Top 5 forward prospects for Canadiens fans to know about in the 2024 NHL Draft
The 2024 NHL Draft will be rich with talent at forward, so who are the top five names that Canadiens fans must know about?
As they are still rebuilding, Montreal Canadiens fans are probably looking more toward the 2024 NHL Draft than the NHL Playoffs at this point. Not that the playoffs haven’t been interesting, and they have given us quite a fair share of fun games already, but following the top draft prospects should be Priority No. 1 at the moment.
Today, we’re talking about quite a few forwards you must know about before the draft festivities begin this summer. With that said, there are a couple of players in this slideshow who aren’t featured. For example, Ivan Demidov has already been written about, so there is no need to dive deeper into the incredible season he had.
Further, just about every NHL fan knows about Macklin Celebrini, who will find himself playing for the team that wins the 2024 NHL Draft Lottery. If that’s the Canadiens, then great, since he will provide yet another young cornerstone to an organization that already has a few of them.
Canadiens fans must get to know a few forward prospects in 2024 NHL Draft
Tij Iginla is another name not mentioned in the following slides since there is an incredible piece on him as well, so we’re going only with fresh names for this one. The players listed will also only be high-end prospects since there will be plenty of time to cover more mid-tier forwards and even those who might be potential draft day steals in the later rounds.
These may be names you’re already familiar with, but it’s always good to take a deeper dive into their overall productivity and predict where they would serve the Canadiens this season and in the years following the draft - most prospects drafted won’t see NHL ice immediately in a regular season game, but that doesn’t mean some aren’t at least close.
Cayden Lindstrom, F/Medicine Hat
Cayden Lindstrom’s size should impress you even more than his productivity. Standing 6’4 and clocking in at 216 lbs, the 18-year-old could fare as a power forward when he eventually reaches the big league, but he’s someone who could use another season with the Medicine Hat Tigers, even if his productivity was sensational this season.
Not that he has much of a choice, as Lindstrom couldn’t see AHL ice until he’s 20, but regardless, Lindstrom’s still in the ideal situation where he can end up dominating the WHL for an entire year following a campaign in which he scored 27 goals and 46 points in 32 regular games.
Since he played in just 32 regular season contests this season, his 46 points is no pedestrian increase from the 42 he logged in 61 matchups in 2022-23. Broken down, his productivity averaged just 0.688 points per game, while it skyrocketed this past season to 1.43 per, more than double the production in a one-year span.
If we adjust that to the 64 regular season games we saw in 2022-23, it would equal 92 points and 54 goals. Add that productivity with his size, and you should be excited if general manager Kent Hughes snagged Lindstrom this summer.
Cole Eiserman, LW/USDP
Cole Eiserman could be the wild card in this draft class, and while he shouldn’t free fall, this is a player who could go as early as fourth or as late as the middle of the first. If the latter occurs, the general manager wise enough to scoop him up just got himself a steal.
Eiserman’s 52 goals scored and 80 points with the USDP last year should be enough to intrigue any fanbase, and like Cayden Lindstrom, he also has great size, but keep in mind that he won’t even turn 18 until August 29th. At the time of this writing, anyway, Eiserman stands at 6’0 and is currently 196 lbs, and there is still quite a bit of time for him to further grow into his frame.
The one downside is, even if Eiserman goes to the Canadiens at their projected fifth-overall pick (pre-lottery), he won’t be in the system anytime soon. Eiserman will instead join Boston University and attempt to pick up where Macklin Celebrini has left off.
And if he’s there for a while, Habs fans will have a fun time watching him dominate the college landscape, while Terriers fans might just have another Hobey Baker winner to cheer for.
Berkly Catton, F/Spokane
Berkly Catton is one of the most entertaining prospects in the NHL Draft, having finished the season with 54 goals and 116 points in 68 regular season games while playing for the Spokane Chiefs. Catton put together a respectable campaign in 2022-23 when he had 55 points and 23 goals, so to completely dominate the WHL landscape this season and more than double his points total is nothing short of incredible.
This makes you wonder what Catton can bring next season when he should aim for a floor of two points per game and give whatever organization takes him hope that he can at least earn a trial during the 2025-26 season. It would be tough to see him seeing any time in the NHL this year, given his lack of size of just 5’11 and 163 lbs, but you also never know.
Something like it occurring wouldn’t be unheard of, as Zach Benson of the Buffalo Sabres earned himself a full NHL season, and he’s currently listed at 5’9, 163 lbs. It’s also worth noting that Catton produced at a higher rate this season than Benson did in 2022-23, so the door should at least be open.
Realistically, should he end up with the Habs, expect Catton to play another season in Spokane, perhaps get an outside chance with the big club in 2025-26, then snag a guaranteed spot in 2026-27.
Liam Greentree, RW/Windsor
If you’ve noticed a pattern here, it’s that quite a few of the players listed either have or are close to attaining NHL size. Greentree is in the former, and like most of the prospects listed, he will return to his junior team when the 2024-25 season officially begins. But unlike the others listed, Greentree should retain that ‘C’ on the chest.
It’s always a bonus to draft a player who wore the ‘C’ as it implies leadership qualities, and you can also guess Greentree played well over the past two seasons with the WHL’s Windsor Spitfires. He had a modest 45 points and 25 goals in 61 regular season games played in 2022-23 before doubling his total this year to 90, finding twine 36 times in 64 matchups.
Per Tankathon’s mock, Greentree looks like a mid-first-round pick, but thanks to his size, leadership, and productivity, if his stock rises between now and the end of June, don’t let it surprise you.
Right wing is also a pressing need for the Canadiens prospects pool, and next to center, I listed it as the No. 2 area of concern in a previous post. So, if Greentree’s stock rose and the Habs picked a little beyond the fifth pick, he wouldn’t just give fans a high-end prospect to follow; Greentree would fill a major need in the prospects pool.
Trevor Connelly, LW/Tri-City
While Trevor Connelly doesn’t have USDP credentials, he still played well with the USHL’s Tri-City Storm, and he should continue to build on the uptick in his productivity from this past season when he attends Providence College. Like every prospect listed, Connelly averaged well over a point per game, with 78 and 31 goals in 52 contests, a 31-point increase from last season despite playing in five fewer games.
Connelly is also the kind of player who probably wouldn’t go to the Habs if they had the fifth overall pick, but he would make sense in the same way as Greentree - should Montreal pick somewhere around seventh overall AND Connelly does enough to increase his stock before the big weekend.
He would also be a few seasons from playing hockey beyond the NCAA, so the Canadiens wouldn’t reap benefits as quickly if they drafted Connelly. But with a significant improvement in productivity, plus the fact he has quite the frame to grow into, Connelly is one of those players who may be worth the wait.
Overall, there are quite a few players Canadiens fans must get to know for the 2024 NHL Draft, and we are just breaking ground. It won’t be long until we cover blueliners, goaltenders, and even potential draft steals for the upcoming event.
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(Statistics provided by Elite Prospects)