Prospect Info: Ives 2024 Final NHL Draft Rankings

tailfins

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He's on my Do Not Draft List.

Though Connelly does not have one "holy crap he's evil" incident like Mitch Miller, there are a litany of strikes against him in the character department. Multiple incidents of racism, multiple incidents of parents of teammates and opponents complaining about him, multiple accusations of bullying.

Even if we are willing to give him a pass of "he's young, he can learn" on everything, I think the IIHF world tourney sealed it. With Team USA up 4-2 to Canada in the Gold Medal game, Connelly basically tried to behead Ryder Ritchie with no direct provocation. On the ensuing 5-minute major, Canada scored 3 times and won the game. Looking at the USA bench as events unfolded, I am surprised Connelly made it out of that locker room in one piece.

I think Connelly is a character liability, and as such I would have felt bad ranking him ahead of anyone on this list. Do I think he is irredeemable? No, I hold out hope he can grow up and realize that his actions affect other people too and it's not just all about him and him alone. But until he proves this for a significant period of time, I'd say "let someone else take the chance".
@My3Sons this is your psychopath. And, this IMO, is the problem with the pyschopaht strategy. Could you really draft a kid like this? But, guys like Downie, Carcillo, Avery, etc were able to carve out careers.
 
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StevenToddIves

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Something is a bit off with Perfetti's profile in the edge stats. He had one burst above 22 mph. He had a few up to 22 mph and relatively modest number from 18-20 mph. His total distance didn't look too hot either. It's kinda sorta the same thing holding back Holtz in my view. I'm not sure if it's confidence or struggling with assignments? I don't doubt that lack of reps and experience makes it tougher for the young players who aren't top notch skaters or seasoned defenders to get to their spots and move without hesitation. Coaches for good teams generally stress defense and sure we've seen any number of these coaches hold young players to higher standards than veterans. I'm sure with experience he will put both ends fo the rink together and develop as an all around player.
I don't think a scoring winger needs to be a Selke Trophy-caliber defender in order to be effective. If you just take care of business in your own end and make an impact in transition and offensively, you're going to be a valuable player in the NHL.

But a lot of what I do here (ranking prospects) amounts to gauging what makes a player valuable in the NHL. To me, offensive danger and production are a big part of it, but are far from the whole picture.

The almost embarrassingly simplistic way to put this would be to say something pedantic like: Gustav Nyqvist scored 75 points this year and Brady Tkachuk scored 74. But if 32 GMs could pick a player between the two to have on their team for one 7-game series, which player would all 32 GMs undoubtedly for? What if we asked the same question between Shane Gostisbehere and his 56 points vs. Miro Heiskanen and his 54 points?

Obviously, scoring is crucially important in hockey. The team who scores more wins. But we also have to realize that in a 60-minute game with literally hundreds upon hundreds of events occurring, on the average only 6 or 7 of these events are scoring plays.

People can disagree and it will make for an interesting debate, but if Player A contributes to 10-15 more scoring plays a year than Player B, but Player B has a positive effect on literally thousands more on-ice events during the course of the season -- well, I'll take Player B every time.

This is to say I liked Cole Perfetti and I liked Alex Holtz in their draft years and I like Berkly Catton now. But the reason I had them all a bit lower than the consensus is because I think their on-ice impacts are almost directly linked to their scoring totals. With Holtz and Perfetti, I had them ranked lower than Jarvis simply because I felt Jarvis had a greater impact on the entirety of the game. With Catton, I have him ranked lower than Nygard and Helenius for the very same reason. It's not "not liking Holtz" or "not liking Catton" -- it's just that I really, really liked Jarvis then just as I really really like Nygard and Helenius now.
 

My3Sons

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@My3Sons this is your psychopath. And, this IMO, is the problem with the pyschopaht strategy. Could you really draft a kid like this? But, guys like Downie, Carcillo, Avery, etc were able to carve out careers.
I responded to this yesterday. He's not a big violent person without a conscience. He's just a jack ass without a conscience. There is a big difference.
 

StevenToddIves

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@My3Sons this is your psychopath. And, this IMO, is the problem with the pyschopaht strategy. Could you really draft a kid like this? But, guys like Downie, Carcillo, Avery, etc were able to carve out careers.
Just to end my part in this debate, I'm not saying Connelly is irredeemable or won't be successful in the NHL. Like I felt with Logan Mailloux, he was a kid with pronounced character concerns, but he wasn't just a borderline evil and irredeemable individual, as was the case with Mitch Miller.

However, there hasn't been one incident with Connelly. Or two, or three, or four. His entire amateur career has just been incident after incident. Do I hold out hope that Connelly will grow up, figure it out, and become a better person and teammate? Absolutely. But if I'm an NHL GM, the character in my locker room is crucially important to me, so I'm not going to draft a Connelly and instead I'll hope he figures it out somewhere else.
 

My3Sons

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Just to end my part in this debate, I'm not saying Connelly is irredeemable or won't be successful in the NHL. Like I felt with Logan Mailloux, he was a kid with pronounced character concerns, but he wasn't just a borderline evil and irredeemable individual, as was the case with Mitch Miller.

However, there hasn't been one incident with Connelly. Or two, or three, or four. His entire amateur career has just been incident after incident. Do I hold out hope that Connelly will grow up, figure it out, and become a better person and teammate? Absolutely. But if I'm an NHL GM, the character in my locker room is crucially important to me, so I'm not going to draft a Connelly and instead I'll hope he figures it out somewhere else.
It's not a debate. I floated the idea that a team should employ a fourth line of Rempes to injure the players on the other team since the punishment is minimal in comparison to the crime. How many games did Siegs and Bastian miss after Rempe cheap shots? How many games was Rempe suspended? It's a BS approach and a league embarrassment in 2024 in many respects as I see it. Somehow some folks see all miscreants the same? Connelly doesn't fit what I discussed at all. I'd pass on Connelly for the reasons you stated.
 

StevenToddIves

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Every year in the draft there are a handful of players who I kind of think of as "my guys" in that I like them far more than the field. Usually what I look for are elite intangibles complimented by various high-end hockey tools. Maybe tops on my list this year would be Cole Beaudoin, who is so outstanding in his intelligence, character, offensive skill and two-way play that I'm willing to overlook his deficiencies in skating, which I normally rate as the most important tool in gauging a hockey player.

For the Devils, it's unlikely they get him, as he's a likely pick in the late 1st/early 2nd where the Devils lack a pick. But I just want to give him a little more love, as this is a player who absolutely deserves all the accolades we can possibly give him.

 

TBF1972

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just hit edit on your post and for example after Celebrini's write up hit enter/return to add a line of blank space before Demdov's write up....

repeat for the rest and save.
you can reply to the initial post and edit yourself and edited version
 

StevenToddIves

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Finals were very fun. Overall he has potential to be very good middle six forward for different duties. But he needs to stabilize his positioning game and work on the game with partners.
I don't see Surin as an 80+ point guy at the highest levels, but I do see him as a 50+ point hellraiser who hits everything in sight, and that's something I very much like to have one of on my team.
 

StevenToddIves

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I thought this was an interesting video. David St. Louis -- who is fantastic -- did something a bit unusual here by showing how Lindstrom and Basha work together in order to get a better analysis of both players.

Cayden Lindstrom is my ultimate pipe dream pick to the Devils at #10, though I very much doubt he will fall even close. Andrew Basha is being a bit underrated to me, he's a tremendous skater with high-end skill and a lot of fun to watch. I ranked Basha one slot ahead of late-riser Sennecke because I think they are very similar talents but, while Sennecke is bigger, Basha is the better skater with a more consistent level of compete.

 

Guadana

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I don't see Surin as an 80+ point guy at the highest levels, but I do see him as a 50+ point hellraiser who hits everything in sight, and that's something I very much like to have one of on my team.
After Perevalovs failure in development im little bit more accurate with a player who is doing pest things by his own in MHL but has some issues with communicating on the ice. So top 20 is way too high for me like he was ranked by some writers, but still I feel okay to draft him in the early second.

Crouse is nice comparison. But you never know who will adapt this power forward game on nhl level. Its not that easy to learn timings and understand when you can risk by your position to try to turn opponent off. Because if you will fail, opponent will use open space in the way he will decide.
Ofcourse Surin isn't some kind of pure hitter, but still with his dome issues with reading the game of his partners, I see some limitations.
Ofcourse of he will cook the game, its a huge potential of fun and 200 foot impact.

I thought this was an interesting video. David St. Louis -- who is fantastic -- did something a bit unusual here by showing how Lindstrom and Basha work together in order to get a better analysis of both players.

Cayden Lindstrom is my ultimate pipe dream pick to the Devils at #10, though I very much doubt he will fall even close. Andrew Basha is being a bit underrated to me, he's a tremendous skater with high-end skill and a lot of fun to watch. I ranked Basha one slot ahead of late-riser Sennecke because I think they are very similar talents but, while Sennecke is bigger, Basha is the better skater with a more consistent level of compete.


Even if Lindstrom is ranked as top 5 top 10 by every writers, I feel he is underrated a little bit. Its so rare case to find a player who is skilled, can be fast, has great manipulating in his arsenal and in the some he is one of the best interior forward I saw on the draft. Redirecting and rebounding are so rare on the draft. Especially from skilled players. Yes he isn't great playmaling center, but he is driving center with huge interior game. Its much harder to find player like this and its much harder to find perimeter winger. There are tonns of them every draft with different level of skills, iq physics etc.
I truly think that Demidov is more talented, but if I would be Devils GM with second overall pick I would pick Lindstrom.
 

Nubmer6

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I just finished a video podcast where I discuss all the players in my 1st round ranking. It will be up tomorrow if you guys want to watch and/or acknowledge how great my hair looks. It's very long and detailed, but it's nice background content if you're dusting. I'll put the link up tomorrow.
Your hair is long? (And detailed)?
 

My3Sons

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Just got it cut so I didn't look too '90s for the author photo of my novel which is scheduled for next week. Don't worry, I still look like an aging grunge bass player with a Peter Pan complex.
I can't wait to buy your novel and make my usual stupid comments about it. I'm sure it will be great if not quite as great as what I'd write.
 

Guadana

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I just finished a video podcast where I discuss all the players in my 1st round ranking. It will be up tomorrow if you guys want to watch and/or acknowledge how great my hair looks. It's very long and detailed, but it's nice background content if you're dusting. I'll put the link up tomorrow.
Would be great. It sounds great, Steve.

I still think we could do better job together with our mind and knowledge than eliteprospects and dobbers. But I’m really happy that you started it by your own. That’s great.
 

My3Sons

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Would be great. It sounds great, Steve.

I still think we could do better job together with our mind and knowledge than eliteprospects and dobbers. But I’m really happy that you started it by your own. That’s great.
With the time difference it would never work. You’d be getting ready to go to sleep and Steve would still be sleeping it off.
 
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