NEWSLETTER
We’re in the virtual middle of the NHL season; the All-Star Game is viewed as the mid point even though most teams are around 50 games into their 82-game regular seasons. Teams are sorting themselves out as playoff contender or draft lottery darlings right now and, sadly, the Blackhawks are stacking up as a top-three pick favorite.
So, with the Blackhawks’ season heading back to the lottery, we’re already starting to pay more attention to the 2024 NHL Draft and the class of prospects who are available. Chicago owns two picks in the first round — their own and Tampa’s — so there are likely (at least?) two names who will be called by Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson during the first 32 selections.
In the middle of the season, we start getting mid-term ranking updates from NHL Central Scouting and top draft analysts. In the past week we’ve been able to read and digest the mid-term rankings from TSN’s Bob McKenzie (aka The Godfather) and, on Monday, Scott Wheeler at The Athletic released his new update.
So… let’s compare their lists!
Here are the 33 players who appear to be in play for a top-round selection based on the rankings of McKenzie and Wheeler. Note: these are listed in order their average rank between the two experts. I include 33 for the 32 picks in the first round because two players averaged around 33 overall.
| Player | Pos. | Avg. | McKenzie (Jan. 22) | Wheeler (Jan. 29) |
| Macklin Celebrini | C | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Artyom Levshunov | RHD | 2.5 | 3 | 2 |
| Anton Silayev | LHD | 3.5 | 2 | 5 |
| Cole Eiserman | LW | 3.5 | 4 | 3 |
| Ivan Demidov | LW | 5 | 6 | 4 |
| Sam Dickinson | LHD | 7.5 | 7 | 8 |
| Zayne Perekh | RHD | 7.5 | 9 | 6 |
| Cayden Lindstrom | C | 8 | 5 | 11 |
| Konsta Helenius | C | 9 | 8 | 10 |
| Berkly Catton | C | 9.5 | 10 | 9 |
| Zeev Buium | LHD | 10 | 13 | 7 |
| Carter Yakemchuk | RHD | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Trevor Connelly | LW | 13 | 11 | 15 |
| Adam Jiricek | RHD | 15.5 | 14 | 17 |
| Liam Greentree | RW | 15.5 | 17 | 14 |
| Michael Brandsegg-Nygård | RW | 16.5 | 20 | 13 |
| Emil Hemming | RW | 17.5 | 15 | 20 |
| Igor Chernyshov | LW | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| Tij Iginla | LW/C | 18.5 | 16 | 21 |
| Aron Kiviharju | LHD | 19.5 | 23 | 16 |
| Beckett Sennecke | RW | 23 | 19 | 27 |
| Ryder Ritchie | C | 23 | 21 | 25 |
| Sacha Boisvert | C | 23 | 22 | 24 |
| Andrew Basha | LW | 26.5 | 24 | 29 |
| Tanner Howe | LW | 26.5 | 25 | 28 |
| Terik Parascak | RW | 26.5 | 27 | 26 |
| Henry Mews | RHD | 28 | 37 | 19 |
| Maxim Massé | RW | 29 | 35 | 23 |
| Michael Hage | C | 29 | 36 | 22 |
| Jett Luchanko | C | 29.5 | 26 | 33 |
| Charlie Elick | RHD | 31 | 28 | 34 |
| Nikira Artamonov | LW | 33 | 34 | 32 |
| Cole Beaudoin | C | 33.5 | 30 | 37 |
