"Big Celly"

#1 · Macklin Celebrini	6'0", 197 lbs, Boston University (BU) - NCAA, consensus first (1st) overall pick, like Bedsy (Connor Bedard) was last year; "Celly" was the youngest player ever to win the Hobey Baker!
#2 · Artyom Levshunov	6'2", 205 lbs, right shot D-man who plays like a Brent Burns
#3 · Cayden Lidstrom	6'3", 213 lbs, big strong two-way center, like a Roope Hintz
#4 · Ivan Demidov	5'11", 168 lbs, dirty dangles, skilled winger in 2nd Russian league (MHL) some project hands like Nikita Kucherov
#5 · Tij Iginla	6'0", 191 lbs, elite scorer, skilled backchecking forward, legacy pick - Jarome/Iggy is his father
#6 · Sam Dickinson	6'3", 203 lbs, rangey and smooth skating defender mature beyond his years
#7 · Zeev Buium	6'0", 186 lbs, slick puck moving defenseman with upside like a Morgan Rielly, or Miro Heiskanen
#8 · Cole Eiserman	6'0", 197 lbs, winger with a great release/shot, high potential goal scorer
#9 · Zayne Parekh	6'0", 178 lbs, Saginaw Spirit (OHL), RHD, similar to an Erik Karlsson or Axel Sandin-Pellikka (selected last year by the Red Wings)
#10 · Konsta Helenius	5'11", 189 lbs, one of the best Finnish/European skaters in this draft class
#11 · Anton Silayev	6'7", 207 lbs, giant skater LHD comparable to Zdeno Chara, or with a ceiling of a Victor Hedman
#12 · Carter Yakemchuk	6'3", 202 lbs, big offensively gifted RHD with hitting like a Tom Wilson, Radko Gudas
#13 · Berkly Catton	5'10", 175 lbs, small but elite offensive playmaker
#14 · Michael Brandsegg-Nygård	6'1", 207 lbs, tough hard-nosed winger, shined in Norwegian national team play
#15 · Beckett Sennecke	6'2", 181 lbs, strong right-handed winger, crafty hands who plays similar to a Tage Thompson
#16 · Adam Jiříček	6'3", 178 lbs, top defenseman who was projected to go higher but had injury issues
#17 · Liam Greentree	6'3", 215 lbs, big/solid playmaking winger with high hockey IQ, nose for positioning around the net
#18 · Ryder Ritchie	6'0", 177 lbs, smart/intelligent/good kid, great shot release, high scoring potential
#19 · Igor Chernyshov	6'2", 196 lbs, shifty right-handed winger playing in the KHL for the HC Dynamo Moscow
#20 · Cole Hutson	5'10", 159 lbs, smaller-sized creative LHD, legacy pick, his brother Lane Hutson was drafted in 2022 by the Montréal Canadiens

^**some more noteable players: Trevor Connelly (6'1", 160 lbs), Terik Parascak (6'0", 179 lbs), EJ Emery (6'3", 183 lbs), Stian Solberg (6'2", 205 lbs), Alfons Freij (6'1", 197 lbs), Jett Luchanko (5'11", 187 lbs), Anthony Romani (6'0", 184 lbs)

^***don't see any goalies going in the Top 20 of this year's draft!


Retrospective:

I had mistaken the hype train of Lane Hutson for Cole Hutson, who is doing Erik Karlsson like saucer passes to his teammates on the Montréal Canadiens. Beckett Sennecke was as surprised as all of us, going 3rd overall .. ahead of Cayden Lindstrom, Ivan Demidov and Tij Iginla!