Vancouver Canucks 2024 NHL Draft preview with Cam Robinson and Dave Hall: Canucks Conversation
6 days ago
On today’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal were joined by CanucksArmy prospect scout Dave Hall and Elite Prospects content director Cam Robinson for a 2024 NHL Entry Draft preview.
Cam was the first to join and started by putting this year’s draft class into context.
“It’s an average draft class, maybe a hair above average,” he said. “We were spoiled last year with Connor Bedard being generational. Coming up behind him, Matvei Michkov has nearly that much potential too. Leo Carlsson and Adam Fantilli were also notable. Last year had a lot of interesting players in it. This year lacks that true pillar at the very top, but if you go back all the way to 2017, the only guy you’re taking over Macklin Celebrini is Connor Bedard. Celebrini is that horse down the middle, a Nate MacKinnon style player. Celebrini will probably be a point-a-game, 90-point guy at his peak. He’s a very worthy first overall pick. There are also some very high-upside players in that top nine or ten, and after that, the jumble really kicks in, and everyone’s list is going to be different.”
The Canucks have their work cut out for them with no first or second-round selections. They’ll have to wait until the third round, pick 93, to take their shot on a player.
“One guy that has my attention is A.J. Spellacy, a 6’3” centre with serious wheels,” said Cam. “This kid can boogie, maybe the fastest kid in the entire draft class. He has jam and some feistiness to his game. Towards the end of the season, he was flashing some high-end stuff, so he’s a really raw prospect. He only put up around 40 points this year in the OHL but could project to be a top player.”
Dave Hall then joined the show and agreed that A.J. Spellacy is a name to keep on the radar: “He’s got wheels for days, and I’d love if he slipped, but ultimately, I think he’s probably gone by then. I focused on centre because, as of right now, Aatu Raty is the Canucks’ highest centre prospect, and I’m not too high on that happening. A name I really like is Simon Zether of Rögle in the SHL. He’s a 6’3” right-shot centre, a two-way guy but with some offensive skill. He needs to work on his skating a bit, but at this part of the draft, that’s par for the course. These guys will have to work on something. I’m taking his all-around profile over the skating, and Zether is definitely a name to watch. He’s Swedish, so he kind of screams ‘Canucks pick’ to me—a good, solid-profiled Swedish player.”
As for the overall quality of the class, Dave believes there could be some hidden gems but nothing to write home about.
“There definitely are some overage double-entry players that have some intrigue,” said Dave. “Overall, I still think you can find some upside if you want to take swings in the middle of the draft. But in terms of actual upside, it’s average to below average. There are some names in the mid-rounds that the Canucks can get who are maybe middle-six, maybe top-four but probably third-pairing guys. Even among the goalies, there’s not really a number one you’re hoping to get that will steal the show.”
You can watch the full replay of today’s show below:
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