Get out your easels and markers as we bring back an elementary school staple — the KWL chart — to discuss the 2024 NHL Combine
Get out your easels and markers as we bring back an elementary school staple — the KWL chart — to discuss the 2024 NHL Combine
Take a trip in the time machine with me. You're about 10 years old. You're sitting in school, bored in the middle of social studies. Your teacher breaks out the easel and markers.
That's right, it's time for a KWL chart.
For those of you who didn't use them in elementary school, a KWL chart is a learning organization sheet that divides information into things the creator knows, wonders and learned in the process of a lesson. Considering that the combine was a crash course class on all things NHL Draft, it's worth organizing our thoughts here.
This article will cover three topics within the framework of what we knew going into the combine, what we wonder about the combine and what we learned from it. The learning goal is to solidify our knowledge ahead of the home stretch before the draft.
So let's go back to school — or more accurately to Buffalo — to discuss this year's NHL combine.
What we knew going into the NHL Combine
1. Macklin Celebrini will go first overall
Congratulations to Macklin Celebrini. YOU are a San Jose Shark. And not just a Jr. Shark, as he was in 14U AAA — this time, he’s going to be the real NHL deal. Celebrini has been locked in as the consensus No. 1 prospect all season, and he remained that after surviving all the microscopes that scouts and analysts could critique him under.
It would have taken a tremendous gaffe to change that at the combine, and nothing of the sort happened. Celebrini did struggle with some of the fitness testing at the combine, but it wasn’t nearly bad enough for the Sharks to look elsewhere.
"I was happy with the results, but I still have a lot of stuff I need to improve on," Celebrini told NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman after Saturday’s testing. "But I did my best, and that's all I can kind of control."
Forget about VO2 max and pull-ups. For the Sharks, Celebrini is a massive addition not only for his playmaking touch but also for his marketability. He’s practically home grown as you can ask for, having spent his teen years in NorCal after his dad, Rick Celebrini, became a physiotherapist for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.
The only real question left is whether Macklin Celebrini will play in the NHL next season. As part of the pomp and circumstance of the draft, Celebrini got to take in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final and meet 2015 No. 1 pick Connor McDavid. Celebrini told reporters there that he hasn’t made up his mind as to whether he’ll return to Boston University next season or whether he’ll go pro. His uncertainty shouldn’t surprise anyone — it would have been shocking if he had said anything direct, given the frenetic pace of change in the hockey world this time of year. Even if it takes him an extra year, Celebrini will soon be a Shark, and that’s got to be exciting for San Jose fans.
2. This year’s draft class is chock full of talented defensemen
One of the reasons this draft is particularly interesting for the Detroit Red Wings is that they
should have pretty early dibs for when wingers start flying off the board. Other than top-five prospect Ivan Demidov, there’s a high chance that they can draft one of the top two or three wingers left on the draft board at No. 15.
How come? Because this draft class is chock full of top-end defense prospects who should fill up the top 10.
This year’s defense class is led off by Michigan State’s Artyom Levshunov, followed by Anton Silayev, Sam Dickinson, Zeev Buium, Zayne Parekh and potentially Carter Yakemchuk. In the 10-15 range, the likes of Stian Solberg and Adam Jiricek could also be at play. There will be forwards selected here, including top centers Cayden Lindstrom, Berkly Catton, Konsta Helenius and Tij Iginla. Notice what position is missing — wingers.
Detroit isn’t really missing much from that defense corps considering it has Simon Edvinsson, Moritz Seider and Axel Sandin Pellikka as pillars of its top four in the future. Likewise, the Red Wings just spent two top-10 draft picks on centers Marco Kasper and Nate Danielson the past two years. For its position of need on the wing, this year’s draft is a gold mine. Even if they’re picking at No. 15, they are essentially getting second or third pick when it comes to the wing position they need help with the most.
This doesn’t mean that the winger Detroit might draft will be a top-three talent in the draft — they’d obviously get picked sooner if they were. What it does mean is that the Red Wings’ scouts have a blank canvas to work with regarding their most needed position. Another team could shake up the draft by swinging on a winger before Detroit’s pick, but the Red Wings should walk out of Vegas with a winger of its choosing.
For that, thank all the 2024 blueliners who might make that possible.
3. This year’s forwards are gritty
There’s no combine test for toughness — at least not unless the NHL added boxing or something to the itinerary. But per the resumes of a lot of the forwards in this draft class, many of them possess the kind of grit that’s becoming a coveted intangible in today’s league.
As far as the prospects go, Liam Greentree is a hard-working wingers who’s got size and isn’t afraid to use it. Norwegian winger Michael Brandsegg-Nygard is a hard-working checker with a good shot. And Tij Iginla is much like his dad, legendary NHLer Jarome, in the sense that he focuses on scoring but is more than willing to dole out the rough stuff.
These types of tough, hard-skill players are highly valued in the NHL right now. Just look at the way the Florida Panthers have used Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett in back-to-back finals runs. Players who can not only score, but can also play heavy and physical are getting a whole lot more credit than at other times in recent draft years. For teams looking to draft these sorts of players, the mid-to-late first round should have many interesting options to choose from.
There’s a difference between playing gritty in juniors and doing it against NHL size opponents. But, some of the forwards in this year’s draft class are on the right track to proving it someday.
What we wonder moving forward?
1. Where will Ivan Demidov end up?
Russian winger Ivan Demidov was one of the top players not to attend the combine. Instead, according to FloHockey’s Chris Peters, Demidov will participate in an event run by his agency, Gold Star Management, later this month. Demidov is coming off a knee injury that limits what he can show on the ice right now.
What Demidov has shown previously is that he’s a highly skilled winger who can finish. In 47 combined regular season and playoff games, Demidov put up 88 points for SKA-1946 St. Petersburg of the Russian junior league. Quality of competition and how that scoring can translate to the NHL will certainly be questions, but what won’t be is Demidov’s talented playmaking.
Right now, the rumor mill tradewinds seem to suggest Chicago will opt for Levshunov at No. 2, and Demidov’s injury plus the Russian factor could cause him to slide. There’s little reason to think he’d make it to No. 15 where Detroit could grab him, but whoever gets him could get a high-value pick despite the risks.
There’s precedent for such a sliding prospect working out well for the team that lands them. Last year, top Russian prospect Matvei Michkov slid to No. 7, even though at times he was considered one of the top three prospects in his class. Philadelphia picked him and has reportedly been working to get him to the pros next season. That’d be a big upgrade considering Michkov scored 41 points in 47 games last season for KHL team HK Sochi, ranking 40th in total points and 17th in points per game. For a 19-year-old, that’s downright impressive.
There’s no guarantee that Demidov will follow suit (though he and Michkov could be teammates on SKA St. Petersburg next season, alongside Red Wings prospect Dmitri Buchelnikov). Until the draft, there’s little telling who might end up landing Demidov.
2. Will Tij Iginla be a Calgary Flame?
What’s that old saying, like father like son? Well, that could be the case for Tij Iginla. The same Calgary Flames that his father Jarome Iginla once played for could draft him at ninth overall.
That is, if Tij is available by then.
Tij, a center who is likely to shift to the wing, finished the seasons ranked ninth by NHL Central Scouting, but he could move up depending on whether teams ahead of the Flames want him. Iginla is a skilled scorer who put up 84 points in 64 games last season for Kelowna in the WHL. He also has a lot of the fight and flare that his Hall of Famer dad showed in the NHL, too. A team like Montreal, Seattle or Ottawa could use a player of Tij’s skill.
That might deny a homecoming for the Iginlas, the elder of whom is a special assistant to Calgary general manager and former teammate Craig Conroy. According to Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek on the 32 Thoughts Podcast, Tij told stories about eating holiday meals at Conroy’s house when he was growing up.
Even if Tij lasts until ninth, there’s still a factor of who else is available. Berkly Catton brings a lot of the same elements and plays center. Calgary might also want a defenseman, like hard-nosed Carter Yakemchuk.
It would be a neat story if both Iginlas end up in Calgary, but it’ll be one that only the draft will decide.
By the way, Jarome Iginla was never drafted by Calgary. He was picked 11th by Dallas in 1995, then traded to Calgary alongside Corey Millen for the rights to Joe Nieuwendyk. The Stars got a Stanley Cup out of that deal in 1999, while Iginla nearly took the Flames to one in 2004 but lost in a controversial Game 7 to Tampa Bay.
3. Who’s keeping their draft picks and who’s trading them away?
Anyone need a draft pick? So far, the New Jersey Devils (No. 10 pick) and Buffalo Sabres (No. 11 pick) have both shopped their first round picks according to NHL.com and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, respectively. Their needs differ — the Devils need a goalie and the Sabres are looking for a top six winger. For teams with those players to spare, there are potentially lucrative packages at stake.
Last month, I pondered whether the Red Wings could trade their first round pick, too. Outside of the need for a winger, they’ve got a lot of prospect depth at most positions thanks to an eight-year rebuild. There aren’t a whole lot of long-term needs for the future. Perhaps there’s a way to leverage the pick for reinforcements right now.
There’s been no indication that Detroit would actually do it, but there is the possibility. There are a lot of talented scoring wingers the Red Wings could pursue, though these would come with their corresponding cap gymnastics. Likewise, a goalie upgrade would probably start with the No. 15 pick, too. Wherever — and whenever — Detroit wants to become a more competitive team across the board, the way it uses this draft pick should play a big role in laying the final bricks.
What we learned at the combine
1. E.J. Emery might be one of the most athletic players in the entire draft
Apparently, E.J. Emery’s legs are springs. Admittedly, this could have been filed under the What we Knew section after The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler shared a video of Emery doing a box jump last month, but Emery shattered every expectation in the combine. He placed first in four categories: percent body fat (3.64%, tied with Sam Dickinson), no arm jump (23.57 inches), vertical jump (27.23 inches) and horizontal jump (123 inches). His horizontal jump was more than a foot longer than the next highest prospect.
"I think a big part of my game is how athletic I am and I have to go out there and show everyone that I'm truly athletic," Emery told NHL.com’s Kimelman. "At the end, it's a competition and I came here to be the best here and hopefully by the end (of the combine) I'm that."
Yeah, it’s safe to say he proved himself.
Before the draft, Emery was a fringe first-second round player. He’s a gifted shutdown defender, even if offense is sparing in his game. That scoring touch is an area teams will want to see more from Emery, though it’s one that the right skills coach can bring out of him. Emery will play at North Dakota next season, where he should get plenty of playing time for a program that lost most of its defense corps to graduation.
2. Teams are wary of Trevor Connelly’s character issues
Monday night at the PWHL Draft, Minnesota selected forward Britta Curl in the second round. The pick caused outrage among fans, who denounced Curl’s transphobic and racist social media usage and questioned Minnesota leadership that’s been embroiled in controversy for days. Less than a week after winning the PWHL’s first ever Walter Cup, Minnesota fans went from celebrating their championship to booing their team on the draft stage.
Perhaps NHL teams were taking notes.
One of the top prospects in this year’s draft is Trevor Connelly, a forward from the USHL’s Tri-City Storm with a troubling off-ice history. When he was 16, Connelly posted a picture on Snapchat of a teammate who had arranged books into the shape of a swastika, captioning it “creations.” He was also accused to have used a racial slur on the ice, though he denied the allegation and the California Amateur Hockey Association could not corroborate it. He also took a game-misconduct penalty in the U18 World Junior Championship against Canada that led to Canada scoring three goals and winning the game.
NHL teams have taken notice. Only 22 teams spoke to Connelly at the combine, and many teams have wiped him from their draft boards altogether. As much as community service and education might possibly have taught Connelly what was wrong about what he did in the past, drafting him is still a massive risk for an organization’s image. But considering that he’s a skilled player, it’s almost certain that someone is going to pick him.
3. Stian Solberg continues to rise on draft boards
Either Norwegian defenseman Stian Solberg or forward Michael Brandsegg-Nygard will break the record for the highest drafted Norwegian in NHL history. Whoever comes second will still shatter the old record of 42nd overall.
Solberg might have worked his way into that honor, showing impressive agility in the combine testing after a really strong showing at the IIHF Men’s World Championship. Solberg placed first in the pro agility on both the left (4.12) and right (4.08) sides. FloHockey’s Peters also reported that teams liked his maturity in the interview process.
Such a sentiment seems to trace back quite a ways. Solberg shared a wild story about becoming a defenseman, telling reporters that he only started playing the position because his teammate peed in a shower and his coach had him take his place.
Teams will love Solberg’s compete and physicality, the kind of hard-nosed game that looks great on wide European ice and looks even better crammed into an NHL sheet. After shouldering first pairing minutes for Norway at Men’s Worlds and handling it well, he could be a first round pick in this year’s draft, yet another top defenseman up for grabs.
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