2024 NHL Entry Draft : Pre-Draft Review
The 2024 NHL Entry Draft is quickly approaching on the horizon and is generating a buzz in Bear Country. Round 1 of the draft will be held on Friday, June 28, starting at 7pm EST at the Sphere in Las Vegas; with rounds 2-7 following the next day, Saturday, June 29 beginning at 11am EST. The Owen Sound Attack have a total of 15 draft eligible players for this year’s draft including the number 2 ranked North American Goalie in Carter George and the 178th ranked North American skater in Sam McCue.
Known as ‘one of the most consistent goalies’ entering the 2024 NHL Draft, George was a key contributor to the Attack this season. The Thunder Bay, Ontario native played 56 games in 2023-24, registering a league second best .907 save percentage, a 3.30 goals against average, while facing a league most 1923 shots. George’s 1744 saves were also a league best, with him making more saves this past season than all but one other goalie faced in shots. Internationally, George continued to be a stud between the pipes, backstopping Canada to gold medals at both the Hlinka Gretzky Cup and the IIHF World Under-18 Ice Hockey Championships. At the latter he took home top goalie honours and was named to the all-star team.
Fresh off a season with the OHL Champion Peterborough Petes, McCue began his season with an increased role which caught the eyes of Attack General Manager Dale DeGray, who pulled the trigger on a multi-player trade that saw McCue and Konnor Smith join the Bears Den. The native of Sudbury, Ontario finished the 2023-24 season with 22 goals and 14 assists in 68 games. McCue tenacious play at both ends of the rink and growing offensive game have landed him on many scouts lists heading into the weekend.
Attack prospects Dean Letourneau and Austin Baker are also highly touted players heading into the draft, with Letourneau ranked 23rd among North American skaters and Baker 104th.
Attack players have had their names called 63 times at the NHL Draft. Most recently it was team Captain Colby Barlow making it a trio of Attack players to be taken in the first round since 2010. Completing this trio are Nick Suzuki in 2017, taken by the Vegas Golden Knights and Joey Hishon in 2010, taken by the Colorado Avalanche.
2nd Round: Chris Bigras (2013), Zach Nastasiuk (2013), Jonah Gadjovich (2017) & Sean Durzi (2018)
3rd Round: Jordan Binnington (2011), Jarrod Maidens (2012), Kurtis Gabriel (2013) & Thomas Schemitsch (2015)
4th Round: Geoffrey Schemitsch (2010), Steven Shipley (2010), Gemel Smith (2012), Maksim Sushko (2017), Markus Phillips (2017) & Aidan Dudas (2018), Cedrick Guindon (2022)
5th Round: Andrew Shaw (2011) & Jason Wilson (2010)
6th Round: Andrew Fritsch (2011), Jake Dotchin (2012), Joseph Blandisi (2012), Artur Gavrus (2012), Jaden Lindo (2014), Liam Dunda (2015), Trent Bourque (2017) & Petrus Palmu (2017), Servac Petrovsky (2022)
7th Round: Jacob Friend (2016)
Current Attack defenseman Konnor Smith can also stake his name to the drafted list, when he was taken last season by the Anaheim Ducks, when he was a member of the Peterborough Petes.
Draft Eligible Players
1st Year:
Carter George
Antonio Tersigni
Ben Cormier
Sam Ethier
2nd/ 3rd Year:
Sam McCue
Cedrick Guindon
James Petrovski
Servac Petrovsky
Madden Steen
Taos Jordan
Corbin Votary
Landen Hookey
Jackson Stewart
Delcan Waddick
Tomislav Brennan
