The countdown is on for the 2024 NHL Draft. With the NHL Combine concluding a few days ago, teams are starting to narrow down their draft boards, and prospects are eager to hear their name called. For Utah, it’s been a wild past couple of months, which saw the relocation of the Arizona Coyotes to Salt Lake City, Utah, ending the 20-year-long issues in the Grand Canyon state. While it’s still plausible for hockey to return to the desert with the land auction approaching on June 27, Alex Meruelo has made so many mistakes that his winning the auction is in the air, with there being reported rumors of other bidders.
Losing the auction would undoubtedly spell controversy in the NHL world, and Gary Bettman hopes to revive hockey in the desert. While we can discuss that for what seems like forever, that’s not the point of this piece as there is an exciting prospect general manager Bill Armstrong may be leaning towards. Most mock drafts have Utah selecting a defenseman, which, in hindsight, makes complete sense; they need another elite defenseman despite drafting Russian Dmitri Simashev last year.
Related: THW’s 2024 NHL Draft Guide
While Simashev has tons of potential, especially on the defensive side of the puck, it’s not a guarantee he’s a top-pairing defenseman. This draft offers a wide selection of defensemen ranging from the lengthy 6-foot-6 Anton Silayev to the athletic Sam Dickinson, who I recently wrote about and why he should be the pick. If he’s not, there are many more options in terms of forwards, including Cole Eiserman, Tij Ignila, Cayden Lindstrom, and sneakily climbing draft rankings, Beckett Sennecke.
While those wouldn’t be bad options by any stretch, another player looms that could have the highest upside of any forward other than projected first-overall pick Macklin Celebrini, Berkly Catton. The 18-year-old shined with the Spokane Chiefs in the Western Hockey League (WHL) and showed he could be worthy of being drafted as high as six to Utah. Now, picking Catton would be a bold move considering the defensemen that’ll likely be available and their need for one, but if they draft the best player available, Catton may be heading to the beehive state.
Offensive Upside Through the Roof With Catton
Looking at the top of the 2024 NHL Draft, there are many tremendous prospects. Celebrini is doing things at his age that are rarely seen, along with the mystery of Ivan Demidov, which could see him go as high as two to the Chicago Blackhawks or fall, similar to Matvei Michkov last season. Of course, that’s not all, as there’s Lindstrom, Iginla, and so much more, but out of them all, Catton’s offensive upside stands out the most.
Catton played in the WHL this season for the Chiefs, who weren’t a prospect-stacked team losing in the first round of the playoffs, but the 18-year-old was the driving force throughout the entire season. In the regular season, he had a staggering 54 goals and 116 points in 68 games, which is a points per game rate of 1.71, which is a higher scoring rate than Zach Benson played at in the 2022-23 season (1.63 P/G).
One of Catton’s greatest strengths is his hockey IQ, which is simply off the charts compared to his peers. His high hockey IQ opens a door few players reach, making ridiculous passes and his creative shot selection. While there are no significant weaknesses in his game, he does stand in at 5-foot-10, which could see him fall on draft day, similar to Benson last season. However, he’s so skilled in all facets of the game that it shouldn’t matter. He’s still growing into his size, which will come with age, so he could grow another inch or two these next couple of seasons; it’s happened before.
Catton flourishes in all areas, especially the offensive side, and is destined to be a top-six forward in the NHL.
Catton Shows Shades of Logan Cooley
As mentioned above, Catton has often been compared to Benson of the Buffalo Sabres. Benson finished his rookie season in upper-state New York with 30 points in 71 games. His creativity was displayed in the final ten games, where he had seven points during that stretch, finding his stride. While the two have many similarities, a better comparison would be current Utah forward, Logan Cooley.
Cooley didn’t play in the WHL; he was with the United States National Team Development Program (USNTDP), scoring 75 points in 51 games in his draft year. While those two draft seasons between Cooley and Catton are drastically different, they share several characteristics, including their playmaking ability. We saw this a bit with Cooley towards the end of the 2023-24 season when he started figuring things out and finding chemistry with Dylan Guenther.
Catton is that kind of player, too, a pure playmaker who can make any pass and find shooting lanes all over the ice, just like Cooley. While they are still different players, of course, having a Cooley 2.0 would, in a sense, add relief to the center position and make an elite top-six forward group.
Should Utah Draft Best Player Available or Fill the Positional Gap At Defense?
Now, this prompts the question: does Armstrong take the best player available, which is likely the offensively gifted center in Catton, or fill a positional need on defense? While this seems like a yes or no answer, it’s much more complicated than that. The biggest wild card will be what the Anaheim Ducks do. If they take a defenseman in Silayev, Dickinson, Buium, or even Zayne Parekh, that could alter what Utah does at pick six.
For the time being, let’s say they take Dickinson, who has been linked to them for quite some time. That would leave Silayev, Buium, and Parkeh on the board for the Columbus Blue Jackets at four. They’ve been heavily connected to Medicine Hat Tigers center, Cayden Lindstrom. If we assume Colombus takes Lindstrom and Demidov falls to the Montreal Canadians, Armstrong will have a decision to make.
Amongst scouts and even fans, it’s evident that adding another blueliner would be a massive addition to Utah and its ever-growing prospect pool. That said, you can’t go wrong with the amount of depth the 2024 class offers. Taking Catton would mean selecting the best player available, and if you can get a prospect with the ceiling of a first-line center, he may want to take that gamble.
Regardless of what Armstrong decides to do, Utah will add an elite prospect come June 28 in Vegas.
The 2024 NHL Draft Will Offer Plenty of Surprises, Including Utah
A year ago, we were raving at the possibility of Michkov possibly landing in the desert, and while that opportunity did arise, sometimes it’s the player we don’t expect. Simashev wasn’t mocked by the Coyotes once throughout the whole mock draft season, which tells how secretive Armstrong will be. That is likely the best route, as he usually keeps his cards close and ensures nothing is leaked early. We are weeks away from the 2024 NHL Draft, and it’s going to be a night full of surprises, and surely that’ll include Armstrong and Utah.