They landed some great prospects with each pick, but my favorite of the bunch, Jiri Kulich, was the last one they selected at 28th overall. Kulich burst onto the scene at the U18 World Junior Championship just before the 2022 Draft where he scored nine goals in just six games. He is great at finding soft spots in defensive coverage and setting up for a rocket of a one-timer. Trevor Connelly is a skilled winger with dynamic skating and a high-effort two way game. His hands are really quick and he plays with a ton of deception which made him one of the most dangerous offensive players in the entire USHL last season. He was a clear first round talent with some top-six potential, but the off-ice noise is loud enough still that his ultimate NHL potential is a bit up in the air.
Ranking the top 50 NHL players in 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs
Calum Ritchie has great puck skills and sometimes it looks like he’s glued the puck to his stick while carving through defenders or when he’s on a breakaway. His tools make him very well suited as a center at the next level with good size, a coveted right-handed shot, good defensive habits (kills penalties quite well), and solid faceoff results. He has the tools to be a top-6 forward, but his offensive game will need to continue to grow if he wants to reach that level of play in the NHL. Ritchie missed pieces of the past two seasons with injuries, but his play down the stretch in the OHL last season was phenomenal. Despite missing nearly all of his draft-1 season to injury, Michael Hage has established himself as a high end prospect, and was drafted 21st overall. He has a really well-rounded tool kit as a 6-foot-1 center who skates well, has excellent skill with the puck and can create chances at will in the USHL.
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Levshunov has a very projectable game, with the size, skating, and offense to be a great NHL defender. He plays with a ton of confidence, which can be a bit https://gambibet.org/ of a double-edged sword at times. Levshunov’s offensive game is dynamic, with his smooth skating serving as the catalyst for each thing he does well.
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He is great at finding open space off the puck and he rewards teammates for passing to him by charging the middle of the ice or ripping a puck mid-stride. Öhgren’s ability to out-work opponents stands out, even at the pro level, and should continue in the AHL next season. David Goyette is finally starting to earn some of the attention that I think he has deserved all along. He’s an excellent skater who doesn’t quit on the play which helps him win a lot of puck battles and races to pucks.
Ranking the 10 top NHL players in 2024 Stanley Cup Final
Edstrom didn’t have the strongest showing at last year’s World Juniors but he’s eligible to return next year where I expect him to be one of the better players in the whole tourney. After being sent to Nasvhille in the Yaroslav Askarov trade, I think Edstrom can realistically project into the Pred’s third-line center slot in due time. Gabe Perrault looks like someone who could be a power play specialist at the next level with great skill and smarts in the offensive zone.
Carson Rehkopf, LW, Seattle Kraken
Florida will no doubt try to lay the lumber on Edmonton’s stars, but Draisaitl has a unique knack for getting the puck in the net one way or another. Demidov isn’t quite at the same level as top 2023 Draft prospect Matvei Michkov, but he is a legit top-end talent who has clear top-line potential in the NHL. One thing he and Michkov have in common is a difficulty earning minutes in the KHL as a draft eligible player. Demidov sat out many games to start the year and played full time in the MHL for the rest of the season.
Oil Kings’ Alex Worthington Playing Well After Taking Over Starting Spot
- Lane will wow many fans this season with his vision and skill for the Montréal Canadiens.
- He also has great puck skills and can make great passes or dekes while at his remarkable top speed.
- Previously he worked for NBC Sports on their national news desk reporting on breaking news for the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL, in addition to covering the 2020 and 2022 Olympic Games.
- He’s a very responsible defender who shuts down tons of rush attempts with an active stick and stellar positioning.
- Axel Sandin Pellikka is a right-handed offensive defenseman who has been an offensive leader in the SHL as a teenager.
- His 10 goals are tied for second out of all skaters, and his 14 power-play points rank first.
Once viewed as a questionable pick in the 2020 NHL draft, Shakir Mukhamadullin’s stock has consistently risen ever since. He possesses great physical qualities, but his game was very raw and needed to be refined. At 6-foot-4, 194 pounds, he’s extremely mobile and has a very smooth stride in transition, not to mention he can make a strong breakout pass to start a play. Mukhamadullin joined the San Jose Barracuda in the AHL last year and has been an excellent two-way player, one who looks more than capable of cracking the Sharks’ lineup very soon.
Miro Heiskanen, D, Dallas Stars
- Through two seasons with the Edmonton Oilers, Mattias Ekholm has an outstanding 59 points and has a plus-minus rating of +72.
- He’s an excellent skater who doesn’t quit on the play which helps him win a lot of puck battles and races to pucks.
- In total, Verhaeghe has nine goals heading into the Stanley Cup Final, which puts him in a tie for fourth out of all skaters.
- A career year from William Nylander earned him not only a massive contract extension but also a high spot on this list.
- Bradly Nadeau had a dominant draft season in the BCHL, with the goals and points accumulating until they were impossible to ignore.
There is still a lot of faith that he can bounce back after last season, and with his shooting and utilization of his size, there isn’t much reason to think 56 points is going to be a regular season for him. When he was drafted first overall, the offense was known to be his biggest asset, but his defensive play has become much stronger and he is now able to take control over a game at both ends of the ice. He is a bit of a hot-and-cold player with his offense, but over the course of a season, he has proven he can be relied upon for 50+ points regularly, he could even challenge the point-per-game mark soon. After a couple of dominant years in a row, Mika Zibanejad took a bit of a step back in his goal-scoring and point production last season.
Carter Verhaeghe, Florida Panthers
He absolutely tore up the top junior league in Russia and was excellent in the second-tier professional league in Russia as well (VHL). Miroshnichenko made the move to North America last year, scoring roughly half a point-per-game in the AHL and skating in a handful of NHL games. He battles hard and shoots harder, making him an absolute menace in the offensive zone. While the effort isn’t as prominent on the defensive side of the game, there are not many players with Kucherov’s offensive capabilities. He was the lone reason the Lightning made the playoffs last season, and with some movement in the Lightning lineup, Kucherov could benefit from the moves made this offseason in Tampa Bay. Leon Draisaitl has five straight 100-point seasons excluding the shortened 56-game season.
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Silayev is 6-foot-7, but he moves like he’s 6-foot-2, and he has shown great two-way play so far in the KHL. He scored six points in his first six games, but slowed down significantly, finishing the season with 11 points after 63 regular season games. There’s a very real chance that he ends up as the top defender in this class given the massive potential his frame and agility provide. The Montreal Canadiens were lucky to snag Lane Hutson near the end of the second round of the 2022 NHL Draft because many expected he’d be drafted much, much earlier. He battles well against larger players and his low center of gravity makes him harder to knock off the puck than you would expect.
Prospects #60-51
Forsling will be depended on to log heavy minutes as the Oilers will be arguably his most difficult matchup yet. At the end of the day, Zach Hyman is proving to be an elite goal scorer for the Oilers and a picture-perfect winger to play with the two superstars. He possesses an uncanny ability to get open in front of the net, knocking in passes on the backdoor and cleaning up rebounds in front in the process. It had been a few years since Kucherov dominated a regular season, but he got back to his ways last year, putting up 113 points and 83 assists. He was one of only two players to hit at least 80 helpers on the year, (McDavid was the other), en route to his third triple-digit points campaign. The Lightning winger is an elite playmaker who always finds himself among the league leaders in assists.
Zach Hyman, F, Edmonton Oilers
- There’s a very real chance that he ends up as the top defender in this class given the massive potential his frame and agility provide.
- He was off to a fantastic start and built off of the prior season’s career-high of 74 points.
- If you’re wondering why goalies weren’t included in this ranking, that’s because we have a separate article for that position.
- On top of all that, his 140 shot attempts are the most this postseason out of all skaters.
- He’s a center with a June birthday, meaning he’s one of the youngest players from the 2024 draft class, and will be just 18 years old for his entire rookie season in the NHL.
- Rehkopf scored nearly 60 goals in the OHL last season (58 through regular and postseason play), proving that his 30+ goal draft year was no fluke.
- Also adding to the case file was that they seduced Matthew Wood, a former 1st round pick who has been a very strong collegiate performer, to transfer from UConn.
There is no denying that the Wild have become immensely more fun to watch since Kaprizov came over from Russia. The slippery winger dealt with injuries last year that kept him out of 15 games, but he still managed to record 40 goals and 75 points. Kaprizov has incredible vision and hands, and he has been the engine behind the Wild offense. There is very little that separates the three, so Isles fans, don’t read into it too much. Some will argue that Sorokin deserved the Vezina last year over Linus Ullmark, but it’s only a matter of when, not if, the New York goaltender earns the honor.
Kirill Kaprizov, LW, Wild
In a year where seemingly every star for the Avalanche was hurt at some point, Rantanen played a major role in keeping the team afloat. The Finnish power forward had his first 50-goal, 100-point season, leading Colorado with 55 goals and 105 points. Rantanen finished sixth in MVP voting — and I don’t think that did his performance enough justice. In the age of up-and-coming stars taking over the league, the 36-year-old Penguins captain remains one of the most consistent performers at both ends of the ice. After missing the playoffs for his first time since his rookie season, expect a motivated Pittsburgh star center this year.
Ryan Leonard, LW/C, Washington Capitals
Last year, Hamilton proved to the Devils he was well worth the investment from the 2022 offseason. The New Jersey defenseman recorded 52 assists and 74 points during the Devils’ breakout season. He’s the No. 1 defenseman any contender needs, providing an offensive option as a right-handed blue liner. After winning it all with St. Louis in 2019, the defenseman brought Vegas its first championship in hockey. He’s a minute muncher who can provide 50 points from the back end while being a leader off the ice as well.
He can pick apart opposing defenses with pin-point passes, creative dangles and sly fakes, and his effort level is admirable. Perreault was one of the most creative and intelligent players in the 2023 Draft and he is great at weaving his way out of trouble when defenders collapse around him, either with a pass or his lightning-quick hands. Perreault scored at an absurd rate in his draft year, with 132 points in 63 games, setting the single-season record in the NTDP, surpassing players like Matthews, Hughes, and Clayton Keller. He also managed to score a whopping 60 points in 36 NCAA games as a freshman last season, confirming that he has the potential to be an offensive gamebreaker.
Hutson confident ‘better years’ ahead for Canadiens, young defense corps
Perhaps the one disappointment about last season was the flop of Liam Souliere in net, but that’s Minnesota’s problem now. To replace their longtime goalie, PSU may have upgraded in snagging Arseni Sergeev from UConn. Sergeev was a 7th round pick of Calgary a few years back and had identical .913 SV% clips the last two years playing roughly half the games for the Huskies, and was a .918 in the USHL before that.
Miro Heiskanen, D, Stars
Brandt Clarke boasts some of the best offensive smarts and decision-making with the puck as a defenseman in the world. Selected eighth overall in 2021, Clarke can take control of a shift or lead a rush chance whenever he’s on the ice with his skating and speed. He’s great at identifying the open lanes and attacking with force to take advantage of an opportunity.
Oliver Bonk is a strong two-way defender who has the size and skating NHL teams look for, and the hockey sense to be a meaningful contributor in the modern NHL. He anticipates play really well, and is vocal with his teammates, coordinating play at both ends of the ice. Bonk isn’t a highly skilled defender so I don’t think he’ll be fighting for lots of power play minutes with Jamie Drysdale, but I expect he’ll be a strong second pairing defender who can tilt the ice in Philly’s favor. He has the size that NHL general managers dream of, and he has great puck skills and shooting mechanics for a player of his size. His skating has grown on me over the past two seasons, with enough speed and agility to really use his size to his advantage, powering through defenders and protecting the puck well. It may be a little while before we see him playing in the NHL, but I’m sure Utah is more than willing to wait as they look to establish themselves in the league.
His performance in the playoffs en route to the Stanley Cup wasn’t as dominant, but with 10 goals, he certainly didn’t disappear. He was on Hart, Selke and Lady Byng ballots this year, and has earned votes for them in previous years, except for the Hart. A very disappointing year by Tage Thompson’s standards didn’t stop voters by much on this one. After posting 47 goals and 94 points two seasons ago, Thompson, along with most of the other Sabres players, took a big step back in production.
After being traded one-for-one to the Jets, Yager looks poised to remain in the Canadian Prairies for the foreseeable future. He grew up in Saskatchewan, played his junior hockey there (in Moose Jaw), and will likely make the jump straight to the NHL after one final year in the WHL. Noah Östlund is one of the best pure playmakers on this list as his ability to keep track of his teammates’ locations all over the ice leads to plenty of brilliant passes that nobody else seems to see coming. His ability to anticipate the play and make the right play to maximize the scoring chance for his team is remarkable.
With major changes looming over the Leafs’ roster, Rielly is one of the few that can be marked safe. He has a good contract, plays important minutes, and has a strong presence in the game. Forward James Hagens topped off the rankings at No. 1, followed by forwards Ryan Leonard at No. 2 and Gabe Perreault at No. 3. Hockey season comes back into full swing, and there are already a ton of fun storylines to follow this year.
Isak Rosen laced up for exactly 120 professional hockey games by his 20th birthday, and has added quite a few since. The main reasons he has been so successful against larger and stronger competition are his phenomenal skating and his ability to make good decisions at a very high speed. Rosen has the defensive effort and technique to be a solid two-way winger in the NHL one day, which has served him well in the AHL so far, where he’s been one of the league’s best young players for the past two seasons.
Cale Makar, a defenseman with remarkable offensive talents, continues to impress with his vision and ability to control the game from the blue line, earning accolades and respect from fans and peers alike. The Edmonton blue liner’s 27 points only trail McDavid and Draisaitl out of all players, but it’s already the fifth-most points in a single playoff by a defenseman of all time. His six goals put him in a tie for the lead at his position in 2024, while his 21 assists rank second out of all skaters. Bouchard’s thunderous slap shot at the point makes him an exceptional weapon on the Edmonton power play, as he creates tons of offensive chances for the team. On top of all that, his 140 shot attempts are the most this postseason out of all skaters. He’s a center with a June birthday, meaning he’s one of the youngest players from the 2024 draft class, and will be just 18 years old for his entire rookie season in the NHL.
Celebrini excels at everything, with great skating, goal scoring ability, off-puck play, defensive effort, confidence, and just about every other attribute you could dream of. After tearing up the United States high school prep circuit with Shattuck St. Mary’s, Celebrini tried his hand in the USHL last season with the Chicago Steel and was immediately the best player in the league. Simon Edvinsson is one of the most exciting prospects in the hockey world, with nearly limitless potential due to his remarkable size (6-foot-6), mobility (guys his size rarely skate this well), and offensive skill. Edvinsson was an impressive two-way force in the SHL after being drafted, and made the transition to North America two seasons ago. He looked much more comfortable with the North American game over the course of his first season and grew a lot on ice from his NHL pre-season games to the NHL games he played toward the end of the year.
Dmitri Simashev is a very intriguing prospect with the size/skating combo (6-foot-4) that is so coveted in the modern NHL. He has every physical tool you could hope for, and uses each of them well, with the speed, strength, and reach to be a really great top-four defender in the NHL. However, his offensive production has left much to be desired, leaving many questions about if he will have much offense to provide in the NHL someday. Utah clearly wasn’t too nervous, rushing from their table to take him sixth overall in the 2023 Draft. Clearly they believe in the defensive game and have hope that his offense will follow.