Despite sitting at the top of many draft boards, Team Canada forward Sarah Fillier says she has “no idea” where her name will be called in Monday’s stacked PWHL Draft — and she’s embracing that uncertainty.
BUFFALO — Defencemen have definitely dominated the broader conversation around the 2024 NHL Draft Scouting Combine and rightfully so. After the San Jose Sharks select centre Macklin Celebrini first overall in three weeks at the Sphere in Vegas, it’s possible six of the next seven or eight selections could be blue-liners.
But that doesn’t mean there aren’t forwards other than Celebrini worthy of focus this year. It’s just that all the potential high-pick forwards seem like they can — justifiably or otherwise —be nit-picked for some reason or another.
Big Cayden Lindstrom missed time with a back injury that, by most accounts, doesn’t really trouble teams. But they still might wonder if he’s ultimately a winger at the highest level, as opposed to a more valued centre. Ivan Demidov was not at the combine in Buffalo this week, and being Russian severely limits the ability to scout him, raising questions about when he may ultimately wind up in North America. Tij Iginla — a huge riser this year — looks like a fantastic player. But is over-drafting him a danger based on name recognition?
There’s also Beckett Sennecke, who is kind of a late-comer on the elite forward scene, thanks to a growth spurt that saw him start his OHL career with the Oshawa Generals at five-foot-10 in 2022 and shoot up to a hair over six-foot-three in the next two years. Has this truly transformed his hockey destiny? And at the other end of the size spectrum, super-talented Berkly Catton still gets prodded about being five-foot-10 and 170 pounds.
Loads of intrigue, less in the way of pure slam-dunks.
Then there’s the fact we’ve gone this far without mentioning Cole Eiserman of the U.S. National Team Development Program. Twelve months ago, Eiserman was pegged to go not long after Celebrini — a guy he refers to as his “best friend” after playing prep-school hockey together — in the 2024 Draft. But despite passing Montreal Canadiens sniper Cole Cau
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