Today I give my first in-season assessment of the 2024 NHL Draft. Macklin Celebrini leads the 2024 draft early on. He’s a solid first overall pick type of candidate, and a player who would be of the caliber of a player like Leo Carlsson or Adam Fantilli in the 2023 NHL Draft.
My early thoughts have been that the 2024 draft was an average class, but the emergence of defenseman Anton Silayev in Russia could make me lean toward this being an above-average class.
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What is clear is this is a very strong group of defensemen this season. Sixteen blueliners crack my initial top 33, five are in my top 10, and I think Silayev has a legitimate claim to the No. 1 overall spot.
Just as in the 2023 draft, this is yet again a strong group of Russians playing overseas, with five in the top 20, a trend likely due to the fact that top Russian talents haven’t been coming to North America since the war began.
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Tier 1
Bubble elite NHL player and NHL All-Star
Celebrini was a dominant USHL player as a 16-year-old in the league and has made an impact for Boston University right away as well. He checks every box you want in a top prospect. He skates well. He’s very skilled and creative. He makes a ton of plays. He can shoot the puck very well. He competes hard. Celebrini would be mentioned in the same breath as Adam Fantilli and Leo Carlsson from last year’s draft. If I had to make one minor criticism of his game, it’s that he projects more as an excellent all-around NHL No. 1 center, and not a true elite NHL scorer, but I still think he will bring plenty of offense.
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Richard T Gagnon / Getty Images
Tier 2
NHL All-Star
Silayev has come out of the gates soaring, being an important part of a successful Torpedo organization in the KHL as a 17-year-old. Silayev is a unique type of prospect. He’s a 6-foot-7 defenseman who skates well, is mean as hell, and is already a very strong defender at the KHL level. He is also on a KHL power play at a young age, and he can move pucks quite well. The offensive touch in his game has developed quickly, but I believe it’s legit, and for those reasons I think Silayev has legit NHL star defenseman upside and deserves to be discussed right at the top of this draft class.
Eiserman may be the best pure goal scorer the U.S. NTDP has seen, and they just recently graduated Cole Caufield. Eiserman has great skill and finishing touch like Caufield, although maybe not as elite on both fronts, but he’s bigger and faster giving teams more assurances about how his game will translate to the NHL. Eiserman isn’t the best playmaker in the world, but he has game breaking qualities with his one-on-one play and shot when the puck is on his stick. He projects to be the type of player you build a power play around, someone who is among an NHL team’s leading scorers.
Photo:
Jari Pestelacci / Getti Images
Tier 3
Bubble NHL All-Star and top of the lineup player
Levshunov was a top defenseman in the USHL last season despite not being draft eligible. He stood out immediately at the junior level due to his size, skating and excellent offensive skills. Levshunov is a very creative defenseman who can make tough plays at an NHL tempo and has a good point shot. His defending is fine, but not on the same level as his offense despite his large frame. He’s started off his college season very well, playing big minutes for Michigan State.
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Alexey Fillippov / Associated Press
Demidov was the best player in Russia’s junior league last season as an underage player, which is highly unusual. He got sparse time with SKA’s big club to start the season, then suffered a knee injury in the VHL that will keep him out for several months. Demidov has game-breaking skill to go with a strong motor. He’s all over the puck when he’s on the ice, making high-end dekes seem routine, and flying around the offensive zone making plays or winning battles. He’s a powerful but awkward-looking skater and he’s not the biggest winger, so he will need to score a ton in the NHL to justify a top-10 draft slot, which I think is very possible.
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Alexey Fillippov / Associated Press
Yakemchuk has often looked dynamic in his time in the WHL. There aren’t many defensemen his size who have excellent offensive skills and a goal-scoring touch who can push the pace as well. His nearly 6-3 frame, strong feet and willingness to play physical should allow him to be a quality pro defender. The product of all these traits is an exciting NHL prospect who should go early in the draft.
Photo:
Jari Pestelacci / Getti Images
Tier 4
Top of the lineup player
Catton was arguably the best player at the Hlinka Gretzky, leading Canada to a gold medal after a strong 16-year-old season in the WHL. The No. 1 pick in his WHL Bantam Draft, Catton is a well-rounded center. He’s a fluid, dynamic skater with good footspeed and better edge work. He’s very elusive with his feet and high-end skill. Catton isn’t that big, but he competes hard and is often buzzing around the ice due to his motor and skating. This season will be about proving whether his offense is very good or elite, but even if it’s not the latter he could still be an excellent NHL player for a long time.
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Jonathan Kozub / Getty Images
Jiricek, like his older brother David, looks like a top NHL prospect. He was outstanding at the Hlinka Gretzky, but has been less impressive to start his club season in Czechia. He’s a 6-3 right-shot who maybe doesn’t have quite the offensive touch of his brother, but he’s a notably better skater. Jiricek projects as a two-way defenseman who can make a lot of stops, competes and moves pucks well and is great on retrievals. He lacks a bit of a wow factor in his game though, and is more the type of player who is good at a lot of things.
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Vaclav Salek / Associated Press
Dickinson was very impressive as a 16-year-old for London last season and was helping them in a limited role in their OHL Finals run. Early on he has looked very good in the OHL this season. He is an excellent defender due to his feet, length at 6-foot-3 and strong compete. He has good stick skills and a big point shot to contribute with the puck. His pure vision and natural offensive instincts aren’t great, but they’re good enough to bring secondary offense in the NHL to go with shutdown potential.
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Dennis Pajot / Getty Images
Tier 5
Bubble top and middle of the lineup player
Lindstrom is an impressive all-around forward. Big centers who can skate and show offense will always get a lot of attention. Lindstrom has good skill and finishing ability and can create at a pro pace. He’s not the most instinctive player you’ll ever see, but his puck game is good enough to put up points in the NHL. I like that on top of his big frame he is very physical and competitive, and thrives generating chances in the high percentage areas. He has a highly translatable game to the NHL.
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Jonathan Kozub / Getty Images
Helenius has looked good against juniors and men over the last year and looks set to be an important part of Finland’s U20 team. He is an excellent playmaker who can make a lot of difficult passes consistently. He skates well and creates a lot of offense with pace for himself and others. Helenius isn’t a big center, but he gives strong efforts off the puck and doesn’t shy from going to the net. It remains to be seen whether at his size he is dynamic enough to be a top two line NHL center, but it’s certainly a distinct possibility.
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Daniela Porcelli / Associated Press
Parekh is an extremely talented offensive defenseman. He has a ton of skill and hockey sense, and when the puck is on his stick his brain is operating differently than other players on the ice with how he sees the play develop and tries to create offense. He skates well and can attack with speed. He also has an excellent point shot, scoring over 20 goals in the OHL as a 16-year-old. The big issue with Parekh is his play away from the puck. He gives half efforts at times defensively, and cheats for offense. The degree of offense he brings may be so significant that it doesn’t matter, but that will be the debate on his game as the season progresses.
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Dennis Pajot / Getty Images
Elick is a very intriguing pro prospect. When you’re a big defenseman who can fly, hits hard and shows some skill it’s immediately interesting. Elick has a great compete level and ability; with his athleticism he has the potential to be a top shutdown defenseman in the NHL. Elick isn’t a natural puck-mover and can make some questionable puck decisions. He will need to clean that up, but if he can just make a basic outlet pass in the NHL he will have a long, productive career and I think he can clear that bar.
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Jonathan Kozub / Getty Images
Artamonov has been off to a great start to his draft season. He’s playing a notable role on a quality KHL team, including being an important part of Torpedo’s power play. He’s a forward with excellent hands, sense and vision and can make a lot of creative plays. That he’s a strong skater and able to create offense with pace is what has helped his game translate versus men so quickly as he has often beaten KHL defensemen with his skill. You rarely see KHL draft eligibles help a team, never mind two on the same club with him and Silayev.
Brandsegg-Nygard is the clear best prospect Norway has ever produced for the NHL Draft. He has been very good at the Swedish junior level and is playing versus men this season. Brandsegg-Nygard is a good skater. He has excellent one-on-one skills. He has a lethal shot and is often a threat to score from range. His frame is average-sized, but he plays hard and has physicality in his game. He thinks the game well and sees plays develop, but I don’t think his playmaking is his main asset. He has an all-around game that should lend itself to success versus men and eventually being a good NHL forward.
Buium has been playing a lot of minutes for a top NCAA team in Denver as a draft eligible. He is a very intelligent puck-mover who can run a power play like an NHL player due to his skill and vision. Buium is a strong enough skater to be able to skate pucks out of trouble. His defense is good enough at the amateur level, but he isn’t that physically imposing, and whether he can make a lot of NHL stops will be a debate. His feet are good enough that with his hockey sense at both ends I think he can survive enough defensively at even strength to make the most of his offense.
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Jari Pestelacci / Getti Images
Shuravin’s production in Russia’s junior league won’t jump out at you, but he has a lot of traits that NHL teams will be looking for and has looked solid in KHL games this season. He’s a 6-3, mobile defenseman with puck-moving skill, and those are always highly sought after. Shuravin has a low panic threshold and with his skating he has a smooth, effortless game style that leads to a lot of puck possession for his team. He is good on retrievals and generates a lot of controlled exits and entries for his team. Shuravin also competes well enough and doesn’t shy from physical play.
Chernyshov has gotten off to a slightly slow start this season after a great season in 2022 in Russia, but there are still a lot of reasons to like this player. He’s a big, powerful winger who skates well and has a lot of offensive creativity. He beats defenders routinely with his one-on-one plays, sees the ice well, and can create at the net. He has the ability to control play at even strength due to his variety of tools. He looks the part of a potential top-six winger in the NHL.
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Vladimir Fedorenko / Associated Press
Tier 6
Middle of the lineup player
Kiviharju has been on the prospect radar for several years after playing up age groups. That underage scouting will be important for teams because a lower-body injury may keep him off the ice until February. He’s an exceptionally smart puck-mover. He sees the ice at a unique level, and always has his head up looking to make a play. He is a highly skilled puck handler who can make the toughest passes seem routine. The big debates on Kiviharju will come down to his defensive play. As a junior, he defends well. As an NHL player, it will be a question. He’s notably undersized, and while he skates well he doesn’t have the elite small-guy feet that make you think he will translate seamlessly to the NHL.
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Daniela Porcelli / Associated Press
Hutson, the younger brother of Montreal’s Lane Hutson, looks a lot like his brother. He’s very offensively skilled. He’s an outstanding puck-mover with a high-end offensive brain who can run a power play like a pro. He makes so many tough plays with how well he navigates the offensive blue line. He has good shiftiness in his feet and can make checkers miss. The biggest edge he has on his brother at the same age is he’s close to 5-foot-10, giving scouts more NHL comparables for him, although the offensive touch isn’t the same between the two. Hutson’s defense will be a constant question mark versus pros until he proves it won’t be, but he competes hard and if the offense is as good as I expect it to be, he could overcome his size.
Photo:
Jari Pestelacci / Getti Images
Emery is a player with a lot of NHL traits. He’s a 6-3 right-shot defenseman who skates quite well. He is strong on gaps and retrievals and has the potential to make a lot of NHL stops. Offense is a minor question in his game, but he can move pucks well enough and has the requisite skill to potentially be a secondary puck-mover in the NHL.
Boisvert has been a highly productive USHL player. He has a lot of appealing tools for the NHL. He’s a 6-2 center who can skate and has NHL-caliber hands and hockey sense. Boisvert is very skilled and creative with the puck. He’s able to beat defenders with pace as well. Boisvert has an excellent shot and is a threat to score from the faceoff dots. Where you’d like improvements is, at times, in his consistency and the amount of time he plays on the perimeter, but given how often he shows up on the scoresheet and shows some physicality I don’t think his compete is a problem at this stage.
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Courtesy of Muskegon Lumberjacks
Badinka moved from Finland to Sweden this season, where he’s been off to a strong start at their J20 level and has gotten a few SHL games too for Malmo. He has a lot of NHL attributes between his size, mobility and ability to make offensive plays. When you see a 6-3 right-shot with skill and pace in his game, it’s easy to get excited about him. His hockey sense is solid, although I don’t envision him as a power-play type in the NHL. The tools suggest a strong NHL defender in time, but I’ve seen room for him to grow as a junior, as his game currently tends to lean too much on generating offense.
Sahlin Wallenius isn’t the biggest defenseman but he’s a very solid two-way player — primarily because he’s one of the best skaters in the draft. He has a powerful and efficient stride that allows him to easily evade pressure and skate pucks up ice. He closes on checks well and is great coming back on pucks in a way that should translate to pro hockey. Sahlin Wallenius has good hands and vision and can shoot the puck well too, even though he doesn’t project as a major scorer at the higher levels.
Connelly has been a top player in the USHL this season after a great Hlinka Gretzky for Team USA. He’s a dynamic skater, with the edge work and top speed to evade and get by NHL checkers. He is also a very skilled forward who can attack at top speed. His playmaking isn’t as good as his one-on-one play, but it’s good enough. Connelly also competes well off the puck and can be a reliable defensive forward.
Some NHL teams have some concerns about drafting Connelly, particularly after he admitted to posting a picture of a swastika on Snapchat when he was 16. Connelly apologized for the incident. He was also accused of using a racial slur against an opponent; he was suspended for the incident but the suspension was not upheld, and Connelly has denied the allegation.
Jecho just came back from his third Hlinka Gretzky for Czechia and has started his North American career in the WHL. His development hasn’t taken off like some scouts hoped when we saw him years ago, but he remains a very good pro prospect. He’s a huge winger who skates quite well for a guy his size. Jecho has good hands and can shoot the puck quite well from range. He has a tendency to fade into the background at times, whether due to a mixture of sense or compete issues — I think it’s mostly the former. But the rest of the toolkit is so good, even with his inconsistencies, that he has the potential to be a good pro forward.
Mews isn’t the most spectacular player you’ll ever see, but he’s the kind of very reliable two-way defenseman that coaches will feed minutes to. He’s very intelligent at both ends of the ice. He skates well and can both skate and pass pucks out of trouble. He competes well and can play against good forwards despite average size. Mews has offense in his game too due to his vision and a great point shot. He has a lot of traits you seek in a potential NHL defenseman. Mews will need to prove the offense in his game is high-end enough, though, to have a clear top-four role in the NHL.
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Chris Tanouye / Getty Images
Ritchie was the best rookie in the WHL last season and was a top player for Canada’s U18 team this summer. He is an average-sized winger, but he brings a ton of skill to the table. He is a very elusive forward due to his skating and hands and can make a lot of tough plays with pace. His effort is fine, but I’m not blown away by his skating or compete, so his scoring will need to continue to be significant as he advances levels.
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Jonathan Kozub / Getty Images
Masse is a tough evaluation. He had a great underage season in the QMJHL and was the top rookie in the CHL. He hasn’t gotten off to a super fast start this season, though, after a so-so Hlinka Gretzky. He has a ton of offensive skill, IQ and good size. There’s no doubting what he can do with the puck inside the offensive zone, but getting the puck into the zone will be a major challenge for him in the NHL due to his skating. He’s a technically flawed skater and it will give teams reservations about using a high pick on him unless they are just blown away by his offensive game.
Howe put up huge numbers in the WHL in previous seasons, playing alongside Connor Bedard. But the offense has remained even with Bedard’s NHL departure. I don’t think he is the flashiest or most creative player you’ll ever see, but Howe has legit NHL-level speed and skill. His size is an issue, but his calling card is his fantastic compete level. He’s a tenacious player who throws his weight around constantly and plays the game with a high motor. He has the ingredients to play in the league as an undersized player.
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Jonathan Kozub / Getty Images
Greentree was quite impressive as a 16-year-old in the OHL and was an important part of a top offense in Windsor. He was the 13th forward for Canada at the recent Hlinka Gretzky, but in the OHL this season, he’s been back to his scoring ways. The appeals of his game are that he’s a large winger with legit offensive skills. He makes difficult plays often with the puck as a handler and passer. He competes well enough and can use his size to get to the net. The main concern on Greentree is his skating. He lacks NHL footspeed and he will need to prove the rest of his game is good enough to overcome those issues.
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Dennis Pajot / Getty Images
Skahan is a tall, mobile and highly physical defenseman who can easily give you memories of players like Mattias Samuelsson or Tyler Kleven when they were with the U.S. NTDP at the same age. Skahan has the potential to be a shutdown defenseman in the NHL due to how hard he plays combined with his tools. The question with him is offense. He lacks puck game and offensive instincts. I think his first pass is good enough to not be a liability and I think that’s all he will need to succeed in the NHL, but it will be a question on Skahan until it isn’t.
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Rena Lavarty / US-NTDP
Gridin has come out of the gates flying as a leading scorer in the USHL this season. The talent is obvious in Gridin's game. He's a strong skater with excellent offensive skills. He routinely beats USHL defenders with his one-on-one play and can improvise well with the puck. He's a strong playmaker and finisher who can generate a lot of offense. His effort level is just OK and he can play on the perimeter too much, which is the main concern on how his game will fare at higher levels.
About this story: Editing by Naoko Asano, Sarah Jean Maher and Ambika Sharma. Development by Marc Mazzoni. Design by John Bradford. Photos by Michael Miller / ISI Photos and Dennis Pajot / Getty Images; Alexey Filippov / AP Images.
