Here's where Juraj Slafkovsky and David Reinbacher would be drafted in 2024

Drafts follow one another, but they are not all equal. From one year to the next, the quality of the draft class varies greatly, and the game of comparison is constant.

The 2024 draft is no exception, as many compare it to last year's. There seems to be a consensus that the next draft will be one for defensemen, compared to one for forwards last year. But one question often arises: where would players drafted in previous amateur drafts rank this year?

On this subject, Kevin Dubé of TVA Sports asked three NHL scouts where they would rank David Reinbacher and Juraj Slafkovsky in this class. To answer the question, the scouts used the information they had about the two players at their draft year.

It took a while for Juraj Slafkovsky to prove that he was indeed the right choice at the very top of the 2022 draft.

At the time, Kent Hughes surprised many by prioritizing the Slovak over Shane Wright, Simon Nemec, and even Logan Cooley.

The three scouts agree on one thing: Slafkovsky would not dethrone Macklin Celebrini this year. In the end, the three scouts place Slafkovsky in the top 10 of this draft.

Scout 1: Top-3
Scout 2: Top-5
Scout 3: Between 6 and 10, in the same category as Cayden Lindstrom

Let's be honest, many were surprised to hear David Reinbacher's name awkwardly pronounced by Carey Price last June. However, according to the three scouts, the defenseman is very underrated in Montreal.

Opinions are more divided regarding his potential draft position this year:

Scout 1: He would be the 2nd defenseman in the class, behind Artyom Levshunov
Scout 2: He is among the top three or four defensemen. He could very well become a Noah Dobson.
Scout 3: Artyom Levshunov, Anton Silayev, and Sam Dickinson would be ahead of him.

This says a lot about their current trade value.

In the end, we realize that Kent Hughes' choices were justified, as even in a supposedly stronger class, the players selected would be picked early. However, this is just an analysis and not a certainty; many things can still happen in the coming years to change our perception!