10 Top Prospects to Watch for the 2024 NHL Draft
Celebrini or Eiserman? Does someone else force their way into the conversation for the No. 1 pick? Connor Earegood looks at the top prospects for the 2024 NHL draft.
As was widely expected, Connor Bedard crossed the 2023 NHL draft stage as the No. 1 overall pick. But hey, that’s old news.
Now that hockey fans are turning their attention to the 2023-24 season, it’s time to talk about the young players who could be stocking NHL prospect cupboards a year from now.
So without further ado, here are 10 names – listed in approximate order – that NHL draft experts and amateur scouts alike have circled as players to watch this upcoming season.
1. Macklin Celebrini, C (Boston University, NCAA)
Rookie of the year. Forward of the year. Player of the year. Last season, Canadian center Macklin Celebrini took the USHL by storm. As the current favorite to be the first overall pick in 2024, he’s got high-end skating paired with great hockey sense to maximize the ensuing separation. He also plays a 200-foot game, which mitigates his risk factors at the next level. Much like his skating, Celebrini’s on a quick development path and is expected to join Boston University this season, which opens up the possibility that he could jump straight to the NHL in 2024-25.
2. Cole Eiserman, LW (U.S. NTDP, USHL)
No, not Yzerman. This Eiserman is less a two-way forward than a true-blue goal-scorer. He lit the lamp 69 times in 62 games for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program last season, the only player to ever accomplish the feat. There is the question, however, as to Eiserman’s effectiveness when his stick goes cold. But his kind of scoring is expensive anywhere but the draft, and that means teams will be thrilled to invest in him.
3. Ivan Demidov, RW/C (SKA-1946 St. Petersburg Jr., Rus.)
Demidov set a record for points in an MHL season as a 17-year-old with 64. His 1.45 points-per-game pace trailed recent No. 7 overall pick Matvei Michkov’s 1.82 at 17 years old, but it’s still impressive considering Demidov joined Russia’s top junior league as a 15-year-old in 2021-22. Think of this feat as similar to Celebrini’s dominance in the USHL. The next step is bringing his defense up to the same level.
4. Sam Dickinson, D (London, OHL)
Dickinson didn’t light the OHL on fire with his scoring – with just 23 points in 62 games – but he’s mobile, comfortable with the puck and shows poise in his own end. He plays well with the puck, though he may not be the type of visionary playmaker that one can expect to quarterback a power play or score a nifty end-to-end goal.
5. Artyom Levshunov, D (Green Bay Gamblers, USHL)
A two-way defenseman with a speedy stride, Levshunov could’ve played major junior last season if not for the ban on Belarussian and Russian prospects for the 2022 CHL import draft. USHL Green Bay picked him up, and he tallied an impressive 42 points in 62 games. Expect him to be one of the first defensemen off the board in 2024.
6. Aron Kiviharju, D (HIFK, Fin.)
No Finns were drafted in the first round this year, but Kiviharju is expected to keep it at a one-year drought. It's rare for a 16-year-old to play in the world juniors, especially for an identity-over-talent program like Finland, but that’s what Kiviharju did in the 2023 tournament. Once there, he got into three games and collected a pair of assists. It's also rare for a player Kiviharju's age to play a top-four role at various points in the Liiga with TPS last season. Those accomplishments have scouts excited about what Kiviharju could develop into.
7. Adam Jiricek, D (HC Plzen, Cze.)
The younger brother of Blue Jackets prospect, David, Adam is a right-handed defenseman from Czechia. His game is built off of two-way play and skating, and he’s shown that he can light up his age group to the tune of 29 points in 41 games. However, he has comparatively struggled when called up to Czechia’s top pro league. If Jiricek can replicate his age-group success against bigger, faster and stronger competition in the men’s league this coming season, he could be one of the top names out of Europe next June.
8. Konsta Helenius, RW (Jukurit, Fin.)
As the Liiga’s youngest player last season – Kiviharju was born in January 2006, Helenius in May – Helenius put up 11 points in 33 games for Jukurit and dominated at both under-17 and under-18 international play, becoming one of Finland’s best forwards at both levels. Helenius now has to prove that he can translate the lessons he learned last season into tangible improvement in his draft year. Scouts will want to see him execute high-level plays and maximize difficult scoring chances, more comparable to the type made at the NHL level.
9. Cole Hutson, D (U.S. NTDP, USHL)
Whatever the Hutson family is doing, it’s working. You probably know Cole’s brother, Lane, thanks to his starring role with Frozen Four team Boston University and lofty position in the Montreal Canadiens’ prospect pool. Cole fits many of the same traits, with hockey IQ to make use of his creativity and puck skill. That’s got lots of eyes on him, and he’s been turning heads despite being undersized at 5-foot-8.
10. Tanner Howe, LW (Regina, WHL)
NHL teams got plenty of looks at Howe when they scouted his linemate and 2023 top pick Bedard. But Howe is more than just a sidekick – he outthinks his opponents and understands how to advance play with the puck. Next season, he'll focus on keeping up his production without a generational center driving play. If he can do that, he should make an NHL team very happy at the draft.
Other first-round candidates to watch: Berkly Catton, C (Spokane, WHL); Zayne Parekh, D (Saginaw, OHL); Zeev Buium, D (NTDP, USHL); Will Skahan, D (NTDP, USHL); Sacha Boisvert, C (Muskegon, USHL); Kristian Epperson, LW (NTDP, USHL); Michael Hage, C/RW (Chicago, USHL); Mac Swanson, C (Fargo, USHL)