Player that could fall in the 2024 Draft

I could see a team reaching for Kiviharju way too early or see him drop to like 50. He is very polarizing but I cant wait to see how he develops

Catton won't fall out of a normal range imo (anywhere between 7 and 12 is a fair range). I'd be very surprised to see him go 13th or lower. As for Eiserman, it depends on if he has the right attitude or not, and we will not be able to know until after the draft. If teams see he has the right attitude, they will come to the conclusion that he will listen to his coaches and really improve his weakness, and can then be drafted high

Scott Wheeler has been saying that Connelly is on most teams do not draft list, which is why he is so low on so many lists. That is nuts.

Since he made a mistake as 15-year old…and has owned it every step of the way, done all the right things, said all the right things, and people that know him best can attest. It speaks volumes that one of NCAAs most respected coaches has vouched for him.

He is a top-5 talent…and likely best skater in draft class. Someone is going to steal a game-breaker.

According to NHL Central Scouting is his current weight 156lbs. That's far from the optimal. He will probably add another 30lbs, but that kind of change often affect player's skating. I would definitely not draft him in the top 10. It might be wise to select one of several good D-men available instead of Demidov, Catton, Connelly, Helenius etc. Draft is not deep, but there are some interesting blueliners to choose from.

Yup.



Scott Wheeler also loves to overlook the fact that a player being as wispy as a willow significantly hampers their NHL chances of success. The kid can be low in lists for multiple reasons. If he wasn't a string bean, more teams would likely raise him up their rankings.

No, I don’t think that is right. He was listed at 6’1” 161 lbs at beginning of season. If he plays 2 years of NCAA, no reason to think he doesn’t add another 15-20 lbs. And with his skating ability, at 6’1” 180 lbs, I don’t think size will be much of a ding for him.

For being over 6', 160 is incredibly light. The average NHL player is like 6' 1/2"-6'1" and a198 pounds. And that's just the average opponent. It's an issue for now, and as noted, weight adds can affect skating sometimes. We'll see, but there's more than one reason for teams to be kinda like "ehhhh maybe someone else".

Skating will only improve with more weight…so if his skating is top of draft now…I am not sure I understand the reasoning to suggest it will get worse.

And it’s well-known why he is getting dinged on draft boards. He posted a photo on Snapchat that included an offensive symbol a few years ago. And for many, that has lead to teams listing him on “do not draft” lists. It has nothing to do with his size or his ability.

1 - Not sure where you go tthe idea that skating inherently improves with large weight gains, but that is not the case. Plenty of dudes slow down or get less agile. I'm not saying he can't pick up weight, but it's still an unknown at this time. All the guys who skate a little or even a fair bit worse but already have pro bodies are going to get ranked well, too.

2 - Like I said more than once, a player can have more than one red flag. And just FYI, his little swastika photo stunt was not the only character incident of note - he's also had issues regarding racial slurs. I'm aware that he is working to redeem himself and that he's taking part in a good volunteer hockey for everyone type program and everything, but it's not like he's trying to redeem himself from just one little incident. Or for that matter, one red flag. Teams can get over one red flag of some sort. When there's more than one red flag, it's pretty common to shy away.

Maybe he falls and maybe he blows up anyway. But any way you slice it, there's risk involved when we're talking about the top 10 of the draft region.

I will concede that drafting him would be a far tougher sell in certain cities (Seattle, for instance).

1. If the weight gain is coming from snacking maybe. But most players are gaining most of that weight in their legs. Perhaps, that could eventually reduce their top straight-line speed if they gain too much. But we are talking about his skating ability, not speed. His edges are elite…and adding strength to his legs will only make better.

(This is same issue people said with Hughes…and was as non-sensical then as it is now).

2. There are teams saying they wouldn’t take him in 7th round. Kids make mistakes. Hopefully they learn from them. He has done everything to correct and has serious people vouching for him, but still gets opposing team fans chanting “nazi” at him and NHL evaluators saying he should never be able to redeem himself. This is not Mitch Miller.

I didn't say he was Miller, but we're also talking about being picked top 10 here. Also not the same as Miller.