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OHL Flint Firebirds

2024 NHL Draft Preview

June 28, 2024 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Flint Firebirds News Release


FLINT, Mich. - The Flint Firebirds have had at least one player selected during the NHL Draft each year since the franchise relocated to Flint in 2015, a streak they hope to see extended during the 2024 NHL Draft at The Sphere in Las Vegas. Flint has nine players eligible to be selected during this weekend's draft, five of whom are in their first year of eligibility. The first round of the draft takes place on Friday night at 7 p.m., televised live on ESPN and ESPN+ in the United States, and the remaining six rounds will be held on Saturday, beginning at 11:30 a.m. live on NHL Network and ESPN+.

There are four Firebirds who appeared on NHL Central Scouting's final pre-draft rankings in April, headlined by left wing Nathan Aspinall who was ranked number 102 among North American skaters. Flint center Kaden Pitre checked in at number 144, newly-acquired right wing Chris Thibodeau was ranked number 151 and defenseman Matthew Jenken rounded things out at number 222.

The 2024 NHL draft is the first-year 2006-born prospects are eligible to be drafted. Additionally, select 2004 and 2005-born players will be eligible as well. To be eligible, players must be 18 years old by Sept. 15 and under 20 years old by Dec. 31 in the draft year.

Flint's best showing at an individual NHL Draft was the 2023 draft, during which four Firebirds heard their named called. Tristan Bertucci (Dallas - 2nd round, 61st overall), Coulson Pitre (Anaheim - 3rd round, 65th overall), Nathan Day (Edmonton - 6th round, 184th overall) and now former Firebird Ethan Hay (Tampa Bay - 7th round, 211th overall) were each taken during the 2023 draft and both Bertucci and Pitre have gone on to sign their entry-level contracts.

Since the Flint Firebirds' inception in 2015, the club has had 30 drafted or NHL-signed players on its roster. That list consists of Tristan Bertucci (Dallas), Will Bitten (Montreal), Dennis Busby (Arizona), Nick Caamano (Dallas), Connor Chatham (New Jersey), Will Cranley (St. Louis Blues), Nathan Day (Edmonton), Ty Dellandrea (Dallas), Artem Guryev (San Jose), Fedor Gordeev (Toronto), Ethan Hay (Tampa Bay), Gavin Hayes (Chicago), Kyle Keyser (Boston Bruins), Ethan Keppen (Vancouver), Braeden Kressler (Toronto), Vladislav Kolyachonok (Florida), Dmitry Kuzmin (Winnipeg), Amadeus Lombardi (Detroit), Matthew Mania (Los Angeles), Nick Mattinen (Toronto), Brent Moran (Dallas), Alex Nedeljkovic (Carolina), Evgeniy Oksentyuk (Dallas), Brennan Othmann (NY Rangers), Alex Peters (Dallas), Coulson Pitre (Anaheim), Vili Saarijarvi (Detroit), Kole Sherwood (Columbus), Jalen Smereck (Arizona), Tyler Tucker (St. Louis) and Josh Wesley (Carolina).

Check out the Flint Firebirds Statistics

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