Juraj Slafkovsky is considered by The Athletic to be the worst first pick in recent history despite his promising second season in the National Hockey League.
The Athletic’s outlook expert Corey Pronman has surveyed NHL scouts and executives since 2015 to rank the top draft classes.
The exercise was primarily to compare Macklin Celebrini to other prodigies of recent years. The Canadian forward, expected to be the first overall pick in the 2024 draft in Las Vegas, was assigned the fifth pick.
Slafkovsky ends up in 10th place, last place.
“Slafkovsky divided observers in 2022 because this vintage did not contain an undisputed class winner,” Pronman wrote by way of explanation. Even the scouts who had Slafkovsky first on their list weren’t particularly thrilled with such a top pick.
Pronman added that “Slafkovsky was excellent in the second half of the current season” and looked like a “real front-row winger”.
The Athletic’s rankings are below. Read the full article here.
1. Connor McDavid – 2015
2. Connor Bedard – 2023
3. Auston Matthews – 2016
4. Jack Hughes – 2019
5. Macklin Celebrini – 2024
6. Rasmus Dahlin – 2018
7. Owen Power – 2021
8. Nico Hischier – 2017
9. Alexis Lafrenière – 2020
10. Juraj Slafkovsky – 2022
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