NHL Draft 2024 live updates (2024)

The 2024 NHL Draft is underway at Sphere in Las Vegas. Dynamic, all-around two-way player Macklin Celebrini was the No. 1 pick for the San Jose Sharks, but there was little consensus behind him.

Follow along here for full coverage of rounds 2-7 on Saturday.

First-round results

1. San Jose Sharks: Macklin Celebrini, C, Boston University
2. Chicago Blackhawks: Artyom Levshunov, D, Michigan State
3. Anaheim Ducks: Beckett Sennecke, RW, Oshawa (OHL)
4. Columbus Blue Jackets: Cayden Lindstrom, C, Medicine Hat (WHL)
5. Montreal Canadiens: Ivan Demidov, RW, SKA St. Petersburg Jr. (Russia)
6. Utah Hockey Club: Tij Iginla, C, Kelowna (WHL)
7. Ottawa Senators: Carter Yakemchuk, D, Calgary (WHL)
8. Seattle Kraken: Berkly Catton, C, Spokane (WHL)
9. Calgary Flames: Zayne Parekh, D, Saginaw (OHL)
10. New Jersey Devils: Anton Silayev, D, Nizhny Novgorod (Russia)
11. San Jose Sharks (via Buffalo Sabres): Sam Dickinson, D, London (OHL)
12. Minnesota Wild (via Philadelphia Flyers): Zeev Buium, D, Denver
13. Philadelphia Flyers (via Minnesota Wild): Jett Luchanko, C, Guelph (OHL)
14. Buffalo Sabres (via San Jose Sharks): Konsta Helenius, C, Jukurit (Finland)
15. Detroit Red Wings: Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, RW, Mora (Sweden)
16. St. Louis Blues: Adam Jiricek, D, Plzen (Czechia)
17. Washington Capitals: Terik Parascak, RW, Prince George (WHL)
18. Chicago Blackhawks (via New York Islanders): Sacha Boisvert, C, Muskegon (USHL)
19. Vegas Golden Knights: Trevor Connelly, LW, Tri-City (USHL)
20. New York Islanders (via Tampa Bay Lightning): Cole Eiserman, LW, U.S. U-18
21. Montreal Canadiens (via Los Angeles Kings): Michael Hage, C, Chicago (USHL)
22. Nashville Predators: Egor Surin, C, Yaroslavl Jr. (Russia)
23. Anaheim Ducks (via Toronto Maple Leafs): Stian Solberg, D, Valerenga (Norway)
24. Utah Hockey Club (via Colorado Avalanche): Cole Beaudoin, C, Barrie (OHL)
25. Boston Bruins: Dean Letorneau, C, St. Andrew's College (Ont.)
26. Los Angeles Kings (via Montreal Canadiens): Liam Greentree, RW, Windsor (OHL)
27. Chicago Blackhawks (via Carolina Hurricanes): Marek Vanacker, LW, Brantford (OHL)
28. Calgary Flames (via Vancouver Canucks): Matvei Gridin, RW, Muskegon (USHL)
29. Dallas Stars: Emil Hemming, RW, TPS (Finland)
30. New York Rangers: EJ Emery, D, U.S. U-18
31. Toronto Maple Leafs (via Anaheim Ducks): Ben Danford, D, Oshawa (OHL)
32. Edmonton Oilers (via Philadelphia Flyers): Sam O'Reilly, RW, London (OHL)

Tier: Middle of the lineup player

Skating: NHL average

Puck skills: NHL average

Hockey sense: NHL average

Compete: NHL average

Player comparable: Justin Holl

Analysis: Badinka moved from Finland to Sweden this season, where he became an SHL regular after a strong start in the J20 level. He was cut from Czechia’s world junior team, though. He has a lot of NHL attributes between his size, mobility and ability to make offensive plays. He has a powerful stride and has shown versus men he can make skilled plays and move pucks with a good tempo. His pure playmaking doesn’t excite you, although I see secondary offense coming from him in the NHL. Badinka defends well enough due to his feet and length but he isn’t going to run guys over, which leaves some scouts wondering if he’s going to be a tweener as a pro. I think his two-way game is strong enough to be a potential No. 4-5 defenseman in the NHL.

Tier: Middle of the lineup player

Skating: NHL average

Puck skills: Above NHL average

Hockey sense: NHL average

Compete: Above NHL average

Player comparable: Robby Fabbri

Analysis: Eriksson was a top player for a good J20 team this season in Sweden and a leader for Sweden’s U18 club. He wasn’t a dominant junior player, but in the second half of the season, when he advanced to the Allsvenskan, he showed quite well versus men. He’s a well-rounded center. Eriksson is a strong skater who creates offense with speed and has the transition game to be a quality pro. He has very good skill and playmaking ability. He is a creative player with a pass-first mentality who sees seams well and can generate offense from the perimeter. Eriksson’s work ethic is good enough. I wouldn’t call him the type who is going to run over opponents, but he gets to the inside and gives an honest effort every night. He was also the captain for his Swedish age group. He could be a middle-six NHL forward.

Tier: Middle of the lineup player

Skating: Above NHL average

Puck skills: Below NHL average

Hockey sense: NHL average

Compete: Above NHL average

Player comparable: Braden Schneider

Analysis: Elick is a very intriguing pro prospect. He is one of the best skaters in the draft, with a smooth and powerful skating stride. When those feet are combined with his 6-3 frame, strong compete and a little mean streak, he has the potential to be a legit shutdown defenseman in the NHL. Elick isn’t a natural puck-mover and can make some questionable puck decisions. He will need to clean that up, but he has good hands and isn’t a negative with the puck on his stick. In a role where he just needs to defend well and make a basic outlet, he could potentially have an NHL career.

Tier: Middle of the lineup player

Skating: Above NHL average

Puck skills: NHL average

Hockey sense: NHL average

Compete: Above NHL average

Shot: Above NHL average

Player comparable: Erik Brannstrom

Analysis: Sahlin Wallenius isn’t the biggest defenseman, but he’s a very solid two-way player who was the leading player on Sweden’s U18 team this season. He’s one of the best skaters in the draft. He has a powerful and efficient stride that allows him to easily evade pressure and skate pucks up ice. He closes on checks well and is great coming back on pucks in a way that should translate to pro hockey. Sahlin Wallenius has good hands and vision and can shoot the puck well, too, even though he doesn’t project as a major scorer at the higher levels. The sum of his parts looks like a regular NHL defenseman.

Tier: Bubble top and middle of the lineup player

Skating: NHL average

Puck skills: NHL average

Hockey sense: NHL average

Compete: Above NHL average

Shot: Above NHL average

Player comparable: Ilya Mikheyev

Analysis: Chernyshov was very good at the junior level in Russia and earned ice time up in the KHL with a regular shift for a top team in Dynamo Moscow. He’s a big, powerful winger who skates well and has a lot of offensive creativity. He beats defenders routinely with his one-on-one plays, sees the ice well and can create at the net. He’s not going to run players over with his physical play, but he uses his body to create offense. He has the ability to control play at even strength due to his variety of tools and looks the part of a potential strong top-six winger in the NHL.

LAS VEGAS — Vlad Spektor remembers a night at a Saginaw restaurant with his client Zayne Parekh after a game this season. The second-year defenceman was on pace to obliterate his points totals from his OHL rookie season where he scored 21 goals and 37 points. Multi-point efforts were becoming regular occurrences. Spektor was expecting a relaxed night where he would catch up with Parekh until the Saginaw Spirit star pulled out his cell phone.

“Instead, he was sitting there watching his shifts, right away, asking me what he could do better,” Spektor said.

It’s a story that has become part of Parekh’s lore. A confident, determined player who capped off that sophom*ore season with the most points of any OHL defenceman. Parekh finished his high school studies at 16, skipping two grades before taking classes at the University of Toronto as an OHLer.

Now 18 and fresh off a Memorial Cup with Saginaw, he’s one of two first-round selections by the Calgary Flames at the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas, thanks in part to an unpredictable draft order.

Most notably, the Anaheim Ducks drafted Beckett Sennecke third — a pick that even surprised Sennecke himself. Cayden Lindstrom, Ivan Demidov and, yes, Tij Iginla, soon followed before defenceman Carter Yakemchuk and forward Berkly Catton were chosen.

“A lot of forwards starting going,” Flames GM Craig Conroy said. “Definitely when he was there we were excited to be able to make the pick.”

The Flames explored the possibility of moving around in the first round, but they ultimately made their picks at 9 and 28. They drafted the right-shot Parekh and forward Matvei Gridin, who led all USHL point-getters as a member of the Muskegon Lumberjacks.

Parekh is the blue-chip prospect the team has needed to take the next steps in its reconstruction. The Flames now have the two highest-scoring defencemen from the OHL this season in Parekh and Hunter Brzustewicz. Meanwhile, Gridin has potential and adds to the Flames’ glut of wingers in their system.

“We’ve got to score goals,” Conroy said. “To have two guys like that in the organization and, hopefully, one day playing on the same day is going to be pretty impressive. And fun for the fans.”

It’s time for this year’s draft week time-waster, the annual tradition in which we spend a day arguing about one of the most intriguing events on the NHL calendar. This year, let’s take a new angle on an old question: What was the worst draft pick of the cap era?

It’s a question that comes up often enough that you can probably recite the usual suspects. Nail Yakupov in 2012. Nikita Filatov in 2008. Gilbert Brule in 2005. That bum that your favorite team took instead of the stay-at-home defenseman your uncle wanted.

But are some of those names fair? Yakupov was a bust, sure, but the 2012 draft was a mess. If the Oilers had somehow had a premonition from the future and shocked us all by passing on Yakupov, who would they have taken instead? The next player picked was Ryan Murray. The next forward was Alex Galchenyuk. The fourth pick was Griffin Reinhart, and the Oilers are probably glad they never acquired … OK, bad example maybe, but you get the idea. In 2008, Filatov was picked ahead of Colin Wilson, Mikkel Bødker, Josh Bailey and Cody Hodgson, who all had better careers by far but weren’t exactly franchise players. Brule went just ahead of Jack Skille, Devin Setoguchi and Brian Lee.

There were better plays available later in those drafts, of course, but it hardly seems fair to say a team whiffed on a top-10 pick because they should have taken a guy who ended up going 173rd. Clearly, that player was never a realistic option. It’s easy hindsight, but it’s not real criticism.

Today, let’s look at the problem a different way, by rephrasing the question: Who was the worst pick of the cap era, judged by how good the players taken right after him turned out to be? It’s one thing to pick a bust who’s only slightly worse than the picks who followed. It’s another entirely to watch a cast of all-stars immediately go off the board.

“Group of players” is a vague and admittedly arbitrary cutoff, and I doubt we’ll find any picks that go 5-for-5 on the superstar front. But I’ll bet we can find a few picks where most of the names that immediately followed turned into good-to-great players. Let’s try to do just that, if only to give you something to have nightmares about before you watch your team step up to the podium on Friday.

LAS VEGAS – For weeks, months even, the Montreal Canadiens were concerned it would not fall their way, that Ivan Demidov would be gone by the time they picked at No. 5.

They had a decent idea that the four teams picking ahead of them would probably not be taking him, but there was a possibility — a fear even — that another team would jump ahead of them and grab him.

And as it turns out, that fear was very real. It’s a good thing for them the Columbus Blue Jackets like Cayden Lindstrom as much as they do.

And Chicago was not the only team on that train.

That fear was so real, general manager Kent Hughes and executive vice-president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton purposely did not attend the Gold Star camp in Fort Lauderdale last week, forgoing an opportunity to talk to Demidov, because they didn’t want to tip their hand, didn’t want other teams to know how much they liked him, how badly they wanted him.

In the end, there was never any doubt in the Canadiens’ mind that Demidov was the player they wanted. And this dated back even to last year’s draft when they took defenceman David Reinbacher with the No. 5 pick. They were hoping back then that they would be in a position to draft Demidov this year, and despite all the fear, all the concern, that’s exactly what happened.

“I said at the end-of-year meeting (with the media) that we needed to continue to add offensive firepower to our group,” Hughes said. “We always knew that; it’s not like we woke up at some point this year and figured that out. But we knew Rome wasn’t built in a day, that this was a process for us. We knew about Demidov last year, before we made our pick last year we were already pretty excited about this guy depending on where we ended up after the regular season.

“This week or two weeks leading up to it, and in particular the last four days, was probably the busiest we’ve been in terms of exploring if this happens, what do we do here? At one point Marty (Lapointe) looked at me and said, ‘You got this all written down? Because this is getting complicated.’ So, if you’re asking me of all the ways things could have played out today, this was option one for us. I would say it fell perfectly.”

LAS VEGAS — All along, as the 2024 NHL Draft took shape, Michael Brandsegg-Nygård just felt like a fit to the Detroit Red Wings.

As it turned out, he felt the same way they did.

“I had a little feeling,” Brandsegg-Nygård said. “So when I saw Detroit was on the clock, I hoped for it.”

That feeling proved prescient, as Detroit went to the stage in the middle of the Vegas Sphere and called Brandsegg-Nygård’s name, making him the first Norwegian player ever picked in the first round of the NHL Draft.

“I think it means a lot,” he said. “I can only speak for myself, but I know Mats Zuccarello was a big role model for me, and I looked up to him, and it was cool to see a Norwegian guy play in the NHL. … And hopefully me and (Norwegian defenseman Stian Solberg, who went 23rd) can be role models for young hockey players back in Norway.”

On those grounds, Brandsegg-Nygård is already a great story. What Red Wings fans will be more interested in is whether he turns out to be a great pick.

Already, there are plenty of opinions about the decision back in Detroit — a result of what felt like perhaps the most obvious team-player fit outside the top 10. He looks the part of a future NHL power winger — a big-bodied scorer who can make an impact in many different ways. He can score. He can win pucks for teammates on the forecheck. And yes, he will do his part in the defensive zone.

These are all, unambiguously, positive qualities.

There will be those who question the pick, though, because of how much rhyme it has to some of Detroit’s other recent picks, including 2022 first-rounder Marco Kasper and 2023 first-round pick Nate Danielson. Indeed, the Red Wings have developed a reputation as a team that emphasizes competitiveness and two-way ability in the draft. And at times, that over-arching profile — shared by nearly every first-round pick the team has made under general manager Steve Yzerman — has probably obscured some of the other abilities their prospects possess. Danielson, for example, is a high-end skater with considerable skill, but the fact he was also a competitive, responsible center has become the primary thing he’s known for.

In Brandsegg-Nygård’s case, the attribute that may be getting lost is his shot. When he was asked Friday night what his best skill was as a player, he quickly answered “probably my shot.” And Yzerman agreed.

“He can really rip it,” Yzerman said. “But it’s not like he’s just a one-dimensional shooter. All parts of his game: He’s got pretty good hands. I see him being more of a shooter than, say, a half-wall quarterback on the power play, but he can play in the bumper, he can play down on the goal line, and he can still make a play. But I’d say primarily, his greatest strength (is) he can skate down the wing and he can rip it.”

LAS VEGAS — Friday wasn’t just the day Adam Jiricek was drafted into the NHL by the St. Louis Blues. It was also his 18th birthday.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Jiricek, who became the No. 16 pick. “It’s draft day, birthday, and I’m really happy to be in St. Louis.”

It wasn’t the first NHL Draft he had attended. In 2022, his brother, David, was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets at No. 6.

“I was in Montreal (for that) draft, so I can expect what’s going to happen today,” he said. “But this is my day and my draft.”

The Brothers Jiricek from Czechia are both good-sized, right-shot defensem*n.

The younger one joining the Blues is 6-foot-3, 178 pounds, and he was No. 4 on Central Scouting’s final rankings of international skaters. He played in 22 games for HC Plzen in 2023-24, including 19 with the top team and three with the U-20 team.

“We were excited when we heard (the Detroit Red Wings select forward Michael Brandsegg-Nygård) before us at No. 15,” Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said. “We had our eyes set on the guy we got. He’s got range, skating ability. He makes a good first pass. We think he’s a legitimate top-four defenseman, and they’re hard to find.”

LAS VEGAS — This is how much the Minnesota Wild loved University of Denver freshman defenseman Zeev Buium, who fell into their lap in the first round of Friday night’s draft.

For the past few weeks, ever since it got out that University of Michigan standout Rutger McGroarty didn’t want to sign with the Winnipeg Jets, who drafted him at No. 14 two years ago, the Wild dangled the No. 13 pick in front of their division rival’s face as potential trade bait to snag him.

But that trade would have to be dependent on what names were on the board for each team when it got to 13.

As the first round got outside the top 10, activity picked up at the Jets’ table, despite the fact they didn’t own a first-round pick. Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff began whispering into the ears of the execs to his left and right, flipping through his draft binder. His right-hand man pulled out his laptop and put a privacy filter on the top. Cheveldayoff twice walked to the other side of the table, got down on one knee and huddled with three scouts.

He twice picked up his phone, once before No. 11 and once before No. 12, to call another table.

Both calls ended quickly.

There was probably only one player left on the board who could have kept Minnesota from pulling the trigger with the Jets, and that was Buium, a dynamic 18-year-old blueliner in an organization that’s starved for offensive-minded, puck-moving defensem*n who can quarterback a power play.

In fact, earlier this week, Wild president of hockey operations and GM Bill Guerin said on KFAN that the Wild were going to take Buium if he somehow was there for them.

Well, the Wild didn’t take any chance that another team would leapfrog them. Director of amateur scouting Judd Brackett made the call to use the Wild’s 2025 third-round pick to move up a one spot to No. 12 in a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers so they could select Buium, the top-rated American-born prospect by NHL Central Scouting.

“I think the Wild got an absolute steal at 12,” said Pioneers coach David Carle. “I think five years from now you’ll see that proves out even more in all the re-drafts that everybody likes to do.”

LAS VEGAS — In the days leading into Friday’s NHL draft, members of the Ottawa Senators were adamant they had no clue how the six picks would unfold ahead of them.

There was a level of mystery and intrigue that forced Ottawa’s amateur scouting staff to be prepared for even the most unlikely scenario to play out. And sure enough, when it was Ottawa’s turn to draft at No. 7, a surprising number of elite defencemen were still on the board. A draft class touted for being so deep with blue-line prospects, actually saw five forwards taken with the first six picks.

That meant the likes of Zeev Buium, Anton Silayev, Sam Dickinson, Zayne Parekh and Carter Yakemchuk were all available for the Senators.

Five defensem*n with different profiles, each possessing high ceilings.

But when the Senators had their three minutes to deliberate on the pick before making the selection, lead amateur scout Don Boyd said there was absolutely no internal disagreement or debate.

“Those three minutes were just, ‘Put the pick in,'” said Boyd. “That was it.”

The Senators felt strongly about selecting Yakemchuk — even after general manager Steve Staios admitted it was a “unique” scenario to have so many good defencemen still on the board.

“We like the upside on Carter,” said Staios. “He’s a raw talent still and there is a great deal of potential with him. Our scouts do a great job and worked really hard to identify this talent. And we’re very happy to have him.”

“It’s everything. I wanted to go to an organization that wants me,” added Yakemchuk. “I blacked out for a second. It was such an unbelievable feeling.”

While Yakemchuk may not have appeared as high in mock drafts this week, he was listed as high as No. 3 in Corey Pronman’s rankings as recently as last month.

“Yakemchuk was a top defenseman in the WHL this season. He’s a 6-3 right-shot defenseman who has legit game-breaking skill. He constantly breaks down opponents one-on-one and can pull off a lot of highlight-reel moments,” wrote Pronman in late May. “Yakemchuk has star potential and projects to be a major-minutes player in the NHL with a lot of offensive upside.”

LAS VEGAS — New York Rangers general manager Chris Drury faces plenty of questions entering free agency. Most remained unanswered on night one of the NHL Draft as the Rangers picked defenseman EJ Emery at No. 30. The club did not make any transactions involving current roster players.

No teams did, in fact. Zero roster players from any clubs changed teams during the first round. Those moves could still be coming with Rounds 2-7 set for Saturday.

Emery is a 6-foot-3 right-shot defenseman out of the United States National Team Development Program. The 18-year-old prides himself on his skating and defensive ability and told reporters he’s “really good at being a lockdown guy.”

“It was a pretty exciting moment,” Emery said from the Sphere, which is owned by Rangers owner James Dolan. “I don’t know who was more excited, me or my mom.”

Emery models his game off Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller. He’s never met the defenseman, who also went through the USNTDP, but hopes to soon.

Corey Pronman, one of The Athletic’s draft gurus, gave the Rangers a “B” grade for their pick.

“Emery is a Rangers type of defenseman,” he wrote. “He is a big, highly mobile defender who plays hard and can make a lot of stops. He has first-pass offense, but he also had zero goals this season, so offensive expectations aren’t that high. He can project to play in the NHL as a 4/5 D whom coaches love, and his elite athleticism gives him some upside to be better than that if he really hits.”

LAS VEGAS — With the No. 19 pick in NHL Draft on Friday, the hometown Vegas Golden Knights selected winger Trevor Connelly.

Connelly, 18, is a talented scorer who totaled 78 points (31 goals and 47 assists) in only 52 games this past season for the USHL’s Tri-City Storm. He’s an excellent skater with high-end speed and good change of direction, and he has the hands and vision to play effectively at those speeds.

He played for Team USA at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup — he had 10 points in only five games — and at the Under-19 World Junior A Challenge, where he was the tournament’s second-leading scorer with 11 points in six games.

However, many teams likely were concerned about several incidents in Connelly’s past, detailed by The Athletic’s Katie Strang and Corey Pronman.

In 2022, Connelly posted a picture on social media of a teammate assembling children’s building blocks into the shape of a swastika. A year earlier, he was accused of using a racial slur during a game, but the suspension was lifted after an investigation by the California Amateur Hockey Association. He denied the allegation.

“We had some really good conversations at the combine and then earlier this week,” Connelly said of his meetings with Vegas prior to the draft. “I think they were really high on character and what (kind of) person I am. I think they did a lot of research and a lot of digging, and I don’t think they would’ve picked me if they didn’t think I was the right fit for the organization.”

Connelly says he has since taken diversity training and done community service and volunteer work to address the concerns heading into the draft.

“I can’t speak for the other teams, but I know we certainly did our due diligence,” Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon said on the ESPN broadcast. “We interviewed Trevor on two different occasions, as recently as a couple of days ago, and feel that he’s going to represent our organization the way that we would expect.”

In the fifth round of the 2007 NHL Draft, the Dallas Stars selected Jamie Benn at No. 129 and a few days later, Tim Bernhardt got a call from a colleague, wondering why.

“It wasn’t meant in any negative way,” said Bernhardt, who was the Stars’ director of amateur scouting at the time. “He just wondered if we’d tested him because their team had, and the results weren’t anything special. Once we drafted him, he started to get some attention … and he developed very quickly. By the summer camp, right after the draft, we couldn’t believe the progress. It was like, ‘Wow, this guy is going to be a player.’”

Bernhardt was using Benn to illustrate a point about the art and evolution of NHL scouting and how difficult it is to predict how a player, at 17, only a year removed from playing in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League, could develop into a player with 1,112 NHL games and 907 points on his resume when he was mostly an afterthought in his draft year.

In fact, that draft year, the Stars had back-to-back picks in the fifth round. At 128, they chose Austin Smith from Gunnery Prep in Connecticut who never played an NHL game. Like Smith, Benn was an off-the-radar long shot. One panned out. The other didn’t.

What makes hockey scouting so difficult? Primarily, it’s the age at which players are selected.

The Ducks aren't the only California team to rebrand for 2024-25. The Los Angeles Kings are throwing it back to the Gretzky era.

See more from Eric Stephens here.

While we're on the uniform train, the Ducks announced Wednesday they'll be returning to the duck-bill logo.

Eric Stephens has more here.

While we await the second day of the draft, this is a good time to talk about new NHL uniforms. Fanatics announced its jerseys for 2024-25, its first foray into designing a pro uniform.

See more on the process here from Mark Lazerus.