It’s time to look to the 2024 NHL Draft.
On Wednesday, NHL Central Scouting released its preliminary players to watch list. Twenty New Englanders made the list, along with a plethora of talent with ties to the region.
NHL Central Scouting gave each player a rating. Here’s what they mean.
- A rating: First-round candidate
- B rating: Second- or third-round candidate
- C rating: Fourth- or fifth-round candidate
- W rating: Sixth or seventh-round candidate
- A rating: First-round candidate
- B rating: Second- or third-round candidate
- C rating: Fourth- or fifth-round candidate
- W rating: Sixth or seventh-round candidate
- A: Cole Eiserman | Newburyport, Mass. | Boston University
- C: Thatcher Bernstein | Brookline, Mass. | Harvard
- C: Gio DiGiulian | South Burlington, Vt. | Cornell
- C: Elliott Groenewold | Bellows Falls, Vt. | Quinnipiac
- C: Owen Keefe | Saugus, Mass. | Boston University
- C: Ben Merrill | Hingham, Mass. | Harvard
- C: Landan Resendes | Marlboro, Mass. | Boston College
- W: Sam Caulfield | Needham, Mass.
- W: Joe Connor | Amherst, N.H. | Northeastern
- W: Will Felicio | Holden, Mass. | Denver
- W: Jack Galanek | Hopkinton, Mass. | UMass
- W: Laz Giardina | Boston, Mass.
- W: Caeden Herrington | Manchester, Vt. | Vermont
- W: Kole Hyles | Exeter, N.H. | New Hampshire
- W: JJ Monteiro | Hudson, Mass. | Providence College
- W: Patrick Murphy | North Kingstown, R.I. | Brown
- W: Jack Sadowski | Arlington, Mass. | New Hampshire
- W: Teddy Stiga | Sudbury, Mass. | Boston College
- W: Niko Tournas | Redding, Conn. | New Hampshire
- W: Colton Whitfield | Warwick, R.I.
- A: Macklin Celebrini | Boston University
- A: Sacha Boisvert | Mount St. Charles
- A: Trevor Connelly | Providence College
- B: Kamil Bednarik | Boston University
- B: Cole Hutson | Boston University
- B: Tij Iginla | Boston Jr. Eagles
- B: Dean Letourneau | Northeastern
- B: Jack Pridham | Boston University
- C: Tanner Adams | Providence College
- C: Eero Butella | Northeastern
- C: Francesco Dell'Elce | UMass
- C: Matthew Frost | South Kent | Boston College
- C: Luke Goukler | Cushing | Merrimack
- C: Callum Hughes | Boston University
- C: John Parsons | Providence College
- C: Stephen Peck | Avon Old Farms
- C: Tobias Pitka | Boston College
- C: Logan Sawyer | Providence College
- C: Chase Stefanek | Mount St. Charles | Harvard
- C: Xavier Veilleux | Harvard
- W: Alex Bales | Kent | Providence College
- W: Marko Bilic | Cushing
- W: Drew DellaSalla | Brunswick | Harvard
- W: Jack Genovese | Quinnipiac
- W: Jack Good | Merrimack
- W: David Green | Merrimack
- W: Price Grimes | New Hampshire
- W: Michael Hagens | Boston College
- W: Easton Jacobs | UMass Lowell
- W: Erik Kald | Merrimack
- W: Mitchell Kneidel | Dartmouth
- W: Cole Longacre | Merrimack
- W: Connor MacPherson | New Hampshire
- W: John Mustard | Providence
- W: Tory Pitner | South Kent
- W: Lucas Schaefer | South Kent
- W: Eli Sebastian | Northeastern
- W: Drew Waterfield | Yale
It's time to look to the 2024 NHL Draft.
On Wednesday, NHL Central Scouting released its Preliminary Players to Watch list. Twenty New Englanders made the list, along with a plethora of talent with ties to the region.
NHL Central Scouting gave each player a rating. Here's what they mean.
Cole Eiserman (Newburyport, Mass.) was the highest local on the list and it's not a surprise — the Boston University commit's scoring touch is elite. It's almost a guarantee he will be a top-three pick come June.
Things got interesting after Eiserman.
While there weren't any New Englanders in the B range, six earned C ratings: forwards Gio DiGiulian (South Burlington, Vt.), Ben Merrill (Hingham, Mass.) and Landan Resendes (Marlboro, Mass.), defensemen Elliott Groenewold (Bellows Falls, Vt.) and Owen Keefe (Saugus, Mass.), and goalie Thatcher Bernstein (Brookline, Mass.).
DiGiulian (Kent) and Merrill (St. Sebastian's) are the only two playing locally this winter. Resendes left Cushing for the USHL's Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and will play with Groenewold who is also in his first season in junior hockey. Bernstein departed the region after two strong seasons at Nobles and is playing for the USHL's Dubuque Fighting Saints.
Keefe's move to the USHL came last year when he headed to the Muskegon Lumberjacks after playing at Malden Catholic. He has four assists through nine games this season.
Five of the W-rated players will play in the region this winter: forwards Laz Giardina (Lawrence Academy), Kole Hyles (Cushing) and Jack Sadowski (Kimball Union), defenseman Caeden Herrington (Holderness) and goalie Sam Caulfield (Milton Academy).
LOCAL NTDP STARS: Cole Eiserman, Teddy Stiga weigh in on NHL Draft hype
There were also a ton of players with connections to the region listed, too. The most notable ones were the A-rated players: forwards Macklin Celebrini (Boston University), Sacha Boisvert (Mount St. Charles) and Trevor Connelly (Providence College commit).
For reference, here is last year's preliminary list. There was no 'W' rating.
Here's the full list from this year.
New Englanders on the list
LOCALS: 10 NHL Draft prospects to watch in New England fall split-season hockey
