Elite Prospects 2024 Draft Guide

[Kikka]

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.

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hey, thanks for your great report. What to you think about Blackhawks tention to find partner for Bedard is Catton opinion, I dont see Catton as NHL center, but whatabout winger? Question for some prospect, why there are on your list : Matvei Shuravin, Tomas Lavoie, Aatos Koivu?

 

[dyldude]

why do you guys hate artamonov so much? personal vendetta?

 

[DavidStLouis]

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, our reports on top players tend to be a little harsher because of higher expectations. It's especially the case for players who have hockey sense issues (ex: Sam Dickinson). It doesn't mean we like them less. But Cam is right, we're a little lower on the defensive class than most.

hey, thanks for your great report. What to you think about Blackhawks tention to find partner for Bedard is Catton opinion, I dont see Catton as NHL center, but whatabout winger? Question for some prospect, why there are on your list : Matvei Shuravin, Tomas Lavoie, Aatos Koivu?

Catton and Bedard together would make for a pretty small line, but the creativity would be awesome to watch.

why do you guys hate artamonov so much? personal vendetta?

We probably have Artamonov pretty high compared to most NHL teams. Dylan Griffing, our Russia regional scout, really likes him.

 

[Playmaker09]

Pretty confused about the Gridin 4th line projection...
His vision and shot are both high-end, he's a great playmaker off the wall, protects the puck well and makes plays through contact, high IQ and anticipation with a long reach makes him quite disruptive. Skating is average, but I don't think his style of play necessitates high end skating to work.

If you had questioned the effort level and defensive commitment and ranked him low, I'd completely understand. Though I would encourage you to check out games from the last couple months of the season where the motor was higher, he was killing penalties with Boisvert etc., which really changed my view on that. But the talent is definitely high-end and should continue to develop at Michigan.

I don't have much separation between him and Greentree.

 

[10YearsAfter]

If you subscribe to EP-premium for one month, you can download it.

Can a printed vrsn be purchased w/o sub?

 

[aqsw]

What happened to Hodnett? Top player for the oil. Too small?

 

[DavidStLouis]

Pretty confused about the Gridin 4th line projection...
His vision and shot are both high-end, he's a great playmaker off the wall, protects the puck well and makes plays through contact, high IQ and anticipation with a long reach makes him quite disruptive. Skating is average, but I don't think his style of play necessitates high end skating to work.

If you had questioned the effort level and defensive commitment and ranked him low, I'd completely understand. Though I would encourage you to check out games from the last couple months of the season where the motor was higher, he was killing penalties with Boisvert etc., which really changed my view on that. But the talent is definitely high-end and should continue to develop at Michigan.

I don't have much separation between him and Greentree.

It looks like we fundamentally see the player differently.

Gridin has some really interesting playmaking flashes, but we see him more as a well-rounded, hard-working prospect than a future skilled NHLer. It's basically the opposite read of you. So I don't think we'll come to an agreement here.

We scouted every player in the guide quite extensively, especially bigger names like Gridin, including his late season performances. If we gave a projection to a player, it's because we felt we had a good grasp on their development and overall game.

We can be wrong. It inevitably happens every draft. We're on the lower end with our projection and you seem to be on the high one. We'll see how it plays out, that's the fun of it.

Can a printed vrsn be purchased w/o sub?

We can't do print. We tried, but it's a logistic nightmare and not realistic, sorry. You can't purchase the guide alone, either, but you can get it for a one month sub. It's basically the same thing and you get access to EPRinkside.com on top of it and search functions on Elite Prospects. And if you like our content, you can stay for longer. We publish a ton of articles on draft-eligible and affiliated prospects and also cover the NHL pretty extensively.

What happened to Hodnett? Top player for the oil. Too small?

He's in the guide. We gave him a C-grade, meaning a prospect a team could target in the middle rounds of the draft. He's small, but highly dynamic and his playmaking game stands out. He dictates the game and manipulates defenders. We think he's more of a future elite junior scorer than an NHLer.

 

[tomd]

I hope that if there is an EP mock draft that it looks way different than the top 10 rankings b/c there is no way that the draft is going to go anything like the way the top 10 are ranked.

 

[uncleben]

@DavidStLouis @HockeyRobinson

While St. Andrew's College has proven to be a reliable enough feeder school, not too often does a player get drafted out of there; often they graduate to a junior league before being selected.
Notable draftees include Morgan Barron and Warren Foegele, and there's been a push in recent years of players being drafted from there, still actively hoping to one day play in the NHL - Stienburg, Morden, Devlin, Campagna.

I have a couples lines of questioning that stem from that...


1) What makes Dean Letourneau such a standout that he is getting first-round chatter? What worries you when trying to compare a top-end player like that who has been playing at an objectively lower level to the rest of the field?

2) What separates Letourneau from his teammate Jack Good who also had a record setting year at SAC but is barely even whispered about for the draft at all? Is Good's 5'9"-lack of size that big of a problem? (A problem that's probably only exaggerated by Letourneau's luring 6'7")

3) Does the recent increase in draft-worthy players from SAC say anything at all about the program, from what you've seen? Has anything changed, or has it just been a good run lately? I think Shattuck Saint-Mary's is that only other prep school that can list as many draftees in recent years.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

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.



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.

View attachment 879632

Love the Spellacy shoutout. He could be a Josh Anderson-lite, I like his PK potential. He's going to turn 50-50 pucks into Grabner or Hagelin esque breakaway chances simply because of his speed.

 

[DavidStLouis]

I hope that if there is an EP mock draft that it looks way different than the top 10 rankings b/c there is no way that the draft is going to go anything like the way the top 10 are ranked.

We will have another couple mock drafts at EPRinkside before the draft, using industry contacts. And you're right, small chance the draft actually goes like our board.

@DavidStLouis @HockeyRobinson

While St. Andrew's College has proven to be a reliable enough feeder school, not too often does a player get drafted out of there; often they graduate to a junior league before being selected.
Notable draftees include Morgan Barron and Warren Foegele, and there's been a push in recent years of players being drafted from there, still actively hoping to one day play in the NHL - Stienburg, Morden, Devlin, Campagna.

I have a couples lines of questioning that stem from that...


1) What makes Dean Letourneau such a standout that he is getting first-round chatter? What worries you when trying to compare a top-end player like that who has been playing at an objectively lower level to the rest of the field?

2) What separates Letourneau from his teammate Jack Good who also had a record setting year at SAC but is barely even whispered about for the draft at all? Is Good's 5'9"-lack of size that big of a problem? (A problem that's probably only exaggerated by Letourneau's luring 6'7")

3) Does the recent increase in draft-worthy players from SAC say anything at all about the program, from what you've seen? Has anything changed, or has it just been a good run lately? I think Shattuck Saint-Mary's is that only other prep school that can list as many draftees in recent years.

I'm not the right person to answer these questions. That would be Daniel Gee, who scouts these programs extensively. I'll see if he has some time to come here.

Love the Spellacy shoutout. He could be a Josh Anderson-lite, I like his PK potential. He's going to turn 50-50 pucks into Grabner or Hagelin esque breakaway chances simply because of his speed.

Josh Anderson was my comp for him!

 

[Daniel Gee]

@DavidStLouis @HockeyRobinson

While St. Andrew's College has proven to be a reliable enough feeder school, not too often does a player get drafted out of there; often they graduate to a junior league before being selected.
Notable draftees include Morgan Barron and Warren Foegele, and there's been a push in recent years of players being drafted from there, still actively hoping to one day play in the NHL - Stienburg, Morden, Devlin, Campagna.

I have a couples lines of questioning that stem from that...


1) What makes Dean Letourneau such a standout that he is getting first-round chatter? What worries you when trying to compare a top-end player like that who has been playing at an objectively lower level to the rest of the field?

2) What separates Letourneau from his teammate Jack Good who also had a record setting year at SAC but is barely even whispered about for the draft at all? Is Good's 5'9"-lack of size that big of a problem? (A problem that's probably only exaggerated by Letourneau's luring 6'7")

3) Does the recent increase in draft-worthy players from SAC say anything at all about the program, from what you've seen? Has anything changed, or has it just been a good run lately? I think Shattuck Saint-Mary's is that only other prep school that can list as many draftees in recent years.

Hello! I take care of prep and high school scouting for EP.

1) What you describe is the biggest hurdle to successfully scouting high school and prep hockey. Almost every higher-end quantity dominates at their respective level. Letourneau is no different, not only from a tools standpoint but also from a sense and size standpoint. What makes it tricky is that in most cases, these dominant players are fairly average when it comes to their tools and they usually can be successful pushing sub-par, non-translatable junior habits (perimeter shooting, hero-hockey, leveraging speed instead of manipulation, etc). It took a lot of time to figure out what translates and what doesn't.

With Letourneau, it comes down to the fact that he is a bit of a unicorn. This dude is 6-foot-7 and possesses little awkwardness (tall players often struggle with skating and locked upper bodies) -- this pushes Letourneau ahead developmentally. Then, we start to get into habits that most high schoolers just don't possess. Skill-blending, large-ice transition game, extremely strong off-puck supporting habits -- hell, even a short-pass connection game through give-and-goes -- you don't see a lot of this from players at the same level. That's not even mentioning his handling skill, shooting, and protection (and power) game. There's risk, don't get me wrong -- he pays hero hockey, can win every physical battle, and has a few junior habits, but you are looking at a player who has a high floor with considerable upside. 6-foot-7 centres who can skate will play in the NHL at some capacity. We would have liked to see more USHL action, but he went out with an injury -- it helps immensely in seeing how an HS/Prep player reacts to less advantages. Not really worried about Letourneau -- I am working on a full breakdown of his game that should be out in the next couple of weeks.

2) You hit the nail on the head here -- at Good's size, it will be difficult to replicate the same offensive success at a pro level. There is something to be said about his ability to connect plays with a higher-end player in Letourneau, but the tools just don't stand out enough to confidently talk about an NHL projection. I watched Good in Brooks (BCHL), and it confirmed these thoughts -- he struggled to make an impact.

3) I can't speak for what has changed, but I agree we are seeing a wave of players walk out of that program and find success. Higher-end prospects see the school as a legitimate stepping-stone option on their way to the NCAA, especially if they don't want to jump to Jr A or the USHL. Longer development paths equal more success essentially. When you get Jack Pridham (son of Leafs' AGM) using SAC as a step before he went to the BCHL, you can get a sense at how the industry views their development. Other schools/academies are developing prospects too -- Minnetonka High, Mount St. Charles, Cushing, Warroad High, and Eden Praire come to mind.

I think SAC has a big advantage in recruiting because they are located in Canada but still compete against other higher-end prep schools

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Hello! I take care of prep and high school scouting for EP.

1) What you describe is the biggest hurdle to successfully scouting high school and prep hockey. Almost every higher-end quantity dominates at their respective level. Letourneau is no different, not only from a tools standpoint but also from a sense and size standpoint. What makes it tricky is that in most cases, these dominant players are fairly average when it comes to their tools and they usually can be successful pushing sub-par, non-translatable junior habits (perimeter shooting, hero-hockey, leveraging speed instead of manipulation, etc). It took a lot of time to figure out what translates and what doesn't.

With Letourneau, it comes down to the fact that he is a bit of a unicorn. This dude is 6-foot-7 and possesses little awkwardness (tall players often struggle with skating and locked upper bodies) -- this pushes Letourneau ahead developmentally. Then, we start to get into habits that most high schoolers just don't possess. Skill-blending, large-ice transition game, extremely strong off-puck supporting habits -- hell, even a short-pass connection game through give-and-goes -- you don't see a lot of this from players at the same level. That's not even mentioning his handling skill, shooting, and protection (and power) game. There's risk, don't get me wrong -- he pays hero hockey, can win every physical battle, and has a few junior habits, but you are looking at a player who has a high floor with considerable upside. 6-foot-7 centres who can skate will play in the NHL at some capacity. We would have liked to see more USHL action, but he went out with an injury -- it helps immensely in seeing how an HS/Prep player reacts to less advantages. Not really worried about Letourneau -- I am working on a full breakdown of his game that should be out in the next couple of weeks.

2) You hit the nail on the head here -- at Good's size, it will be difficult to replicate the same offensive success at a pro level. There is something to be said about his ability to connect plays with a higher-end player in Letourneau, but the tools just don't stand out enough to confidently talk about an NHL projection. I watched Good in Brooks (BCHL), and it confirmed these thoughts -- he struggled to make an impact.

3) I can't speak for what has changed, but I agree we are seeing a wave of players walk out of that program and find success. Higher-end prospects see the school as a legitimate stepping-stone option on their way to the NCAA, especially if they don't want to jump to Jr A or the USHL. Longer development paths equal more success essentially. When you get Jack Pridham (son of Leafs' AGM) using SAC as a step before he went to the BCHL, you can get a sense at how the industry views their development. Other schools/academies are developing prospects too -- Minnetonka High, Mount St. Charles, Cushing, Warroad High, and Eden Prairie come to mind.

I think SAC has a big advantage in recruiting because they are located in Canada but still compete against other higher-end prep schools

I wouldn't compare prep schools (who can draw from anywhere) and public Minnesota high schools (who draw from a small area) and have a hockey playing system different than basically everywhere else in the world

Minnesota HS produces D1 caliber players every year because the hockey playing talent pool in Minnesota is far bigger than any other US state. Community/grassroots hockey, public rinks/ice, average cheaper cost of entry, hockey culture in the state historically. Minnesota is the only US state where hockey is seen and treated like big time mainstream high school sport, where schools big and small have programs with history, and the culture makes it a bigger deal to stay home and play high school instead of go off to junior at 16, 17, 18 years old. While more quality players do leave MN HS to go play in the USHL than say 10-15 years ago, they still have a large enough, talent playing pool to produce good D1 caliber players all the way up through the high school system. Minnesota has the depth.

Compare that to the rest of the country, where most places have fewer rinks, and the areas that have a lot are private run rinks, which equals more expensive ice time and higher cost of entry for hockey. And with these other hockey playing areas having nowhere close to the culture of Minnesota where hockey is extremely mainstream, the talent pool is much smaller, meaning the need to group all the best players together on AAA minor hockey teams that travel, as there's (almost) no quality depth that Minnesota has where you can play in your community/town only. (Massachusetts used to be more like Minnesota, but they went away from the community model and the industry privatized significantly, leading to rise in hockey playing costs and random ass junior/private prep leagues like the NCDC/USPHL being started, and the hockey in Massachusetts became extremely watered down).

 

[Daniel Gee]

I wouldn't compare prep schools (who can draw from anywhere) and public Minnesota high schools (who draw from a small area) and have a hockey playing system different than basically everywhere else in the world

Minnesota HS produces D1 caliber players every year because the hockey playing talent pool in Minnesota is far bigger than any other US state. Community/grassroots hockey, public rinks/ice, average cheaper cost of entry, hockey culture in the state historically. Minnesota is the only US state where hockey is seen and treated like big time mainstream high school sport, where schools big and small have programs with history, and the culture makes it a bigger deal to stay home and play high school instead of go off to junior at 16, 17, 18 years old. While more quality players do leave MN HS to go play in the USHL than say 10-15 years ago, they still have a large enough, talent playing pool to produce good D1 caliber players all the way up through the high school system. Minnesota has the depth.

Compare that to the rest of the country, where most places have fewer rinks, and the areas that have a lot are private run rinks, which equals more expensive ice time and higher cost of entry for hockey. And with these other hockey playing areas having nowhere close to the culture of Minnesota where hockey is extremely mainstream, the talent pool is much smaller, meaning the need to group all the best players together on AAA minor hockey teams that travel, as there's (almost) no quality depth that Minnesota has where you can play in your community/town only. (Massachusetts used to be more like Minnesota, but they went away from the community model and the industry privatized significantly, leading to rise in hockey playing costs and random ass junior/private prep leagues like the NCDC/USPHL being started, and the hockey in Massachusetts became extremely watered down).

Yes, it's definitely different, didn't mean to compare them in that sense -- A lot of Minny schools do a lot of good with what they have available to them. More talking about the process of evaluating the players (HS/Prep) which is a tricky practice. (only reason I lumped them together)

 

[Blueston]

We will have another couple mock drafts at EPRinkside before the draft, using industry contacts. And you're right, small chance the draft actually goes like our board.



I'm not the right person to answer these questions. That would be Daniel Gee, who scouts these programs extensively. I'll see if he has some time to come here.



Josh Anderson was my comp for him!

I just wanted to say how awesome it is that y’all drop in here like this. Thanks!!!

edit. I upgraded my subscription. Looking forward to perusing the full guide.

 

[DavidStLouis]

I just wanted to say how awesome it is that y’all drop in here like this. Thanks!!!

edit. I upgraded my subscription. Looking forward to perusing the full guide.

It's no problem. We all really enjoy talking about prospects and this is just another excuse to do it. Thank you for subscribing. Hopefully, you like our upcoming content and the draft guide!

 

[DavidStLouis]

We're offering a 50% sale on an annual EP Premium subscription for a year for a limited time before the draft, if you're interested!

Thanks to all who submitted questions here.

Premium Overview - Elite Prospects

Ice Hockey Player Database and Transaction Portal

www.eliteprospects.com

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

We're offering a 50% sale on an annual EP Premium subscription for a year for a limited time before the draft, if you're interested!

Thanks to all who submitted questions here.

Premium Overview - Elite Prospects

Ice Hockey Player Database and Transaction Portal

www.eliteprospects.com

My yearly renewal is kicking in on 06/28, but I am guessing I don't qualify because I am already a subscriber?

 

[DavidStLouis]

My yearly renewal is kicking in on 06/28, but I am guessing I don't qualify because I am already a subscriber?

I asked! You can contact support and ask them to cancel the remaining part of your subscription and renew immediately (since there's just 10 days left) or you can just wait for it to end since the promotion stops 06/30. You have two days to renew before that.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

I asked! You can contact support and ask them to cancel the remaining part of your subscription and renew immediately (since there's just 10 days left) or you can just wait for it to end since the promotion stops 06/30. You have two days to renew before that.

Awesome. Thanks.