Blackhawks fans continue to inch closer to the start of the 2024 NHL Draft, which means more mock drafts and more final rankings are dropping. I went thru Corey Pronman’s amazing, 7-round mock draft yesterday. But there was another hefty chunk of draft content that got my eyes as well. Craig Button, the long-time scout and front office exec who does a great job tracking and ranking prospects for TSN, released his final top 96 rankings for the draft. And they’re incredibly different from any other list I’ve seen previously.
He has Ivan Demidov in play for the Blackhawks at No. 2… and Artyom Levshunov at No. 8 — the third defenseman on his board behind Zeev Buium and Zayne Parekh. Three rankings stand out most at the top of his board, however. He has forwards Tij Iginla at No. 3, Cole Eiserman at No. 5 — both significantly higher than anywhere else — and defenseman Anton Silayev at No. 14, which is lower than most that I’ve seen. It’s a fascinating list to consider.
Forwards Tij Iginla and Cole Eiserman surge up the board, while there's a new No. 1 blueliner in our final Craig's List of the season by @CraigJButton….
Check out his final 96-player ranking here: https://t.co/hot50WLswW pic.twitter.com/2GJ4YqxHIA— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) June 19, 2024
Ivan Demidov’s official NHL Pre Draft height is 6’0.5 Weight 192lbs. #WeAreGoldStar! pic.twitter.com/1OUmzxdKEC
— Dan Milstein (@HockeyAgent1) June 20, 2024
58% of Blackhawks fans think the Hawks will pick Levshunov, but only 33% of fans want them to: pic.twitter.com/Spt2lddPQO
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) June 20, 2024
I sat down with Artyom Levshunov and talked about everything from Ivan Demidov to the Blackhawks possibly drafting him to not being home for two years to his experiences on and off the ice at Michigan State https://t.co/h8uOz87SLZ— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) June 20, 2024
NHL Rumor Mill: Nečas Buzz, #Blackhawks Linked to Chychrun, San Jose Gets Busyhttps://t.co/g3fi025Otv
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) June 19, 2024
The Blackhawks don’t have many offensive creators outside of Connor Bedard. A healthy Taylor Hall should change that, and so could some up-and-coming talent as it develops. But it wouldn’t hurt to add more scorers into the mix, especially to share the ice with Bedard so he doesn’t get held back by the team around him.
But would that be too volatile of an environment for Laine? Would the lack of structure and high-end talent weigh his game down?
Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell says "we're open" to possibly moving the No. 4 pick of the draft. "If we keep the pick we’ll get a great player, and if we trade the pick it’s going to have to be a great deal for us."— Adam Kimelman (@NHLAdamK) June 20, 2024
DeMar DeRozan Hops on Stage with Kendrick Lamar at LA Concerthttps://t.co/z82MvsBKoY
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) June 20, 2024
written by
Tab Bamford
Tab Bamford has been writing about the Chicago Blackhawks for almost two decades. He joined Bleacher Nation as the lead Blackhawks writer in May 2022. Tab is a member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and is the author of two books about the Blackhawks: "100 Things Blackhawks Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die" (Triumph Books) and "Chicago Blackhawks: An Illustrated Timeline" (Reedy Press, 2021). Find him on Twitter/X/Instagram/Threads at @The1Tab
