2024 Entry Draft

[Bure_Pavel]

15 hours ago, Smashian Kassian said:

Alright friends here's what I've got, my top 32; (bring on any feedback haha) 

 

1. Macklin Celebrini

2. Ivan Demidov

3. Anton Silayev

4. Zeev Buium

5. Cayden Lindstrom

6. Carter Yakemchuk

7. Berkly Catton

8. Sam Dickinson

9. Artyom Levshunov

10. Tij Iginla

----

11. Sennecke

12. Chernyshov

13. Parekh

14. Brandsegg-Nygard

15. Helenius

16. Shuravin

17. Solberg

18. Greentree

19. Basha

20. Freij

21. Badinka

22. Ritchie

23. Luchanko

24. Hage

25. Artamonov

26. Eiserman

27. Jiricek

28. Beaudoin

29. Pettersson

30. Vanacker

31. Emery

32. Surin

I dont get Eiserman outside of the top 20 to be honest, even if you think he is one dimensional. He put up 20 point in 7 games at the U17 tourney, 21 points and 18 goals in 14 games at the U18 tourneys, has one of the best shots to ever come out of the NTDP,  and is one of the youngest players in the draft. Size isnt really an issue either as he is 6 foot and almost 200lbs at 17 years old.

Edited June 24 by Bure_Pavel

[MatchesMalone]

13 hours ago, Smashian Kassian said:

 

What I would say with confidence is that right now there's not much of an offensive game with him. And I rate him #3 in the draft despite that (and debated him at #2 over Demidov), so I don't say this as a Silayev hater by any stretch. He started with some points at the beginning, but it wasn't really indicative of his skillset/game & didn't prove to be as the season went along.

 

IMO if he was projected as having the same offensive ability as even just Sam Dickinson - not Buium/Parekh/Yakemchuk - he would've legitimately challenged Celebrini for #1 on all the draft lists, if he had anywhere close to the offensive game of those guys Celebrini would go #2. He's that unique a prospect in the other areas. 

 

I was a big Dimitry Simashev fan last season - rated him #5 - and I would say Silayev is better at the things that make Simashev so good (size, mobility, defensive play), but Silayev is slightly worse in the areas that were viewed as Simashev's weaknesses (Simashev had more of an offensive lean to his game but a muffin of a shot for a guy that size, Silayev has both a muffin & isn't as involved offensively)

 

All that said, Silayev does handle the puck very well & I'd bet he'll develop a stronger shot as he becomes an adult, so he has the potential to contribute more in that area, but his calling card will never be offense. (Which won't matter if he plays 1/2 the game 5v5 & shuts the opponent down + transitions the puck up consistently in those minutes)

 

 

Simashev was a more dynamic skater. Silayev is smooth and agile, but he doesn't have the same shifty, elusive element to his skating that Simashev had in his draft year.

 

There are two things to note with Silayev's offensive game that I think you're missing. Both are essentially elements of pro-translatabilty. Firstly he is really, really good at picking his spots. Obviously I'm not going to say he has the skills or talents of some of the other defensemen at the top of this draft, most most of those guys are rovers who will sacrifice to defense to create offense. Silayev did record the most ever points by a U18 defenseman in the KHL this year. It's easy to make the argument that he was just there playing regular minutes due to his size and defensive ability and happened to pick up some points. But he put up those points despite playing a responsible defense-first game, not roving and jumping deep into the zone every chance he got. He wouldn't have lasted long on a KHL roster doing that. I clipped a few instances from one shift-by-shift of Silayev putting himself in a position to jump offensively, but proactively falling back when the situation becomes less certain. And with his length and powerful first step, he's able to cover so much ice to make those transitions so quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the other highly pro translatable element about his offensive game is his ability to make quick puck decisions in limited time and space. This sequence from an MHL playoff game is the best example I've seen:

 

 

[MatchesMalone]

He's probably not Hedman or Burns offensively, but I can't see any reason Silayev won't have Chara / Pronger kind of two-way impact. Neither was ever considered an offensive dynamo as prospects either.

 

I recently came across a scouting report on Pronger from prior to the '93 draft:

 

"He can jump in the offense without being a defensive liability," Peterborough coach Dick Todd said. "He knows the right time to attack and the right time to stay home."

 

"The scouting report on Pronger: powerful skater, hard shot, effective on the power play, good puck control with his long reach, good passer, adept at checking and cool under pressure."

Edited June 24 by MatchesMalone

[Smashian Kassian]

5 hours ago, Bure_Pavel said:

I dont get Eiserman outside of the top 20 to be honest, even if you think he is one dimensional. He put up 20 point in 7 games at the U17 tourney, 21 points and 18 goals in 14 games at the U18 tourneys, has one of the best shots to ever come out of the NTDP,  and is one of the youngest players in the draft. Size isnt really an issue either as he is 6 foot and almost 200lbs at 17 years old.

 

Admittedly this is a big judgment on my part, which could look smart or very stupid, but I just see alot of issues here. 

 

Hes got 1 tool. Not a play driver, doesn't put in effort in the defensive zone, doesn't play as apart of a 5 man unit in either end, floats around waiting to get the puck so he can shoot, not a burner, tendency to take selfish nothing shots. Not sure if he'll be as successful creating room for his shot 5on5 in the NHL. He plays like its beer league and the worst part is he doesn't seem to understand that he needs to work on adapting/improving his game in many areas, despite his coaches telling him so all season. 

 

It takes more to be a top 6 forward in the NHL than just having a good shot, ask Filip Zadina (who was a better prospect imo). I think he's more along the lines of Victor Olofsson than David Pastarnak & Im not sure if Olofsson is a top 6 foward on a winning team. 

 

Edited June 24 by Smashian Kassian

[Bure_Pavel]

1 hour ago, Smashian Kassian said:

 

Admittedly this is a big judgment on my part, which could look smart or very stupid, but I just see alot of issues here. 

 

Hes got 1 tool. Not a play driver, doesn't put in effort in the defensive zone, doesn't play as apart of a 5 man unit in either end, floats around waiting to get the puck so he can shoot, not a burner, tendency to take selfish nothing shots. Not sure if he'll be as successful creating room for his shot 5on5 in the NHL. He plays like its beer league and the worst part is he doesn't seem to understand that he needs to work on adapting/improving his game in many areas, despite his coaches telling him so all season. 

 

It takes more to be a top 6 forward in the NHL than just having a good shot, ask Filip Zadina (who was a better prospect imo). I think he's more along the lines of Victor Olofsson than David Pastarnak & Im not sure if Olofsson is a top 6 foward on a winning team. 

 

I personally think he does possess other tools, his passing, skating, and hands are underrated in my opinion. He just leans too heavy on his shot. His biggest issues right now for me are his consistency and his defensive play, but he is still 17 years old and I think he will improve these areas greatly at Boston University next year. If he takes advantage of the program at BU and improves his explosiveness he could become a very dangerous sniper for some team.   

[RomanPer]

Flying to Vegas tomorrow for WSOP. If Canucks somehow get first round pick, I’ll buy a $100 ticket into the Sphere for the round 1 on the 28th. Not sure if it makes sense to go there for the second day.

Edited June 25 by RomanPer

[JeremyCuddles]

Going into the draft without a 1st kinda stinks. But I'll probably tune in anyway just to see what happens. I was kinda hoping we'd have a good enough pick for Jiricek, but looks like even if we kept our 1st he might have been out of reach. Who knows, maybe we can find a pick somewhere. Trade Lindholm's rights and a 2nd rounder for the 1st rounder Boston just acquired. Lol.

[Hammertime]

10 hours ago, JeremyCuddles said:

Going into the draft without a 1st kinda stinks. But I'll probably tune in anyway just to see what happens. I was kinda hoping we'd have a good enough pick for Jiricek, but looks like even if we kept our 1st he might have been out of reach. Who knows, maybe we can find a pick somewhere. Trade Lindholm's rights and a 2nd rounder for the 1st rounder Boston just acquired. Lol.

Low-key hoping we trade deep vein thromboeser. For a 1st plus and sign Guentzel. 

[JeremyCuddles]

1 hour ago, Hammertime said:

Low-key hoping we trade deep vein thromboeser. For a 1st plus and sign Guentzel. 

But I like Boeser

[RomanPer]

Canucks management are flying down to Vegas today. I am on the same flight. See Rutherford, Alvin, Castonguay, Delhorme and whole bunch junior staff. Also looks like some prospects are on the same flight. Giving themselves couple of days in Vegas before the draft begins.

 

Also, Jerome and Tij Iginla are on the same flight. Feels kind of cool  

Edited Tuesday at 09:42 PM by RomanPer

[Blitz-Pix]

 

Has anyone seen AJ Spellacy from the Windsor Spitfires play this season? Curious about first hand impressions. 

 

I saw an interview with Cam Robinson on Donnie and Dhali today and seemed to have high praise for the kid as a 3rd round selection. Fits a position of need for us moving forward if his development continues. Cam said he's a 6'3 Center that shoots rights and is probably the fastest player in the draft. I dug up the following. 

 

 

 

AJ Spellacy 

 

2023-24 Team: Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
Date of Birth: February 24, 2006
Place of Birth: Westlake, OH, USA
Ht: 6-foot-2 Wt: 195 pounds
Shoots: Right
Position: Center
NHL Draft Eligibility: 2024 first-year eligible

Rankings

• NHL Central Scouting: 72nd (among NA skaters)
• Elite Prospects: 70th

Interestingly enough, AJ Spellacy had the chance to go in an entirely different direction with his athletic career. In high school, he played football and was amongst the top recruits for the NCAA. He was offered five different NCAA Division I scholarships and turned them all down to focus on hockey and sign with the Spitfires. “I’ll miss football a little, but I’m focused on hockey…I thought about it for a long time. It was pretty easy, once I got all the information, which one I love and want to take farther and that was hockey” (from ‘Spellacy leaves five NCAA Division I scholarship offers on the table to sign with Spitfires’, Windsor Star, 6/22/22).

 

 

The first thing you notice when watching Spellacy is his speed. He’s arguably one of the fastest forwards in this year’s draft class with great acceleration and top speed. He routinely blew by his opponents this season in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the Windsor Spitfires and became a fan favourite because of his energy and work ethic. In fact, he won the Jake Pollen Hardest Working Spitfire of the Year award at the end of the season, which is given to the player who “exemplifies hard work on the ice.”

 

Along with his speed, Spellacy brings a high amount of physicality to the table, dishing out bone-crushing hits with his 6-foot-2, 195-pound frame. He is also known to drop the gloves from time to time, engaging in four fights this season.

 

Clearly, Spellacy is passionate about the sport considering the motor and work ethic he showcases every game. While he might have started a bit slow production-wise, going scoreless in his first 11 games and only seven goals before Jan. 1, he turned it on once the calendar flipped. He ended up scoring 14 goals in 2024, including his first-career hat trick on Jan. 13 against the Sudbury Wolves in an 11-7 win. He also started to become a real threat on the penalty kill, using his speed and acceleration to score four shorthanded goals to finish with five on the season.

 

 

Spellacy does have his weaknesses though, mainly his vision and ability to create plays for his teammates. He also doesn’t have the best shot to score goals himself. This will likely limit his offensive impact as he progresses to the next level of the American Hockey League and NHL.

All in all, it was a great draft year for Spellacy, finishing with a career-high 21 goals and 38 points – 14 more than his rookie season. He played in all situations for interim head coach Casey Torres and has emerged as a legitimate mid-round target for the 2024 Draft.

 

 

 

 

[Smashian Kassian]

On 6/24/2024 at 6:22 PM, Bure_Pavel said:

I personally think he does possess other tools, his passing, skating, and hands are underrated in my opinion. He just leans too heavy on his shot. His biggest issues right now for me are his consistency and his defensive play, but he is still 17 years old and I think he will improve these areas greatly at Boston University next year. If he takes advantage of the program at BU and improves his explosiveness he could become a very dangerous sniper for some team.   

 

One of the problems for a player like Eiserman is the draft happens right after the Stanley Cup final. Your reminded of how hard the battles are, how connected you have to play as a team, how important every single play is, every single inch is, and also how amazing it would be to win the cup.

 

He's got good hands & passing ability I agree, the problem is he doesn't play a team game. He floats around & is uninvolved way too often. Doesn't compete defensively, doesn't forecheck hard, & prefers nothing outside shots vs stopping up + looking to maintain possession for his team, in alot of ways hes a black hole outside of having the puck in a shooting area. Caufield for example was a way better playmaker & did compete in these areas despite his size dis-advantage. 

 

Now normally this stuff might be less of an issue, but he didn't improve in this area all year & doesn't seem to understand that he needs too judging by some of his comments. 

 

Maybe I'll look foolish in time but there's alot of Wahlstrom/Bellows/Zadina/Kaliyev potential here imo. But hey having different opinions & debating is the fun in following the draft prospects! 

 

[MatchesMalone]

10 minutes ago, Smashian Kassian said:

 

One of the problems for a player like Eiserman is the draft happens right after the Stanley Cup final. Your reminded of how hard the battles are, how connected you have to play as a team, how important every single play is, every single inch is, and also how amazing it would be to win the cup.

 

He's got good hands & passing ability I agree, the problem is he doesn't play a team game. He floats around & is uninvolved way too often. Doesn't compete defensively, doesn't forecheck hard, & prefers nothing outside shots vs stopping up + looking to maintain possession for his team, in alot of ways hes a black hole outside of having the puck in a shooting area. Caufield for example was a way better playmaker & did compete in these areas despite his size dis-advantage. 

 

Now normally this stuff might be less of an issue, but he didn't improve in this area all year & doesn't seem to understand that he needs too judging by some of his comments. 

 

Maybe I'll look foolish in time but there's alot of Wahlstrom/Bellows/Zadina/Kaliyev potential here imo. But hey having different opinions & debating is the fun in following the draft prospects! 

 

 

I will say this much: I've thought Teddy Stiga was somewhat over-rated this season due to playing mostly on a line with Hagens. And alternately I believe Kamil Bednarik was under-rated due to mostly centering Cole Eiserman. Bednarik is a two-way gem, but he had to do most of the heavy lifting outside the offensive zone, and his offense may have suffered for it.

Edited Wednesday at 07:29 AM by MatchesMalone

[Smashian Kassian]

 

 

Huge news, this will be so awesome 

[R3aL]

On 6/12/2024 at 3:50 PM, Captain insano said:

Iginla is only going top 10 because of his last name, he would be floating around 20-25 if not 

thats a super hot take

[R3aL]

6 hours ago, Smashian Kassian said:

 

 

Huge news, this will be so awesome 

this is awesome sick

[JeremyCuddles]

56 minutes ago, R3aL said:

thats a super hot take

They don't call him "Captain Insano" for nothing. That's a lot of insane promotions.

[JIAHN]

Why do I get the feeling Sam Dickenson and Evan Bouchard are comparable's....

 

I would argue, Dickenson is better, certainly a better skater...........then I fast forward and see how well Bouchard played for the Oilers

 

Just a random thought

[Captain insano]

7 hours ago, JeremyCuddles said:

They don't call him "Captain Insano" for nothing. That's a lot of insane promotions.

[MatchesMalone]

My final rankings for this year:

 

1. Macklin Celebrini

2. Anton Silayev

3. Zeev Buium

4. Ivan Demidov

5. Trevor Connelly

6. Artyom Levshunov

7. Cayden Lindstrom

8. Zayne Parekh

9. Berkly Catton

10. Igor Chernyshov

11. Adam Jiricek

12. Carter Yakemchuk

13. Konsta Helenius

14. Beckett Sennecke

15. Sam Dickinson

16. Cole Eiserman

17. Tij Iginla

18. Nikta Artamonov

19. Sacha Boisvert

20. Cole Beaudoin

21. Michael Brandsegg-Nygaard

22. Emil Hemming

23. Yegor Surin

24. Stian Solberg

25. Matvei Gridin

26. Michael Hage

27. Andrew Basha

28. Jett Luchanko

29. Dominik Badinka

30. Liam Greentree

31. Tarik Parascak

32. Leo Sahlin Wallenius

[MatchesMalone]

One of the most interesting things to watch out of this year's draft class to me was Muskegon's powerplay. Matvei Gridin and Sacha Boisvert are both left shots and both played the right halfwall, on the same unit together at the same time. I guess you gotta play to your team's strengths, and those are two of the best players in the USHL. I believe Gridin is a bit more of a distance shooting threat, while Boisvert is much more of a threat down low. The slight majority of the time, Gridin would be on the right halfwall and Boisvert would be down around the net to the right side, but they would often switch (mid-possession, working give-and-goes in the process) and at times they would seemingly both be working the halfwall area simultaneously - with Gridin higher and occasionally drifting toward the point, and Boisvert a little lower down.

 

I've become a pretty big fan of both. Boisvert isn't afraid to throw his body around in the name of creating offense. One of those players that are so much fun to watch, like a Miroshnichenko, Barlow, Chernyshov, just attacking the middle of the offensive zone with or without the puck. When there's a loose puck battle, he's not just going for the puck, he's forcing himself into optimal body position to win battles. And then Gridin is just a sniper. I didn't realize until late in the season but his pure skill level is up there with just about anyone in the draft, from Catton to Connelly or Hage to Basha. Gridin has a significant potential advantage over most of them though, in his 6'2 frame. Right now he's still pretty thin and doesn't use his size very well to his advantage. And there are concerns around work ethic and toughness, but I'd put him among the higher offensive upside forwards in this draft class.

[Mike Vanderhoek]

I find it so hard to make these assessments, I mean you can read two dozen ranking reports and get differing views in each one. Watching video I mean game tape not hype videos can help but I would not be surprised to see 5 names above not in round one, guess that is the fun of it all.

[MatchesMalone]

25 minutes ago, Mike Vanderhoek said:

I find it so hard to make these assessments, I mean you can read two dozen ranking reports and get differing views in each one. Watching video I mean game tape not hype videos can help but I would not be surprised to see 5 names above not in round one, guess that is the fun of it all.

 

I hope it is generally understood that individual lists are supposed to be personal opinions of how valuable you think players will be, not predictions of how the draft will actually turn out. Most years I try to also do mock drafts where I predict how the draft will go based on GM/head scout histories and tendencies. Best I've ever done was I believe 8/31. Don't think I'll get a chance to do one of those this year as I've spent all my hockey/draft-related free time on fantasy.

 

Also I do think there are some years where there is more consensus and less room for major divergence. This year is one of those years where everything seems wide open after 1.

Edited Thursday at 06:42 PM by MatchesMalone

[flickyoursedin]

Happy draft day everybody! Gotta wait a day for our first pick but may we find all the steals of the later rounds!

[Rip The Mesh]