2024 NHL Draft: Top-10 Analysis
Analysis on each pick inside the top-10, how they fit with their future teams, style of play, developmental trajectories
With the 2024 NHL Draft now officially wrapped up, it's now a great time to look back at some of the picks that took place and how they will benefit their franchises moving forward. There's a lot of players that we'll see as future NHL stars come out of this draft class, and there's always names that go higher at the draft that tend to surprise other teams. This draft had some surprises early in the first round, and continued to showcase a lot of unorthodox moves that teams wouldn't otherwise do if certain players weren't available. It was really surprising to see players like Sam Dickinson, Cole Eiserman, and Zeev Buium all slip outside of the top-10 after being seamless top-10 projections prior to the draft.
The USHL should be especially proud of the delivery of the first round of the draft. Players including Macklin Celebrini (Chicago Steel), Artyom Levshunov (Green Bay Gamblers), Sacha Boisvert & Matvei Gridin (Muskegon Lumberjacks), all the NTDP players selected, Dean Letourneau (Sioux Falls Stampede), Michael Hage (Chicago Steel), Trevor Connelly (Tri-City Storm), and more were all players that went throughout the first round. Really impressive mix of talent at both the top and tail end of the first-round from the USHL. With that, we'll take a look at the top-10 picks from this year's class and how they will fit into their new teams:
1. San Jose Sharks - Macklin Celebrini, C (Boston University, NCAA)
As was expected for a long time, Macklin Celebrini finally heard his name called by Joe Thornton as the first overall pick of the draft. There's a dynamic level skill radius and proactive hockey sense, linking together his hands and feet in an uber-dynamic fashion. He plays with a tenacity on loose pucks and plays congruent with his positional habits and attention to detail in his tracking both on the forecheck and tracking back. He is going to be a star without a doubt, as the skill he has compares favorably to Jonathan Toews. There's a lot to like in terms of the roundedness of his game and the completeness of his play. Once San Jose gets back to playoff form, this is exactly the type of player you'd want shutting down other teams' top lines.
2. Chicago Blackhawks - Artyom Levshunov, RD (Michigan State University, NCAA)
Either Levshunov or Demidov, but it makes sense why the Blackhawks chose Levshunov 2nd overall. Part of building through the draft is drafting defenders with top tier level potential, whom the Blackhawks could build a future around alongside Connor Bedard. Plus, given free agency options, the Blackhawks could have more flexibility adding veteran forwards for Bedard instead of drafting younger forwards who still have development time needed. Levshunov is a rangy puck carrier, with a strong radius of puck control on his stick to be a puck rusher and handle the puck in dynamic spots of his body. He can push pace, use his fluid crossovers to slice through forecheck layers, plays a grounded and physical defensive game who can be frustrating to try and get through, and his offensive trajectory is only going to continue to get better as he adapts to the pros. The question is more so how much offensive ceiling Levshunov actually has, and how he could translate that as an NHL top-2 pairing defenseman, but the potential and maturity of his game is really intriguing to look at.
Levshunov brings a game breaking shot and game breaking skating inside the offensive zone, and I'd be curious to see how he adds layers to his footwork, skating, and general puck-handling to be more of an activation threat moving downhill in the offensive zone as well.
3. Anaheim Ducks - Beckett Sennecke, RW (Oshawa Generals, OHL)
An intriguing power forward skillset is seemingly what Pat Verbeek likes to go after more than anything, especially given the style that Verbeek played as a bigger forward in his own NHL career. While this was a surprising pick, it made sense for Anaheim to add another potential top-six forward in the NHL who can continue to learn how to adapt his body and adapt his physical tools. He's grown from 5'10 to 6'3 in just a few years of time, so he won't have full control over how he handles his size and body yet, but given he already has skill, can play a toolsy/nuanced power forward game, and brings game breaking offensive instincts, this makes a lot of sense. Here's the thing with bigger forwards that grow that much in such a short timeframe, it's literally impossible for them to figure out how to use their body right away. Sennecke is still under 190 lbs, so imagine if he can get to a full 210+ area. At that point, he can really learn how to play a power game and hold pucks through contact.
Sennecke had a really dynamic OHL playoff run with Oshawa before getting knocked out, so he was definitely someone Anaheim looked at as a playoff style player as well. Anaheim already has a lot of young, big, nuanced forwards who can play a power game, so Sennecke could provide a big payoff for the Ducks here.
4. Columbus Blue Jackets - Cayden Lindstrom, C (Medicine Hat Tigers, WHL)
By far one of my favorite prospects in this draft, Lindstrom plays a game that really emulates Roope Hintz of the Dallas Stars as a center. Lindstrom was a bit raw a few years back, but has put in a lot of skill work and developmental work in his body the past few seasons to regularly become an impact forward at the WHL level. His point production pace this season in a full WHL season (Dealt with injury) would've had him much over a point-per-game. The thing that is most noticeable in Lindstrom's game as a bigger forward is how well he skates, his elusive puck skill, and his tremendous playmaking instincts. He brings a dual-threat game, but when you really dive deeper into him, he loves to defer to teammates and does a tremendous job leading teammates into space off his passes. He'll quickly use his offensive instincts to move into space directly after a pass of his, and he'll find ways to be elusive under pressure and lurking between checks. This is a pick that has huge payoff in the future.
5. Montreal Canadiens - Ivan Demidov, RW (SKA St. Petersburg, MHL/KHL)
The potential steal of the draft based on upside was Montreal taking Demidov 5th overall. It was originally expected Demidov could go 2, but Montreal has a potential home run now after Demidov slipping to them. He plays a Nikita Kucherov style based on passing deception, how he lures defenders in using patience and puck manipulation, his ability to use mohawks can be excessive as a habit at times, however the game breaking flair comes through his flashy skating and dynamic puck-handling. He is basically a human highlight reel, where he creates vulnerabilities in defenders through his ability to find middle ice on his passes (One of the best passers to the slot among MHL players this year), he has a habit of using all 3 lanes in the neutral zone to leverage based on his puck skill flair. There's so much to like about him, and the natural talent and deception he brings will translate to the NHL. There's potential for him to become a superstar, 100+ point scoring player in the NHL.
6. Utah Hockey Club - Tij Iginla, C/W (Kelowna Rockets, WHL)
After being acquired by Kelowna from the Seattle Thunderbirds last year, Tij had a tremendous season, being one of the biggest risers in the draft and his ability to score game breaking level goals from different areas. His shooting habits are translatable in how he can shoot pucks using toe drags, hip pocket usage, shooting with deception and fakes, and how he can leverage his shot from not only the house area, but all across the zone. He can continue to add layers to his shooting deception as a shot-first mentality player, but Tij also brings a lot of other innate elements similar to his dad, Jarome. He might not be the flashiest skater, but from a power skating perspective and controlling pace point of view, he's improved a lot at that the past 2-2.5 years. There's more fluidity in how he controls pace, but his offensive zone instincts and positional habits are very mature for his age, so there's no real concern about his skating anyways.
7. Ottawa Senators - Carter Yakemchuk, RD (Calgary Hitmen, WHL)
A player who brings flashiness and innate goal scoring talent from the back end as a defenseman, Ottawa loves their bigger defenders who can control possession and can quick up pucks moving up ice. Yakemchuk fits that mold, where there's a lot more offensive potential and more potential for him to solidify his game in all areas coming out of the WHL and into pro. The thing I'm most impressed by with Yakemchuk is the maturity of his power skating development and the range of extension he can get on his strides. There's so much natural power and natural gliding he brings that helps him outmaneuver pressure and get through contact with the puck with ease. As a puck-mover, this is key for Yakemchuk to continue to have and adapt his game to the pro level over time. This footwork and leverage with how he plays on his toes will continue to help his defensive angling and how he closes pucks on rushes against as well.
8. Seattle Kraken - Berkly Catton, C (Spokane Chiefs, WHL)
Seattle didn't go very far in picking here, as they chose Catton from the Spokane, Washington area. As a smaller forward to go inside the top-10, there has to be a separating skill that continues to attract teams to add value. Catton isn't big, but that's irrelevant given his slick footwork, how well he understands playmaking patterns, and his ability to use his goal-scoring manipulation is really well executed. Because of how smart he is off the puck and how he understands playmaking patterns in a really mature way, it's no surprise that he was able to put up 54 goals in only 68 games this season. Take away the assists, and he is still not too far from a point-per-game pace with those goal numbers, which is remarkable. Catton will fit Seattle's mold really well, given their young, skilled puck movers they have up front, and Seattle isn't afraid of drafting slighter forwards as well. Catton isn't necessarily slight by any means, but there will need to be some adaptation in his physical ability for the pro game, like any player at this age.
9. Calgary Flames - Zayne Parekh, RD (Saginaw Spirit, OHL)
I would say Parekh was probably my third favorite player picked inside the top-10 outside of Cayden Lindstrom and Ivan Demidov. He is similar to Demidov in the sense of how he is a human highlight reel, regularly making dynamic plays and using dynamic deception to incorporate offensive flair. He plays the game similar to an Erik Karlsson and Quinn Hughes, but I see a lot more Hughes in terms of how he can manipulate the offensive line, regularly activate downhill, regularly use his footwork to open shot lanes moving laterally, and he isn't afraid to throw in a mohawk or skating element for shades of deception. As a puck-mover, a really skilled quick upper who can outlet pucks flat and crisp, he is dynamic handling pucks through triangles and sticks, and can leverage manipulation in his puck skill to get pucks through traffic. He scored 30+ goals and finished with 96 points on a team that won the Memorial Cup, so I'd wonder if the extra games during that Memorial Cup run helped his development further compared to (this is an if scenario) if Saginaw got knocked out earlier. Obviously they hosted the Memorial Cup so that wouldn't matter either way, but still curious.
10. New Jersey Devils - Anton Silayev, LD (Nizhny Novgorod, KHL)
Standing at a monstrous 6'7, Silayev is a questionable puck mover and questionable with his puck decisions and habits in general, sometimes not using well-timed enough decisions to move pucks up ice. I see a lot of Nikita Zadorov and Jamie Oleksiak in how Silayev plays, where Silayev has the potential to be a regular top-4 contributor to this Devils group in the future. He brings a lot of old-school ruggedness to his game based on physicality and shutdown play, but I don't see a ton of offensive upside in his game. The other thing is, I wonder if the Devils picked for NHL readiness here, given they traded away LD Kevin Bahl to Calgary recently, and Silayev played regularly through his draft year in the KHL this year. Silayev could very well be a player that comes over to the Devils sooner rather than later, and can replace Bahl in a top-4 role there as well. There's a lot of maturity in how Silayev can play, and him signing with the Devils within the next year can accelerate his development curve. He's already gotten plenty of games where he's played 20+ minutes in the KHL this past season, so he can certainly adapt to that in an NHL role as well.
Thanks for reading my 96th post on my Habits Hockey newsletter! Content will be posted regularly for the newsletter on LinkedIn and Substack.
Guide to Scouting eBook: 2023 Edition by Spencer Loane (Free to Download!)