NHL draft week buzz: Top prospects, plus free agency, trades - ESPN

An extraordinarily compressed NHL summer continues this week:

The Stanley Cup is being awarded Monday night. The NHL Awards show is Thursday. The 2024 NHL draft is Friday and Saturday. Free agency begins Monday, July 1.

That comes after two significant trades took place last week: The New Jersey Devils acquired goaltender Jacob Markstrom from the Calgary Flames, and the Los Angeles Kings sent center Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Washington Capitals in exchange for netminder Darcy Kuemper.

To help make sense of it all, our reporters reached out to sources in front offices around the league for their takes on the draft, trades and the free agent class.

So ahead of this week's flurry of action, Ryan S. Clark, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski deliver the latest buzz around the NHL:

Boston University center Celebrini has been described as a generational talent who can be a foundational player. So much so that this draft has been colloquially called «the Celebrini draft,» with the premise that any actual drama will start with who goes second.

That's exactly what happened last year when Connor Bedard went first to the Chicago Blackhawks. Not that Celebrini and his exploits haven't been chronicled, but it does appear to be noticeably different when compared to Bedard.

«I think we almost undervalue him and the market doesn't see what Celebrini can reach,» one amateur scouting director told ESPN. «I think his talent and work ethic are there. He's not the biggest guy out here, but he is a strong, stocky kid with plenty of talent and an excellent shot.»

The amateur scouting director said the difference between Bedard and Celebrini is that Bedard is the smoother player, whereas Celebrini's game has more power rather than the finesse