Marc the Habs Fan
Moderator
In the weeks leading up to the '04 draft, many people and many scouting services seemed high on Mesz. One service, IIRC, was really low on him (ISS? ) but the rest had him as a top 15 pick, without a doubt. He was billed as an offensive defenceman with a pretty mature defensive game. He was good enough to play for Slovakia at the WC that spring. A solid top 3 D at the NHL level seemed to be his upside, with a chance to be a very good top pairing guy.
It was a so-so draft and many felt Mesz would be the 2nd or 3rd d-man picked and gone by the time Buffalo picked at 13. I was convinced there was no chance the Habs would get a crack at him at 18.
The draft goes on...Meszaros doesn't go top 10. Smid goes 9th to ANA. Valabik went 10th overall to ATL. Thelen 12th overall to Minny. Buffalo, in dire need of a solid defensive prospect, opts for Stafford. The Islanders, also needing a blue chip D, grab Nokelainen. Habs, also lacking a bluechip D prospect with Hainsey on the verge of flaming out at the time, grab Chipchura, angering me for weeks although I have come around on him and hope he can emerge into an excellent 3rd line center. Maybe these teams had Meszaros ranked as the 2nd or 3rd best prospect left on their list, we will probably never know.
Teams who have drafted well like NJ, COL and SJ pass on Meszaros...and of course, who else but the Senators to show everyone they made a mistake in their evaluation by grabbing Meszaros, no doubt laughing all the way to the freaking bank. The rest is history. Meszaros has a very good WHL season, makes the loaded Sens at age 19, looks like a 15 year vet in the process and will no doubt become yet another gem picked late in the first round for Ottawa.
So basically my question is why in god's name did he fall to 23 overall in that draft? Did he show up to the combine overweight? Did his attitude piss people off during the interview process? What's the deal? Every year there is always a great talent that falls for various reasons (skating, size, attitude) but there just doesn't seem to be any logical explanation on Meszaros not getting picked earlier in a so-so draft.
It was a so-so draft and many felt Mesz would be the 2nd or 3rd d-man picked and gone by the time Buffalo picked at 13. I was convinced there was no chance the Habs would get a crack at him at 18.
The draft goes on...Meszaros doesn't go top 10. Smid goes 9th to ANA. Valabik went 10th overall to ATL. Thelen 12th overall to Minny. Buffalo, in dire need of a solid defensive prospect, opts for Stafford. The Islanders, also needing a blue chip D, grab Nokelainen. Habs, also lacking a bluechip D prospect with Hainsey on the verge of flaming out at the time, grab Chipchura, angering me for weeks although I have come around on him and hope he can emerge into an excellent 3rd line center. Maybe these teams had Meszaros ranked as the 2nd or 3rd best prospect left on their list, we will probably never know.
Teams who have drafted well like NJ, COL and SJ pass on Meszaros...and of course, who else but the Senators to show everyone they made a mistake in their evaluation by grabbing Meszaros, no doubt laughing all the way to the freaking bank. The rest is history. Meszaros has a very good WHL season, makes the loaded Sens at age 19, looks like a 15 year vet in the process and will no doubt become yet another gem picked late in the first round for Ottawa.
So basically my question is why in god's name did he fall to 23 overall in that draft? Did he show up to the combine overweight? Did his attitude piss people off during the interview process? What's the deal? Every year there is always a great talent that falls for various reasons (skating, size, attitude) but there just doesn't seem to be any logical explanation on Meszaros not getting picked earlier in a so-so draft.