Pre-Game Talk: 2024 Draft Thread

[Linkens Mastery]

With Dvorsky in the System I'd also take a look at Lidstrom as well. If none of the Dman we want are there at our pick. Basically anyone except Eiserman. Ranked in the top 10

 

[Blueston]

With Dvorsky in the System I'd also take a look at Lidstrom as well. If none of the Dman we want are there at our pick. Basically anyone except Eiserman. Ranked in the top 10

agreed. it's looking more and more unlikely we will be in position to pick one of the top 3 d. if that is the case, there are a handful of forwards (catton, helenius, lindstrom, dmidov, and maybe even iginla or boisvert) i'd rather take than any of the other d.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

agreed. it's looking more and more unlikely we will be in position to pick one of the top 3 d. if that is the case, there are a handful of forwards (catton, helenius, lindstrom, dmidov, and maybe even iginla or boisvert) i'd rather take than any of the other d.

I'd much much prefer a D-man. But if any of those first 4 are on the Board and Lev, Dickinson, and Silayov have already been picked I have a hard time picking any of the rest of the Dman over them. If none of those players are on the Board Yakemchuk would probably be my next pick.

 

[LGB]

Just getting into Catton. I would be shocked if this kid makes it to us. Looks like an elite offensive talent to me.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Just getting into Catton. I would be shocked if this kid makes it to us. Looks like an elite offensive talent to me.

Absolutely. And I don’t think we need to worry about Lindstrom either. He will be the second forward taken. 6 foot 4 skates like the wind he has the highest ceiling of any of the players. There’s no way he last.

 

[LGB]

Absolutely. And I don’t think we need to worry about Lindstrom either. He will be the second forward taken. 6 foot 5 skates like the wind he has the highest ceiling of any of the players. There’s no way he last.

Yeah I haven't really checked him out either. I like to keep my focus narrow, just looking at guys that I think will be options for the Blues top pick. I actually hadn't even looked at Catton's ranking before posting I just knew there were some out there that had him later in the top 10. I'm shocked by where he is in Bob McKenzie (10th) and Central Scouting's (9th NA) rankings.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Yeah I haven't really checked him out either. I like to keep my focus narrow, just looking at guys that I think will be options for the Blues top pick. I actually hadn't even looked at Catton's ranking before posting I just knew there were some out there that had him later in the top 10. I'm shocked by where he is in Bob McKenzie (10th) and Central Scouting's (9th NA) rankings.

I’m wondering what role the Russian factor will play. Maybe not at all.

 

[Blueston]

Yeah I haven't really checked him out either. I like to keep my focus narrow, just looking at guys that I think will be options for the Blues top pick. I actually hadn't even looked at Catton's ranking before posting I just knew there were some out there that had him later in the top 10. I'm shocked by where he is in Bob McKenzie (10th) and Central Scouting's (9th NA) rankings.

i love catton, but he's undersized. those guys tend to slip these days. look at zach benson last year; everyone loved him but he made it to what, 13? not saying catton will make it to us, but wouldn't be a surprise if celebrini, top 3 d, demidov, lindstrom, and then any of eiserman, iginla, yak, buium, or parekh go before him. catton may well end up better than many of the guys picked ahead of him- i see shades of mitch marner in him- but it would surprise me if he is picked top 5 in this draft.

 

[Blueswin]

I wonder if Catton being considered a center would give him more value than Benson got last year.

 

[Blueston]

I wonder if Catton being considered a center would give him more value than Benson got last year.

i think it will, but this is also not as good of a draft as last year.

 

[Blueswin]

Fair point!

 

[Blueston]

Watching Tri Cities-van game to see potential 1st round d Colton Roberts. His Vancouver team is up 6-1 but he hasn’t really stood out for me. Guy who has is Jackson smith, a 16 yo old lhd on TC. Big d with skill who skates great. Hasn’t been as highly touted as some, but he could go high in 25 draft.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Watching Tri Cities-van game to see potential 1st round d Colton Roberts. His Vancouver team is up 6-1 but he hasn’t really stood out for me. Guy who has is Jackson smith, a 16 yo old lhd on TC. Big d with skill who skates great. Hasn’t been as highly touted as some, but he could go high in 25 draft.

Hasn’t been as good since coming off an injury. He was out for a bit.

 

[simon IC]

i love catton, but he's undersized. those guys tend to slip these days. look at zach benson last year; everyone loved him but he made it to what, 13? not saying catton will make it to us, but wouldn't be a surprise if celebrini, top 3 d, demidov, lindstrom, and then any of eiserman, iginla, yak, buium, or parekh go before him. catton may well end up better than many of the guys picked ahead of him- i see shades of mitch marner in him- but it wouldsurprise me if he is picked top 5 in this draft.

5'11" isn't that small. And he could grow in height still. He certainly needs to gain weight and muscle, but that should come as he matures.

 

[LGB]

i love catton, but he's undersized. those guys tend to slip these days. look at zach benson last year; everyone loved him but he made it to what, 13? not saying catton will make it to us, but wouldn't be a surprise if celebrini, top 3 d, demidov, lindstrom, and then any of eiserman, iginla, yak, buium, or parekh go before him. catton may well end up better than many of the guys picked ahead of him- i see shades of mitch marner in him- but it wouldsurprise me if he is picked top 5 in this draft.

5'11" isn't that small. And he could grow in height still. He certainly needs to gain weight and muscle, but that should come as he matures.

Yeah I don't really have concerns with Catton's size. Like you said he's not that small, and I don't think his stature will hold him back given his skill set. He's just one of those guys that is in complete control, he has the trio of high end tools you need to be an elite NHL center, skating, puck skills, and vision / offensive IQ. There is one big flaw in his game, he can be straight up lazy and disinterested in playing defense at times, but the talent level is too high for me to shy away because he's a little lazy in regular season CHL games.

 

[Blueston]

5'11" isn't that small. And he could grow in height still. He certainly needs to gain weight and muscle, but that should come as he matures.

It isn’t, but sub 6’ with small frame will still likely be held against him at draft.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

It isn’t, but sub 6’ with small frame will still likely be held against him at draft.

I was listening g to Recrutes podcast and they said he was 5’10”. Wait til the combine. I’m sure there may be some fudging of height going on without a tape.

 

[stl76]

Berkley Catton is going to be a player. If he drops for any reason, would love for the Blues to pick him up.

My initial top 32 ranking. This doesn't take into account Blues needs, but does reflect the positional value of D and C over wings:

1. Celebrini
2. Silayev
3. Levshunov
4. Dickinson
5. Demidov
6. Catton
7. Lindstrom
8. Parekh
9. Helenius
10. Buium
11. Iginla
12. Boisvert
13. Freij
14. Eiserman
15. Greentree
16. Connelly*
17. Emery
18. Hemming
19. O’Reilly
20. Mews
21. Brandsegg-Nygard
22. Roberts
23. Bednarik
24. LSW
25. Hage
26. Shuravin
27. Basha
28. Fischer
29. Ritchie
30. Badinka
31. Yakemchuk
32. Sennecke

*I don't know that I am comfortable spending a 1st on Connelly based on character concerns but this is how I would rank him as player.

Sam O'Reilly is a guy I really hope will still be on the board for one of our 2nd round picks. Kid may just be a late blooming gem. Really like his future potential and current development path w/ the London knights.

Worse case octopus shutdown guy.

 

[Blueston]

Berkley Catton is going to be a player. If he drops for any reason, would love for the Blues to pick him up.


Sam O'Reilly is a guy I really hope will still be on the board for one of our 2nd round picks. Kid may just be a late blooming gem. Really like his future potential and current development path w/ the London knights.

I like SOR a great deal. Feel like he will get snatched up late first.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

I like SOR a great deal. Feel like he will get snatched up late first.

He’s only knack is whether he skates well enough. Hard to look like a good skater with Cowan and Dickinson around.

 

[stl76]

I’m drooling over Dickinson (I’m sure there’s a naughty pun or two there). This kid is going to be a top pairing NHL defenseman sooner than later. Brock just shared a write up on him here:

2024 NHL DRAFT SCOUTING REPORT (VIDEOS + GRADES): Sam Dickinson, D, London Knights, OHL

McKeen's Director of Scouting, Brock Otten, provides an indepth scouting profile of 2024 NHL Draft prospect, Sam Dickinson.

www.mckeenshockey.com

He’ll be gone by the time we are picking at this rate, but here’s my dream scenario: package our 1st + 2nd to move up and grab Dickinson, draft Sam O’Reilly with our other 2nd…do whatever the f*** with our other picks. Will never happen but it’s fun to dream sometimes

 

[LGB]

I haven't seen enough of Dickinson yet to fully evaluate, but I was very underwhelmed. Puck skills were nothing special, he can skate for sure but offensive players were able to get space against him with dekes. Good tools, didn't see a top tier D prospect.

 

[Blueston]

Honestly, not loving this draft. I am constantly updating my rankings after watching guys (games, not just highlights) and it's almost always to lower them. Like nearly every time I watch virtually any prospect in this draft outside of top 8 (celebrini, demidov, catton, lindstrom, helenius, lev, sil, and dickinson in some order) they look less impressive than I would expect for their ranking so I lower them.

If we don't get top 8 pick, and it's looking doubtful, we are going to, we will basically get a prospect that is on par with late 1st last year. There are good players there, to be sure, but we are going to be generally looking at middle 6 wingers, bottom 6 centers, and bottom 4 d, and whether we pick 10 or 20 doesn't change that. i trust our scouting team to find a good player, but we need to be realistic about what we can expect and unless someone unexpectedly falls, it is likely less than you would think at our draft position.

 

[LGB]

https://x.com/lassialanen/status/1768664785963319353?s=20

Really impressive microstat profile on MBN

 

[sfvega]

Honestly, not loving this draft. I am constantly updating my rankings after watching guys (games, not just highlights) and it's almost always to lower them. Like nearly every time I watch virtually any prospect in this draft outside of top 8 (celebrini, demidov, catton, lindstrom, helenius, lev, sil, and dickinson in some order) they look less impressive than I would expect for their ranking so I lower them.

If we don't get top 8 pick, and it's looking doubtful, we are going to, we will basically get a prospect that is on par with late 1st last year. There are good players there, to be sure, but we are going to be generally looking at middle 6 wingers, bottom 6 centers, and bottom 4 d, and whether we pick 10 or 20 doesn't change that. i trust our scouting team to find a good player, but we need to be realistic about what we can expect and unless someone unexpectedly falls, it is likely less than you would think at our draft position.

That's a main reason I want to trade down. There's a big group of (clear) 2nd tier talent and I'd rather get a couple cracks at them than just one. Sincethe way we're looking lately, we're only going to have one pick on the top 40. This crop seems more tools than finished products.