NHL Mock Draft 2.0: Celebrini, Levshunov lead Pronman's latest projection (2024)

It’s NHL combine week, which means we are a few weeks away now from San Jose being on the clock. Today I’m making my second attempt at trying to project how the first round of the 2024 NHL Draft will play out. The most critical decision point will be Chicago with the second overall pick. What they decide could impact how the rest of the top picks play out.

1. San Jose Sharks: Macklin Celebrini, C, Boston University (NCAA (H-EAST))

The presumed No. 1 pick is extremely likely to be the pick here. We can move on.

2. Chicago Blackhawks: Artyom Levshunov, D, Michigan State (NCAA (BIG10))

This may be the biggest decision point in the draft. Most NHL sources believe Levshunov, Ivan Demidov, Cayden Lindstrom (with a clean bill of health) and Anton Silayev are the likeliest top-five picks. If it’s down to Levshunov versus one of the players in Russia in Ivan Demidov or Anton Silayev, I think a lot of NHL teams will lean toward the big defenseman they’ve seen live a bunch and who has played at a high level for two years, unless they think the Russian is clearly superior. I don’t think the league views this case as one where those alternatives are clearly superior and for that reason, I’m projecting Levshunov to be the second pick. If Lindstrom gets great reviews at the NHL combine the picture could change a little as well.

3. Anaheim Ducks: Anton Silayev, D, Nizhny Novgorod (RUSSIA)

Most in the league think Anaheim will want a big defenseman. That would put Levshunov or Silayev in play, as well as Sam Dickinson or Carter Yakemchuk. There’s never a safe money play when it comes to players on KHL deals, but Silayev is very much a Pat Verbeek style of player due to his length and mean streak on top of being able to move a puck.

4. Columbus Blue Jackets: Cayden Lindstrom, C, Medicine Hat (WHL)

Projecting Lindstrom’s position is difficult due to some teams’ concerns about his back injury, which ended the second half of his season. We’ll know more about that issue after the combine, but most teams are assuming he will make a recovery even if they need to be convinced. If so, he is highly appealing as a 6-3 center who can fly, score and lay the body. Columbus would have to choose between getting bigger in someone like Lindstrom or Silayev or adding skill in Demidov.

5. Montreal Canadiens: Ivan Demidov, RW, Ska St. Petersburg Jr. (RUSSIA-JR.)

I think Montreal would be very happy if Demidov got to this spot; he would add the elite skill they lack in their organization. If he didn’t it gets more interesting. In that case, you’re likely debating between Lindstrom, Beckett Sennecke or Tij Iginla.

6. Utah: Sam Dickinson, D, London (OHL)

Utah has a great group of young forwards they’re building around, and after picking Dmitri Simashev with the sixth pick last year they use the sixth pick this year on another highly athletic defenseman with offense in Dickinson.

7. Ottawa Senators: Carter Yakemchuk, D, Calgary (WHL)

In a survey of teams leading up to the draft, I get the sense that Yakemchuk has a better than 50 percent chance to go in the top 10. He’s big, highly skilled and plays hard, and as a right-handed defenseman, he would fit in very nicely in what the Senators lack on their depth chart while providing plenty of upside.

8. Seattle Kraken: Zeev Buium, D, Denver (NCAA (NCHC))

After adding a lot of forwards with their first high picks in the franchise’s history, it feels likely in a defense-heavy draft that Seattle will add a defenseman. Whether it’s Dickinson, Yakemchuk, Buium or Zayne Parekh, this feels like an ideal spot to add a premier defense prospect the team will likely be high on.

9. Calgary Flames: Berkly Catton, C, Spokane (WHL)

Many think there’s a strong chance that the Flames add Iginla here, but my bet would be more likely they draft one of the talented centers (Catton, Konsta Helenius) or defensem*n available at this pick.

10. New Jersey Devils: Beckett Sennecke, RW, Oshawa (OHL)

Sennecke’s stock is on the rise sharply upwards, and there’s a solid chance he’s going to be a top 10 pick on draft day due to his elite skill, on top of being 6-foot-2 and a good skater. In an ideal world, many believe New Jersey would prefer a center or defenseman with size here, but the way the board played out Sennecke becomes the clear best option for them.

11. Buffalo Sabres: Tij Iginla, C, Kelowna (WHL)

Some may say Buffalo can’t take another scoring winger, but you could have said the same thing about their approach last season and the Zach Benson pick has looked good for them so far. Iginla is a highly competitive and skilled winger who can score and would complement the group Buffalo is building. Several NHL team sources think Buffalo is a strong candidate to trade their pick.

12. Philadelphia Flyers: Konsta Helenius, C, Jukurit (FINLAND)

Philadelphia will have an opportunity to draft a highly skilled player, be it Catton, Iginla, Helenius or a defenseman like Parekh/Buium if they slide a bit. The Flyers’ system is craving a premium young center talent and Helenius can be that for them.

13. Minnesota Wild: Zayne Parekh, D, Saginaw (OHL)

Parekh slides a bit in this mock from his expected top 10 draft slot. There are 12-14 players people are convinced are top 10 picks, though. In this scenario, Minnesota jumps at Parekh’s elite hockey sense even with his defending concerns.

14. San Jose Sharks: Adam Jiricek, D, Plzen (CZECHIA)

Jiricek’s season ended months ago due to injury, but I still sense he’s well thought of in the league despite a so-so year plus the injury. He’s tall, mobile and can move pucks well and the Sharks are craving that type of profile on their blue line.

15. Detroit Red Wings: Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, RW, Mora (SWEDEN-2)

To say Brandsegg-Nygard screams Detroit prospect may be an overstatement. He’s highly competitive and plays in Sweden — what more can you want?! He also fits a pressing need for them of addressing a scoring winger.

16. St. Louis Blues: Stian Solberg, D, Valerenga (NORWAY)

Solberg is going to be a slightly contentious player in team meetings. He was lights-out good at the World Championships, but he played in a league in Norway that has no track record of developing NHL players. Still, I think teams will be very attracted to his size, skating and physicality and would be the kind of defenseman the Blues have lacked in their system for a while.

17. Washington Capitals: Cole Eiserman, LW, USA U-18 (NTDP)

Eiserman will be a highly debated prospect in the weeks to come, and I expect he will go a lot later than some expected six months ago, but at some point, enough is enough. He is still a goal/game winger with dynamic traits, and 17 to Washington ends up being a good fit for him.

18. Chicago Blackhawks: Igor Chernyshov, LW, Dynamo Moscow (RUSSIA)

Chernyshov is highly thought of in the league and I think there’s a strong chance he goes in the teens. He’s skilled, can skate and is competitive, and would add a size dimension that Chicago lacks among most of their top forward prospects.

19. Vegas Golden Knights: Trevor Connelly, LW, Tri-City (USHL)

Vegas is an organization that could take the swing on Connelly. They do have a barren farm system, and his dynamic speed and skill would become something they lack among their prospects.

20. New York Islanders: Jett Luchanko, C, Guelph (OHL)

Luchanko’s stock is on the rise with NHL teams and I expect him to go around the 20th spot. He’s an excellent skater and competitor who may remind some of Islanders veteran Jean-Gabriel Pageau.

21. Los Angeles Kings: Michael Hage, C, Chicago (USHL)

Hage’s stock is on the rise after an excellent second half to the season. He’s got a ton of skill and speed and his improved consistency could persuade teams to pick him even higher than here.

22. Nashville Predators: Cole Beaudoin, C, Barrie (OHL)

Beaudoin would mesh very well with all the skill Nashville has picked up lately. He’s a high-end compete center with size who was excellent at the recent U18s for Canada.

23. Toronto Maple Leafs: Sacha Boisvert, C, Muskegon (USHL)

Boisvert is well-liked in the league due to his well-rounded play. He’s a center with size who has good pace in his game and legit offensive touch too even though he’s not dynamic. He’d become a potential middle-six center for the Leafs.

24. Colorado Avalanche: Egor Surin, C, Yaroslavl Jr. (RUSSIA-JR.)

Surin’s stock is on the rise after a great postseason in Russia, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he went higher than this. He has tremendous compete and good natural talent as well. He’s an easy player to like and Colorado has shown they’re not afraid to take shots on talented Russians.

25. Ottawa Senators: Liam Greentree, RW, Windsor (OHL)

Greentree’s stock got dinged a bit after a so-so U18 Worlds, but he still had a great OHL season and teams will be highly enticed by his skill and size combination. He has a lot of similarities to Quentin Musty, who went around this range last year. He’d be a great dice roll by Ottawa with their other first-round pick.

26. Montreal Canadiens: Julius Miettinen, C, Everett (WHL)

After taking elite skill with Demidov, Miettinen would provide Montreal with a much-needed big center in their system, someone with legit offensive tools who can skate as well.

27. Carolina Hurricanes: Nikita Artamonov, LW, Nizhny Novgorod (RUSSIA)

Carolina has not shied away recently from drafting Russians, and they look to Russia again, taking the highly skilled and creative Artamonov with the 27th pick.

28. Calgary Flames: Eric (EJ) Emery, D, USA U-18 (NTDP)

Emery had a very good U18s and has the look of a future NHL defenseman as a premium athlete who plays hard. His offense is a minor question, but at No. 28 if Calgary thinks they can get a career shutdown NHL defenseman it’s hard to ask for too much offense.

29. Dallas Stars: Leo Sahlin Wallenius, D, Vaxjo Jr. (SWEDEN-JR.)

This is one of the worst crops of Swedes I can remember in a long time, and we wait until the very end of the first round for the first Swede to go off the board. Sahlin Wallenius is an excellent skater who can make plays but due to his 6-0 frame, he creeps in right at the end of the round.

30. New York Rangers: Sam O’Reilly, RW, London (OHL)

O’Reilly is a well-rounded center who played a notable role on an elite London team this season. He’s a competitive center with skill who skates well and can play the way the Rangers want.

31. Philadelphia Flyers: Dean Letourneau, C, St. Andrew’s College (HIGH-ON)

There were so many scouts going in to watch Letourneau this season that it feels almost inevitable he’s going to be a late first-round pick. He’s a big gamble, because while a big man who can skate, he played at such a low level that scouts have a lot of questions about how much offense he truly has. It makes for an ideal risk for a Flyers team with multiple high picks.

32. Anaheim Ducks: Charlie Elick, D, Brandon (WHL)

Elick didn’t end the year on the best note with his U18s performance, but I know there’s still notable NHL interest because he’s a 6-3 defenseman who is an excellent skater and plays with some bite. At No. 32 he can be a decent pick and plays a Verbeek brand of hockey.

(Illustration: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic. Photos: Michael Miller / ISI Photos, Richard T Gagnon, Jonathan Kozub / Getty Images)