We’re a few weeks into the 2023-24 NHL season and now is the time that many hockey fans turn to the upcoming draft, especially fans of NHL teams who are outside of the playoff race. If your team isn’t going to be much fun to watch this year, the least you can do is have some fun dreaming of the great prospects they could land in the 2024 Draft.
I am using the NHL standings as of November 1, 2023 and teams are ranked by points percentage rather than point totals. This is obviously a super early mock draft so it is more an exercise in showing off the top prospects and how they could land on draft day rather than an example of the teams most likely to be picking this early. Teams like the Edmonton Oilers and Pittsburgh Penguins have had horrid starts to the year but are expected to bounce back eventually while teams like the Calgary Flames and Seattle Kraken have a chance to stick around in the draft lottery conversation all year.
Related: 2024 NHL Draft Rankings – Horn’s Top 32 for October
The biggest thing I looked at while drafting for each team was which remaining prospect is the best player, although I did take into account some teams’ existing strengths within their prospect pools.
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With that out of the way, let’s get into the meat of the mock draft, beginning with the team who earned the right to select Connor Bedard first overall and finishing with the 16th overall pick.
1. San Jose Sharks: Macklin Celebrini
Macklin Celebrini is an excellent pro prospect, with no holes and a dominant start to the year as the NCAA’s youngest player. He does everything well and could reasonably have been in the conversation to go in the top-three of last year’s draft considering his level of success as a player with a late birthday (he’ll be 17 all year). The Sharks have no specific needs in the draft aside from high-end talent and a combo of Celebrini and Will Smith would be a ton of fun to watch in San Jose someday.
2. Calgary Flames: Cole Eiserman
The Calgary Flames are in a really strange predicament right now. They had some growing pains last year after losing Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk but the plan was to leave that in the past after moving on from head coach Daryll Suter, but their atrocious start has already brought up questions about the possibility of a rebuild, especially if Elias Lindholm decides against re-signing in Calgary.
Cole Eiserman is a phenomenal goal scorer who doesn’t have the most complete game but projects to put the puck in the net a ton in the NHL during his prime. While the Flames may be in flux over the next few years, they aren’t positioned well to do a full rebuild with many big, long-term deals on the books so getting someone who can help them compete in the NHL within a couple short years would likely be their priority and I think Eiserman could be scoring 25+ goals in the NHL by the 2025-25 season.
3. Edmonton Oilers: Anton Silayev
The Oilers aren’t likely to stick in the bottom of the NHL for much longer, but they sure look fragile despite the strong play from Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. If they somehow manage to miss the playoffs this year we can all agree that they’re 100% winning the draft lottery right?
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Anton Silayev has risen a ton early on this year and looks like an absolute star to me. He’s a 6-foot-7 defender who skates smoothly, plays good shutdown defense in the KHL already, and has plenty of offense as well. The Oilers could use another legit top-pairing defender right now and Silayev looks to be that.
4. Chicago Blackhawks: Artyom Levshunov
The Chicago Blackhawks are in need of talent in any shape or form for the next draft or two, but especially on the backend where the team’s prospect pool is deep but lacks high-end talent behind Kevin Korchinski. Artyom Levshunov is a big defender with a right-handed shot and a ton of offense. He’s got a heavy shot and skates well for his size so I think Levshunov has a good chance to move from the NCAA this year to the AHL or even the NHL as soon as next season.
5. Pittsburgh Penguins: Berkly Catton
Note: This pick is traded to the San Jose Sharks but is top-10 protected
The Penguins need players who can help the team win games at the end of the Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin era (which is coming soon), while also being good enough to help lead the team into a new era. Berkly Catton is a great candidate to do just that in my eyes, with dynamic skating and a ton of skill with the puck.
While a combo of Catton and 2023 first rounder Brayden Yager may be a bit undersized, I think they would be a formidable duo, especially on the power play.
6. Seattle Kraken: Ivan Demidov
The Seattle Kraken find themselves near the bottom of the NHL standings once again just a year after breaking the mold by becoming a playoff team in just their second ever season. Unfortunately for them, their depth scoring and goaltending have not been good enough early on and they look primed for major regression. The good news is they should be able to add a serious talent in the top-10 of this year’s draft. Ivan Demidov has the best hands in the draft for me and looks like a potential game-breaking talent on the wing.
7. Columbus Blue Jackets: Konsta Helenius
Konsta Helenius is a super skilled center who has excelled against pro players in the Finnish Liiga over the last year or so. He plays with more than enough pace to be a great NHL player someday, though his lack of size may push him to the wing in the NHL. Helenius works hard and creates a ton of offense, which I think would make him a good fit in Columbus as a possible center option behind Adam Fantilli.
8. Minnesota Wild: Cayden Lindstrom
Cayden Lindstrom may rise into the top-five by the end of the season if he can keep his scoring pace up but for now I’ve got him landing at eighth overall with the Minnesota Wild who finally land another high-end center. Lindstrom has the size, speed, and skill to be a top-six center in the NHL, not to mention the two-way game to be trusted in big minutes.
9. Nashville Predators: Nikita Artamonov
Nikita Artamonov is a highly skilled winger who has produced a ton of offense this year against men in the KHL. He has great hands and is a super creative playmaker in the offensive zone as well. The Nashville Predators have taken wingers with first rounders in each of the last two drafts (Matthew Wood in 2023, Joakim Kemell in 2022) but I think they’d be willing to take one more given Artamonov’s skill set and ability to beat KHL defenders as a 17-year-old.
10. Buffalo Sabres: Carter Yakemchuk
The Buffalo Sabres already have a phenomenal defensive core with Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, and Mattias Samuelsson. One thing all those guys have in common is that they have left-handed shots. Carter Yakemchuk is a right-shot defender with the size and skating to be a top-four defender in the NHL.
He has a great offensive game, with the highlight being his massive slap shot, but he is also a very physical defender who can shut down opposing players quite easily in the WHL.
11. St. Louis Blues: Sam Dickinson
The St. Louis Blues have only drafted one defenseman in the first round in the last 10 years, Theo Lindstein at 29th overall in the 2023 Draft. I have them making that two with the addition of Sam Dickinson who falls all the way to 11th in this mock draft. Dickinson’s offensive game will likely determine whether he’s a top-five pick or top-16 pick since his defensive game isn’t in question. He is a strong defender and he competes hard so the biggest wild-card is determining whether he can be a primary offensive creator in the NHL or not.
12. Philadelphia Flyers: Adam Jiricek
I’ve got the Philadelphia Flyers re-stocking their defensive group after trading away Ivan Provorov last Summer by taking Adam Jiricek with the 12th overall pick. Jiricek looked excellent for Czechia at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup but has had a slow start against men in the top pro league in Czechia so far. He’s a strong skater and a smart defender but he doesn’t seem to have any one skill that really pops at the moment.
13. Ottawa Senators: Michael Brandsegg-Nygård
Michael Brandsegg-Nygård is one of my favorite prospects in this draft right now, with an excellent shot and a competitive play style that I think will serve him well in the NHL. He regularly beats defenders with his puck skills in the Allsvenskan (Sweden’s second-tier pro league) and has good-not-great hockey sense as well. The Senators have a lot of talent throughout the lineup but I think Brandsegg-Nygård would fit in with the Brady Tkachuk school of physical forwards who score a lot of points.
14. Washington Capitals: Zayne Parekh
Zayne Parekh is an offense-only defenseman who could become a really great offensive defender in the NHL with some work. He produces a ton of offense for himself and others, but he regularly gets caught cheating for offense and doesn’t give a ton of effort on defense a lot of the time. His offensive skills look like they’ll be good enough for a top power play unit someday but he will need to round out his game a bit before he’s trusted with important defensive minutes.
15. Philadelphia Flyers (via. Florida Panthers): Sacha Boisvert
After taking a defender earlier, here I have the Flyers addressing their need at forward, taking Sacha Boisvert 15th overall. Boisvert won’t get the most attention this year playing in the USHL, but he is a great NHL center prospect with the size and skating to be a top-six center in the NHL. He has a ton of skill and his shot is no joke either, though he can get pushed to the perimeter a bit right now.
16. Carolina Hurricanes: Aron Kiviharju
Aron Kiviharju fits the bill of a Carolina Hurricanes prospect. Is he Finnish? Check. Is he undersized? Check. Is he incredibly smart and skilled? The Carolina Hurricanes are proud to select Aron Kiviharju! Kiviharju will slide a bit this year due to his height (5-foot-9) and his injury status which could keep him out of play until February.
His hockey sense is excellent and it makes his playmaking ability something special. Kiviharju has played against much older competition for a long time so his skating is solid and he is great at avoiding contact when possible to minimize the weakness that is his height.