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2024 NHL Draft: Top 10 Centres
Jun 26, 2024
Host Matthew Zator gets together with Jacob Billington to count down the top 10 centres that will be selected in the 2024 NHL Draft. **Note: this is according to NHL Central Scouting's Final Rankings** Check out this countdown in written form - https://thehockeywriters.com/2024-nhl-entry-draft-top-10-centers/ 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/ Jacob Billington - https://thehockeywriters.com/author/jbillington/ 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/ Prospect Profile Graphics by Jacob Billington
View Video Transcript
0:00
Hello, everybody, and welcome into another draft video here at the Hockey Writers' YouTube
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channel, and we are into countdowns and talk about the different positional
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We have articles here at the Hockey Rators in the draft guide and counting down the top 10 centers
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wingers, defensemen, goaltenders, and we're going to have a video on each of them here
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and just kind of going through each of the top tens, and we're going to start with centers
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one of the biggest positions in the NHL that you need at least
0:32
I'd say three deep now for centers. And these are the top 10 of this draft that are potentially going to be drafted here
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They're all going to be drafted, but these are the top 10 guys. So we're going to start with number 10, as we do with countdowns
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And I'll throw it over to you, Jacob. Who's the 10th center in this draft here
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Lucas Pedersen. He's going to be a fairly solid center in the NHL
1:01
He's going to do pretty well. He did pretty good in the J20 National
1:05
He was top 10 in scoring, I believe, in the entire league. It is a junior league, so it's not the men's league
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But he has a really solid two-way game. He does a lot of good things with the puck
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And he has really strong skating. So he's going to be one of those guys that maybe he projects as a third liner
1:21
like a high-end third liner. But he's going to bring a lot to the table
1:25
and her team's going to be pretty lucky to get them. Yeah, Pedersen actually was a video that's going to be coming out
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talking about underrated prospects. And Dayton identified him as being one of the more underrated centers in this draft
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He's not going to be drafted. He's going to be drafted in the first round, but later on in the first and could end up being a really solid two-way center
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And, yeah, definitely worthy being on this list. All right. Number nine, Julius Mietnan, Everettin, Everett's Silver Tips, a very big, a big center, one of the bigger guys, six foot three, great skater, good puck control
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Of course, his size is a big draw. It's going to be a big draw to teams looking for size in the draft
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And a lot of these bigger centers are usually drafted in the first two rounds because teams just love size still in the NHM
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Manhattan definitely has that. a great forechecker um you know those hockey IQs pretty high too um has a great shot uh like but
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this defensive game does need need work and as a center that's a pretty big thing you need to
2:34
be good defensively because you're you have a lot more responsibility than wingers so we'll see if he
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can fix that um defense can be fixed i i've firmly believe that if you have issues and a lot of
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these guys do have issues in junior for defense and um meyton doesn't have to fix work on that
2:51
But he's got a lot of attributes that was going to make them a pretty good center in the NHL
2:57
Yeah, he has a lot of, he's kind of like, um, Zach Hyman a little bit
3:02
Like he's a really strong net front guy. He's a good board battle guy. Um, like he said, he's a really aggressive four checker
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And I think teams are going to love that. Mm. All right
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Number eight, Sasha Boy Verre. Jacob, uh, what do you got on him
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Yeah, he's, uh, pretty solid two way guy. He's not, he's not being drafted for his defense
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play, but he has a lot of offensive skills too. And he has pretty solid size
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He has a really good shot too. That's kind of the highlight of his game is his shot
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But he a pretty solid center with good skating And he one of these guys that teams are going to probably take He probably going to go in the mid 20s of the of the first round of course and one team is going to pick him up and he going
3:45
to spend a couple years developing in the NCAA and he's going to come in and probably make an
3:50
offensive impact pretty quickly in the NHL he's a really translatable game and again like the defense
3:56
he can work on that but he has a lot of the skills that like in the transition he's fine it's
4:02
just kind of the defensive zone coverage is the is the flaw with him And drawing comparisons, play style
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like any Malikin, pretty big comparison. I obviously not as high end
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but he definitely, I think he's going to be a first round pick. He's a very good
4:18
very good center. I wrote his prospect profile. So I, yeah, a lot
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he doesn't work defensively, like he said, but he is a very good
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uh, he's going to be a good two way center once he figures everything out. And
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um, yeah, pretty, pretty good too. And number seven, Linus Erickson, Swedish, he is, you know, a good Swiss Army knife type of a center
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If you want to, I like what you said in the Swiss Swedish Army knife
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I, you know, good skater. I very good. It's another translatable skill set, I think, to the NHL
4:54
He's not going to be a guy that's going to drive play, but again, very good all around center
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He does a lot of things well. And, you know, as someone down the middle, you've got to be
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you've got to be like that. I mean, you've got to be good in all areas of the game
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because you're responsible for a lot. And I think Erickson's going to be
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again, a very good middle six, maybe center in the NHL, and you need those guys in the bottom of your lineup
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And like I said, you need three centers deep in the NHL, maybe even four now
5:25
And Erickson's going to be a pretty good addition to any team
5:29
as they move forward in their center depth. Yeah, I watched a little bit of his game
5:33
And I think he, like a Mitch Mariner light, kind of. Like, he's not going to ever reach the ceiling of Mitch Mariner
5:39
But he's a really strong playmaking guy. He might translate to the wing once he hits the NHL
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But he is pretty defensively sound. He, like Mitch Marner, good defensive wing or two
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And he's just not somebody that I think is going to drive his own line. He's going to be a really good, not a passenger
5:59
but a complimentary piece to a high scoring center like Mitch Marner is to Austin Matthews
6:04
And so, yeah, I think that that would be a fantastic fit for a team looking for versatility in their lineup
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All right. Number six, Michael Haig or H, I'm pretty sure it's Haig
6:19
Jacob, what do you got on him? He played for the Chicago Steel, which pretty big a USA-L team
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It seems to be able to churn out NHLers lately. Yeah, he has incredible hands
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Like his puck work is fantastic. He, again, he's a really strong playmate
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probably one of the best in the entire draft this year. He's just the way he sees the ice
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He can find a ton of open seams. He's really good at just generating offense
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With that, his shot isn't as strong and accurate as you might hope for somebody
6:49
going as high as he's kind of projected to go. But yeah, he's another playmaking center
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He's going to do really well in the NHL. He's good skating, not excellent skating, but he is pretty good skating
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But he's probably going to go in the late teens of the first round
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and he's just somebody that I think a lot of teams are looking at as kind of a high floor and a high ceiling
7:12
But he one of those players that you look at and you like yeah he kind of a sure bet to be at least a middle six guy Again I going to be a very good two center once he gets there And you know been talked about that he could potentially be a mid first round pick
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I kind of got a bit of a boost from the Scutton Combine. So yeah
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we'll see where he goes. All right. Into the top five is a big riser
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T. Jiginla, Colonna Rockets. He's been talked about now in the top five of the draft
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not just the center, but could potentially go in the top five
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And in our mock draft here, in the top five mock that we just released on the hot
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directors, he went to the Montreal Canadiens at number five. So there you go
8:00
We'll see where he goes. But he is really increased his stock
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Lots of offensive skill, good size, good skating, creativity. Again, there's going to be comparisons to Jerome McGinlet, definitely not the same player
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at all. He's so different. And we've talked about on many shows here
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But he is showing that he can be, he's going to be a really good
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NHL and probably won't be compared to his dad because he just doesn't play that same way
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But he does have the same work ethic of course coming from his dad
8:32
and being aggressive. But he's, Jerome again, he's a power forward. Again, Lowe's not that
8:38
type of player. But it's just going to be heck of a talent in the
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NHL once he gets there. Yeah, he's one of the biggest risers in the entire draft year over year
8:48
For sure. Right. Number four, Jacob, Berkeley Caton. Yeah, Berkeley Caton is, he's definitely going in the top, probably, I would be comfortable saying top seven or eight
9:00
He's going to be a fantastic center. He's one of those guys that will drive his own line
9:05
And he's really speedy and he's really smart with the puck. So he's pretty elusive
9:10
He doesn't have the size. He measures, I don't know, what. he measured at at the combine, but he was 5-11 listed prior to the combine
9:18
But he, he's really versatile. I'm going to use that word already, but he's really versatile because he can generate so
9:26
much offense out of nothing. And just watching him play is fantastic
9:30
And he's, I don't know if he won the WHL player of the year, but he was definitely in
9:35
the running for it. And he scored 116 points this season in the WHL
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So fantastic season from Katten. and one team's going to be really lucky to get him
9:44
He's really good at everything. He doesn't really have any major flaws other than his size
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but there's nothing you can do about that. I want to say 5'11 is not small to me
9:54
Undersized, I'd say the undersized tag, again, I don't like it. But, you know, looking at guys like Zach Benson
10:03
that's undersized. Logan Stancoven undersized. But, of course, they both have figures that that doesn't mean anything
10:10
No, you just have to adapt. Yeah, you just have to adapt. And Canton definitely will
10:14
I mean, 5'11 isn't big, but there's a lot of 5 foot 11 guys in the NHL
10:20
And yeah, he does a lot of stuff well. And he's going to be a really, I mean, he's fun to watch and definitely going to go high in this draft
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Right. On to number three, Consta Hellenius, a very well-rounded center. And we've talked about this top 10, there's a good theme there, very good two-way centers
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and, you know, Heleneus is going to end up being a really high pick, I think
10:44
He's not going to drop. Like, there's a bold prediction that we had, again, in another video, talking about him
10:50
going to the 20s. I don't know if that's happening. He's going to be high in this draft
10:54
Again a center that very good at everything He has a lot of different skills You want to look at you know things at hands shot passing skating He does it all And you know for a finish again good defensively lots of Finns are
11:11
I think that's just what they're taught. And, yeah, Heleneas going to be a very good center in the NHL
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Definitely top six. And he's the third ranked on this list here
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All right. Number two, Caden Lindstrom. Jacob, this guy's going to be
11:30
I could end up going to the Anaheim Ducks, which is what was in our mock in the top five mock
11:36
He's going to be going high, even though he was injured this season. Yeah, I mean, I'll just start with the injury
11:41
There was a lot of concern about his injury, and people were kind of wondering what it was going to be
11:45
and if it was worse than it actually looked like, and all those rumors got put to rest
11:50
He's fine. He's going to be great moving forward. But he's a really big physical center
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but he has a ton of skill to go along with it. He is almost like Quentin Byfield with a little bit less skill
12:01
but more physical and bite to his game, like just a big center that knows how to use his body to his advantage
12:08
They just use it in different ways. Byfield uses it to protect the puck and make plays and whatnot
12:14
while Caden Lindstrom does play with that more physical and edgy game
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So, but they're both great, highly skilled centers. and Lindstrom doesn't kind of suffer from being a physical guy
12:27
Like he doesn't put the offense to the side for it. He's a great guy that can carry his own line
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And he's going to go very high in the draft because of something like that. And especially when you consider his skating for somebody that's
12:38
I believe he's listed at 6.3 right now. He's kind of very well rounded in a different way than Hellenius
12:47
Yeah, Lindstrom, that injury, I don't think, to Trees does draft stock much
12:53
And being very good in the combine didn't look like he's any worse for where
12:57
I think that really helped him out. So that he's definitely going in the top five
13:02
I don't know to who, but I think he's going in that five. And I don't think he's saying past Montreal if he does
13:09
No, I don't think so. I don't think so. So yeah, I think he's going there for sure
13:14
All right. Number one, and this is pretty obvious. Macklin Celebrini is the number one pick
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is going to be the number one pick in the draft. He's also the number one center. Again, well-rounded, hockey IQ, high hockey IQ
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shot, creative, playmaker. He, again, does it all. He can be trusted in his own zone
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He can be, he's really dangerous in the offensive zone. And was the youngest player to win the Hobie Baker Award
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which is pretty big, especially when you're going up against some really
13:47
you know, much older players. and he ends up winning it. And just like Adam Fantilli had a great season
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he pretty much matched him and did one better. So, and he's going to be first overall for a reason
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And is the number one center in this draft. All right. There's our top 10 centers
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And we'll see where they all fall, which teams actually grab these guys
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But they're all going to be drafted in probably the first two rounds. And we'll see where they all kind of
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go in the NHL as we go. But make sure to check on everything else at the hoggerards.com
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and our draft guide as we keep churning out the prospect profiles and all the features
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and check out the article in written form in the link below
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And you could have been following along as we were going through this too if you wanted to. But you can check that out
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And until our next video, we'll see you next time
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