The Stanley Cup Final has ended with a Florida Panthers championship and with that, the first round of the NHL draft is set.
The Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators also changed up the order with a trade just before Game 7 began.
The champion Panthers get the 32nd pick and the runner-up Edmonton Oilers pick No. 31. But they already traded those picks, so the Philadelphia Flyers (32) and Anaheim Ducks (31) will choose instead.
The first 16 slots were set after the draft lottery, with the San Jose Sharks winning and retaining the top pick. None of the non-playoff teams moved up or down. The next 12 picks went to the teams eliminated in the first two rounds. Picks Nos. 29 and 30 went to the conference final losers.
Monday's trade of goaltender Linus Ullmark to the Senators gives Ottawa's No. 1 pick (originally Boston's) to the Bruins.
A look at the 2024 NHL draft:
The 2024 NHL draft will be held Friday and Saturday at Sphere in Las Vegas. The first round will start Friday at 7 p.m. ET and the second through seventh rounds will start Saturday at 11:30 a.m. ET.
The first round will shown Friday on ESPN and Saturday's rounds will be shown on NHL Network. Both days can be streamed on ESPN+.
The consensus top pick is Macklin Celebrini, 17, a 6-foot, 190-pound freshman center at Boston University. He had 32 goals and 32 assists in 38 games to lead the Terriers to the Frozen Four, where they lost to eventual champion Denver in the semifinals. He won the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey's top men's player, plus was voted Hockey East's top player and rookie.
Celebrini is the consensus No. 1 pick in mock drafts and has been all season.
“He possesses that rare, elite ability to thrive with his skills and smarts while competing with a consistent passion to face every challenge head-on and generate results, all the while making himself a better player,” said Dan Marr, vice president of NHL Central Scouting.
There is no consensus No. 2 pick. The draft is deep in defensemen.
Here is how NHL Central Scouting ranks the top 10 North American prospects and top five international prospects.
North American prospects: Celebrini, Michigan State defenseman Artyom Levshunov, Medicine Hat center Cayden Lindstrom, Denver defenseman Zeev Buium, Saginaw defenseman Zayne Parekh, Tri-City winger Trevor Connelly, London defenseman Sam Dickinson, Spokane center Berkly Catton, Kelowna center Tij Iginla (son of Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla) and Chicago center Michael Hage.
International prospects: Russian 6-7 defenseman Anton Silayev, Russian winger Ivan Demidov, Finnish center Konsta Helenius, Czech defenseman Adam Jiricek and Swedish winger Michael Brandsegg-Nygard.
2024-12-24 09:122111 view
2024-12-24 08:4182 view
2024-12-24 08:152429 view
2024-12-24 08:141151 view
2024-12-24 07:381058 view
2024-12-24 07:092732 view
Dave Coulier is opening up about his health battle.The Full House star shared he has been diagnosed
Conference expansion and the elimination of divisional play has made it harder than ever to map out
For 19-year-old Carson Carpenter, voting for Donald Trump was a “no-brainer.”Carpenter, who grew up