Re-Drafting the Top 10 Players From the 2024 NHL Draft

Re-drafts always feel like trying to do a puzzle when you've only been allowed to look at the picture on the front of the puzzle box for about sixty seconds. What do you mean, I need to figure out exactly what goes where without any real reference points?

But then that's the fun of it. We've seen another season from these players, and now we're trying to decide whether they went to the right place, or if someone else should've been selected in their place.

When doing this top-10 redraft, I obviously made changes, but the results weren't as wild as I expected. A few moves were definitely gimmes; others you may not agree with.

I'd love to hear about it either way.

1. Macklin Celebrini, C, San Jose Sharks

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Here's a bold statement for you: Macklin Celebrini is the player everyone thinks, through their nostalgia haze, that Jonathan Toews was.

No one else in the 2024 draft class could've taken this top spot. He is still quite obviously the best of the bunch, even with Ivan Demidov nipping at his heels (that's going to be a fun battle to keep an eye on through the years). Even while missing time for injury last season, he still finished the year with 63 points in 70 games on a dreadful team, and he's currently at a point-per-game pace for this year (though it's still quite early).

Celebrini is one of those rare players who you can describe as a complete, 200-foot player and genuinely mean it. Too many people say that when a highly-ranked center has no offensive prowess to go along with strong work in their own end, Celebrini's offensive instincts are fantastic.

The Sharks are slowly beginning to build around him, and if they continue to do so, I think a little ways down the road, we're going to see a special team emerge out west.

2. Ivan Demidov, RW, Chicago Blackhawks

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Can you imagine Ivan Demidov playing beside Connor Bedard?

Chicago fans, don't participate in this exercise; you'll only end up feeling sad. My gut wanted to see him go high to begin with; he was ranked second on our big board pre-draft. That feeling has only solidified in the time since. He's my top contender for the Calder Trophy this season alongside Matthew Schaefer, though I think Zeev Buium (who we saw at fourth on this list) could make a strong run for it. 

Demidov is an incredibly dynamic player, and he's got three points in his first five games of the season with Montreal. I'm not saying it will, but I can see the pace increasing. He's got quick hands, fast feet, and the ability to be a gamebreaker.

Adding that kind of player could've made a significant difference for the Blackhawks; much more of a difference than Artyom Levshunov is currently making, and that's not meant as a slight to Levshunov at all. Demidov just has the ability to take over a game, and maybe having that sort of winger at his side could make Bedard look less like he's dissociating every time he steps onto the ice.

3. Beckett Sennecke, RW, Anaheim Ducks

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If you'd asked me a year ago if I would keep Beckett Sennecke at his surprising third overall draft slot, I would've had to give it some serious thought. It was an easy decision to make today, so a Duck he stays.

I love how Sennecke has progressed. He looked pretty much exactly like I would've wanted him to in his draft+1 season last year, and he looks good with the Ducks so far this year. He's on a good trajectory, and I'd like to see him stay there.

What the Ducks saw in Sennecke, and what is becoming more apparent to the lay viewer, is his ability to break opponents' ankles with his puck skills and smarts. I'm not going to pretend he doesn't have any flaws; his skating has been described as a little quirky, and sometimes he can try to do too much or do things too quickly.

But right now, I would say he's on a great path and showing off exactly why he was selected where he was.

4. Zeev Buium, D, Columbus Blue Jackets

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I've been a Zeev Buium truther this entire time, and anyone who has read my coverage of the 2024 NHL Draft class knows that quite well.

Buium is currently at the head of the rookie points race with 5 (at least at the time of writing), and that's not even why I want to rank him this high. It's his vision, his poise, the way he's able to jump onto the ice and affect the flow of the game. It's the way that he can read the play unfolding and project what's going to happen at those top game speeds.

Buium is the first defenseman in Minnesota Wild history to score 5 points in his first 4 rookie season games.

I genuinely don't understand why he stuck around until 12th overall during his draft. He's quarterbacking the Wild's power play already. Does he have any even strength points yet? No. But we're four games into his season. Give it time. He's already contributing significantly in so many other areas, and every rookie has warts in his game that need to be ironed out.

5. Berkly Catton, C, Montreal Canadiens

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Berkly Catton, the player who made me realize that the Seattle Kraken were taking an "oops, all centers" approach to drafting (at least at that moment in time). In this re-draft, he goes to the Montreal Canadiens.

I love this kid's skill, and I love what we saw from him in his draft+1 season. He's an excellent skater; his puck skills are to die for. What's not to love?

Catton has the potential to be a special player, and seemed focused on proving that in training camp this year. He was all over the ice in pursuit of the puck, supporting in his own end, and then leading the rush back the other direction or winning puck battles.

I'm not a fan of how the Kraken are handling him; it's reminiscent of Shane Wright's situation, where they have him on the big club but are likely to scratch him until he's eligible for an AHL conditioning stint, after which he'll probably return to the WHL. But if that's the route they take, I'm eager to see how he performs for the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

6. Zayne Parekh, D, Utah Mammoth

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Argue with a wall. This kid is wildly talented and has a long future in the league.

Part of my gut wanted to move him higher, but I told myself to keep it measured. And honestly, I think he would've been an excellent addition for the at-the-time Utah Hockey Club, now Utah Mammoth. Zayne Parekh is the kind of defenseman who can take over a game. As I said in our 2024 first-round check-in, "Anyone calling Zayne Parekh's success thus far 'unprecedented' hasn't been watching him for very long."

The Calgary Flames' coaching staff is taking the slow-and-steady route with his development, and I don't disagree with it (sometimes I really hate that approach!). Parekh has excellent instincts, but having excellent instincts means he always wants to jump into the rush and attempt plays that other guys on the ice might not even be able to conceive of.

Pacing him as he adjusts to coming up against NHL players who are larger and stronger than he is, and who have been playing at NHL speeds for much longer, means that once he adapts, he's more likely to be able to do all of those things that are hallmarks of his game consistently.

7. Artyom Levshunov, D, Ottawa Senators

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Artyom Levshunov is a great player; please don't take this demotion as a slight. I don't think he was the best defenseman in the 2024 Draft class, let alone the second best.

What I do think is that he's a better player than Carter Yakemchuk, who originally went to the Ottawa Senators in this slot, and that he would be quite a useful addition to their blue line.

Levshunov got 18 games in for the Blackhawks last year, wherein he scored 6 points and averaged about 20 minutes a game. That's not too shabby for a freshly-drafted defenseman. He's off to a similarly good start this year with one point in four games.

His decision-making can get chaotic and sometimes even incomprehensible, but he's been playing well with teammate Wyatt Kaiser, and that seems like the pairing that the Blackhawks are rolling with. One hopes that in this hypothetical universe where he gets drafted to the Senators, he finds someone similarly able to anticipate his chaos and complement his playing style like Kaiser is doing now.

8. Cayden Lindstrom, C, Seattle Kraken

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I could swap Cayden Lindstrom and Tij Iginla and be happy with that draft order as well. I like both players equally, and I think any team would be lucky to have them both. Lindstrom gets a little bit of a boost because he's got this fearless motor that I really like, but could easily get knocked down in a future redraft if I don't see the same player we used to see once he really gets into a rhythm this season.

What we won't knock Lindstrom for is not having any points yet this season. In addition to having back surgery last year, he's adjusting to a completely new team and league; he moved from the WHL to NCAA hockey to play for Michigan State University this year. And we're only two games in.

Once he gets comfortable and gets going, I think we're going to see that tenacious puck carrier that we all liked so much in his draft season. The pace of the season and time in the weight room that college hockey provides should also be good for the longevity of his career.

9. Tij Iginla, LW, Calgary Flames

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When setting up this top-10 re-draft, I focused primarily on the order of player selection, rather than which teams they would hypothetically join. Fitting, then, that I looked up from my notes to write this section and realized that I'd assigned Tij Iginla to the Flames.

Nostalgia notwithstanding, I also considered placing him at 8th, with my 8th overall pick at 9th. I could swap the two back and forth and be happy either way. But I think Iginla makes a lot of sense here—a very talented player who only moved back because other players moved up. This is about the range where I had him in my thought process for that draft season, so it feels correct.

Iginla is off to a great start with the Kelowna Rockets this season, with three points in one game played—he just got back to the WHL after spending time with the Utah Mammoth and rehabbing an injury.

10, Sam Dickinson, D, New Jersey Devils

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It pains me to put Sam Dickinson in my top ten here because sometimes, based solely on his decision-making in the moment, I feel like he's got less hockey sense than a box of rocks. But that's not who he is as a player! Or at least it doesn't have to be. 

I don't think the New Jersey Devils would've helped Dickinson reach his potential as an NHL player more than the San Jose Sharks would have, but I believe his potential is higher than Anton Silayev's, the player New Jersey selected here.

When Dickinson is at his best, he's a significant help to his team, with phenomenal skating that is agile, fluid, and fast. His innate skill has never been the problem; only his decision-making in the flow of the game.

We'll see whether that can be retrained.