Prospect Info: 2024 NHL Draft Thread

[Guadana]

How do Buium and Dickinson compare to each other?

Dickinson is more mobile, bigger, better positionally without the puck. Potentially elite defensive defenseman with some good offensive abilities, not your pp1 guy but minutes eater. Clean game - perfect floor and combo of skills that will make him NHL player without any real problem.
Buium is high ceiling player who is a good skater but he should work on it more. He us much more proactive with the puck, better puckhandler - he is manipulator and I like this skill more because its more trandlatable on nhl level. He should work on decision making - sometimes he is trying to do a lot, but still he is transitional player, zone driver, net driver. He is much better playmaker. I think lack of elite skating could limit him from being top level defenseman of the league, he is good defensively but should work more on positional game, be more proactive, because often he is proactive and it works well when he is doing everything right. He is smart, aggressive, fast enough. If he will develop his mobility and back skating - he is your potential first defenseman, if not - still very intriguing defenseman with solid two way impact.
More realistically Dickinson will be drafted higher. So I think there is a very big chance that Buium will be available if we will have 9th pick. And if Fitz will draft him, I will be happy, because he is my 4th-5th favorite player for our pick after 1OA, Lindstrom, Demidov, and... I didn't decided about him, and Dickinson yet. Nygard game is messing me too. Because if he will play center he is very attractive.

 

[Guadana]

I think we'd both agree that both Brantsegg-Nygard and Chernyshov have been under-ranked by the consensus.

Having done this for a very long time, I'd have to assume this has more to do with their nationalities than their abilities. If both were from Ontario or Stockholm instead of Norway and Russia, I think they'd both be consensus top 10 prospects or at least very close.

I haven't researched enough yet for definitive rankings, but I'm pretty cliche in having Celebrini and Demidov as my top 2, and Lindstrom is not far behind Demidov at #3. I'd probably fill out my top 10 with 4 defenders (Buium, Dickinson, Silayev and Levshunov -- though I haven't ordered them yet in my head).

As for the final 3 players in my top 10? I think it's really tough because there are a lot of intriguing prospects bunched in there. But right now for me, it would probably be some ordering of Catton, Brantsegg-Nygard and Chernyshov, with my 11+12+13 being some ordering of Helenius, Iginla and Hage.

But back to my point, I think the people leaving Brantsegg-Nygard and Chernyshov out of their top 20 are smoking some serious amount of narcotics.

Lindstrom 8s a perfect pick for this organisation. Need to win the lottery with 2 pick as a price.

Devils fans are focused on third center. Me too. But second pair defenseman is more valuable position than 3C or top 6 winger. So Buium, Silayev and Dickinson with their high floor and physical potential are more important players for our organization then Helenius, Nygard, Iginla, Chernyshov, etc. More important then Catton. Top 4 D are playing more, its more important role, their price is higher often. And all of this top 4 D has potential to play 23-25 minutes.

We just need Iginla to be picked by Calgary (may be Ottawa should pick Yakemchuk too).

 

[My3Sons]

Lindstrom 8s a perfect pick for this organisation. Need to win the lottery with 2 pick as a price.

Devils fans are focused on third center. Me too. But second pair defenseman is more valuable position than 3C or top 6 winger. So Buium, Silayev and Dickinson with their high floor and physical potential are more important players for our organization then Helenius, Nygard, Iginla, Chernyshov, etc. More important then Catton. Top 4 D are playing more, its more important role, their price is higher often. And all of this top 4 D has potential to play 23-25 minutes.

We just need Iginla to be picked by Calgary (may be Ottawa should pick Yakemchuk too).

While I don’t disagree with your basic premise I think the timing of the team suggests that whoever they draft the team’s need for help now may be different in a couple of years. The team could use a bona fide first pairing defender on either side right now. But in a couple of years you hope the first pair is Luke and Nemec. And you hope the second pair is one of the lefty prospects and Casey. Then you can figure out the third pair. There is just no hope right now for young forwards to make the jump. Stillman Clarke? Meh. The team just has nothing in the prospect pool up front.

 

[Guadana]

While I don’t disagree with your basic premise I think the timing of the team suggests that whoever they draft the team’s need for help now may be different in a couple of years. The team could use a bona fide first pairing defender on either side right now. But in a couple of years you hope the first pair is Luke and Nemec. And you hope the second pair is one of the lefty prospects and Casey. Then you can figure out the third pair. There is just no hope right now for young forwards to make the jump. Stillman Clarke? Meh. The team just has nothing in the prospect pool up front.

Your description is more about needs as I see it.. I’m talking more about “more value“. Because even third pair defenseman will play a lot if he is very good. I like our LD prospect but we can’t pencil them as top 4 now. If they will be good enough - good problem to have. It’s better than “B**l was overused, he should be third pair defenseman”. I want players who can do more but play lesser role because team is good.
Arseniy and Lenny are hopes for a jump. We can’t pencil prospects from the draft to make the jump in the next one two years. Stillman and Clarke are less thаn meh.
So I agree forward depth is thin, but top 10 pick is for more important roles and more talented players. With 1(3)C Nico, 2C Jack, top 6 wingers Bratt, Timo, Dawson and top6 potential winger prospects Gritsyuk and Lenny I just can’t make a choice in favor of top 6 winger or third line center even when I have Luke and Nemec. Casey is very intriguing player but We can’t pencil him as top 4 defenseman now because he needs to translate and adapt his game. There are some concerns. And I really like him, I think he will be solid. We can find bottom line players on the market or/and in the deep of the draft. It’s much harder to find top-4 defenseman. Especially with top-2 potential.
I mean. There is a much bigger chance to find defenseman with top-2 potential by 9th pick on the draft than center with first line potential. Or elite winger.
We don’t need hope with all the forwards we have in top-6, we still need hope with all defensemen we have in top-4. So my pick is defenseman.

But again it’s my vision and my reasons. I understand yours. Overall Fitz will decide what he will gonna do. And it’s better to not be Eiserman.
I will be happy if we will draft Nygard, Chernyshov, Helenius or Iginla. It’s not like a big drama even with my defensemen oriented vision.

 

[My3Sons]

Your description is more about needs as I see it.. I’m talking more about “more value“. Because even third pair defenseman will play a lot if he is very good. I like our LD prospect but we can’t pencil them as top 4 now. If they will be good enough - good problem to have. It’s better than “B**l was overused, he should be third pair defenseman”. I want players who can do more but play lesser role because team is good.
Arseniy and Lenny are hopes for a jump. We can’t pencil prospects from the draft to make the jump in the next one two years. Stillman and Clarke are less thаn meh.
So I agree forward depth is thin, but top 10 pick is for more important roles and more talented players. With 1(3)C Nico, 2C Jack, top 6 wingers Bratt, Timo, Dawson and top6 potential winger prospects Gritsyuk and Lenny I just can’t make a choice in favor of top 6 winger or third line center even when I have Luke and Nemec. Casey is very intriguing player but We can’t pencil him as top 4 defenseman now because he needs to translate and adapt his game. There are some concerns. And I really like him, I think he will be solid. We can find bottom line players on the market or/and in the deep of the draft. It’s much harder to find top-4 defenseman. Especially with top-2 potential.
I mean. There is a much bigger chance to find defenseman with top-2 potential by 9th pick on the draft than center with first line potential. Or elite winger.
We don’t need hope with all the forwards we have in top-6, we still need hope with all defensemen we have in top-4. So my pick is defenseman.

But again it’s my vision and my reasons. I understand yours. Overall Fitz will decide what he will gonna do. And it’s better to not be Eiserman.
I will be happy if we will draft Nygard, Chernyshov, Helenius or Iginla. It’s not like a big drama even with my defensemen oriented vision.

Good point about Grits and Lenni. I was thinking centers but those two are valid wing prospects .

 

[StevenToddIves]

How do Buium and Dickinson compare to each other?

The easy answer is Buium will score more but Dickinson will be a better all-around player.

The answer gets harder when you factor in the facts that Buium should be a very good all-around D and Dickinson should also develop into a guy who puts up an impressive amount of scoring.

I might be a touch higher on Buium because I feel he's the superior skater and his passing vision and hockey IQ are absolutely elite. Whereas Dickinson checks every box and is a high-floor all-situations guy, Buium has the potential to be a special player. Buium is a very good skater, though not super-elite in the mold of Makar and Luke Hughes, two players I have seen him (unfairly) compared to. But can Buium become a 60+ point scoring D man at the NHL level? I would say yes.

As for Dickinson, he's also an excellent skater but not elite. I'd give Buium the slight advantage -- very slight -- due to his edge work. Dickinson is quite simply very, very good at everything. He's a joy to watch, probably the most polished and savvy defender in the 2024 class.

I think you have two great LD prospects, and they're very close, making it more a question of "what type of LD do you want?" than "who is better?"

Lindstrom 8s a perfect pick for this organisation. Need to win the lottery with 2 pick as a price.

Devils fans are focused on third center. Me too. But second pair defenseman is more valuable position than 3C or top 6 winger. So Buium, Silayev and Dickinson with their high floor and physical potential are more important players for our organization then Helenius, Nygard, Iginla, Chernyshov, etc. More important then Catton. Top 4 D are playing more, its more important role, their price is higher often. And all of this top 4 D has potential to play 23-25 minutes.

We just need Iginla to be picked by Calgary (may be Ottawa should pick Yakemchuk too).

I love Catton, but I don't prefer the Devils to draft him.

 

[Xirik]

I know this goes against everything a team probably should do when drafting but...

Which draftee that probably will still be around when the Devils pick is the most NHL ready?

 

[Guadana]

The easy answer is Buium will score more but Dickinson will be a better all-around player.

The answer gets harder when you factor in the facts that Buium should be a very good all-around D and Dickinson should also develop into a guy who puts up an impressive amount of scoring.

I might be a touch higher on Buium because I feel he's the superior skater and his passing vision and hockey IQ are absolutely elite. Whereas Dickinson checks every box and is a high-floor all-situations guy, Buium has the potential to be a special player. Buium is a very good skater, though not super-elite in the mold of Makar and Luke Hughes, two players I have seen him (unfairly) compared to. But can Buium become a 60+ point scoring D man at the NHL level? I would say yes.

As for Dickinson, he's also an excellent skater but not elite. I'd give Buium the slight advantage -- very slight -- due to his edge work. Dickinson is quite simply very, very good at everything. He's a joy to watch, probably the most polished and savvy defender in the 2024 class.

I think you have two great LD prospects, and they're very close, making it more a question of "what type of LD do you want?" than "who is better?"


I love Catton, but I don't prefer the Devils to draft him.

Im on the side of Buium too. Its just about of combo of IQ, character, skating, boldness, agressive play, driving play. I like more stable Dickinson game but I think Buium has all the physical and defensive positioning vision etc. And I think his IQ is so good.. how he reads play, how he is trying to prevent, how he is trying to create - it makes him special. I think that he is smarter player than Luke. Not as toolsy, skating is way better on the Luke side. But I think 55-65 points is something real for Buium, at least huge production 5 on 5(because PP spots are limited).
We dont know what other gms are thinking. I see they should prefer RDs and bigger players with better skating. And I like Dickinson skating little bit more. But we still need to be lower than Seattle.

I like Catton. Catton is quite good, I think he has "Panarin level" ceiling, but I dont think he is really good two way player, he is very perimeter playmaker and I dont see any reason and need to draft him over players who can drive the net, win puck battles, make fast and right plays without holding the puck for so long, who are faster and better skaters(Nygard and Chernyshov. Helenius and Iginla fit this in many points).

I would be happy to argue about Hage, Boisvert and Surin. But I dont really see them as an option for our pick - its 9 or 10 or 11 and there will be better top options.

I know this goes against everything a team probably should do when drafting but...

Which draftee that probably will still be around when the Devils pick is the most NHL ready?

Nygard, Buium or Dickinson if they will be available. They look like player who may start to play in NHL in one year in minor role.

 

[longislanddevil]

Despite things Fitz has said in the past, the future is very much now and this GM isn’t far from the hot seat. I’ve stated many times before that I’m impressed by most of the trades he’s made and he has done a good job. However, a lot of the good will he built up has been lost with this putrid season. For the sake of self preservation, I really see Fitz taking a player that is the most NHL ready. Of the names below, how soon do you think they’ll be in the NHL?

Nygard
Iginla
Chernyshov
Buium
Dickinson
Helenius
Hage

I know this goes against everything a team probably should do when drafting but...

Which draftee that probably will still be around when the Devils pick is the most NHL ready?

I like where your head is at because Fitz is now feeling the pressure.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

I know this goes against everything a team probably should do when drafting but...

Which draftee that probably will still be around when the Devils pick is the most NHL ready?

i think the Devils are in a pretty unique position of having a fully ready core and drafting high. This is one of the times i wouldn’t be too upset about drafting for need.

 

[evnted]

bad news for a couple top forward prospects, neither catton nor lindstrom will be at the U18s. lindstrom still dealing with symptoms of his back injury and catton has had an ongoing hip issue

Top NHL draft prospects Catton, Lindstrom done for season

Lindstrom had dealt with multiple injuries in the second half of the season.

theathletic.com

 

[longislanddevil]

Wasn’t expecting a win tonight. We remain tied with Buffalo (we would finish “better than them”) if it remains that way.

Wasn’t expecting the Flyers to beat the Rangers either.

It’ll be interesting to see if Seattle wins later.

Mathematically, it’s still possible we finish higher than the Flyers and Caps.

Feels like we will pick in that 9-11 range, most likely 10 or 11. I’m not sure Buium falls past 9 and same for Iginla. Nygard should be there.

EDIT: Since the Flyers and Caps play each other in last game of season, Devils cannot finish with a better record than BOTH.

Buffalo and Seattle are really the two teams to keep tabs on if you care about draft order.

 

[Lou Bloom]

Nygard has been fantastic in the Allsvenskan playoffs with 10 points in 11 games so far. He may not be a line driver but he absolutely has top 6 offensive upside to go with his high end forechecking and defensive game.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Im on the side of Buium too. Its just about of combo of IQ, character, skating, boldness, agressive play, driving play. I like more stable Dickinson game but I think Buium has all the physical and defensive positioning vision etc. And I think his IQ is so good.. how he reads play, how he is trying to prevent, how he is trying to create - it makes him special. I think that he is smarter player than Luke. Not as toolsy, skating is way better on the Luke side. But I think 55-65 points is something real for Buium, at least huge production 5 on 5(because PP spots are limited).
We dont know what other gms are thinking. I see they should prefer RDs and bigger players with better skating. And I like Dickinson skating little bit more. But we still need to be lower than Seattle.

I like Catton. Catton is quite good, I think he has "Panarin level" ceiling, but I dont think he is really good two way player, he is very perimeter playmaker and I dont see any reason and need to draft him over players who can drive the net, win puck battles, make fast and right plays without holding the puck for so long, who are faster and better skaters(Nygard and Chernyshov. Helenius and Iginla fit this in many points).

I would be happy to argue about Hage, Boisvert and Surin. But I dont really see them as an option for our pick - its 9 or 10 or 11 and there will be better top options.


Nygard, Buium or Dickinson if they will be available. They look like player who may start to play in NHL in one year in minor role.

I'm really curious what your opinion of Michael Hage is.

As for me, I see a kid with enormous upside -- a big true center who can fly and oozes skill. Yes, his 200-foot game needs a whole lot of work, but this is also a kid who missed a great deal of development time due to injury. I feel he's a high ceiling kid who is extremely far away from that ceiling. There's certainly risk there, and I don't see quite drafting him in the top 10, but he might be one of the most talented 2 or 3 kids going after the top 12-15 picks.

Nygard has been fantastic in the Allsvenskan playoffs with 10 points in 11 games so far. He may not be a line driver but he absolutely has top 6 offensive upside to go with his high end forechecking and defensive game.

The Devils don't need line drivers so much as they need forwards who play like Brantsegg-Nygard.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Wasn’t expecting a win tonight. We remain tied with Buffalo (we would finish “better than them”) if it remains that way.

Wasn’t expecting the Flyers to beat the Rangers either.

It’ll be interesting to see if Seattle wins later.

Mathematically, it’s still possible we finish higher than the Flyers and Caps.

Feels like we will pick in that 9-11 range, most likely 10 or 11. I’m not sure Buium falls past 9 and same for Iginla. Nygard should be there.

EDIT: Since the Flyers and Caps play each other in last game of season, Devils cannot finish with a better record than BOTH.

Buffalo and Seattle are really the two teams to keep tabs on if you care about draft order.

Buium could easily fall to the Devils at 9/10 overall.

Celebrini, Demidov and Lindstrom will almost certainly be gone -- that's three picks. Then you have a lot of uncertainty. I've seen myriad orderings of both the top LD (Dickinson, Buium, Silayev) and top RD (Levshunov, Parekh, Yakemchuk) with myriad rankings of the other consensus top Fs (Catton, Eiserman, Iginla, Helenius). If the Devils pick #10? That's 13 players for 9 spots ahead of NJ, and it's pretty much a guarantee that Buium will not go in the top 5.

Buium is certainly a realistic Devils draft target.

i think the Devils are in a pretty unique position of having a fully ready core and drafting high. This is one of the times i wouldn’t be too upset about drafting for need.

This is why I would draft Brantsegg-Nygard or Chernyshov over Catton, even though I feel Catton will have higher pure scoring output in the NHL.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Despite things Fitz has said in the past, the future is very much now and this GM isn’t far from the hot seat. I’ve stated many times before that I’m impressed by most of the trades he’s made and he has done a good job. However, a lot of the good will he built up has been lost with this putrid season. For the sake of self preservation, I really see Fitz taking a player that is the most NHL ready. Of the names below, how soon do you think they’ll be in the NHL?

Nygard
Iginla
Chernyshov
Buium
Dickinson
Helenius
Hage



I like where your head is at because Fitz is now feeling the pressure.

Brantsegg-Nygard and Chernyshov are the closest to NHL ready of those Fs and Dickinson of the D. Chernyshov will probably spend a few more years in Russia, however. But I wouldn't let that dissuade me from drafting him -- Chernyshov is probably the most underrated player in the entire 2024 class.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

yanno, just in case

 

[Call Me Al]

Im on the side of Buium too. Its just about of combo of IQ, character, skating, boldness, agressive play, driving play. I like more stable Dickinson game but I think Buium has all the physical and defensive positioning vision etc. And I think his IQ is so good.. how he reads play, how he is trying to prevent, how he is trying to create - it makes him special. I think that he is smarter player than Luke. Not as toolsy, skating is way better on the Luke side. But I think 55-65 points is something real for Buium, at least huge production 5 on 5(because PP spots are limited).
We dont know what other gms are thinking. I see they should prefer RDs and bigger players with better skating. And I like Dickinson skating little bit more. But we still need to be lower than Seattle.

I like Catton. Catton is quite good, I think he has "Panarin level" ceiling, but I dont think he is really good two way player, he is very perimeter playmaker and I dont see any reason and need to draft him over players who can drive the net, win puck battles, make fast and right plays without holding the puck for so long, who are faster and better skaters(Nygard and Chernyshov. Helenius and Iginla fit this in many points).

I would be happy to argue about Hage, Boisvert and Surin. But I dont really see them as an option for our pick - its 9 or 10 or 11 and there will be better top options.


Nygard, Buium or Dickinson if they will be available. They look like player who may start to play in NHL in one year in minor role.

i’m on the side of buium too but i’ll spare a detailed analysis and just say give me all the jews

 

[Lou Bloom]

My concern with Buium and the majority of the defenseman at the top of this class for the Devils specifically is that they're games lean towards offense. On a team that already has Luke, Nemec and Hamilton on it with Casey in the system, I worry about a fit with someone like Buium who while underrated defensively is still more of a finesse skill player.

 

[evnted]

speaking of mbn, mora lost today and his season is officially over. fantastic postseason performance from what i caught. all the hallmarks of his game were on display: high compete level, intensity in puck battles and along the boards, super heavy shot, elite defensive support, etc. thought he was even more dominant in the dirty areas/outside the crease and further dialed up his chippiness b/w whistles. just the exact type of game you wanna see in these types of series. lots of great on puck play in the offensive zone incorporating stronger possessions, more cuts/evasion, and greater awareness/fewer mishandlings under pressure. ranked T-4 in overall league playoff scoring

other quick updates on some notable prospects:
-tij and the rockets start their 2nd round series against a juggernaut prince george team tonight
-helenius might be a better bet to make the mens WC roster than initially thought, had quite the showing in his first exhibition game
-zeev/denver will have their hands full against BC in the frozen four title game tomorrow. truth be told, i hadnt loved everything i saw from him leading up to the frozen four, but last nights game was excellent. savvy pinches, immaculate small area passing, great one on one coverage. overall, i think he was a bit more conservative than i had seen earlier in the year, which i appreciated. i felt he didnt quite have the same amount of time/space to dance attackers at the blue line and activate as frequently as i was accustomed to seeing from him. i would always rather a prospect try to adapt their game to whats working than keep blind firing failed attempts of what they think should work. i still probably remain a bit more skeptical of his top end upside (in comparison to a number of other great draft minds on this board), but i definitely liked the game i saw last night

 

[longislanddevil]

My concern with Buium and the majority of the defenseman at the top of this class for the Devils specifically is that they're games lean towards offense. On a team that already has Luke, Nemec and Hamilton on it with Casey in the system, I worry about a fit with someone like Buium who while underrated defensively is still more of a finesse skill player.

I had that same thought, as well. Could Dickinson be a better fit at the moment? Probably a moot point as he won’t be available where we pick.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

My concern with Buium and the majority of the defenseman at the top of this class for the Devils specifically is that they're games lean towards offense. On a team that already has Luke, Nemec and Hamilton on it with Casey in the system, I worry about a fit with someone like Buium who while underrated defensively is still more of a finesse skill player.

if the Devils are worried about that, just don’t take a defenseman. There’s no point targeting a two-way minute muncher with a top 10 pick. Those guys are available elsewhere.

 

[longislanddevil]

With Luke, Nemec and in 25-26 Casey, we will have three elite puck moving defensemen. Hamilton is another offensive minded d-man. Great teams have an assortment of players with different skill sets that complement each other well. I think I’d rather have the kid that projects best from a defensive standpoint. I understand things can change and there’s a chance the Devils could trade Casey (I definitely hope they don’t).

In my ideal world, if all things are considered just about equal, I think I’d lean towards a forward. Holtz is likely to be traded in the offseason IMHO and the only legit forward prospects we have are Gritsyuk and Lenni. We need more grit, toughness, compete, a player that can be beast on the boards and win 50/50 puck battles. If Nygard can play center at the NHL level, he really is an attractive option as he seems to fit the criteria. Kid with a solid floor and high ceiling….what’s not to like? As @StevenToddIves astutely mentioned, it’s very possible Nygard could be ranked higher if he was not from Norway.

I would not be disappointed at all if we drafted Iginla but Nygard seems like the perfect fit.

Lastly, hard no on Eiserman. With so many other talented, well rounded players available, I don’t think Fitz is foolish enough to go that route.

 

[forceten]

Is Nygard the player we hoped Slafkovsky would be for us if we were able to draft him?

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

Is Nygard the player we hoped Slafkovsky would be for us if we were able to draft him?

definitely doesn’t have the sort of cerebral, playmaking brain of Slafkovsky, and IMO Slaf has a higher degree of talent basically across the board, but there are similarities. They’re both good skaters and hard workers, but MBN seems like more of a north-south shooter type.