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2024 NHL Draft: Surprising 1st Rounders & Potential Steals
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Jun 23, 2024
Host Matthew Zator gets together with Peter Baracchini and Dayton Reimer to discuss some prospects that could be surprising first-round picks and highlight their steal of the draft. THW's 2024 NHL Draft Guide (prospect profiles, rankings, features, top-10 lists & more) - https://thehockeywriters.com/2024-nhl-draft-guide/ Check out our panel's work: Matthew Zator - https://thehockeywriters.com/author/mzator/ Dayton Reimer - https://thehockeywriters.com/author/dreimer/ Peter Baracchini - https://thehockeywriters.com/author/pbaracchini/ Follow The Hockey Writers: Twitter - https://twitter.com/TheHockeyWriter Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thehockeywriters_ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TheHockeyWriters Substack - https://thehockeywriters.substack.com/ Graphics by Vince Richard - https://www.behance.net/vincergraphics #2024nhldraft #nhldraft #prospects
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0:00
Hello everybody and welcome into another draft video here at the Hockey Writers as we continue
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covering the 2024 NHL draft coming up in the next few days
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And I've got Peter Perrighini and Dayton Reimer here with me and we are going to talk steals
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and potential surprises coming up in the draft here because as we all know that surprises
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happen almost every draft year. I don't think we've predicted a first round in its entirety completely right
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I mean that's just how the nature of it is. If we ever did I think we should throw a party and get some lottery tickets because I don't
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think it will ever happen. But thanks Peter, thanks Dayton for coming on and let's start with some surprise first
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round picks. Out of the Tyler Bouchers, the Nolan Allens, the guys that we don't have prepared pieces
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for for the first round. So Peter I'll start with you. Is there anyone that could potentially jump into the first round that we're not anticipating
1:03
Yeah I mean there's a couple of names that I have on my list. I'm looking at like names like the Cole Boudwins and Sam O'Reilly's where maybe they may not
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be the quickest skaters or have the most offensive upside but they have that you know excuse
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me style play that'll get like playoff teams into the playoffs. Boudwins is extremely physical
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He is built for that that type of like you know situation game because of the strength
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that he possesses down low along the boards. He could win battles very easily and Sam O'Reilly is very opportunistic
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He always gets into open ices very well and seems to you know underrated hands as well
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He can pull off moves in tight very well and can be very deceptive
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Those are just two names that I think can possibly squeak in because teams love those
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kind of players that have that underrated value and Cole Boudwin with the size someone's
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definitely going to take him. I do like also Jon Mustard from the Waterloo Blackhawks
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I think he is very underrated and possibly could push for the first
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I have him as a very early second in 38th overall my final rankings but in one of the
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mock drafts that I did my personal one I had him going to the Carolina Hurricanes because
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of that speed the skill the ability to play at a fast pace and be very deceptive
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I don't know if it's actually going to happen but I do think highly of him that I if I was
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a team I would probably try and push for him because of what he was able to do and he had
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a fantastic rookie season in the USHL which is very promising to see
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Yeah so those are the three names that really stood out to me as possibly pushing in for
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that top or one of those first round spots but if I had to pick one out of those three
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most likely it'll be Cole Boudwin. I see that yeah for sure
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Do you see anyone being the Tyler Boucher? You know all of a sudden like why is he that high
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So there was a lot of talk again going back to even like when we were doing our last episode
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of prospect corner and Beckett Seneca possibly going in the top five
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Don't know for sure because I do think there are a lot of players with a little bit more upside but you can't deny his power for like game where you know he's starting because
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he had that massive growth spurt from last season to this one he's starting to use his size a little bit more to his advantage still a work in progress
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Skating's improved tremendously where if he is able to combine all three of those aspects
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into his game and incorporate that very well he's going to be very tough to stop and his
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hands are very soft and smooth in tight spaces when he gets in the middle of the ice
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Yeah I think he has some of the best hands that could make him a top 10 pick
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I again I probably wouldn't have him top five but there's that slim chance where yeah
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he's a first rounder he could be a top 20 top 15 but he could vault himself even further up
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But then again kind of not necessarily like Tyler Boucher because a lot of us had him
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as a third possibly third rounder but in terms of like improving his stock overall throughout
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the season he's definitely one name that you could probably keep an eye on
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For sure. Sorry Dayton we're like piling on the Tyler Boucher. No you should
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It's a terrible pick. What about you do you see anyone any surprise first round picks not necessarily the Tyler
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Boucher but anyone that could potentially be a first rounder that we're not anticipating
4:44
at this point. Well I was thinking about some of those guys who could be Tyler Boucher-esque and I think
4:53
about what Tyler Boucher is and why he got into the first and it was because he had the
4:56
size and the physicality that made teams more competitive especially in the bottom six
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I think he would have been a fantastic second round pick. He was not a first round pick and the additional pressure has ruined his career
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I think he won't ever sniff the NHL and if he does it'll be a cup of coffee and you can
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come at me if you want and that doesn't happen that's fine
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No one has as far as I know has had that projection of just being so subpar in junior
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and then all of a sudden becoming a solid NHL player. It's just ruined by injuries and pressure and it's the perfect example of the Dorian era. Yeah
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Anyways aside from that rant a couple of guys who I think I could see sneak into the first
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round who have that size and that physicality that teams love but maybe are lacking in that
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intelligence or that overall compete. Gabriel Eliasson was a bit of a climber in some drafts
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I think he doesn't have a complete game but he has a six foot seven frame
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That's tough to pass up. You got a couple of big right-handed defensemen in Adam Kleber. Kleber? Kleber
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I haven't heard that one said yet. Ben Danford and Charlie Elick
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All those guys have good size and good physicality and I don't know about the rest of their game
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Charlie Elick I'm especially concerned about in his offensive presence. He seems to be too eager in the viewings I've seen and he chases the puck a little bit and
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he makes questionable decisions. Not as much as some other defensemen I've watched but it's there and I just wonder about that
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I'm not going to take him though because he's got that size and that right-handed shot
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And then one guy I'd be really concerned about slipping into the first round but could totally
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see it, Adam Jekko. I think he is a fantastic second, third round pick
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He's a risk. He's a big guy. He's a bottom six kind of player
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He's a center. You know, put him in front of the net, make him push guys around. Great
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Spend a top 15 pick on it? No thanks. He lacks that overall intelligence of what to do with the puck and what to do, you know
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as a top six player. I don't think he has that in him
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You saw it a little bit maybe in the under 18s. He looked okay there
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There's just not enough proof for me to warrant a top pick on him
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But I can see him doing that. I think that's, I think someone might take a risk on him like that. Yeah. Size
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Size still talks. I mean, in the NHL, it's just sometimes a bit, it's not as big of a thing anymore, but
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teams still love size and you still need size in the playoffs and we've seen it
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So I mean, these guys, that's why they get drafted in the first round and where you're
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like, yeah, I'm not sure they should. Maverick Lamoureux, we talked about so much last, I think last year and he, you know
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he ends up being in the first round, but did he deserve to be in the first round? I don't know
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But yeah, just size. Everyone loves size and even though, I mean, it still has a place in the NHL, but I don't
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think you should be drafting. I think should be drafting more skill guys in the first round than a big guy, but that's
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just me. All right. All right. All right. All right. Second part, let's talk about the steel of the draft and Mark picked his, you know, usually
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does an article on this is Kieran Walton. Peter, I know you did his prospect profile the day before he put that article out
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So perfect timing. I don't know if you guys collaborated on that one, but maybe not, maybe not, but there you go
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Call it a happy coincidence. Happy coincidence. So his is Kieran Walton
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Peter, do you have, who is your steel of the draft or potential steel of the draft
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Yeah, it's always tough to find steels because, you know, you want to find those diamond in
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the rough kind of players. And one that I think definitely could
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And after his play this season in the KHL, and that's Ilya Nabokov from Metalurg Magnitogorsk
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21 years old, not the biggest goaltender, 6'1", 179, but the numbers that he had during
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the regular season and in the playoffs to push them to the Gagarin Cup, absolutely phenomenal
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23-13-3 in the regular season, 930, say percentage, 215 goals against average
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Those numbers were just even more ridiculous in the playoffs, 16-6, 942-182
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You know, obviously with goaltenders, you tend to hit more luck or there's more luck
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on hitting goaltenders later in the rounds and fighting those types of players that could
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succeed later on, instead of using that first round pick on a bona fide goaltender, because
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it seems like the exact opposite happens with goaltenders. It's usually the names that you don't pay attention to that tend to, you know, have
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a better future. And you see the success that you see with names like Igor Shostakovich and Ilya Sorokin
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although I don't think they were overagers when they were drafted or selected, but the
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pro experience that Nabokov already has, the ability to post up big numbers, even though
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he's not, I would say he's average height for a goaltender. Usually you look for that 6'2", 6'3", 6'4", kind of guy to fill up the whole entire net
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but his movement in the crease is very, very phenomenal. Strong at, you know, locating and tracking the puck very well, can see through traffic
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doesn't give up a whole lot of second and third chance opportunities. And when he does, he's got that agility to quickly get over into position and he's aggressive
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with his movements, but he's not too overly aggressive. So he's a reason why I think he could be a really big steal if you're looking for a goaltender
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in the third, fourth or fifth round, because he could provide really good value
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Yeah, I was looking at Nabokov too the other day and, you know, we were talking about with
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the bold predictions that he could get drafted over Carter George and that could be, that
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potentially could happen. You know, he did have a really good, he is an overager, like you said, but playing the
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KHL and being dominant there, that's a professional league. That's not that far away from the NHL
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That's pretty big for a goaltender. So we'll see where he gets drafted
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I think he's probably a second round pick, but maybe not. I mean, he may end up being a really solid starting goaltender
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Dayton, what about you? Who would your steal of the draft be
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Yeah, I realized I gave you five names for my surprise picks
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I'll keep this one a little bit more limited. I think the steal is going to be Justin Poirier
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I think he might have the best shot in the draft. It's so strong
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It's so accurate. And to me, he reminds me a lot of players like Bobby Brink, Cole Caulfield, Logan Stankoven
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who were passed over because they don't have the size and yet they had the shot and they
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had all the goals in junior. Surprise, surprise. They are fantastic in the NHL
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I think he has the potential to follow in those footsteps and he is only five foot nine
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He will fall into the second, probably the third. And I think he has all the strength that you'd need to build on a total NHL player
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And someone's going to definitely walk away with a gem way later than they should
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Yeah, there's a few names like that. Mine is Alexander Zetterberg. I think he's going to, again, very undersized, but very skilled
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And he's going to be a guy that's going to definitely be drafted in this later second
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maybe third, because he's small. And I mean, and that's, he's got so much skill and I draft him in the second round, but I
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don't think anyone will. And I think you keep an eye on that name, not just because the name Zetterberg, not
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related to Henrik Zetterberg, but he does have a lot of skill and I think he's going
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to end up being a steal when we look back on this draft in about five years
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And he's doing stuff that Stan Kovan and guys, but yeah, so Zetterberg's mine, my steal of
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the draft. All right, well, keep an eye on those names coming up and make sure to check out all of
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our other stuff at thehogbears.com. And yeah, the draft is just around the corner and we've got lots more to come on the YouTube
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channel, but stay tuned and we'll see you next time
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