The Most In-Depth Analysis of the 2024 NHL Draft, by Simon St-L.

[19Simon19]

Hi everyone, here's my ranking for the 2024 NHL Draft.

I've worked harder than ever to offer you the best content possible ; 50 000 words of unique, critical analysis on the Top 32 Prospects in a ranking that differs from the one you will see on the public sphere.

I know that some of you thought it was a bit hard navigating through it but for the moment, I prefer posting it that way so people can discover the ranking as they're going through it. If you want to find a specific player, there is still the function 'CTRL + F''

NHL Draft Ranking 2024, by Simon St-L.

NHL Draft Ranking 2024, by Simon St-L. - TSLH -

www.toutsurlehockey.com

Click to read more...

 

[Castle8130]

Great stuff!

 

[Seb]

Was looking forward to this, thanks Simon!

 

[GiGi1994]

Great content !

Fun fact, while reading your analysis on Miguel Marques I thought "is he describing Evan Rodrigues" than saw that you compared Marques to him !

Overall, you're more bullish on Lindstrom, Yakemchuk, Luchenko, Solberg and a little bearish on Buium, Hage, Basha and Ritchie (which you did not rank in your top 32).

I am glad to see someone agreeing with my ranking of MBN ! I don't see him become more than a bottom 6, I get that he is easier to project but to me that doesn't mean he should be top 15 considering his upside.

We also tend to agree on (outside of obvious like Celebrini, Demidov) Greentree, Jiricek, Parekh and have pretty much the same bottom 5. I like Vanacker very much, I would've like to rank him higher but can't seem to find him a spot. I hope he proves me wrong, he's a beauty.

Once again good job, I know you guys put in a lot of work and time into that. Keep it up. Here's my on top 32 for you to compare.

Rank	Name
1	Macklin Celebrini
2	Ivan Demidov
3	Zeev Buium
4	Artyom Levshunov
5	Sam Dickinson
6	Cayden Lindstrom
7	Tij Iginla
8	Berkly Catton
9	Anton Silayev
10	Beckett Sennecke
11	Zayne Parekh
12	Michael Hage
13	Cole Eiserman
14	Liam Greentree
15	Konsta Helenius
16	Carter Yakemchuk
17	Trevor Connelly
18	Andrew Basha
19	Adam Jiricek
20	Ryder Ritchie
21	Sam O'Reilly
22	Stian Solberg
23	Teddy Stiga
24	Marek Vanacker
25	Michael Brandsegg-Nygard
26	Alfons Freij
27	Cole Hutson
28	Sacha Boisvert
29	Ben Danford
30	Igor Chernyshov
31	Emil Hemming
32	Yegor Surin

 

[Mathieukferland]

Merci Simon!

 

[Static]

Thank you so much for all this work.

 

[samsagat]

I like the audacity and authenticity.

You assume your way of seeing things and I appreciate that, even if I view things differently.

Watching your videos and descriptions bring an appreciated perspective. I like your rational approach.

But I certainly don't have the same reading of this draft as you, and it's ok.


First for me, Sennecke is a project.

The two most important things to consider when watching a prospect, according to my p.o.v., is relative floor/ceiling.

Of course everybody has his preferences/own priorities.

For me, Sennecke is all about ceiling, but his floor, for me, is incertain.

I see a lot of junior stuff in his games, a lot of inconsistencies in terms of dedication, steadiness and efforts .

He's very raw and immature.
He has a lot of tantalizing skills, but too much uncertainties for me to be considered top 5 in this draft.


Yakemchuk too, for me, I don't see him at the same level as those I consider the top 4 defensemen in this draft. His skating is sloppy, his defensive play so-so. For me he's post top 8-10 territory in this year's draft.


As for Buium, he's this draft darling for me.

Probably the smartest player of this draft, coupled with a high level of skills, which make him the perfect Darwin winner for the "survival of the fittest" award.

Towards the regular season he was a highlight reels play machine. It was one spectacular play after another. But it wasn't at the expense of his overall effectiveness. Unpredictableness is the way he goes. Which is why he's so effective while being spectacular.

He's more or less a 2" taller and 20 pds heavier Lane Hutson. But with way better skating (backward and pivots) and defensive play.

And when he was in the Frozen four, he adapted his game to become a defensive stalwart, keeping his offensive prowess for when he had an opening, being the creator of clutch goals for his team.

His defensive play is all about (very good) attacking angles, Nostradamusian anticipation and good puck protection skills.
I personally watched both complete SF and F games of him at the Frozen four and he was dominant defensively, against high octane offensive teams. He was clearly Denver #1 defensive option, at 18.

Which for me makes him a special player that adapts to what's in front of him, and according to the importance of the moment.

He has such a resume for the last two years, it's crazy.

I think when everything is said and done, he'll end up being a special player in the NHL. The kind you win it all with.

Plus, he might grow a little more. Last year he was listed at around 5'10" and now he's 6'. His brother is 6'3"...

 

[19Simon19]

I like the audacity and authenticity.

You assume your way of seeing things and I appreciate that, even if I view things differently.

Watching your videos and descriptions bring an appreciated perspective. I like your rational approach.

But I certainly don't have the same reading of this draft as you, and it's ok.


First for me, Sennecke is a project.

The two most important things to consider when watching a prospect, according to my p.o.v., is relative floor/ceiling.

Of course everybody has his preferences/own priorities.

For me, Sennecke is all about ceiling, but his floor, for me, is incertain.

I see a lot of junior stuff in his games, a lot of inconsistencies in terms of dedication, steadiness and efforts .

He's very raw and immature.
He has a lot of tantalizing skills, but too much uncertainties for me to be considered top 5 in this draft.


Yakemchuk too, for me, I don't see him at the same level as those I consider the top 4 defensemen in this draft. His skating is sloppy, his defensive play so-so. For me he's post top 8-10 territory in this year's draft.


As for Buium, he's this draft darling for me.

Probably the smartest player of this draft, coupled with a high level of skills, which make him the perfect Darwin winner for the "survival of the fittest" award.

Towards the regular season he was a highlight reels play machine. It was one spectacular play after another. But it wasn't at the expense of his overall effectiveness. Unpredictableness is the way he goes. Which is why he's so effective while being spectacular.

He's more or less a 2" taller and 20 pds heavier Lane Hutson. But with way better skating (backward and pivots) and defensive play.

And when he was in the Frozen four, he adapted his game to become a defensive stalwart, keeping his offensive prowess for when he had an opening, being the creator of clutch goals for his team.

His defensive play is all about (very good) attacking angles, Nostradamusian anticipation and good puck protection skills.
I personally watched both complete SF and F games of him at the Frozen four and he was dominant defensively, against high octane offensive teams. He was clearly Denver #1 defensive option, at 18.

Which for me makes him a special player that adapts to what's in front of him, and according to the importance of the moment.

He has such a resume for the last two years, it's crazy.

I think when everything is said and done, he'll end up being a special player in the NHL. The kind you win it all with.

Plus, he might grow a little more. Last year he was listed at around 5'10" and now he's 6'. His brother is 6'3"...

I appreciate the reply.

Totally fine and normal to see things differently.

Regarding Buium, he's the player I'm most affraid of having ranked too low.

 

[Mrfenn92]

Good job op

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I commend all the time you put into that!

 

[57special]

I love, love, love your work, Simon!

Still hate that you don't have a short list of your rankings, then explanations afterwards. It's like you don't trust us to read your thoughts behind why you ranked the players in the way you did. I might not want to read them all in one sitting, but i certainly will, because I enjoy reading your opinions, and also share some of your views.

Love your explanation of the importance of a true shutdown defensive Dman(Silayev), and the relative unimportance, or better yet, limited need for, offensive Dman(Parekh) if they are mediocre or worse defenders. I 100% agree that Parekh is a mediocre defender because of his lack of commitment, rather than his lack of talent. He reminds me of a larger Calen Addison in that regard, rather than a Matt Dumba, whose defensive mistakes come about because of overcommitting.

For someone whose first language is French, you write very well, and expressively. Lots of mistakes and typos, with my favorite being, "forces the shooter to rush his shit", but who cares, this is a hockey forum, not English class. Bottom line is that you are clear thinking, and entertaining, and have obviously putting in lots of time in your viewings. You are not some guy parroting the views of others.

I am high on Sennecke, and think he has a chance to be special, but was surprised to see you rank him that high due to his lack of production. Still... he sticks out in a way that very few do, and, it's pretty obvious that he still can, and probably will improve loads more. He is very much a rough diamond.

I think Catton is a better skater than you, and will be able to skate out of trouble if he just has normal progression of strength and technique.

Buium confuses me a bit, also. I really have liked him when I have seen him play, but can also play out scenarios in my head where he ends up not being able to bring his game to the pros. Ultimately, as long as he isn't rushed into the NHL(two more years in college), I think he will be fine, or better than fine in the NHL.

I have no idea if Lindstrom is going to be vg as a pro.

Reading guys like you, Brock, and Caser, among others, make this site a pleasure to frequent.

 

[GAGLine]

Putting the analysis in a collapsable area would really help. Or you could add the list of names at the beginning with links to the list with the analysis. Either way would allow the user to see all of the names with far less scrolling.

 

[majormajor]

Putting the analysis in a collapsable area would really help. Or you could add the list of names at the beginning with links to the list with the analysis. Either way would allow the user to see all of the names with far less scrolling.

I think Simon has calculated, correctly, that not making a short version will encourage folks to read his full analysis. It worked on me!

 

[majormajor]

I love the work Simon. You've alerted me to many hidden gems and I've learned a lot about all of the prospects from you.

There are just a couple players that I think you have greatly underrated.

I think we need to give Zeev Buium credit for being highly adaptable. Yes the style of game he played this year is largely not translatable to the NHL, but he has shown us in the NCAA tourney that he changes his approach to match what he is up against. In the final games he suddenly became a physical, glued to his man defender, with great defensive reads. And he chose his spots offensively and made much more efficient attacks. It's as if he read your report on him and took it to heart.

Michael Brandsegg-Nygard does not have great offensive sense and you can see it on the rush and in other passing plays where top scorers often feast. But he does something equally rare, or possibly even more rare, when he wins puck battles with such ease, dominating on the forecheck, and he's able to finish with that elite shot. I will use Oliver Bjorkstrand as an example of a guy who has little to add on the PP or on the rush because of a lack of that type of offensive sense, but he'll still greatly outproduce most forwards at 5v5 because he wins his battles and he can snipe. Brandsegg-Nygard is like a bigger stronger version of that. This way of producing offense is underrated in scouting, where we tend to disaggregate checking ability from scoring ability. For many players in the NHL, and for whole teams really (Carolina, Seattle), they often go together.

 

[Reddawg]

Really outstanding and original content, thank you so much!

 

[BerthMania]

Merci pour ta liste Simon, quelle analyse incroyable.

I'll transition to english, I have a quesiton regarding Berkly Catton. He's by far my favorite prospect of this draft even though I haven't watched close to as many games as you there is something in your analysis that surprised me, you say that his skating is a weakness. Pretty much every scout I've heard talk about him and my eye test are saying the opposite, non only is he a good skater, but he's among the best skaters in the draft. A good example of that is in Corey Pronman's article he put out where he asked NHL scouts and executive anonymously about players and Catton was among the players named in the ''best skaters'' category (here's the link NHL Draft Confidential: What scouts and executives think of Celebrini, Demidov and more).

I'm not saying you're wrong since you watched more games then me, but what in your opinion explains this difference in opinion about Catton's skating between you and most other online scouts?

 

[ORRFForever]

Hi everyone, here's my ranking for the 2024 NHL Draft.

I've worked harder than ever to offer you the best content possible ; 50 000 words of unique, critical analysis on the Top 32 Prospects in a ranking that differs from the one you will see on the public sphere.

I know that some of you thought it was a bit hard navigating through it but for the moment, I prefer posting it that way so people can discover the ranking as they're going through it. If you want to find a specific player, there is still the function 'CTRL + F''

NHL Draft Ranking 2024, by Simon St-L.

NHL Draft Ranking 2024, by Simon St-L. - TSLH -

www.toutsurlehockey.com

A lot of time and effort put in. Well done.

 

[19Simon19]

Merci pour ta liste Simon, quelle analyse incroyable.

I'll transition to english, I have a quesiton regarding Berkly Catton. He's by far my favorite prospect of this draft even though I haven't watched close to as many games as you there is something in your analysis that surprised me, you say that his skating is a weakness. Pretty much every scout I've heard talk about him and my eye test are saying the opposite, non only is he a good skater, but he's among the best skaters in the draft. A good example of that is in Corey Pronman's article he put out where he asked NHL scouts and executive anonymously about players and Catton was among the players named in the ''best skaters'' category (here's the link NHL Draft Confidential: What scouts and executives think of Celebrini, Demidov and more).

I'm not saying you're wrong since you watched more games then me, but what in your opinion explains this difference in opinion about Catton's skating between you and most other online scouts?

First, thanks for the kind words !

Well, if there's one category where scouts can disagree, it's on skating. In the case of Catton, he's a smaller player so sometimes we see them faster than they actually are since their skating strides frequency is higher than bigger guys. Also, it is a matter of expectation ; since there are aspects in the game that they will always be more limited (play down low, for example) they need to be really fast to compensante for the holes in their game. In my eyes, Catton isn't fast enough for his size.

I will say one thing however, he played A LOT of minutes with Spokane. When I made my video on him, I had a handful of clips of his Hlinka Tournament and a part of me thought he looked more explosive. I really wondered if he didn't appeared as fast throughout the year due to fatigue.

And like I said, skating can be a nightmare to evalute. There's some player that when you read NHL Scouts quote on them will be seen as poor skater by some scouts and as great skater by others. Some players can look both good or bad during the year, depending on the strech.

 

[coooldude]

Definitely one of the very best set of player write-ups available. Really appreciate the work, the passion, the depth, and the clear perspective.

 

[ameselare]

Really looking forward to reading this! I might even try my hand at reading it in French as well.

 

[Evgeny Oliker]

@19Simon19 great work! Could you post the list of the top 32 here please?

It’s very hard to scroll through the content if you just want to see where everyone is ranked.


Thanks!

 

[19Simon19]

@19Simon19 great work! Could you post the list of the top 32 here please?

It’s very hard to scroll through the content if you just want to see where everyone is ranked.


Thanks!

1. Macklin Celebrini
2. Cayden Lindstrom
3. Ivan Demidov
4. Anton Silayev
5. Beckett Sennecke
6. Carter Yakemchuk
7. Tij Iginla
8. Sam Dickinson
9. Artyom Levshunov
10. Zeev Buium
11. Berkly Catton
12. Stian Solberg
13. Zayne Parekh
14. Jett Luchanko
15. Marek Vanacker
16. Liam Greentree
17. Adam Jiricek
18. Konsta Helenius
19. Julius Miettinen
20. Cole Eiserman
21. Alfons Freij
22. Jesse Pulkkinen
23. Igor Chernyshov
24. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard
25. Miguel Marques
26. Michael Hage
27. Andrew Basha
28. Sacha Boisvert
29. Harrison Brunicke
30. Trevor Connelly
31. Emil Hemming
32. Yegor Surin

 

[PlayersLtd]

Can I ask if you have landed any sort of gig as an amateur scout yet? I seem to recall you being pretty young when you first started posting and that being your goal. You are certainly putting in the work and showing your worth.

Bon travail and keep it up.

 

[SI90]

Hi everyone, here's my ranking for the 2024 NHL Draft.

I've worked harder than ever to offer you the best content possible ; 50 000 words of unique, critical analysis on the Top 32 Prospects in a ranking that differs from the one you will see on the public sphere.

I know that some of you thought it was a bit hard navigating through it but for the moment, I prefer posting it that way so people can discover the ranking as they're going through it. If you want to find a specific player, there is still the function 'CTRL + F''

NHL Draft Ranking 2024, by Simon St-L.

NHL Draft Ranking 2024, by Simon St-L. - TSLH -

www.toutsurlehockey.com

Appreciate all your hard work!! Incredibly in-depth and lots of great scoring info. Thank you

 

[19Simon19]

Can I ask if you have landed any sort of gig as an amateur scout yet? I seem to recall you being pretty young when you first started posting and that being your goal. You are certainly putting in the work and showing your worth.

Bon travail and keep it up.

If by Amateur Scout you mean writing for an independant scouting service, I had plenty but I prefer to stay independant.

I'm confident one day I'll make it to the NHL. If you don't believe in yourself at first, no one will do it for you.

Thanks for the kind words by the way. It means a lot.