Prospect Info: The 2024 NHL Entry Draft Thread

[Perratrooper]

He’s the one… top 7 talent if the injury recovers fine. With how the latter half of the 1st is, I expect he won’t fall to 24.

I think he’ll go top 20 and I would guess that’s conservative. Based on hype I could easily see him going to the Sharks or Hawks with their second pick in the first.

 

[Balthazar]

He cost US the U18 gold medal less than two months ago. 10 minutes remaining, US in a 3-2 lead, Connolly delivers a stupid hit to head and gets ejected. Canada scores 3 times on the 5 minute PP. Game ends 6-4 for Canada. Guy is an idiot.

We’d never have gotten Kadri if this kind of stuff was the main criteria to get a player or not.

 

[S E P H]

Just pick Connelly if available.

The fact that he has a letter on his jersey leads me to believe that he's no longer a troublemaker or a bad teammate.

If a top 5 talent in the draft drops at #24 you take him.

Bleackley was captain when he was drafted and got it taken away post-draft. I think Siemens also had a letter taken away, but that was more due to showing up late to practice due to this car not starting in those Saskatoon winters.

I’ve heard nothing but bad things about Connelly off the ice, especially his parents. Want nothing to do with him. A letter in Juniors doesn’t mean much. Bleackley was a Captain when drafted. Hardly a leader.

That's if you "believe" all those second-hand accounts and stories. I am not saying they are wrong, but there is an element of high school gossip to those statements too. He probably is a prick overall though.

 

[S E P H]

I'm just starting out reading up on the draft, and haven't really seen much footage yet, but one guy I'm really interested in is Sasha Boisvert.

Based on past drafts, players who tend to fall in the last 2-3 months never turn out to be good players. While it is almost the polar opposite when it comes to momentous risers like MS55 or GL92. Boisvert has been one of the biggest fallers of the draft the last couple of months and a poor playoff showing on top of that is the means of someone I would rather pass on. Nonetheless, good chance he won't make it to our pick as @Balthazar alluded to.

He’s the one… top 7 talent if the injury recovers fine. With how the latter half of the 1st is, I expect he won’t fall to 24.

I expect a team with multiple 1sts to grab him before Avs at 24th though.

 

[NOTENOUGHRYJOTHINGS]

Based on past drafts, players who tend to fall in the last 2-3 months never turn out to be good players. While it is almost the polar opposite when it comes to momentous risers like MS55 or GL92. Boisvert has been one of the biggest fallers of the draft the last couple of months and a poor playoff showing on top of that is the means of someone I would rather pass on. Nonetheless, good chance he won't make it to our pick as @Balthazar alluded to.


I expect a team with multiple 1sts to grab him before Avs at 24th though.

Didn't MacK rise up in the last few months after going nuts in the juniors or the memorial cup or something?

I remember lots of noise about Seth Jones being neck and neck with MacK. But by the time of the draft MacK was the obvious top dawg.

 

[dahrougem2]

Didn't MacK rise up in the last few months after going nuts in the juniors or the memorial cup or something?

I remember lots of noise about Seth Jones being neck and neck with MacK. But by the time of the draft MacK was the obvious top dawg.

I recall that WJC a lot of people saying Drouin > MacKinnon because Drouin had a legit offensive role while MacKinnon played 4th line RW.

 

[henchman21]

MacK was pretty much #1 through the whole year. There were times where Jones would climb above or get close (I think Jones was #1 in a number at midseason but it was close to split), but MacK held #1 for a long time and after the Memorial Cup he was pretty much solidified. Drouin did get the WJC hype, but it never got to that point. Barkov was the guy who climbed... IIRC he was around 10 in the preseason, moved into the top 5 around midseason, and right before the draft the rumors of him going #1 started to fly. Which is based in truth... Avs' scouts really wanted Barkov, but Roy demanded MacK.

 

[McMetal]

If I recall correctly, Makar was ranked in the 20s early in the 2016/17 season. He and Heiskanen both started to really climb from like February on, and by draft day they were considered neck and neck for that second tier behind Patrick/Hischier.

 

[RockLobster]

MacK was pretty much #1 through the whole year. There were times where Jones would climb above or get close (I think Jones was #1 in a number at midseason but it was close to split), but MacK held #1 for a long time and after the Memorial Cup he was pretty much solidified. Drouin did get the WJC hype, but it never got to that point. Barkov was the guy who climbed... IIRC he was around 10 in the preseason, moved into the top 5 around midseason, and right before the draft the rumors of him going #1 started to fly. Which is based in truth... Avs' scouts really wanted Barkov, but Roy demanded MacK.

I've always wondered if the Avs still win the Cup in '22 with Barkov instead of MacKinnon....I think they still do, just because of the rest of the team surrounding him. Of course, I'm also assuming that the rest of the team ends up exactly as it was too.

 

[henchman21]

Zeev Buium ends up the best player from this draft. People are too focused on what he isn't and overlooking what he is. Whoever takes him is getting an absolute gem.

 

[95snipes]

Zeev Buium ends up the best player from this draft. People are too focused on what he isn't and overlooking what he is. Whoever takes him is getting an absolute gem.

I don't see him being better than Celebrini. You just don't see too many players both as smart and competitive as Celebrini is. He truly is the closest thing I've seen to Crosby stylistically.

I absolutely think Buium is better than Levshunov though. I think Chicago would be making a mistake if they take Lev.

 

[henchman21]

I don't see him being better than Celebrini. You just don't see too many players both as smart and competitive as Celebrini is. He truly is the closest thing I've seen to Crosby stylistically.

I absolutely think Buium is better than Levshunov though. I think Chicago would be making a mistake if they take Lev.

I think Celebrini will be a clear franchise player and should quite easily be a top 20 player in the NHL. Not meant as a slight against him. I think Buium has Norris potential and will win multiple in his career. When you look at his stats, you would think he's a high risk, go go go sort of defensemen. When he's actually really conservative in that area. He may only pull out his moves and aggressiveness 1 or 2 times in a game. Rest of it he will sit back and let the game come to him. But he can play that ultra aggressive way if it is called for. I think he has another gear to his game, especially offensively... which is pretty scary considering how good he is in general already there. I've just been going through tape and it is as impressive as I have seen in a while. You just have to get past the average frame/average skating with him.

I see a better skating Adam Fox in Buium.

I like Lev, and I think he's a sure thing #2D... I do think he's going to have some IQ and physicality issues in the NHL.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

I think Buium is the best D in the draft as well. That sort of skill and game-breaking ability can’t be ignored.

 

[95snipes]

I think Celebrini will be a clear franchise player and should quite easily be a top 20 player in the NHL. Not meant as a slight against him. I think Buium has Norris potential and will win multiple in his career. When you look at his stats, you would think he's a high risk, go go go sort of defensemen. When he's actually really conservative in that area. He may only pull out his moves and aggressiveness 1 or 2 times in a game. Rest of it he will sit back and let the game come to him. But he can play that ultra aggressive way if it is called for. I think he has another gear to his game, especially offensively... which is pretty scary considering how good he is in general already there. I've just been going through tape and it is as impressive as I have seen in a while. You just have to get past the average frame/average skating with him.

I see a better skating Adam Fox in Buium.

I like Lev, and I think he's a sure thing #2D... I do think he's going to have some IQ and physicality issues in the NHL.

That's high praise. I see this year as his big jump development wise, but wouldn't argue against Buium at #2 at all though. He's pretty safe in a draft full of question marks.

With Lev, IQ issues + pretty meaningful compete/intensity issues. He has negative puck composure and zero defensive urgency. I don't see it all honestly. Maybe something like a physically gifted, but disappointing 3 or 4.

 

[henchman21]

That's high praise. I see this year as his big jump development wise, but wouldn't argue against Buium at #2 at all though. He's pretty safe in a draft full of question marks.

With Lev, IQ issues + pretty meaningful compete/intensity issues. He has negative puck composure and zero defensive urgency. I don't see it all honestly. Maybe something like a physically gifted, but disappointing 3 or 4.

I'm certainly a lot higher than most. I just see every skill in a modern defensemen and his weaknesses are exaggerated as trying to find flaws. We haven't seen a draft eligible season like he had in the NCAA since Brian Leech and that was just a different era. I think he was the first defensemen since Carle to score 50+ in a season and did it as a draft eligible. What impresses me the most, is that none of that seemed forced. Just natural in his play. I think he has even another gear there.

My counter point is that his physical skill set can carry him to that top pairing level. Much like it has Ekblad and EJ for stretches in their career. I think his floor is a #2 you really want more out of and he has flashes to make you continue to believe. His ceiling is a #2 who can look like a #1 for stretches but his IQ limitations hold him back from keeping that role long-term. If he's your #1 you just don't end up a very good team.

 

[PAZ]

Is this draft still considered weak in the first? It still look like there's a noticeable drop-off and doesn't look to deep, but the top 10-15 look pretty solid.

It's such an odd draft - normally you expect a few defensemen to jump the list because it's a hard position to fill... but there's an abundant of defense that can really solidify the back-end.

 

[henchman21]

Is this draft still considered weak in the first? It still look like there's a noticeable drop-off and doesn't look to deep, but the top 10-15 look pretty solid.

It's such an odd draft - normally you expect a few defensemen to jump the list because it's a hard position to fill... but there's an abundant of defense that can really solidify the back-end.

This draft is where scouts typically make their money. It is a weaker draft outside of defense and as we get into the late teens to 20s we get into the preference or scouts pounding the table area. Deep drafts will hold that off til 35-40. Weaker drafts are like this year. That doesn’t mean there won’t be talent found, just that we’re likely to see guys scouts really like jump up. There will be plenty of off the board picks as we go through.

I think as we look back on it, it’ll move up to a more average draft. The teams with good scouting are likely to clean up.

 

[Muffin]

I thought Beckett Sennecke was within the Avs' pick? Now he's ranked in the top 20 in all the rankings?

 

[PAZ]

I thought Beckett Sennecke was within the Avs' pick? Now he's ranked in the top 20 in all the rankings?

More like top 10-15. Probably the biggest riser in the draft.

 

[Balthazar]

I thought Beckett Sennecke was within the Avs' pick? Now he's ranked in the top 20 in all the rankings?

Expect another huge jump on Bob's final list. Likely going 4th of 5th overall.

 

[95snipes]

I'd consider it a weak year. Not that there isn't talent, there is, but most of them have material flaws at the top after Celebrini. Lists will be all over the place. I would not be too excited to pick 2-5.

It's a poor year for the NTDP. Some nice talent at the top of the USHL, but a steep drop off after the Connelly/Hage/Boisvert/Gridin/Mustard grouping. Obviously a few high end players in the NCAA.

My understanding is it's a down year in Sweden, Finland, and the Q. Maybe average to above average for OHL&WHL, not as sure there.

 

[The Kingslayer]

Zeev Buium ends up the best player from this draft. People are too focused on what he isn't and overlooking what he is. Whoever takes him is getting an absolute gem.

I would draft buddy on name alone. Tremendous.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

I would draft buddy on name alone. Tremendous.

I'd probably start calling him Zaphod Beeblebrox.

 

[hockeyfish]

Biggest qustion I have is who do we draft in the 6th round to continue the salad theme?

 

[Chiarelli]

If this is a scouts make their money draft then this pick needs to be traded to improve the current roster rather than lighting it on fire and making a selection.