Underrated 2024 NHL draft prospects.

[SantosHalper]

Simon Seidl & Tobias Schwarz, what's the story?
Simon Seidl at eliteprospects.com
Tobias Schwarz at eliteprospects.com

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Alright, I kinda wanted to chime in on this one even though I don’t post much anymore. There are a few guys I really wanted to highlight that are not getting a lot of press, some don’t even have threads on here yet but I REALLY enjoy watching them play and I hope me talking about them here can create some discourse around them and further opinions presented.



Vasili Zelenov

This is a kid that is playing for the Red Bull Juniors in Austria, the team isn’t the most high flying offensive team and is one of the top scorers on his team in a mens league. For context, the two leading scorers on his team are a couple of Finns, a 2002 born and a 2003 born. Zelenov is third in scoring as a 2006 born. He has a really good offensive skillset, is really good at creating offence off the rush and is a pretty good skater to boot. Sometimes he can be a puck hog, but honestly for a player that most likely won’t be drafted until the later half of the draft, he has some pretty good upside.



Filip Sitar

A re-entry for this years draft, Stiar I think has really good potential as a two way guy. He is a very smart kid who is able to use his vision and IQ to find teammates and create space for himself on the ice. He is a good skater who is able to create separation and beat guys to the outside and I genuinely think that he has very good potential as a two-way player in the future. Not a lot of perople are talking about him but I think there is potential he goes on the top-3 rounds, and a team gets a steal.



Max Vilen

He fits the mould of defenders I really have a hard time looking over, he has size, skates well and has good defensive fundamentals. He is very good at defending in front of his net and I think he does a great job in board battles against his peers. IQ is suspect but I think he brings a lot to the table that you hope that this improves over time and he finds that next level. Really like this player.



Cole Davis

This one is a homer vote for sure, and he probably won’t be anything better than a very good OHL player but I really love his competitive nature. He is always moving his feet and trying to make a play, if he was a better skater he could be this years Easton Cowan. He may be too small to be an NHL draft selection but when I see players that play like Davis does, I can’t help but want to see a team take a chance on them with the hope they can develop like a Gallagher,



Marek Vanacker

Don’t know if this one counts, as I have seen some lists with him pretty high but this is a guy that is currently too-20 in OHL scoring yet I haven’t seen anyone but my peers talk about him. He is a great skater who is able to score consistently and has a very good motor to him. He is a guy that could be this years Rehkopf and I want to see more people talking about him.



Nathan Villeneuve

This is a player that plays on a VERY deep Sudbury team that is still scoring at a very respectable rate as a draft eligible. He is a great skater, is a responsible two way forward and has a nose for the net. He is a guy that I can see massive progression next season as a good portion of Sudbury’s offence graduates onto the next level. I think that if you look at this player though the lense of circumstance - he is playing very well. Maybe another Josh Roy situation?



Evan Van Gorp

This is a kid who signed with the Knights as a free agent and clawed his way though the lineup and is now a full time player. He is a small but a very skilled player with excellent skating ability’s. He can move really well laterally and is super dangerous if he gets the puck in the offensive zone. He has looked much better in the second time I saw him this season than the first, so confident - putting on a show on the 4th line, stick handling around veteran OHL players. The word to describe this kid with is progression because of how much I have seen of it this season,



Veit Oswald

A double reentry for the draft - I think this is the year in which we see Oswald get selected. He was fantastic at the world juniors for Germany, was one of a few that could create offence for themselves and others. And in the DEL this year, he is having one of the best U20 seasons in the history of the league. Skating and compete are the name of the game for Oswald, I can without a doubt see him carving out a bottom6 role in the NHL. He will get drafted this time,



Tarin Smith

A very good sized defender that has excellent 4 way mobility and is scoring at a very good rate as a 17 year old in the WHL. Don’t understand why he hasn’t seen more attention on public rankings. He is very formidable at both ends of the ice, has size and is a great skater. What’s not to like here?



Jan Golicic

Not enjoying the most dominant offensive season, but has gotten progressively better and more confident as the year has progressed. He is a 6’6 defender than moves well and is very punishing to play against. I think he is worth a selection at some point in the draft. He has a few good attributes, you draft him in hopes he develops the rest of his game.



HM to Sebastian Soini but i don’t think he matches your criteria OP

Sitar has me curious but would wonder how he compares with another defenseman from Slovenia, Blaz Gregorc?

Obviously, Sitar does not have the height of Gregorc. But coming out of junior hockey Gregorc's calling card was his skating and willingness to attack.

Not sure if he was ever viewed as an NHL prospect but he did carve out a long career in Europe.

 

[User1996]

I’ll throw a vote of confidence at Vanacker along with everyone.

Melvin Fernstrom would be a good get

 

[Obvious Fabertism]

Will Zellers, currently 2PPG at Shattuck, really good instincts and finishing abilities. I personally thought he outplayed Connelly at the Hlinka. Whether that means Connelly should be lower or Zellers higher is maybe hard to say. Physical tools are underwhelming and why he is hardly ranked at all, but for my money he has a hockey IQ of a top 10 talent.

 

[Erikfromfin]

Elias Huttu is fine center and Joona Saarelainen seems to become the "forgotten" Finn amongst all

 

[MikeyS]

Will Zellers, currently 2PPG at Shattuck, really good instincts and finishing abilities. I personally thought he outplayed Connelly at the Hlinka. Whether that means Connelly should be lower or Zellers higher is maybe hard to say. Physical tools are underwhelming and why he is hardly ranked at all, but for my money he has a hockey IQ of a top 10 talent.

Why didn’t he play USHL this year?

 

[Logosarejusttargets]

I’ll throw a vote of confidence at Vanacker along with everyone.

Melvin Fernstrom would be a good get

Having seen Vanacker quite a bit this year I feel he is/has earned more consideration. I wanted to throw out my own thoughts on Kingston's Jacob Battaglia - his growth from last year to this year has been tremendous. His quickness is deceptive - although flat out foot speed could use some work. He has incredible hands especially when in tight and his 1v1 puck battles success has been steadily improving to the point he almost wins every battle.

 

[Obvious Fabertism]

Why didn’t he play USHL this year?

I have no insider knowledge on his decision there, but Shattuck is essentially the MN equivalent with a good education to go along with it.

 

[awegrzyn]

Thoughts on Cole Hutson?

Possibly underrated. Kid is a late bloomer. I remember him on 14U NJ Avalanche team playing with players who played with my son somewhere else. Hutson was almost at the bottom of the team in his first year of 14U, then next year he took over and pass everyone except a Forward (Zocco). Then in next year at 16U the kid as a D by passed every forward in performance. Deserves to be in first round, but most likely won't.

 

[Castle8130]

Guys who will go higher on draft day than expected;

Yegor Surin: Two-way center with high offensive skill. Has all the perfect attributes you can ask for. Stands at 6'1" and should be drafted in the 15-25 range. I'd be surprised if he falls out of there. Sometimes his decision making can be questionable and his temper can get the best of him, but other than that, he is gold.

Julius Miettinen: It's a copycat league and looking at the cup contenders, he fits that mold. He is an extremely streaky Finnish center that plays a very similar style to Barkov. Miettinen is 6'3" 200lbs and a solid two-way forward. NHL lists are likely higher than the public on him. HockeyProspect has him in the early 20's and I wouldn't be shocked to see him go there. Most public lists are lower on him. My expected range for him is 20-40

Linus Eriksson: High compete forward that skates very well. He stands at only 6'0" tall, but he is very strong. I saw him knock over a lot of grown men this year and he outmsucles people all the time. He is great at taking the puck away from opponents. His puck skills are also nice. He lacks some of that offensive hockey sense, but could be a middle 6er in the nhl. I see him getting drafted somewhere between 20-35 (wide range).

Ondrej Becher: I love this kid. I know he's a double overager, but I think he's a personal gem. He competes hard, looks like an NHL center and really surprised people this year. Overragers vary and I can see him go anywhere from the 2nd-4th round.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

I have no insider knowledge on his decision there, but Shattuck is essentially the MN equivalent with a good education to go along with it.

Shattuck is not an equivalent of the USHL. The USHL is much much better, they've increased the gap that was once close 10-15 years ago.

 

[Obvious Fabertism]

Shattuck is not an equivalent of the USHL. The USHL is much much better, they've increased the gap that was once close 10-15 years ago.

In terms of daily training time and development atmosphere and resources, it is still comparable. That was not meant to be a comparison by scoring stats.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

couple of goalies i haven't seen a lot of talk about:

evan gardner, mikhail yegorov, ajay white.

yegorov's numbers are shite, but omaha is the worst team in the USHL so can't really
measure that. 6'4" goalie, just committed to BU.

White is attending the Devils' development camp and is committed to St. Thomas for 2026-27. Any idea where he's playing this coming season?

 

[TheKingPin]

I would have said Jett Luchanko or Matvei Gridin a little while back but they've been getting some recent high praise.

Some names think could rise a lot in the rankings or in the future

- John Mustard
- Yegor Surin
- Heikki Ruohonen
- Marek Vanacker
- Andrei Krutov
- Lukas Fischer
- Ben Danford
- Kim Saarinen

Any thoughts on these two now? The Flyers got both of them. Good on you