The San Jose Sharks kicked off the 2024 NHL Draft on Friday with the choice of Boston College phenom Macklin Celebrini.
With all seven rounds of the draft over, this is a take a look at what the opposite 31 NHL groups determined to do as soon as Celebrini was off the board— and what grade every franchise obtained for his or her most notable choose.
Anaheim Geese
Grade: A-
Notable choose: Beckett Sennecke, RW (Spherical 1, Decide 3)
The Geese’ quest to rebuild round a gifted younger core continued with the choice of OHL winger Sennecke at No. 3. Sennecke, who scored 27 objectives and 68 factors in 63 video games earlier than a robust playoff run the OHL’s Oshawa Generals final season, jumped up the draft after a development spurt took him from 5-foot-10 to 6-foot-3 by the tip of the season. The Geese do not assume he’ll be prepared for the NHL instantly, per AnaheimDucks.com’s Matt Weller, however imagine Sennecke can be a game-changer as soon as he is prepared to affix different younger creating stars like Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish and Cutter Gauthier.
Boston Bruins
Grade: B
Notable choose: Dean Letourneau, C (Spherical 1, Decide 25)
The Bruins used their first opening-round choose of the final three drafts on incoming Boston Faculty freshman Letourneau, who at 6-foot-6 measured in as one of many tallest prospects accessible within the draft. Letourneau is an fascinating prospect each due to his athleticism— his coach at St. Andrew’s Faculty says he’s an unusually agile skater for a prospect of his dimension, per NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman— and since he selected the prep college growth route over becoming a member of the OHL regardless of his choice within the 2022 draft. His freshman season at BC will give a greater thought of his potential to translate these abilities to the NHL.
Buffalo Sabres
Grade: A-
Notable choose: Konsta Helenius, C (Spherical 1, Decide 14)
The Sabres chosen Helenius after his historic debut season in Finland’s high skilled league. The 5-foot-11 ahead recorded 36 factors in 51 Liiga video games, the fourth-most ever recorded within the league by a participant underneath 18 years outdated, per Jourdon LaBarber and Katelyn Kardaman. That is a really related path because the one Stanley Cup champion Aleksander Barkov took to get into the league in 2013. The Sabres could possibly be hoping Helenius’ success as a playmaker whereas taking part in professionally abroad might imply he’ll be able to contribute to Buffalo within the close to future.
Calgary Flames
Grade: A
Notable choose: Zayne Parekh, D (Spherical 1, Decide 9)
Parekh was steadily listed greater on mock draft boards, and an early run on forwards means the Flames may need gotten a steal by drafting the six-foot defenseman recent out of his Memorial Cup season with the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit. After racking up 33 objectives and 96 factors, essentially the most amongst OHL defenders, in 66 video games, Parekh has proved he will be an elite producer in main junior hockey. The Flames will now be part of Parekh with one other puck-moving blueliner in Hunter Brzustewicz, who led OHL defensemen in assists final season and signed with the Flames in April.
Carolina Hurricanes
Grade: B
Notable choose: Nikita Artamonov, LW (Spherical 2, Decide 50)
Artamonov was slated as a first-rounder in some mocks, in order that Hurricanes are fortunate to have snagged the KHL standout this late within the second. The 5-foot-11 winger has expertise competing in opposition to adults and loads of offense to point out for it, with 23 factors in 54 profession KHL video games. That is the very best point-per-game fee amongst any draft-eligible KHL prospect in historical past behind Matvei Michkov, Artemi Panarin and Vladimir Tarasenko, per Ryan Pike of Flames Nation. Artamonov is signed within the KHL by the 2025-26 season, however his expertise within the execs will make him an intriguing prospect for Carolina down the road.
Chicago Blackhawks
Grade: B+
Notable choose: Artyom Levshunov, D (Spherical 1, Decide 2)
Defenseman Levshunov shot to the highest of draft boards after creating right into a star throughout his freshman season at Michigan State, the place he scored 9 objectives and added 26 assists for 35 factors in 38 video games. At 6-foot-1 and with a right-handed shot, Levshunov has confirmed to be a driver of offense within the NCAA and USHL, though it is unclear whether or not he is returning to varsity for one more season earlier than studying if his playmaking abilities can translate to the NHL. The Blackhawks selected Levshunov over one other high NCAA blueliner in Zeev Buium, so all eyes can be on their parallel developments for an eventual analysis of this choose.
Colorado Avalanche
Grade: B
Notable choose: Ilya Nabokov, G (Spherical 2, Decide 38)
The Avalanche entered the draft with only one non-NHL goaltender signed with the group in 2019 second-round choose Trent Miner, per Corey Masisak of The Denver Submit. Colorado addressed that want through the use of their first choice of the draft on Nabokov, who backstopped the KHL’s Magnitogorsk to a title final season after posting a .930 save proportion in 43 regular-season video games. The 21-year-old is 6-foot-1, making him comparatively quick for a goaltending prospect, however the Avs want positional depth and are hoping they’ve discovered it in a participant who has already confirmed he can succeed within the execs.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Grade: B
Notable choose: Cayden Lindstrom, C (Spherical 1, Decide 4)
After utilizing the No. 3 choose of the 2023 draft on Adam Fantilli, the Blue Jackets went as soon as once more for a middle in 6-foot-3 WHL standout Lindstrom. Lindstrom, who scored 27 instances in 32 regular-season video games for the Medication Hat Tigers final season, has the dimensions and physicality so as to add a robust presence down the center behind Fantilli or flanking the highest line. The again harm that precipitated him to overlook 36 video games final season raised some considerations, however Lindstrom eased these considerably by returning for the WHL playoffs.
Dallas Stars
Grade: B
Notable choose: Emil Hemming, RW (Spherical 1, Decide 29)
Hemming joins the Stars group already boasting expertise taking part in in opposition to adults after recording seven objectives and 11 assists in 40 regular-season video games whereas taking part in a fourth-line function in Finland’s high skilled league final season. Stars director of newbie scouting Joe McDonnell described Hemming as “a superb two-way participant who has an ideal one-timer and wrist shot.” The Stars are hoping that shot will assist him finally become an NHL-ready participant.
Detroit Crimson Wings
Grade: B+
Notable choose: Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, RW (Spherical 1, Decide 15)
Brandsegg-Nygard has expertise taking part in in opposition to adults in Norway’s high league, the place he recorded 18 factors in 41 video games final season. The Crimson Wings appear to be trying so as to add some physicality with this choose, and that is an space that was missing in Detroit because the crew missed the playoffs by one level final season. Brandsegg-Nygard, who’s projected by some scouts as an influence ahead within the NHL, is the primary Norwegian first-round choose in league historical past.
Edmonton Oilers
Grade: C
Notable choose: Sam O’Reilly, RW (Spherical 1, Decide 32)
The Oilers’ excessive opinion of O’Reilly is obvious in that the Stanley Cup runners-up gave up a conditional first-round choose to get him. A standout performer within the OHL playoffs, the place he recorded 5 objectives and 12 factors in 16 postseason video games to steer the London Knights to the OHL championship, O’Reilly climbed draft boards final season as he labored on creating right into a two-way participant. Earlier than buying and selling up, Edmonton wasn’t slated to select till late in Spherical 2, and the bounce was expensive. With Leon Draisaitl’s future with crew unsure, draft capital would doubtless be extra worthwhile for the Oilers on the 2025 commerce deadline, so shedding that choose now could be a dangerous transfer.
Florida Panthers
Grade: B+
Notable choose: Linus Eriksson, C (Spherical 2, Decide 58)
The Panthers traded a 2025 second-rounder and 2024 seventh-rounder to maneuver as much as the second spherical and draft Eriksson, who ranked as a top-10 worldwide skater in NHL Central Scouting’s prospect rankings. The 6-foot-0 ahead performed final season in Sweden’s second-tier league, so he’ll want some growth to play on the NHL stage. However FloridaPanthers.com’s Jameson Olive described Eriksson as an “aggressive forechecker,” so he ought to slot in properly with the Cup winners in Dawn.
Los Angeles Kings
Grade: B-
Notable choose: Liam Greentree, RW (Spherical 1, Decide 26)
Greentree is an fascinating prospect provided that he has confirmed he can persistently produce offense— he ranked twelfth within the OHL final season with 90 factors for the Windsor Spitfires— regardless of a number of scouts expressing considerations about his skating velocity. ESPN’s Rachel Doerrie wrote that Greentree might have been a top-10 choose had his skating been at a better stage. The Kings took an opportunity on a prospect who might become an NHL-caliber playmaker, however provided that he is ready to adapt that space of his recreation.
Minnesota Wild
Grade: A
Notable choose: Zeev Buium, D (Spherical 1, Decide 12)
The Wild watched Buium drop out of the highest 10, noticed the chance, and dealt a 2025 fifth-rounder for the prospect to commerce up one choose and draft the College of Denver defenseman. If Buium is ready to construct on the dominance he displayed within the NCAA final season as he led all faculty hockey gamers in whole ice time on Denver’s high pairing (per Elite Prospects, h/t Hockey Wilderness) this might find yourself being the steal of the draft. Buium scored 11 objectives and 50 factors in 42 video games as a freshman whereas serving to lead Denver to the NCAA title in a marketing campaign that satisfied Wild scouts he might finally develop right into a playmaking power-play anchor on the NHL stage.
Montreal Canadiens
Grade: A
Notable choose: Ivan Demidov, RW (Spherical 1, Decide 5)
The Canadiens say they’ve needed to draft Demidov for over a yr, and so they very practically did not get the prospect to. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported that the Chicago Blackhawks provided an unprotected 2025 first-round to commerce as much as No. 4, the place they may have snagged Demidov. However the Blue Jackets, who needed Lindstrom, held quick, and Kent Hughes and the Habs bought their want. Demidov is a highly-touted prospect taking part in in Russia’s high junior league who the Canadiens are hoping will finally have the ability to add scoring to a membership sorely in want of offensive expertise.
Nashville Predators
Grade: B
Notable choose: Egor Surin, C (Spherical 1, Decide 22)
Surin made his KHL debut final season however spent many of the marketing campaign within the Russian junior league. There he recorded 52 factors in 42 video games, good for ninth amongst MHL skaters. One NHL scout projected him as “a third-liner on a great crew,” Alex Daugherty reported for The Tennessean. Though Surin’s skating raised some criticism from scouts, Predators common supervisor Barry Trotz stated Nashville tried to maneuver up within the draft to get him due to how a lot they favored his potential to play bodily and shield the puck, per Emma Lingan of The Hockey Information.
New Jersey Devils
Grade: B
Notable choose: Anton Silayev, D (Spherical 1, Decide 10)
Silayev was a standout final season with the KHL’s Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod not solely due to his 11 factors in 63 video games in opposition to adults, however due to his top of 6-foot-7. One other shock fall in a draft stuffed with them, Silayev was projected in some mock as a top-three choose. That led the Devils to make a considerably stunning option to go for Silayev after beforehand being linked with different defensive prospects like Sam Dickinson (per NJ.com’s Ryan Novozinksy), who ended up going to San Jose with the next choose.
New York Islanders
Grade: A-
Notable choose: Cole Eiserman, LW (Spherical 1, Decide 20)
Eiserman was one of many hardest-to-predict picks within the 2024 draft. He’s arguably among the best scorers within the draft, rating first in USA Hockey’s Nationwide Crew Growth Program historical past with 127 profession objectives. However the Boston College commit earned scouting criticism for the defensive facet of his recreation, which could have precipitated his slide out of the highest 15. It is a wager value taking for the Islanders, a crew that struggled to attain objectives final season, as if Eiserman is ready to develop his recreation at BU he might turn out to be a big increase to the New York offense.
New York Rangers
Grade: B+
Notable choose: EJ Emery, D (Spherical 1, Decide 30)
USA Hockey Nationwide Crew Growth Program product Emery has described himself as a “lockdown man.” Like fellow NTDP product Okay’Andre Miller, the Rangers’ 2018 first-rounder who spent two years on the College of Wisconsin earlier than breaking into the NHL, the Rangers are hoping Emery can now develop on the College of North Dakota earlier than becoming a member of the crew as a stay-at-home defender who might doubtlessly function a counterpoint to the extra offensively-minded Miller.
Ottawa Senators
Grade: B-
Notable choose: Carter Yakemchuk, D (Spherical 1, Decide 7)
The picks above No. 7 did not influence this one, because the Senators say they went into this draft planning on drafting WHL blueliner Yakemchuk, per Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen. Garrioch wrote that the membership “could not resist taking a proper shot blueliner that has offensive potential and can get entangled bodily.” Yakemchuk led all WHL defensemen with 30 objectives in 66 video games for the Calgary Hitmen final season, though the defensive facet of his recreation earned some criticism from scouts. The Senators, who want to construct a blueline round 2020 No. 5 choose Jake Sanderson, will now add an offensive-minded defenseman to the depth chart.
Philadelphia Flyers
Grade: C
Notable choose: Jett Luchanko, C (Spherical 1, Decide 13)
After gaining a 2025 third-rounder by buying and selling down one spot within the draft, the Flyers chosen OHL middle Jett Luchanko, who scored 20 objectives and totaled 74 factors in 68 video games for the Guelph Storm final season. The Flyers entered the draft in clear want of middle depth, and this can be a choose that targets that want. Luchanko is 5-foot-11, placing him on the smaller facet for a middle, and Helenius, a middle with expertise taking part in in opposition to adults in Finland’s high league, was nonetheless on the board. But when the Flyers have been set on Luchanko, they may have potentialy thought-about buying and selling down even additional and getting further picks on the way in which. The OHL prospect was projected out of the highest 20 on a number of mocks and will have been accessible at a decrease choice.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Grade: B
Notable choose: Harrison Brunicke, D (Spherical 2, Decide 44)
The Penguins made historical past by turning into the primary NHL crew to draft a South African-born participant in Brunicke, a 6-foot-3 WHLer who describes himself as a “two-way defenseman,” per Penguins crew reporter Michelle Crechiolo. Brunicke recorded 10 objectives and 21 factors in 49 video games throughout his second season with the Kamloops Blazers, throughout which Sportsnet described him as “a defensive-minded participant with offensive potential.” Having entered the draft with one of many thinnest swimming pools within the league, the Penguins have added a right-handed prospect who can be part of the AHL full-time in 2026-27.
San Jose Sharks
Grade: A+
Notable choose: Macklin Celebrini, C (Spherical 1, Decide 1)
Sharks followers might not have loved watching the crew start the 2023-24 season with a record-tying 11-game shedding streak, however in the long run San Jose picked a great season during which to complete with the worst report within the league. Like 2023 high choose Conor Bedard, Celebrini is projected as a elite NHL expertise. The 2-way recreation and playmaking imaginative and prescient he displayed throughout his Hobey Baker-winning season at Boston College will make him the proper participant for the Sharks to form their rebuild round.
Seattle Kraken
Grade: A
Notable choose: Berkly Catton, C (Spherical 1, Decide 8)
The Kraken wanted a middle so as to add to their prospect pool after projecting high ahead prospects David Goyette and Carson Rehkopf as wings, per NHL.com’s Bob Condor. Enter Catton, who was the top-scoring draft-eligible WHLer (h/t Condor) after racking up 54 objectives and 116 factors in 68 video games final season for the Spokane Chiefs. Seattle will now work to develop Catton as a middle because the crew appears to be like to construct their depth down the center.
St. Louis Blues
Grade: B-
Notable choose: Adam Jiricek, D (Spherical 1, Decide 16)
The Blues, a crew that entered the draft in want of extra blue line depth, made an try to maneuver up within the first spherical of the draft, the place they may have doubtlessly drafted Zeev Buium, in line with The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford. St. Louis was unsuccessful and ended up taking Jiricek with the No. 16 choose. The Czech defenseman and youthful brother of Jackets prospect David Jiricek is much less of a positive factor due to a number of knee accidents which have allowed scouts restricted glimpses at his puck-moving abilities. Jiricek has a excessive ceiling, however the harm threat makes this an unsure wager for a crew in want of defensive prospects.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Grade: B
Notable choose: Jan Golicic, D (Spherical 4, Decide 118)
Golicic, the primary Slovenian participant to be drafted by the Lightning, recorded three objectives and 26 assists in 65 video games for the QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques final season. With their first choose coming within the fourth spherical, the Lightning weren’t anticipated to make a lot of a splash within the draft, however the addition of a 6-foot-6 blueliner to their prospect pool is an intriguing one.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Grade: B+
Notable choose: Ben Danford, D (Spherical 1, Decide 31)
The Leafs traded down from No. 23 to realize two picks barely farther down within the draft. They then used one of many pair to select Danford, a two-year OHLer who was voted among the best defensive defensemen within the league for his work as a shot-blocker for the Oshawa Generals. Toronto is one other crew in want of defensive prospects, so Danford’s success as a shutdown blueliner within the OHL will make him an intriguing prospect to look at as he develops over the following few seasons.
Utah Hockey Membership
Grade: B-
Notable choose: Tij Iginla, C (Spherical 1, Decide 6)
Tij Iginla grew to become the primary NHL participant drafted by Utah after racking up 47 objectives and 84 factors in 64 video games for the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets final season. Iginla’s breakout offensive season, in addition to his relationship to six-time All-Star Jarome Iginla, makes him an intriguing offensive prospect. However in a draft heavy with gifted defenders, Utah might have thought-about a number of highly-ranked blueliners nonetheless on the board for his or her first choose.
Vancouver Canucks
Grade: B+
Notable choose: Melvin Fernstrom, RW (Spherical 3, Decide 93)
The Canucks started the draft late within the third spherical with the choice of Swedish winger Fernstrom. Any draft choose this late comes with some uncertainty as to their ceiling, however Fernstrom is an intriguing pick of the Swedish junior league after main J20 Nationell with 31 objectives in 45 video games. The achievement earned Fernstrom a quick elevation to the SHL on the finish of the season. Scouts have expressed concern about Fernstrom’s scoring and puck safety, however he appears to be like to be trending in the proper path and will find yourself being a late-round gem as he continues to develop.
Vegas Golden Knights
Grade: C
Notable choose: Trevor Connelly, LW (Spherical 1, Decide 19)
Connelly established himself as among the best playmakers within the USHL final season after he completed second within the league with 78 factors in 52 video games for the Tri-Metropolis Storm, however his draft inventory dropped over the previous few years, which has been well-documented.
Washington Capitals
Grade: A-
Notable choose: Terik Parascak, RW (Spherical 1, Decide 17)
Parascak will be part of the Capitals group after main all CHL rookies with 43 objectives and 105 factors in 68 video games for the WHL’s Prince George Cougars final season. The winger thrived on the Cougars’ first line, and his potential to discover a approach to instantly achieve juniors will make him a must-watch prospect within the Capitals’ group.
Winnipeg Jets
Grade: B+
Notable choose: Alfons Freij, D (Spherical 2, Decide 37)
This was simply the second time since relocating in 2011 that the Jets haven’t had a first-round choose. They opened the draft with the choice of Freij, who recorded 14 objectives and 33 factors in 40 video games for Sweden’s junior league final season. That is a notably excessive output for a J20 Nationell blueliner and offers the Jets motive to hope Freij might become an offensively-minded defenseman with eventual power-play upside inside their system.