Official 2024 NHL Draft Thread

I'd like to watch another Levshunov game, but he looks top heavy with clunky footwork. He's very much on the shooter end of the defender spectrum; I don't really see high end skill either. I might even think he's a good player, when I watch more, but I'm having a hard time buying him resembling a 3-5 talent. He's giving me Reinbacher vibes, although I think Levshunov has more offense. Defenders in the top 5-10 range have lower return on interest for a reason. But at bare minimum, you need to see real plus tools and skill. If that threshold isn't reached, I'm going to be skeptical of value.

I'm not even sold on Dickinson as a true #1 caliber guy, but I've seen him a lot, and I could buy him as top pair projectable. I can identify his plus traits and athleticism.

Iginla at 33

Oof.
 
i have him at 7 right now

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i have him at 7 right now

Mark my words, the Flyers brass will cream the ceiling over him - he ticks all the boxes, especially with the member berries.

When it comes to defensemen at the top, the perfect recent type I would be comfortable with in the top ~5 is Luke Hughes. Without going into specifics - because I can't - you just knew that was a great pick that would hit (figuratively). That's the prototype I'm looking for, even if it's unreasonable (I don't know if it is).

But really, just f***ing get me Demidov.
 
When it comes to defensemen at the top, the perfect recent type I would be comfortable with in the top ~5 is Luke Hughes.

So much this. That is what high end defensive prospects look like. You don't have to bend and stretch their profiles/skill-sets to pretend.

Also, I'm Team Iginla too. I don't know if he'll be in the top 10, and I don't know where the Flyers will pick. But coming away with him and another top 5-10 forward? That'd be too money for this shit franchise.
 
I have been keeping a spreadsheet on the draft prospects again and with 8 "professional" draftniks list, this is the consensus ranking ( I pulled out any that weren't rated by 3 of the 8 services) for the top 34:
RankFirstLastPosTeam
1MacklinCelebriniCBoston U
2ColeEisermanLWUSNDTP
3IvanDemidovRWSKA St Pete
4ArtyomLevshunovRHDGreen Bay
5BerkleyCattonCSpokane
6KonstaHeleniusCUkirit
7AntonSilayevLHDTorpedo Novogrod
8SamDickensonLHDLondon
9AdamJiricekRHDPlezn
10ZayneParekhRHDSaginaw
11CaydenLindstromCMedicine Hat
12AronKiviharjuLHDTPS
13CarterYakemchuckRHDCalgary
14IgorChernyshovLWDynamo Moskow
15MichaelBrandseeg-NygardRWMora
16ColeHutsonLHDUSNDTP
17CharlieElickRHDBrandon
18TrevorConnellyCTri City
19ZeevBuiumDUSNDTP
20RyderRitchieRWPrince Albert
21HenryMewsRHDOttawa
22MaximMasseRWChicoutimi
23VeetiVaisanenLHDKookoo
24NikitaArtamonovLW/RWTorpedo Novogrod
25SachaBoisvertCMuskegan
26EmilHemmingRWTPS
27Eric JEmeryRHDUSNDTP
28TannerHoweC/LWRegina
29BecketSenneckeRWOshawa
30MichaelHageRWChicago
31LeoSahlin WalleniusLDVjaxo
32LiamGreentreeRWWindsor
33WillSkahanLHDUSNDTP
34AnthonyCristoforoRHDWindsor
 
Taking two gives you a better chance of landing a good one, and good ones are hard to find. Especially if the top forwards are gone. It looks like there are 6 really good forwards, so if you are picking 10 and 20 or there about, maybe taking a shot at two is a good thing. They really need a high end center and a high end defenseman though. Assuming they don't win the lottery, if Catton, Lindstrom, Helenius and Demidov are gone, I think you have to go defenseman. I don't want to draft a winger if there is a defenseman who is rated the same or higher, so then I would take two defensemen. With 5 first round defensemen (Bonk, York and Sanheim) on the team, someone should shake out
 
With basically the whole season to play for draftees and no clue where the Flyers are picking, it’s kinda fruitless to be doing hypotheticals now. Depending on how things shake out I wouldn’t be upset with 2 Dmen in the first round
 
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Taking two gives you a better chance of landing a good one, and good ones are hard to find. Especially if the top forwards are gone. It looks like there are 6 really good forwards, so if you are picking 10 and 20 or there about, maybe taking a shot at two is a good thing. They really need a high end center and a high end defenseman though. Assuming they don't win the lottery, if Catton, Lindstrom, Helenius and Demidov are gone, I think you have to go defenseman. I don't want to draft a winger if there is a defenseman who is rated the same or higher, so then I would take two defensemen. With 5 first round defensemen (Bonk, York and Sanheim) on the team, someone should shake out
This theory could apply to forwards also. Are we really feeling good about a core of Michkov, Cutter, Foerster, Brink and.....up front? Who knows when the Flyers will pick high again. People a lot smarter than me have studied these things and forwards, on average impact the game more than a singular defenseman. And you almost always have to take impact forwards in the first round and usually early.

There's always the trade back option...

The NHL Draft isn't that hard. If you have to take a second defenseman to hedge against the first, then your evaluation process may be off. And as I mentioned in my previous post, you have to have the usage available to develop these guys. There's only 6 slots and 2 PP spots. I don't think Bonk is a PP guy but the Flyers are obviously the high team on him and probably think he might be able to contribute there in the NHL. In theory yes it makes sense to add and see who hits, but there's the practical component also.

Also why having a narrow lense and taking Bonk last year because they wanted to come out of the draft with a RHD, was not the wisest choice. If they haven't already, I imagine there are a handful of forwards they wish they took in that spot.
 

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