Who are Corey Pronman's favorite 2024 NHL Draft prospects? (2024)

Everyone has opinions on draft prospects; sometimes those opinions differ from those of others. I talk to plenty of scouts so I’m aware of when my opinions on players are different, especially from those who also publish draft rankings. Today am I highlighting some guys I’m higher on than others — be it scouts or people in the media — and why I am high on those players. These are “my guys,” for the lack of a better term, though plenty of people in hockey also like a lot of these players.

Berkly Catton, C, Spokane-WHL

I think Catton is the second-best forward in this year’s draft and I’m a bit confounded as to why this is more of an outlier opinion than the consensus. I get the issue a lot of evaluators have with Catton: his size. He has a small, slight frame. But everything else about his game stands out. He’s an electric skater with high-end edge work. He has excellent hands and vision and makes a ton of plays at fast speeds. He’s a former Captain Canada who competes hard and generates a lot of offense in the middle of the ice. He’s posted major point totals in his draft season, as a 16-year-old, at his Hlinka Gretzky, his U17 Challenge and coming up as a Bantam. He checks every box, other than size, with emphasis. Normally I’d be wary of a 5-foot-10 forward this high in the draft, but players like Jack Hughes, Clayton Keller and Logan Cooley, among others, have shown they can have success if they are supremely talented, which Catton is.

Carter Yakemchuk, RHD, Calgary-WHL

I’m certainly on the high end when it comes to Yakemchuk, as I have him as the No. 3 ranked prospect in the draft, although I believe he’s more likely to go between 6-10 in the draft. Colleague Max Bultman analogized him to players like Luke Hughes and Pavel Mintyukov which I liked. Hughes and Mintyukov were viewed as super-talented players who liked to constantly attack, but weren’t considered good defenders. Both just wrapped up excellent rookie NHL seasons. I don’t think Yakemchuk is quite as dynamic as Hughes with his skating, but I think he’s just as talented as Mintyukov was, while a tad bigger and more physical. I’m not going to sit here and pretend Yakemchuk is a great defender or that he doesn’t constantly attack, but he’s by far the most skilled player on his team, and his skill is elite so I don’t fault him for trying to create offense. If you give me a 6-3 defenseman who can move fine and has eye-popping skill and a bit of pushback in his game, I’ll bet on him every day to become a great pro.

Yegor Surin, C, Yaroslavl-MHL

Surin is a very likeable player who was a leader for a top team in Russia’s junior league and third in their playoff scoring. Surin is a super competitive and physical forward who is a good skater and has enough offensive skills and playmaking to potentially be a solid scorer at the pro level. I think the way he plays translates up levels very well. I don’t think he’s going to be a super high-end offensive type, but like a Phillip Danault or Ivan Barbashev, I think he will endear himself to coaches and become a big-minute player in the NHL. I see a lot of lists with him outside the first round and I don’t think that’s what will happen on draft day.

Charlie Elick, RHD, Brandon-WHL

I’ve gotten a sense I’m higher than most on Elick as the season has progressed. I’ve steadily lowered him on my list over the year but I still see a first-round talent. He’s one of the best pure athletes in the draft as he can absolutely fly all around the ice, which is impressive at 6-foot-3. He plays quite hard and makes a lot of stops. The main debate around Elick comes down to his puck play. He has just OK skill and hockey sense, but I’ve seen worse skill on NHL defenders. This is still a guy who scored 27 points in the WHL this season with little power-play time. He’ll never be confused for a puck-moving defenseman, but I can see Elick making enough plays to have an NHL career.

Marcus Gidlof, G, Leksands-Sweden Jr.

I know I’m high on Gidlof — he is the 10th-ranked European goalie by NHL Central Scouting, but is my No. 1 goalie. He is 6-foot-6 and quite athletic for his size. He made a lot of high-difficulty saves because of that length and quickness, but also because he reads the play well and his technique doesn’t often break down. He checks so many boxes for me, between his athleticism and production, that he looks like a future NHL goaltender.

Pavel Moysevich, G, SKA-KHL

I watched Moysevich a bit during the 2022-23 season. I was intrigued by the 6-foot-5 frame, decent athleticism and strong hockey sense and production in Russia’s junior league, but he only played 18 games and I didn’t feel confident in the sample size even if he got some games versus men. Fast forward to this season and Moysevich was very good versus pros at the VHL and KHL levels and even got a brief playoff appearance for SKA. He’s a re-entry goalie, but I see a lot of traits of a NHL backup goalie and it wouldn’t stun me if he became something more.

Owen Allard, C, Sault Ste. Marie-OHL

Allard is a fantastic skater with decent size who competes hard and has some questions about his offensive projection. It’s a scary-similar profile to Warren Foegele at the same age. Allard’s detractors will point to his iffy production and that he’s a re-entry prospect and say his profile was only elevated by a less-than-stellar Team Canada world juniors age group landing him on their team. His production isn’t that far behind Foegele’s at the same age in the OHL, though. Now, Foegele’s development isn’t an example for everyone — it looked like his game was going backward after he got drafted and he turned it back around when he became a pro, but the argument is about the tools. When you’re that good a skater and you compete and can win battles, if you show even a bit of puck play, you have a real shot to make it. I think Allard satisfies that bit of puck-play requirement.

(Top photo of Berkly Catton: Jonathan Kozub / Getty Images)

Corey Pronman is the senior NHL prospects writer for The Athletic. Previously, Corey worked in a similar role at ESPN. Follow Corey on Twitter @coreypronman