The 2024 draft is supposed to be D heavy at the top, since we took two forwards in round 1 this year, a good two way RHD with size seems to be in order.

I'm liking Henry Mews from the OHL.

6'0", 185 lbs, good two way game, high compete level, currently "ranked" 9th in the class.

Who do you hope for?

Might as well hope for Esierman cause it looks like we’ll be bottom 5 again this year.

I think the clear top 4 right now are

- Macklin Celebrini (F)
- Cole Eiserman (F)
- Artyom Levshunov (RHD)
- Ivan Demidov (F)

ANA will likely pick top 5 with SJ, CHI, PHI & MTL

IMO if you have 1 or 2 you go F, if you have 3 or 4 and Levshunov is available you pick the D

I wouldn’t be surprised if SJ reaches Levshunov at 2 if they ends up there

Artyom Levshunov seems like the exact type of player this team could use. Right hand shot, big bodied, good skating and can put up points. Seems to fit the style of defenseman we have been collecting with the much needed size that Verbeek will be looking to add to the backend. Cant imagine Verbeek will tolerate another smaller defenseman with Drysdale and Zell already arriving. Ive read articles comparing him to Owen Power, and that's a guy that could complete the defense for years to come. Our D pool is so strong, but what we are lacking is a true #1 defender who can play in all situations.

I expect multiple of these guys to get traded in the next couple years, but imagine a Defense core of:

Mintyukov - Levshunov
Zell - Drysdale
Lacombe/Hinds - Warren/Luneau/Helleson

That core keeps you competitive for a decade. With all that said, I pray we arent selecting that high this year haha

I selected Mews on the grounds that we pick around 10th, I don't think we're going to be as bad as last year. If we select in the top 5 then Levshunov would be the target. The other Jiricek would also be a nice grab depending on where we pick.

I really don't like the possibility of a Zellweger Drysdale pairing, that just screams getting killed in our own zone. I need to do some digging on Lesh, but Mints is supposed to have a huge offensive ceiling, I don't want to put offense first D with other offense first D, someone's got to mind the net and their own zone at some point, or Dostal is going to get murdered back there.

Definitely fair, I didnt necessarily mean those exact pairings but I didnt make that clear. Just moreso Drysdale and Zell as potential second pairing level players, not necessarily with each other. I think Zell with Gudas until that contract runs out would be prime, and then Zell - Warren (maybe as a third pair to start) would fit together really, really well. With the defensive depth we have, I'm starting to think Zell might max out as a third pairing PP specialist type of guy on this team. Which is totally fine, he would be a phenomenal guy to play third pairing, just not sure how I feel his defensive game will adapt.

MTL got rid of the dead weight (Hoffman, Dadonov/Gurianov, Drouin, Wideman (injured), Edmundson). Those guys were the reason MTL were awful (with Gallagher & Armia). But even with all them gone, I still expect MTL to end up bottom 5. A lot of teams improved, maybe SJ, CHI & PHI are a lock for the bottom 3, but after that you got MTL ANA ARI (who improved a lot). Maybe WSH takes another major step down, idk

Its going to be an interesting year for MTL and ANA for sure. Like you said, I think just about all of the bottom 6 teams from last year besides the Sharks have improved, so moving up the standings is not going to be an easy task. Add to that the middle of the league with teams like Calgary, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Ottawa, Vancouver, etc... also theoretically improved or are hoping for a bounce back year after a down year. The points difference between the non-playoff teams should honestly be pretty tight compared to last year. Probably a hot take, but my gut is telling me St Louis is going to disappoint a lot of people this year and finish bottom 5. So I have Philly, San Jose, Chicago, and St louis in the bottom 5, who takes that last spot? I think Anaheim is probably favored to be the worst of the remaining teams, but I am hopeful they will surpass expectations. I actually really like the way the roster is shaping out and the coaching change which can make a bigger difference than most give credit for

My hot take is Boston finishes bottom 10 in the league. Aging and slowing roster gets bit by injury bug, with Bussi looking good the sell Ullmark while they can.

Boston is tricky to predict, I could see them bottom 10 in the league for sure. But part of me also thinks they will be top 3 in their division. I just remember last year everyone was predicting them to fall in the standings, they had like 5 dudes out to start the season and they did what we all know they did in the regular season. I also think Florida is going to miss the playoffs and Winnipeg in the playoffs. Im not so sure Calgary has the bounce back year a lot of people are anticipating either. Im excited, this has felt like the longest offseason

Yeah, but the reason Boston was able to do that was their absurd amount of depth and their two star centers, all of which is gone. They're left with Marchand, Pasta, McAvoy, Lindholm, and their goalies. Anyone goes down with injury, they don't have NHL caliber fill ins.