood out in the games I saw.

Mitch Brown calls him Tarin Makar. Occasionally, he pulls off incredible one-on-one moves at the line and scores some ridiculous goals. His game is not that projectable to the NHL right now, but the tools are good enough and the flashes of creativity are really interesting. He's a player to watch.

Here's a game report.

 

[Janks]

Really appreciate all the effort and work that goes into the guide - thank you!

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Definitely appreciate the deep dive of Sam Dickinson including concerns with his hockey sense.

 

[HockeyRobinson]

Who is your favorite late round sleeper this draft, David or Cam?

The last several years especially there have been some really great (but very raw) talent taken in the later rounds then really elevated their game in D+ years (Tverberg, Squires, Fink jump out off the top of my head here)

The late-round guys are there for a reason, but a couple that could be in that range that have intriguing skills but are missing other pieces (often size) are:

Mac Swanson - If he was a few inches taller, he could be a top 60 pick. Loads of skill and a great motor. Easy to root for.

Mitja Jokinen - I was really impressed with him when I was in Finland for the U18 Worlds. He outplayed Kiviharju by a significant amount. He's a mobile cat, with good outlets and played hard in the defensive end. The issue? He's 165lbs. But I do think there's something here.

Blake Montgomery - Overagers don't get a lot of love but the 19-year-old is definitely intriguing. ranked 101 among NA skaters by Central Scouting. I think he could be a player taken in the mid-rounds who turns into a very valuable asset - think Dakota Joshua. 6-foot-3 skates like the wind, and has good enough skills. Just need to convince him to become more of a dick and run over anyone in his path and the projection will come true

 

[FLAMESFAN]

This has to be one of the highest rankings of Stiga so far

 

[My3Sons]

30 grade A players? That's an impressive draft. To read some reports the draft is a one or maybe two man draft but this ranking certainly makes it sound like a fairly deep one.

 

[Juxtaposer]

30 grade A players? That's an impressive draft. To read some reports the draft is a one or maybe two man draft but this ranking certainly makes it sound like a fairly deep one.

I’m fairly sure that “grade A” just means “worth a first round pick”. So slightly below average.

 

[Peasy]

I’m fairly sure that “grade A” just means “worth a first round pick”. So slightly below average.

Most drafts have like 18-20 grade A players (at least what ive seen from hockeyprospect). Not everyone is going to agree which players get that A especially when you start getting to 15+

 

[HockeyRobinson]

This has to be one of the highest rankings of Stiga so far

We have one scout who is a MASSIVE fan of Stiga's. But throughout our group, we really appreciate his compete-level, IQ, and ability to make high-end players even better when paired with him.

 

[Static]

The game reports seem very meh on the top dmen. Is this harsh grading because of the expected talent of a top pick, or just not too inspired by the players themselves?

 

[HockeyRobinson]

The game reports seem very meh on the top dmen. Is this harsh grading because of the expected talent of a top pick, or just not too inspired by the players themselves?

In general, we're not overly enamoured with the top of this defence group