CORE FOURS... UNDER 24... POST 24 DRAFT
Pacific Edition
Ages as per BRHL site***
1 - VEGAS - Matty Beniers, Adam Fantilli, Kaiden Guhle, Bowen Byram. It was tough for me not to include Othmann and Edvinsson on this list, but I went with Guhle and Byram as they're proving they can do it at the NHL level. Joe's team has a very bright future ahead of them with some incredible depth on the back-end specifically. Beniers and Fantilli will provide him with an almost unrivaled 1-2 punch down the middle too.
2 - SEATTLE - Jack Hughes, David Jiricek, William Eklund, Dustin Wolf. Rex has been rebuilding as far back as I can remember, but that has resulted in him stockpiling some of the best youth in the game. Jack Hughes is entering his prime and will be a perennial Art Ross contender, Eklund proved he's the real deal last season and has some major help in San Jose coming, Jiricek is a monster and a franchise D-man, and of course, Dustin Wolf is maybe the best young goalie in the game who hasn't really been given a chance to shine.
3 - LOS ANGELES - Connor Bedard, Daniil But, Brayden Yager, Matthew Wood. Rumpy targeted the 2024 BRHL Draft as his time to shine and totally overhaul his franchise. So far it has gone swimmingly well. The plan didn't fully hinge on winning the lottery, but losing it would've been a major damper on the party. The search for a couple franchise D-men is on, but Rumpy now has prospects and other assets galore, so expect him to be patient with his search to ensure the rebuild continues to be done correctly.
4 - ANAHEIM - Leo Carlsson, Simon Nemec, Pavel Mintyukov, Olen Zellweger. Devon is kind of in the opposite boat to Rumpy. He has stud D-men galore. Though don't think Dev is short on good young forwards as he has a few top-notch ones who fall just outside of the criteria of "under 24". With multiple good young goalies too, like Oettinger and Fowler, he is doing things correctly and rebuilding from the back-end out first.
5 - CALGARY - Ryan Leonard, Jiri Kulich, Cam York, Josh Doan. I did not expect to have so much young talent to choose from off of Kev's team while making this list. Players like Kirby Dach and JJ Peterka who didn't make it just show how much depth Kevin has, despite also being a perennial contender. Leonard may have benefited a bit playing with Will Smith this year, but he's still all-world, Kulich is developing as expected, Cam York showed last year that he will be an impact NHLer, and Josh Doan gets the nod in the 4 spot for his complete game that includes a lot of physicality, toughness, and responsible 2-way play.
6 - VANCOUVER - Matthew Boldy, Kevin Korchinski, Nils Hoglander, Trey Augustine. Tyler's Core Four under 24 would probably be ranked higher than 6th in some of our other divisions, but there is just youth galore in the Pacific. Boldy is clearly the real-deal and clearly one of the top young forwards in the game. Korchinski is still a raw talent, but his skill level is sky-high... one of my favourite young players to watch. Hoglander didn't do a lot in the 2024 NHL playoffs, but was great down the stretch for the Canucks as he really came into his own this year. And Augustine provides Tyler one of the rare young, possible franchise goalies, that every BRHL GM is on the hunt for.
7 - SAN JOSE - Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Dalibor Dvorsky, Arturs Silvos, Paul Ludwinski. I don't see more than 1 of these 4 players still being with the Sharks 6 months from now. Sumit likes to wheel and deal and will need to use every young asset he has to make another push this season. Lekkerimaki and Dvorsky are two of the better prospects in the game, so his return for them should be substantial. He will have to get more creative with his sales pitches for Silvos and Ludwinski though. Silvos being a Vancouver Canuck may help, and Ludwinski might need playing time with Bedard one day to maximize his value.
8 - EDMONTON - Jordan Harris, Vladislav Firstov, Tanner Ludtke, Jan Mysak. Leon's Core Four under 24 is severely lacking any real punch. That is okay, however, and what you expect when your team is clearly one of the front runners for the league's 2024-25 Championship. Harris is solidifying himself nicely as an NHL regular, but the other 3 all have question marks surrounding them and whether they will ever really pan out.
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