HF Habs: 2024 NHL Draft Thread

[le_sean]

I would be shocked if the top 6 picks werent filled with defensemen. A top pairing defenseman has to be one of the most difficult asset to acquire. Just ask any of the Canadian franchises.

We had two at the same time along with the best goalie of the generation and our GM thought “how about I acquire Andreas Martinsen and Steve Ott to push this team”

 

[KevSkillz4]

So the rumors said that Habs will focus on a forward with their high pick, even if a good D is available.

Hallehuaj, thanks god.

Martin Lapointe and Nick Bobrov are not that bad after all.

 

[Koivu11]

 

[KevSkillz4]

If the draft will go that way, Habs a solid chance at Lindstrom even at 6-7 (I think his injurie will help his availability and the D's will be select very very soon).

Catton, Iginla, Eiserman, Helenius... that's a lot of great options for Habs.

 

[waitin425]

Man....he has Lindstrom at 9 and Catton at 15.

Imagine scoring Cayden with our pick, and somehow picking 18 with Jets and landing Catton.

 

[BergevinBurner]

I'd love to know how our management ranks the forwards at the top of the draft. I wonder how comfortable they feel with our center depth, if they're as nervous about it as I am then maybe their draft list is topped by Lindstrom and Helenius.

 

[SOLR]

Man....he has Lindstrom at 9 and Catton at 15.

Imagine scoring Cayden with our pick, and somehow picking 18 with Jets and landing Catton.

Possible, but unlikely.

I'd love to know how our management ranks the forwards at the top of the draft. I wonder how comfortable they feel with our center depth, if they're as nervous about it as I am then maybe their draft list is topped by Lindstrom and Helenius.

They should not be comfortable with Dach at all, thus they should not be confident about the center depth. Remains to be seen how much offence Beck will actually have in the NHL as well, this might make him a 4th center rather than a 3rd.

 

[BergevinBurner]

They should not be comfortable with Dach at all, thus they should not be confident about the center depth. Remains to be seen how much offence Beck will actually have in the NHL as well, this might make him a 4th center rather than a 3rd.

Yea, we don't have anything in the system that inspires confidence if Suzuki or Dach go down long term.

I'm guessing if we don't trade for a center this off season then there's a very high chance they'll take their favorite center left at our pick.

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

I would be shocked if the top 6 picks werent filled with defensemen. A top pairing defenseman has to be one of the most difficult asset to acquire. Just ask any of the Canadian franchises.

Montreal has had more top pairing defensemen in a single season than 80 point scorers since 1997, I'd say they seem to be harder to acquire, at least for us

 

[Habs Halifax]

I believe concensus right now is Eiserman is more likely to go outside the top 10 then in the top 3

Where is this consensus coming from? Elite prospect website has several rankings and their consolidated ranking for Eiserman is 11th. However, someone like Bob M has him 4th and even after considering his slip.

What is the context into why he is slipping? I have not watched him play one bit in the NCAA but his stats look solid. Especially his goals. He's fairly heavy for a 6'-0" 17 year old at 196 lbs. It is his skating and conditioning that is holding him back? Not sure.

He's one of the very few forwards after Celebrini who has size. Yeah, I get it, some think size don't matter anymore but that's not the normal trend of how teams target their picks...especially in the top 10.

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

Where is this consensus coming from? Elite prospect website has several rankings and their consolidated ranking for Eiserman is 11th. However, someone like Bob M has him 4th and even after considering his slip.

What is the context into why he is slipping? I have not watched him play one bit in the NCAA but his stats look solid. Especially his goals. He's fairly heavy for a 6'-0" 17 year old at 196 lbs. It is his skating and conditioning that is holding him back? Not sure.

He's one of the very few forwards after Celebrini who has size. Yeah, I get it, some think size don't matter anymore but that's not the normal trend of how teams target their picks...especially in the top 10.

Comes down to the eye test with Eiserman; no one in the pop scout world can identify what he excels at outside of scoring goals (even his largest backer, Wheeler, has difficulty beyond this point), and in today's NHL you need to be able to excel at more than just shot quality when considering potential impact at the top of the draft. Harder to get into position and repeat your exploits in a faster, stronger league, and the lack of development in other areas of his game are hurting his projection.

Whenever the stats and eye-test don't match, team interviews and background checks will be key to determining whether a player's ranking is justified or requires additional context we outside detractors can't know; hence, I would not take Eiserman in the top 10, but I would not think it asinine to see him go top 5 either. We all have the ability to make our own opinions on prospects, the key is to not got personal with disagreements when we aren't all knowing.

 

[G0bias]

Fans draft forwards.
GMs draft defenseman.

High end D are often found later in drafts whereas top forwards are almost exclusively top picks.

I fully expect the top 10 to be primarily D, but i see those two gone in the top 5.

 

[WeThreeKings]

High end D are often found later in drafts whereas top forwards are almost exclusively top picks.

I fully expect the top 10 to be primarily D, but i see those two gone in the top 5.

When scouts and GMs sit down and make their list, those defenseman will be higher than the forwards. It's how Nemec went ahead of Cooley and Wright. It's how Reinbacher was going 5 regardless who was picking there. It's how a Korchinski goes 10+ spots higher, just like Simashev and Wallinder.

Defenseman get helium in the draft and if there isn't a consensus among scouts that the forwards are a tier above the defenseman, generally the defenseman will go first.

 

[G0bias]

When scouts and GMs sit down and make their list, those defenseman will be higher than the forwards. It's how Nemec went ahead of Cooley and Wright. It's how Reinbacher was going 5 regardless who was picking there. It's how a Korchinski goes 10+ spots higher, just like Simashev and Wallinder.

Defenseman get helium in the draft and if there isn't a consensus among scouts that the forwards are a tier above the defenseman, generally the defenseman will go first.

Or like how GMs picked Barret Hayton, Zadina and KK ahead of Hughes and Dobson.

Sure i can imagine they value defensemen more in general, unless the team believes that forward is BPA (Demidov) or has unique size and position advantage (Lindstrom). IE Montreal taking Slafkovsky, a winger no less, ahead of two great D prospects in Nemec and Jiricek.

In this year's case, besides Levshunov and Dickinson, the other defensemen have question marks. (You could even argue the first two aren't surefire #1D either) so after those two are gone, the field is pretty open - that's where Demidov and Lindstrom probably slide in.

I don't think the same of the remaining forwards, they'll likely go after a run on D.

 

[G0bias]

Basically how i see it going;

2 to 5: Levshunov, and Dickinson are first Ds off the board. Demidov and Lindstrom follow
6 to 9: GMs take a run on D and grab Yakemchuk, Buuim, Parekh, Silayev
10 to 13: rest of the forwards in any order Catton, Helenius, Iginla, Eiserman

 

[habsfan891]

Where is this consensus coming from? Elite prospect website has several rankings and their consolidated ranking for Eiserman is 11th. However, someone like Bob M has him 4th and even after considering his slip.

What is the context into why he is slipping? I have not watched him play one bit in the NCAA but his stats look solid. Especially his goals. He's fairly heavy for a 6'-0" 17 year old at 196 lbs. It is his skating and conditioning that is holding him back? Not sure.

He's one of the very few forwards after Celebrini who has size. Yeah, I get it, some think size don't matter anymore but that's not the normal trend of how teams target their picks...especially in the top 10.

I haven't watched a ton of him but lack of compete and non existence of a defensive game are the highlights personally I'd still take him if Catton Demidov and Lindstrom are all gone you can't teach the shot he has.

 

[Be a Hab]

What do you guys think of Justin Poirier with our 2nd/3rd round pick? Small yes, but he's a thick guy. 5'6 180lbs. Incredible goal scorer. Not a one trick pony, can score multiple ways. We already have Caufield who is undersized but Poirier would only be ready 3-4 years from now.

 

[McGees]

Dach plays like 4 games a year.
I'm sure they'll take a C like Lindstrom if one is available, knowing they can always throw someone on the wing.

 

[morhilane]

Or like how GMs picked Barret Hayton, Zadina and KK ahead of Hughes and Dobson.

Sure i can imagine they value defensemen more in general, unless the team believes that forward is BPA (Demidov) or has unique size and position advantage (Lindstrom).

In this year's case, besides Levshunov and Dickinson, the other defensemen have question marks. (You could even argue the first two aren't surefire #1D either) so after those two are gone, the field is pretty open - that's where Demidov and Lindstrom probably slide in.

I don't think the same of the remaining forwards, they'll likely go after a run on D.

The forwards have question marks too, that's why the Ds have been high on draft lists since the beginning of the season.

 

[Habitant#1]

Slafkovsky-Dach-Lindstrom in the playoffs

They will be like the Harkonnens in Dune:
“You never met Habs before - I have. They're not human, they're brutal!!”

 

[Habitant#1]

I enjoying hearing Snake revisit drafts.

Man was he ever good from 2 to 11 in the 2014 draft.
Man was he ever bad with his 1st overall pick.

You also have to admire his honestly regarding his missed picks.

I always find he offers a really interesting perspective in general as well.

 

[Hannibal]

Man we need Lindstrom. Please make it so hockey gods.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

Basically how i see it going;

2 to 5: Levshunov, and Dickinson are first Ds off the board. Demidov and Lindstrom follow
6 to 9: GMs take a run on D and grab Yakemchuk, Buuim, Parekh, Silayev
10 to 13: rest of the forwards in any order Catton, Helenius, Iginla, Eiserman

It depends it just need one team to really love Parekh, Buuim or Silayev above the forwards. I think people really under estimate the question mark surounding Demidov (No live viewing, no international games and most importantly playing against very poor competition in the MHL for another year). Most scouts and draft ranking agreed that Michkov was the 2nd best talent of the draft but he still slipped to 7th overall. I believe Demidov will have a similar fate. I am not convinced that one team like Columbus or Chicago or Anaheim with how their team are build will be willing to go all in on Demidov. Most likely is San Jose as they are just at the beginning of their rebuild and might be ready to take that risk.

 

[Hannibal]

Wouldnt be surprise if chicago pick Lindstrom to pair him with Bedard. Powerfowards for Bedard.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Or like how GMs picked Barret Hayton, Zadina and KK ahead of Hughes and Dobson.

Sure i can imagine they value defensemen more in general, unless the team believes that forward is BPA (Demidov) or has unique size and position advantage (Lindstrom). IE Montreal taking Slafkovsky, a winger no less, ahead of two great D prospects in Nemec and Jiricek.

In this year's case, besides Levshunov and Dickinson, the other defensemen have question marks. (You could even argue the first two aren't surefire #1D either) so after those two are gone, the field is pretty open - that's where Demidov and Lindstrom probably slide in.

I don't think the same of the remaining forwards, they'll likely go after a run on D.

Centers have the same helium as D, but there's no true centers in the class so sure Lindstrom could go in with the D if they think he's a C. Maybe a team reaches on Catton or Helenius because they see that too, or they think they're wingers.

But Dobson was not regarded at the same tier as Zadina. That made sense.

I get it guys, we all wanna believe the worst case scenario will happen. If that's your coping mechanism, take it.