2024 NHL Draft Thread

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Who? Demidov? You're crazy.

You must mean Silayev.

Silayev.

[dissentowner]

If Lindstrom slides to nine that would be the best luck ever. Herniated disc at his age is easy peasy.

[Ped]

Originally Posted by Tbull8

I wonder with this news if Chicago considers moving down to Montreals pick. Montreal media seems to be pushing extremely hard for Demidov or Lindstrom. If Chicago is set on taking a dman, they might be able to snag another late first/early second and take whoever of silayev levshunov Dickinson is left at 5

If the news is true, Montreal might just hope it scares others off of Lindstrom.

[stemit14]

Makes me worried Montreal will go with Iginla if Demidov is gone by their pick. I think they want a forward with strength/size and Iginla is probably the best player to fit that mold if Lindstrom’s injury is too risky for them. Demidov’s skill might tip the scale enough for them to pick him despite not being a power forward.

[Jiri Hrdina]

The tone from the combine seems to be that there is now a higher chance Lindstrom goes top 4

[dammage79]

There's always hope, a fools hope perregrine took.

[dammage79]

I'm still convinced the Flames are taking a Center. Whether they believe it's Tij and he makes it to 9, Lindstrom, Catton or Helenius, they're taking a center at 9.

[bigrangy]

My top 9 favorites, basically the guys I think have the best chance at being a franchise player.

Celebrini
Demidov
Catton
Iginla

Levshunov
Buium
Parekh
Dickinson
Yakemchuk

I lean d-man at 9 because there's probably not a 1C available and I think it's best to start the rebuild with d-men since they need more development.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Eichels was a herniated disc as well. Only difference between the two is location? Eichel has to get that experimental fusion surgery or the experimental surgery that didn't require fusion. Seems to have worked well.

Hard to say how it holds up over time, but so far so good. Only time will tell if it still comes back and hinders him though. Also keep in mind that Eichel was considered a borderline generational player when he was drafted. He's still a PPG player, but it's hard to say if his career trajectory was still negatively impacted by the injury. A diminished Eichel is still a great player. Lindstrom is certainly starting a notch below that, so a diminished version probably would have as much pop.

[icarus]

Originally Posted by Royle9

Yikes, he certainly explains his thought process but it’s a bit too out of touch imo.

Originally Posted by 8sPOT

With all these draft rankings being all over the place, I fully expect an Alfons Frej or Beckett Sennecke to jump into the top 10, maybe even top 5. It's the least consensus type draft I have seen in a long time.

Someone we think that should be top 10 wont be, and someone we don't expect to be top 10 will be. It just seems inevitable with all these lists out there.

If just one top-ten drafting NHL team's list has a couple of these curveballs, then we're going to see a surprise. If more than one team's list looks something like Tony Ferrari's list from THN, then it's going to be wild. We may see 3-4 so-called consensus top-ten players drop to the Flames (who may throw a curveball of their own).

The actual draft always seems a bit out of touch with early mock drafts, and this year is shaping up to be craziest in a long time.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Tbull8

I wonder with this news if Chicago considers moving down to Montreals pick. Montreal media seems to be pushing extremely hard for Demidov or Lindstrom. If Chicago is set on taking a dman, they might be able to snag another late first/early second and take whoever of silayev levshunov Dickinson is left at 5

I gotta think a team wanting to move up to 2 from 5 will cost more that a late first early second.

[stemit14]

I always wonder what kind of perspective the scouting staff are giving to GMs since they have better gauges on players than anyone else from years of watching kids play in Junior. Most of us here speak in absolutes and so do the media because that’s more entertaining. Every kid that is the best pure goal scorer in their draft is the next Stamkos/Pastranak. Every top defensive forward is the next Bergeron. Stuff like that.

I wonder how tempered most NHL scouts are with these players - even the ones they like - when presenting their scouting reports to the GM. A great example is a guy like Holtz who New Jersey is apparently willing to trade. I remember in his draft year, his comparable on Sportsnet/TSN were guys like Kyle Connor and David Pastranak. He is still young of course, and he could still develop into that level of player, but it’s more likely he is on a trajectory to be a middle-six forward who maybe puts up a few 20 goal seasons.

No one has a crystal ball with these young players and development is very rarely linear. In this draft, just like all drafts, there will be at least 1-2 guys taken in the top ten that shouldn’t have been taken in the top 20. And there will be at least 1-2 guys taken outside the top 20 that should have gone top 10.

I wonder if scouting staff are tempering expectations on most of these players considering up until 2-3 months ago, most considered this to be a weaker draft compared to most years. But once we get to this time of year, the prospects look better than ever and this draft looks as strong as any other year. Outside of Celebrini, is there any player in this draft that most scouts would bet money on them becoming a franchise player? Or is this going to be a draft full of good complementary players?

[albertGQ]

I feel we should pick a D at 9 (Dickenson, Perekh, etc).

Then a C with our top 5 pick next year

Dmen take a bit longer to develop.

Another top 5 pick in 2026.

Those 3 prospects will lead us to glory in the new arena when Cale Makar comes home

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Toonage

Am I out to lunch? Herniated disk is nothing. Maybe surgery. What am I missing? He isn't wheelchair bound lol

A herniated disc is extremely rare in people under 25, for an 18 year old athlete even more rare but the most concerning part is even older people who have this usually recover in 4 or 5 weeks.

Lindstrom has had this bad back for over 6 months, he came back for a few games in the playoffs but it's obviously still a problem since he missed the combine.

This looks to be more than just a herniated disc, yes, even a disc degeneration problem can be fixed with surgery but at what cost to development of a young player?

Stay away with the 9th pick, far away.

[cral12]

More of our Top 10 lists posted - 14 now posted in total:

https://twitter.com/user/status/1802058161106329974

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

The tone from the combine seems to be that there is now a higher chance Lindstrom goes top 4

If he’s as good as people think, there’s no good reason Anaheim or Columbus should pass on him.

Let alone Montreal or Utah.

[cral12]

Here. We. Go.

Ahead of schedule, Upside Hockey's Final Rankings just released. I'll add this to the original post here as well.
* >400 prospects featured in our mammoth spreadsheet
* >220 profiles by Sandman!

Direct link:
https://bit.ly/upside2024nhldraft

(Lindstrom admittedly making me a wee bit nervous as well. Our chief of scouting E-Mac covets big skilled centres. My personal preference (and realistic) would at 9th would be Buium, Parekh, Dickinson, Catton, Iginla; I'd also jump on Demigod Demidov should he increduously drop to our slot)

https://twitter.com/user/status/1802069870663684486

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

A herniated disc is extremely rare in people under 25, for an 18 year old athlete even more rare but the most concerning part is even older people who have this usually recover in 4 or 5 weeks.

Lindstrom has had this bad back for over 6 months, he came back for a few games in the playoffs but it's obviously still a problem since he missed the combine.

This looks to be more than just a herniated disc, yes, even a disc degeneration problem can be fixed with surgery but at what cost to development of a young player?

Stay away with the 9th pick, far away.

He didn't miss the combine. He just didn't take part in all of the exercises.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

He didn't miss the combine. He just didn't take part in all of the exercises.

Showing your pretty face shouldn't do much at a combine, in the end he's still a massive risk.

[TOfan]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

Showing your pretty face shouldn't do much at a combine, in the end he's still a massive risk.

Has a dr said he’s a massive risk, or is that just something you like to believe?