The 2024 draft is an interesting goup of players with a Center in Macklin Celebrini leading the way. After that, it's a rocky path. The way I see it is there are 6 highly valued forwards and 6 highlY sought out defensemen. There is absolutely no consensus on who the top forward or defenseman is. The poll results for top defenseman of the draft at the NHL combine between 11 different scouts resulted in at-least 1 vote for each of those 6 guys. Who is the consensus best forward after Celebrini? Another poll at the NHL combine for the 2nd best forward of the draft was not much different from the defense poll. All 5 of those forwards got praise from scouts as being the next best guy. This draft is considered average to slightly above average. This defenseman class has to be one of the best groups I've seen in a draft year. It reminds me a lot of the 2018 class in that regard, but even that class might be inferior to this one when all is said and done. There is no Dahlin caliber of prospect, but there are 6 guys that are in the Hughes tier of prospects. Now obviously I'm not saying these guys are going to all be as good as Quinn Hughes. Quinn Hughes far succeeded his draft position and was not seen as the beauty he is today. Even after those 6 guys, there are still a handful of defensemen I'd be thrilled to draft. Once you get past the 12 guys, the draft levels outs pretty fast. As a whole it's a below average Center group. There are a few guys I like in the later half of the 1st round, but a lot of these guys project as middle 6-bottom 6 center roles at the NHL with not too much upside. It definitely doesn't have the 1st round offensive depth that was loved so much in last years draft. As you can see in my rankings below, there is an added tier for "Superstar Potential" caliber of prosects. I felt this group of players were a little stronger than last years group in the "Players with Elite NHL Potential" range and that made me feel I needed another tier. I'm expecting a lot of chaos on draft day that will include some shocking picks in the 10-20 range and maybe even some big trades. This NHL draft will be eventful, that is for sure!
Below is an article from Corey Pronman with some insider input
The Athletic insiders articleAll of the players that are in the same tier are marginally better than one another. Below are my 2024 draft rankings