With the first round of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft only 11 days away, TSN's Bob McKenzie announced earlier today that he will be releasing his highly sought after draft rankings on the 24th of June. There are several draft rankings and sources for the upcoming draft but none hold the same amount of gravitas as McKenzie's.
On Monday, the 24th of June, McKenzie mentioned that there will be a 30-minute show featuring the top-32 prospects that will air at 11:30 am ET on TSN. His top-80 list as well as 20 honourable mentions will be on the TSN website no later than 12 noon ET.
Looking back at his most recent draft rankings, he has Macklin Celebrini ranked as the number one prospect - a unanimous decision amongst the hockey world. Following him is Ivan Demidov at number 2, Anton Silayev at number 3, Artyom Levshunov at number 4, and Cayden Lindstrom at number 5. Other notable names include Tij Iginla who came in 10th and Cole Eiserman who was ranked 13th.
His upcoming list will probably change ever so slightly considering his January mid-season rankings had Eiserman at number 4, Demidov at number 6, and Iginla at number 16. This year's draft will provide a lot more curveballs than previous years and should draw a lot of intrigue once the Sharks make the obvious pick at number 1.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are currently slated to draft 23rd overall and should be in line to get their hands on a pretty good prospect. Some notable names include Aron Kiviharju, Jett Luchanko, and Andrew Basha among others.
Last year the Maple Leafs drafted Easton Cowan with the 28th overall selection and it's safe to say that it's worked out like gangbusters so far. The 19-year-old played for the London Knights and absolutely tore up the OHL with 96 points in 54 regular season games and then 34 points in 18 post-season contests en route to being crowned as OHL Champions.
Here's hoping for some more late round magic in 2024.
Source for Bob McKenzie's May Draft Rankings:McKenzie's Draft Ranking: An 'unpredictable ride' after Celebrini
Source for Bob McKenzie's January Draft Rankings:Celebrini the unanimous No. 1 prospect in McKenzie's mid-season draft ranking
POLL | ||
17 JUIN | 130 ANSWERS TSN's Bob McKenzie makes huge announcement regarding his final draft rankings Who will be drafted 2nd overall at the 2024 NHL Entry Draft? | ||
Ivan Demidov | 57 | 43.8 % |
Artyom Levshunov | 37 | 28.5 % |
Anton Silayev | 19 | 14.6 % |
Other | 17 | 13.1 % |
List of polls |