Draft Preview 2024: Wingers | Philadelphia Flyers

Demidov is often compared by fans and scouts to current NHL star Kirill Kaprisov or to another player who has come through the SKA developmental chain: Flyers 2023 first-round pick Matvei Michov. Demidov has a very high offensive ceiling, although Michkov made an impact offensively more quickly in the KHL.

Demidov spent most of the 2023/24 season at the Russian junior level (MHL, 30 games). He also saw four games with the KHL top pro and dressed in one game at the minor league pro (VHL) level. Conversely, Michkov spent a total of 30 games in the KHL between SKA and HC Sochi in his 2022-2023 season.

If Demidov comes close to maximizing his potential, he has the potential to become a top scorer in the NHL. Other aspects of his game need work as he gains experience, but the 6-foot-1, 192-pound winger is considered a potential top-three (possibly even top-two) to top-five pick based on his talent level. He is especially deadly during transition.

Beckett Sennecke (RW, Oshawa Generals, OHL)

Sennecke rose with a bullet in Draft projections experts during the second half of the 2023-2024 period. There is still some rawness to his game, but Sennecke has a projectable NHL 6-foot-4 frame that should fill out in the coming years. He is willing to go to the hard parts of the ice. competes for the puck in all three zones and has shown the potential to both finish and set up the game.

Sennecke has become a popular pick to land in the top half of the first round of this year’s Draft, even among some who see his upside primarily as a future top-six complementary linemate for a high-end center.

Cole Eiserman (LW, USNTDP)

Entering the 2023-2024 season, Eiserman is widely considered a potential top two Draft prospect for this year’s Draft. Although he went on to set a new USNTDP scoring record, Eiserman fell out of the projected top-10 (in some cases, projected top half) of the 2024 Draft, according to the experts.

Eiserman is a divisive player in much the same way as longtime NHLers Phil Kessel, although they are not clones as players. Eiserman, like Kessel, has A+ hands and the ability to score in bunches. He can also finish from distance. Eiserman has more of a physical dimension than Kessel.

However, Eiserman has as many critics as admirers, ranging from his overall contributions, if not scoring, to coachability and motor skills. For these reasons, he went from a preseason slam dunk for a top-five pick to a wild card who could be taken off the board early or slide into the mid-round bracket.

Liam Greentree (LW, Windsor Spitfires, OHL)

As long as Greentree can work around some of his skating deficiencies — in much the same way Flyers winger Tyson Foerster did — he has all the tools to one day make an impact in the NHL. Already physically mature (6-foot-1, 210 pounds), he showed both the ability to play (54 assists) and the potential to finish (34 goals).

Defensively responsible, unafraid to compete for pucks or play through contact, and already showing leadership potential, Greentree has many of the elements of a classic power forward, but he also possesses more finesse in his game to easily fit under that label to categorize. Big and skilled is an attractive combination of traits for most organizations, but the skating issues will need to be addressed by the player in the coming seasons.

Andrew Basha (LW. Medicine Hat Tigers, WHL)

Pundit Draft projections for Basha usually range from top 18 to early second round. However, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him move closer to the front of that range of the board.

Playmaking wingers are generally rated slightly lower than goalscorers, but Basha also has well-above-average speed. He has a projectable lead of the middle six in the professional game.

Although Basha is a pass-first type of attacker, he can also score opportunistic goals. He finished the 2023–2024 season with 30 goals (55 assists and 85 points in 63 games) during the regular season. He scored three goals and added two assists in five playoff games as his team was eliminated by the Red Deer Rebels in the first round of the 2024 playoffs. However, his greatest asset is his creativity with the puck and his deft passing .

Basha is of average size (listed by some sources at 6-0 and 185 pounds, by others at 6-foot-1 and 175 pounds). He is a player with a late birthday (born November 8, 2005), something that works against him in the public rankings.

Other names to watch: Michael Brandsegg-Nygård (Mora IK, Allsvenskan), Teddy Stiga (USNTDP), Ryder Ritchie (RW, Prince Albert Raiders), Igor Chernyshov (Dynamo Moscow, KHL).