Pre-Game Talk: 2024 Draft Thread

[Mike Liut]

If we tank, then Dickinson is the guy I want.

Would you take Dickinson #1 over Celebrini, Eiserman and Demidov?

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Would you take Dickinson #1 over Celebrini, Eiserman and Demidov?

No, but I don’t see us being that bad. If we get clipped with injuries, then, possibly…

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

the bc-msu game tonight completes my initial viewings (i haven't had full viewings of ndtp guys or the finns, but at this point they are generally ranked more as 2nd round guys) of the top rated defensemen in this class. it's early and the best player now won't necessarily be best in june. i think we could see 10-12 d go in the first round and it wouldn't surprise me. at this point, however, the following guys (listed alphabetically) most interest me as potential Blues 1st round Ds:

Zeev Buium- looks much more intriguing than his brother who was a 2nd rounder. reminds me a bit of faulk in that he is offensive-minded guy but to call him offensive d sells him short. is 2nd youngest guy in ncaa (to celebrini who will likely go 1OA) has really good feet, surprisingly physical defender, and nice handle. plays on top pair at 2nd ranked DU. currently listed by DU at 6'2" but at 6' elsewhere, but his brothers (one of whom is a DU teammate and red wing prospect) are 6'2 and 6'3 inches (and DU lists Shai at 6'4" so not sure if they are exaggerating or both are just still growing). looked really good in fun matchup against loaded BC team (2 versus 3 matchup that DU won with late goal) If he is 6'2" i'd say he would merit top 15 pick, but if only 6" i still think he would be intriguing option if we get a pick 20 or so.

Sam Dickinson- looks like surefire top 10 pick, maybe higher. Has everything you are looking for in modern d. i've seen him described as combo of petro and nurse. i'm not 100% that he is legit 1d, but i have high confidence that he will be top 4 guy at least and likely better. will be interesting to see how much he progresses in larger role as year goes on. he and mews were top pair on gold medal winning canada u17 hlinka team and really shone. probably top overall d at this point.

Adam Jiricek- i mentioned in earlier post that i am still trying to get my arms around him. not as big or strong as his brother but more mobile. i could see him playing his way into top 10 or higher. international play will be huge for him, as i think he likely makes wjc team and should play a ton of minutes at u18s. i could see him being the guy i want when all is said and done, but he wouldn't be at top of list right now.

Artyom Levshunov- 3rd youngest guy in ncaa. good size and strength at his age and having a strong freshman season for #7 spartans. that said, i don't love his skating and i don't know that i see the high-end offensive talent. he looks like can play in top 4 and be minutes eater, but i don't know how much upside beyond that. i realize that i am not as high on him as the consensus ranking. i would probably have him closer to middle of first round than top 5 where he is currently ranked.

Henry Mews- he really intrigues me. former forward who has only been playing d for a few years. great skater. wants puck on his stick. plays with physical edge. he played bit of a complimentary role last year as 16 YO on very good ottawa team (much like his Hlinka partner Dickinson in London) and now he is expected to be the man there, which is a big of an adjustment but feels like he will be up for it. i've seen josh morrisey as comp for him, but i think mews has bit more physicality. he is ranked between 10-20 at this point, but i could see him rising.

Anton Silayev- this guy is huge, can skate, and has some skill. seemingly came out of nowhere to be in everyone's top 10. you watch his highlights and you think you are watching generational talent. reality is i think less clear. watching full games he looks lost much of time and almost clumsy. muffs a lot of pucks. doesn't seem aware of what offense is doing while he just stands there near his goalie. so the dream and the reality are rather far apart. he's still a 1st round pick and someone will likely take him top 10. i don't know that i want to be the one doing that.

I was a bigger Skahan fan than Buium, but Zeev is growing on me (no pun intended). I like Yakemchuk too in that 1st to 2nd round bubble

 

[PJJJP]

Pronman had his latest 2024 rankings come out. This is just the top 10
1. Celebrini
2. Silyayev
3. Eiserman
4. Levshunov
5. Demidov
6. Yakemchuck
7. Catton
8. Jiricek
9. Dickinson
10. Lindstrom

 

[Blueston]

Pronman had his latest 2024 rankings come out. This is just the top 10
1. Celebrini
2. Silyayev
3. Eiserman
4. Levshunov
5. Demidov
6. Yakemchuck
7. Catton
8. Jiricek
9. Dickinson
10. Lindstrom

Yikes. It's easy to forget how bad Pronman is and then he posts lists like this...

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Yikes. It's easy to forget how bad Pronman is and then he posts lists like this...

I put yakemchuk in the first but not that high. I think Catton is better than he’s given credit for. Great skater

 

[Blueston]

I put yakemchuk in the first but not that high. I think Catton is better than he’s given credit for. Great skater

yak was one of the most egregious. i think last 3rd of 1st is where most folks have him.
as for catton, i could see him rising. there are actually a few guys who i kinda expect will end up much higher than where they are now- catton and hellenius i could see top 5 and ryder ritchie i could see beating on top 10,

 

[Blueston]

i don't think we are talking enough about how good macklin celebrini is. i watched bu-umass game from the other day. i wanted to see how he would look against a good umass team that has couple really good 20-21 yo nhl prospects on d (morrow and ufko). spoiler alert, really friggin good! umass has 13 nhl draft picks on their roster. bu has 13 draft picks, including guy vancouver picked 11th this year. celebrini, the youngest player in ncaa, was clearly the best player on the ice,. he scored twice in 3rd in game bu won 4-3 in so.

strong skater, reads plays well, great handle, finds quiet ice in o zone. battles for pucks along boards. backchecks diligently. says he models his game after bergeron.

he is leading scorer on #9 bu. has over twice as many goals as anyone else on team. as youngest player in country. as under ager (16 year old) he was leading scorer and by far the best player on bronze medal canadian u18 team that featured 3 first round picks.

i know he is overshadowed by bedard the year before him, but i think as prospect celebrini is on level of guys like eichel and mackinnon. he wouldn't fix everything ailing us, but he would make us forget much of it.

 

[542365]

McDavid is going to get injured for most of the year and Edmonton will win the lottery.

 

[Stealth JD]

San Jose has the worst record locked up. Don’s model projects them for 57 points but they may be lucky to get 30 they’re so terrible. Chicago has no depth and should also easily draft ahead of St. Louis.

Otherwise, the Blues are strong contenders to pick in the 3-7 range with Calgary, Columbus, Philly, Nashville & Washington all in the mix. Pittsburgh and Seattle should improve slightly but I think Anaheim, Montreal, Arizona and Detroit have all moved ahead of the Blues from last years standings.

 

[Thallis]

San Jose has the worst record locked up. Don’s model projects them for 57 points but they may be lucky to get 30 they’re so terrible. Chicago has no depth and should also easily draft ahead of St. Louis.

Otherwise, the Blues are strong contenders to pick in the 3-7 range with Calgary, Columbus, Philly, Nashville & Washington all in the mix. Pittsburgh and Seattle should improve slightly but I think Anaheim, Montreal, Arizona and Detroit have all moved ahead of the Blues from last years standings.

I think ultimately Calgary & Nashville move ahead to that other group. Both have had struggles, but there's a lot more talent there to tap into. Columbus, Philly, & Washington are the real contenders with us for those bottom 5 slots. Maybe if we lose to all of them we can manage a lucky lottery win and get Celebrini.

 

[PJJJP]

With the way we are playing we should pick higher than last year

 

[Brian39]

I think ultimately Calgary & Nashville move ahead to that other group. Both have had struggles, but there's a lot more talent there to tap into. Columbus, Philly, & Washington are the real contenders with us for those bottom 5 slots. Maybe if we lose to all of them we can manage a lucky lottery win and get Celebrini.

I think Calgary is a week or so away from aggressively shopping Hanifin and Lindholm. Conroy was adamant over the summer that the team would not lose studs to UFA, so I think the injury risk of waiting until the deadline might wind up being too much for him. Their current cap hits are both low enough that 50% retention gets the AAV below $2.5M and I'm sure he'd take back dead money. Rentals are easiest to drum up value for at the deadline, but I'd wager that he is just a couple more losses away from churning up the trade waters.

I could definitely see a lot of their talent being gone in the not-too-distant future.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

i don't think we are talking enough about how good macklin celebrini is. i watched bu-umass game from the other day. i wanted to see how he would look against a good umass team that has couple really good 20-21 yo nhl prospects on d (morrow and ufko). spoiler alert, really friggin good! umass has 13 nhl draft picks on their roster. bu has 13 draft picks, including guy vancouver picked 11th this year. celebrini, the youngest player in ncaa, was clearly the best player on the ice,. he scored twice in 3rd in game bu won 4-3 in so.

strong skater, reads plays well, great handle, finds quiet ice in o zone. battles for pucks along boards. backchecks diligently. says he models his game after bergeron.

he is leading scorer on #9 bu. has over twice as many goals as anyone else on team. as youngest player in country. as under ager (16 year old) he was leading scorer and by far the best player on bronze medal canadian u18 team that featured 3 first round picks.

i know he is overshadowed by bedard the year before him, but i think as prospect celebrini is on level of guys like eichel and mackinnon. he wouldn't fix everything ailing us, but he would make us forget much of it.

Where do you slot celebrini in last years draft?

 

[Mike Liut]

Where do you slot celebrini in last years draft?

4th for me

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

San Jose has the worst record locked up. Don’s model projects them for 57 points but they may be lucky to get 30 they’re so terrible. Chicago has no depth and should also easily draft ahead of St. Louis.

Otherwise, the Blues are strong contenders to pick in the 3-7 range with Calgary, Columbus, Philly, Nashville & Washington all in the mix. Pittsburgh and Seattle should improve slightly but I think Anaheim, Montreal, Arizona and Detroit have all moved ahead of the Blues from last years standings.

At one point I’d have said Bkues’ coaching would separate them from the 3-7 group you lost, but now I think it may be true the opposite direction.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Where do you slot celebrini in last years draft?

I’d put him and Eiserman right there with Carlsson, Fantilli and Smith. I’ll have to see more of the younger 2 to truly say how I’d order the 5 of them, but they’re of that caliber IMO.

 

[Blueston]

Where do you slot celebrini in last years draft?

probably 2, but I think he is likely on same tier as Fantilli and carlsson so couid see him going anywhere in that group. Definitely ahead of smith I think.

And fwiw, while his year is tracking similar to what Fantilli did last year at um, he was 8 months younger than Fantilli was when he started frosh year. For celebrini to be putting up these ncaa numbers as guy who won’t turn 18 until next summer is super impressive.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

probably 2, but I think he is likely on same tier as Fantilli and carlsson so couid see him going anywhere in that group. Definitely ahead of smith I think.

And fwiw, while his year is tracking similar to what Fantilli did last year at um, he was 8 months younger than Fantilli was when he started frosh year. For celebrini to be putting up these ncaa numbers as guy who won’t turn 18 until next summer is super impressive.

I’m inclined to put him with Carlson, but it’s early. Fantilli just struck me as a more complete player and better suited for the pro game. I wavered on Carlsson. I really liked him, but didn’t like his skating.

 

[Thallis]

probably 2, but I think he is likely on same tier as Fantilli and carlsson so couid see him going anywhere in that group. Definitely ahead of smith I think.

And fwiw, while his year is tracking similar to what Fantilli did last year at um, he was 8 months younger than Fantilli was when he started frosh year. For celebrini to be putting up these ncaa numbers as guy who won’t turn 18 until next summer is super impressive.

Fantilli's body is also uncannily mature for his age, so it's even more impressive that Celebrini can match that level without the same physical gifts.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Fantilli's body is also uncannily mature for his age, so it's even more impressive that Celebrini can match that level without the same physical gifts.

And Celebrini’s only 17. Should still be a Sr in HS but he accelerated his schooling to play college hockey a year early. And he’s already one of the best in the league.

Fantilli was a typical 18 year old Freshman.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

And Celebrini’s only 17. Should still be a Sr in HS but he accelerated his schooling to play college hockey a year early. And he’s already one of the best in the league.

Fantilli was a typical 18 year old Freshman.

Unless I missed something, Fantilli was the best in the league hands down last year. Not typical for a n 18 year old freshman.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Unless I missed something, Fantilli was the best in the league hands down last year. Not typical for a n 18 year old freshman.

Not sure I’d say “hands down” as Cooley was right there with him but yeah, Fantilli was an absolute beast.

Not trying to discount Fantilli at all. More so trying to point out how off the charts good Celebrini is doing right now. The best season ever for a 17 year old in the NCAA is Jonathan Toews with 39 pts in 42 games. Matthew Wood had 34 in 35 last year so a slightly better pts/game average. Celebrini currently has 11 pts in 6 games.

 

[PJJJP]

Unless I missed something, Fantilli was the best in the league hands down last year. Not typical for a n 18 year old freshman.

Maybe they meant he is a typical freshman age wise. Most freshman enter college at 18 but not many enter as 17.

 

[PJJJP]

New Wheeler article just came out for 2024 rankings. Here are the first 20 out of 64 rankings. I can post more if you guys are interested
1. Celebrini
2. Eiserman
3. Levshunov
4. Demidov
5. Helenius
6. Silayev
7. Dickinson
8. Catton
9. Parekh
10. Yakemchuk
11. Brandsegg-Nygard
12. Kiviharju
13. Lindstrom
14. Hemming
15. Masse
16. Mews
17. Buium
18. Chernyshov
19. Jiricek
20. hutson