2024 NHL Draft: Top 10 prospects to watch from smaller hockey countries

Credit: Urban Podrekar (Terry Wilson/OHL Images)

Everyone likes an underdog.

Drafting a Canadian? That’s overdone. Taking an American? Too mainstream. A Swede, Finn or Russian? Been there, done that.

It’s always fun seeing a player drafted from a country that doesn’t get much representation. According to draft data from Elite Prospects, 6,541 Canadians have been selected, while USA has had 2,661. Among that, there has been one from Serbia (Ivan Boldirev in 1969), one from New Zealand (Matt Schneider in 2004), one from Israel (Maxim Birbraer in 2000), one from Romania (Evgeni Skachkov in 2003) and some rare representation in nations such as China, Australia, Netherlands, South Korea and Estonia. A total of 36 countries have been represented in the NHL Draft.

Unlike the 2023 NHL Draft, which saw Italian goalkeeper Damian Clara taken 60th overall by the Anaheim Ducks, the odds of any of the following 10 players getting drafted seems quite low. But none of these countries have much draft representation over time, so even just one would be big for their respective country.

Here’s a look at 10 players from countries that don’t participate in top level international competition on a regular basis that could have their names called in Vegas on June 28 or 29.

Bruno Idžan, LW (Croatia)

Idžan is a first-year draft-eligible prospect who had an interesting campaign. He was one of Croatia’s best players at the senior Division IIA World Championship last month, giving him some solid confidence after some mixed results in Sweden’s U-20 league. Idžan was great against U-18 competition, but the pure goal-scorer just struggled to find the back of the net with HV71 and Malmo. It was disappointing because there were some who saw him as a potential top 64 pick early on in the season. At least he saved his best hockey for last, but it might not be enough to actually get himself drafted this time around. Maybe next year will be a different story?

Maxim Burkov, LW (Estonia)

The No. 128th-ranked European skater according to NHL Central Scouting, Burkov was the third highest-scoring U-18 player in the Czech U-20 league with 24 goals and 56 points. Burkov loves the puck on his stick and has a great shot and has decent hands. He’s a raw prospect who lacks defensive and physical polish. Back in 1994, Detroit’s Toivo Suursoo became the first Estonian-born player in the NHL, but never played. Leo Komarov was drafted 180th overall by Toronto, but held Finnish and Russian citizenship. Could Burkov finally become the first true Estonian citizen to get drafted and play in the NHL?

Tommaso De Luca, C (Italy)

I was a little surprised that De Luca wasn’t drafted last year – there were rumblings he could have gone as high as the third round. After a good year with Spokane in the WHL, he moved to the National League in Switzerland and led all U-20 players with 20 points in 41 games. It was the sixth most productive season by a U-20 player in league history, which is impressive given it puts him ahead of a handful of current NHL prospects. De Luca is an all-around center with good speed and a relentless attack on the forecheck, but he lacks the physicality needed to excel at a higher level. I still think he’s a nice second-year pickup, though.

Kenta Isogai, LW (Japan)

Isogai has come a long way since his first crack at the draft in 2022 with the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms. He had three average seasons at best before joining the WHL’s Wenatchee Wild, where he had 31 goals and 88 points as a 19-year-old. You’d expect big things from an older junior player, but he showed he’s more than just a never-give-up forechecker who wants to win at all costs. Isogai also has a great shot, and he learned to be a bit more defensively responsible, too. His skating is nice, too – enough so that I’d throw him a bone later in the draft.

Filip Sitar, C (Slovenia)

I think Sitar will get selected – and I could see it happening as high as the third round if a team feels bold. He’s so smart with the puck, and he’s a wizard in the faceoff dot. The overage center had 50 points in 40 games with Malmo’s U-20 team and even got into 11 games with the senior SHL team, too. Sitar’s 10-point run at the Division IB World Juniors was a big reason for Slovenia’s gold medal and promotion to Division IA for 2025 – his last chance to represent the junior team. He’s set to join Northern Michigan for 2024-25, buying a team that wants him an extra year of development.

Nace Langus, C (Slovenia)

Langus is a big boy, and he made that apparent this year in the Swedish U-20 league. He just missed the 50-point mark this season but was still extremely productive, both with Oskarshamn and with Slovenia’s U-20 team. From watching him at the Division IB WJC, Langus did a better job of using his pure power to overwhelm defenders, and he has adequate speed, too. There’s no high-end potential here but he likes to get rough around the boards and players like that still have value.

Urban Podrekar, D (Slovenia)

Passed over a year ago, Podrekar made some noise as a mobile defender with the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs this year. He’s a decent skater with solid offensive instincts and he battles hard, with his puck play improving the more he got used to playing on North American ice. Podrekar was surprisingly confident, but that also likely comes via his experience of playing against men in the ICEHL in Slovenia last year. He also had a good Division IB World Juniors showing with Slovenia and has experience with the men’s team now, too. He doesn’t have enough high-end elements to make himself too desirable but I think he’s consistently good enough to warrant some attention as a potential late-round sleeper.

Jan Golicic, D (Slovenia)

Golicic made the move to Gatineau this year, where he was able to showcase his competitive nature. By all accounts, he doesn’t want you anywhere near the puck at any point, ever. But where he falls is his poor skating and weak shot, and while playing from the point, that’s not going to get you far. Golicic wants to be a two-way defenseman, and I think he could get there, but he’s a long-term project right now.

Alexei Dakhnovsky, D (Ukraine)

It was an eventful season for the 19-year-old defenseman, with Dakhnovsky captaining Ukraine to a silver medal at the Division IB World Juniors. It was the second time he did that after winning top defenseman at the 2022 Division IB U-18 tournament… which also ended in a bronze. He finally took home gold at the Division IB senior men’s World Championship earlier this spring, impressing with four assists in five games despite being Ukraine’s youngest player. Add in a good season in Slovakia’s U-20 league and it was a solid Draft+2 year for the overaged defender. Dakhnovsky moves well at six-foot, and being a puck-moving defenseman is his bread and butter.

Alexander Levshin, G (Ukraine)

Levshin didn’t play much high-level hockey this season – outside of a seven-minute stretch with the OJHL’s Toronto Patriots, he mainly played with the GTHL’s Toronto Red Wings AAA squad. But he followed it up with a great showing at the Division IA U-18 World Championship with Ukraine. In the one game I caught, he made 49 saves against Hungary to secure the win before edging out Austria in the final game. He was also incredible against Germany in the game, which ultimately allowed Germany to earn promotion, but the 6-foot-2 Levshin finished the tournament as the top goalie with a .936 save percentage. I don’t think Levshin will get drafted this year at least, but he’s very athletic and can carry a heavy workload.

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