A few weeks before the annual NHL draft, speculation is rife as to the order in which the best prospects of the 2024 vintage will be drafted on June 28 in Las Vegas.
Prospect expert and TSN Director of Recruiting Craig Button today released an updated version of his list of the top 10 prospects available this year.
If we know that it is Macklin Celebrini Who will be the very first player selected, what happens next is a complete mystery, as a handful of talented players from various positions battle to be next.
True to form, Button leaves the beaten track and goes with a list that differs enormously from what we’ve been seeing for several weeks now.
Here is the result.
- 1. Macklin Celebrini – VS (NCAA)
- 2. Ivan Demidov – A.G. (MHL)
- 3. Konsta Helenius – VS (SM Liiga)
- 5. Zayne Parekh -DD (OH)
- 6. Zeev Buium – CEO (NCAA)
- 7. Artyom Levshunov -DD (NCAA)
- 8. Sam Dickinson – CEO (OH)
- 9. Cole Eiserman – A.G. (USHL)
- 10. Cayden Lindstrom – VS (WHL)
As we can see, even though Artyom Levshunov seems to be the consensus on most lists as a Top-3 pick, he is not even the best defender available in Button’s eyes, which places him at 7th, behind Zayne Parekh and Zeev Buium.
In addition, we notice that giant defender Anton Silayev is not even part of his Top-10, unlike the vast majority of lists.
In attack, he had other choices in store for us that were intriguing to say the least, placing Cayden Lindstrom in 10th position, far behind Konsta Helenius and Tij Iginla who both find themselves in the Top-5. Even Cole Eiserman, who seems to be in free fall on every list, is ranked higher than him at #9.
In short, this is a list that will cause a lot of discussion. But given the parity and the minimal difference between certain prospects in the Top-10, it will be very interesting to see how the NHL leaders decide in a few weeks.
See the post at the bottom.
