Earlier this week, I released my May 2024 NHL Draft ranking and first mock draft. And with the draft order taking shape, OHL and USHL championship series getting started, and the combine now suddenly around the corner, it felt like a good time for a mailbag.
You submitted more than 200 questions. Here, I’ve answered 10 of the biggest and most popular ones. Topics include Beckett Sennecke’s rise, Ivan Demidov vs. Matvei Michkov, Tij Iginla vs. Cole Eiserman, top-10 surprises, Zayne Parekh’s rankings, the draft’s most physical players, the draft’s top offensive defensemen and more.
Note: Questions have been lightly edited for clarity and length, and similar questions have been grouped together. If you submitted a question and I didn’t answer it here, I’ll circle back and answer the rest of the submissions in the coming days here.
What has made Sennecke a riser in the 2024 NHL Draft class? — Zachary
There seem to be a lot of late risers in this year’s draft, particularly up front (I’m thinking about Iginla and Sennecke). There also seems to be a lot of doubts about other top forward prospects, such as Cayden Lindstrom’s injury fears and small sample size, or Demidov having only played in Russian junior hockey and having next to no international competition sample. Do you think that the amount of great D prospects has made scouts scramble a bit more than usual when it comes to the forwards? — Bernard
It really has happened quickly for Sennecke. In the fall, when I asked NHL scouts and OHL folks about him, his name was usually met with a sigh. Everyone saw the skill and the potential, but as one OHL coach told me, he had a lot of bad habits he needed to break, a tendency to play one-on-one too much, and wavering competitiveness. There were also benchings and off-ice questions. In a survey of a few people early on this season, everyone handicapped him as a late-first. One coach even questioned if he’d take him in the first. As recently as my March 25 draft ranking, I had an OHL GM reach out to me to say, “Sennecke’s character is a concern but he has the frame and puck skills. Where you have him (No. 23 at the time, he’s now No. 16 on my list) I think is fair.”
We’re just a month and a half out from that and there’s no way Sennecke is available outside the top 20 anymore. Some teams are having top-10 conversations about him.
A lot of that has just been about the consistency of his effort level, his competitiveness beginning to shine through, and the skill showing up more often because he’s more involved in games and make better choices in terms of play selection.
I do think a part of it comes back to the essence of Bernard’s question as well, though. With Lindstrom’s injury troubles, general souring on Eiserman throughout the year, questions about Trevor Connelly, and a lot of folks who like but aren’t excited by Konsta Helenius, there has naturally been a tendency to look for other forwards with high enough skill levels to potentially project into top-six playmaking roles. Sennecke and Iginla became the darlings that way with the quantity of skill plays they each made this season.
For what it’s worth, though, I don’t think concerns about a lack of pro and international sample for Demidov last very long in conversations about him. Everyone sees the clear individual talent.
GO DEEPER
2024 NHL Draft top 32 prospects: Scott Wheeler’s post-U18 worlds ranking
Who do you prefer as a prospect, Demidov or Michkov? — Bernard
Heading into this year, my answer was pretty firmly Michkov. And while it still might be, any gap I felt existed has shrunk to near zero if at all. I still think I’m partial to the offensive smarts and tactile game of Michkov, which is backed by a stronger statistical profile even going back to adjust for age. But I’m not sure I’m in the majority on that, as Michkov has some detractors in a way Demidov hasn’t ever really had. Demidov’s the more…
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