Post-Game Talk: 2015 NHL Draft: Celebrations, Complaints, Praises, Concerns

[deandebean]

Avtsin is probably the worst case of development in Montreal Canadiens history. They brought him over at 19 and played him on the third/fourth line in Hamilton for three years then terminated his contract. He was healthy scratched all throughout his tenure too. Had to develop Dany Masse in the top 6 I guess.

Avtsin played in a Tier-2 division in Russia last season. Tells you a lot about himself, to be honest. And he did not burn the league. Kid had no guts. Cory Urquart (spelling).

 

[TT1]

Emelin, DD, Gilbert, PAP are still on our roster?

 

[hoc123]

While the Juulsen pick was some what disappointing because of the fact that Roy and Merkley were available, it was a good pick. Potential top 4 defensemen. If he reaches his potential who cares if he's blocked. Worst case scenario we trade him for a player of our needs.

I'm trusting Timmins with the 3'rd round pick. It really hurts considering there were so many good players still available.

Matt Bradley is a bit of a reach for the 5th, but considering the other 2 picks I fine with this pick. He seems to have 3'rd line potential.

Love the Simon Bourque pick. A safe reliable 2-way defenseman who progressed a lot this season. Should have been picked late 3'rd-early 4'th in my mind.

Jeremiah Addison is another good pick. Great on defense and it looks like he started to build up an offensive game as well. Only concern is his early birthday (September 1996) might be the reason for his spike in offence. Should have been a 5th round pick in my mind.

Decent draft. Was hoping for some help in the top 6 or at least off load one of Emelin, Parenteau or Desharnais but I didn't expect that until after the free agent frenzy stops. Decent picking but could have done better. But then again I've learned to not doubt Timmins.


As well I hope we can get a couple of these undrafted prospects to sign with Montreal:

My Top 20 undrafted prospects list:

Nathan Noel
Tyler Soy
Kay Schweri
Dante Saliarto
Sebastian Aho (Swedish)
Tim McGauley
Cameron Askew
Veini Vehvilainen
Matt Jurusik
Loik Leveille (coming to the Habs development camp)
Cavan Fitsgerald
Vladimir Tkachev
Fredrick Forsberg
Ken Appleby
Kameron Kielly
Dryden Hunt
Tyson Baillie
Rihards Bukarts
Luke Philip
Alexandre Fortin

 

[Phil Parent]

Andong Song... listen. I like those kind of picks. If the draft had a dozen rounds like before, I would have loved us to pick him like in the last round, just to be able to say "Hey, the Montreal Canadiens have drafted the first Chinese born & trained player to ever be drafted!"

I would have loved Sprong for the same reason. And Janos Hari too! IF the draft still had a dozen rounds AND only in the last round (for Hari & Song). It's more meaningful to history and to the development of hockey in those countries than it is to the Habs. Which is why it was so awesome when we got Mark Streit, he wasn't going to be the first Swiss in the league, but he was going to be the first star, and we got him.

But in the 6th round... lots more established names still available... sure, Chinese hockey will get a rise out of this. But this is a wasted pick for the Isles, but they can afford it at this point in their built.

Avtsin played in a Tier-2 division in Russia last season. Tells you a lot about himself, to be honest. And he did not burn the league. Kid had no guts. Cory Urquart (spelling).

I played with Cory. Cory wasn't gutless, but he was just too nice a guy to play the game people expected from a guy his size. Shame too, if he would have been 3-4 inches smaller and a bit faster to go with it, he would have made it because people wouldn't have expected him to hit anything. He had this long stride that made it look like he didn't try, but really, he was just too mellow, too nice a guy for a 6'4 or 6'5 or whatever guy.

I liked Cory Urquhart.

 

[Habsawce]

Boston Bruins made this is a successful draft!

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

I'll admit from the get go I'm the glass half full type by nature, but I'm cautiously optimistic about this year's haul. Juulsen is one of my favorites and I absolutely think he has pro upside. Vejdemo is in contention for overall MVP in the Junior elite league and will get a chance in the SHL next year, there's no way to tell what he is at this point . The fact that he's a year older doesn't mean much since juniors never get to play a lot in the man league anyway. Bradley is expected to play a ton next year and could double his production in his post draft season. Bourque and Addison were great value pickups late in the draft and both will see increased responsibilities next year as well. Progression is the most important thing for me and on paper at least our five picks could all see their production go up next season. That's the key takeaway for me, we didn't pick any 5 year down the road project this year, no BCHL guy that we hope will develop at some point. All are playing in a good league with some good chances to improve.

There's no use sweating the second rounders we could have picked, teams don't trade those picks unless it's for a multiple pick package. we only had 5 very late ones this year, from the get go you knew this one was gonna hurt. All in all, like I said, I think we did as good as we could.

 

[Apoplectic Habs Fan]

Pretty anti climatic draft, tho pretty expected.

Honestly think its a precurser to a silent free agency day from Bergy.

Id be shocked if we see any improvements to the roster come training camp

 

[Wats]

When's the last time Habs had no prospects at a WJC?

 

[Phil Parent]

Is Juulsen a lock to not make Team Canada?

 

[dackelljuneaubulis02]

I'll admit from the get go I'm the glass half full type by nature, but I'm cautiously optimistic about this year's haul. Juulsen is one of my favorites and I absolutely think he has pro upside. Vejdemo is in contention for overall MVP in the Junior elite league and will get a chance in the SHL next year, there's no way to tell what he is at this point . The fact that he's a year older doesn't mean much since juniors never get to play a lot in the man league anyway. Bradley is expected to play a ton next year and could double his production in his post draft season. Bourque and Addison were great value pickups late in the draft and both will see increased responsibilities next year as well. Progression is the most important thing for me and on paper at least our five picks could all see their production go up next season. That's the key takeaway for me, we didn't pick any 5 year down the road project this year, no BCHL guy that we hope will develop at some point. All are playing in a good league with some good chances to improve.

There's no use sweating the second rounders we could have picked, teams don't trade those picks unless it's for a multiple pick package. we only had 5 very late ones this year, from the get go you knew this one was gonna hurt. All in all, like I said, I think we did as good as we could.

Took the words right out of my mouth. I remember 2013 draft seemed a bit dissappointing at first but after a week I thought that overall (besides galchenyuk) it was a better draft than 2012. It seems so far it could be true.

This year seems to be better than last year's overall (besides Scherbak) but again its too early too tell.

 

[Natey]

I like all the picks except I don't understand the Bradley pick. But I don't recall seeing him play, so I'll hold judgment.

 

[DJ Breadman]

Horrifying draft, this will be like timmins 2009 draft, that's my prediction

 

[The Nightman]

When's the last time Habs had no prospects at a WJC?

Timmins said in his post-draft interview that he thought Juulsen had a chance for the Canadian team same with Vejdemo for Sweden. We'll see.

 

[le_sean]

Is Juulsen a lock to not make Team Canada?

Very rare you'll see an 18 year old lock.

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

The picks themselves are not something I can sign off on. I know nothing about any of these players' games, aside from Juulsen who is a mobile defenseman with good edge work. He seems like a safe pick, maybe not an impact player but a good shot at making an NHL team down the line. I was surprised they didn't take Roy considering they are both RH d-men, and having seen Roy a couple of times in Sherbrooke I can definitely say he has the goods.

I think the more interesting thing to see will be how Bergevin proceeds with the rest of the off season. If we continue to see little movement from him, then we can probably expect more of the same next season, unless Price stops playing god and Montreal suddenly falters. In other words, another transition year.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Sure there were some names we passed up on but overall with the draft, I'm not too displeased with it.. it looks unsexy right now but it could pay off down the line.

I'm mostly upset we didn't find a way to off-load DD, PAP and one of Emelin/Gilbert for assets in this draft.

Noah Juulsen: Like the pick. He's a new breed of d-man and has all the qualities you're looking for in today's NHL.
Lukas Vejdemo: Timmins loves the pick.. and after looking after some things on him.. he does seem to have good offensive upside, an all around package, I like his hands, and he appears to have a good shot. He's got a good frame so if he develops we may actually have a 2nd line center prospect in the system.
Matthew Bradley: This is the strange pick but they say he has produced prolifically at every level, was buried behind two older centermen on his team this year so his production as a rookie at a 3rd line role is very good. Next season should give us a bigger indication of where his capabilities lie.
Simon Bourque: At the rank we got him.. a solid LD that might end up in the NHL as a reliable but not flashy 3rd pairing D man would be an asset.
Jeremiah Addison: This guy could be a good 3rd liner down the road, played well in the play-offs, built like a truck, has a heavy shot, gets after pucks and gets physical. He's a DSP like player which is better in a 7th round than a stupid trade to get rid of a much more useful player in Sekac.

 

[le_sean]

The picks themselves are not something I can sign off on. I know nothing about any of these players' games, aside from Juulsen who is a mobile defenseman with good edge work. He seems like a safe pick, maybe not an impact player but a good shot at making an NHL team down the line. I was surprised they didn't take Roy considering they are both RH d-men, and having seen Roy a couple of times in Sherbrooke I can definitely say he has the goods.

I think the more interesting thing to see will be how Bergevin proceeds with the rest of the off season. If we continue to see little movement from him, then we can probably expect more of the same next season, unless Price stops playing god and Montreal suddenly falters. In other words, another transition year.

Timmins puts an emphasis on development curve and rightfully so. Juulsen kept trending upwards, especially in the second half of the season. Roy on the other hand did not live up to what we expected from him after his 2013/14 season.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Timmins puts an emphasis on development curve and rightfully so. Juulsen kept trending upwards, especially in the second half of the season. Roy on the other hand did not live up to what we expected from him after his 2013/14 season.

Yep, Timmins loves guys who show a high development curve.

 

[Tyson]

Obviously the draft is not exciting when you are picking 26th. To be fair to these kids they are teenagers and it is impossible to see how well they will develop. Juulsen could be David Fischer or he could be Mike Green. Who knows...
What stings at these drafts is watching other teams retooling while we do nothing. Maybe that old saying is true "sometimes the best moves are those you don't make"

Habs do need to address the top 6 soon though. Price won't have another career year like last season again.

 

[Yoshidas Island]

I do believe I saw Grant McCagg post on Twitter that Dryden Hunt, Loik Léveillé and Bailey Webster are all coming to our development camp. I love the first two, but I don't know anything about Webster. Apparently we reached out to Noel but he chose to go to Anaheim instead.
EDIT: Webster is a 6'5" defensemen... Something we don't really have.

 

[Draft]

How can anyone be expected to be excited about this draft immediately as it finishes? Very poor positioning in the 1st and no 2nd or 4th. No trades or movement within the draft. I don't think it's actually possible for us to have come out of this draft with selections that the majority of people would have liked. That being said, I don't immediately expect this draft to be a standout for this organization.

Noah Juulsen: I see this as a needs-based pick.... but might end up being the BPA at this spot anyhow. This isn't some high-school kid picked in the first half of the first round! Looks like a good pick. I noticed him when I watched him play the Blades this year. Had a really good game, had a couple of points. It was Ukrainian night so.... maybe I didn't play close enough attention - should have limited my liquid consumption so I could give a better scouting report. I think this guy can be a player, wouldn't be surprised if he becomes a top-4 for us.

Lukas Vedjemo: Well, I don't think anyone is actually qualified to judge this pick. Sounds like Timmins absolutely loves him and I liked the highlight package on youtube. He's got really good size, plays center, and absolutely tore apart the SuperElit. He's only an overager by a couple weeks, so I'm not hugely concerned about that aspect. This guy could either end up being a steal..... or a total miss. Can't really say at this point. Hopefully we see him do well against men with Djurgarden and maybe he gets a spot at the WJC.

Matthew Bradley: Wait and see what he does in an expanded role. I really don't expect a lot (don't see him being a Gallagher/Hudon), but maybe he'll grow and improve his offence. Smart, works hard, and a good skater. Those are usually good ingredients.

Simon Bourque: Sweet. We needed a left D and he's solid. This guy could be a surprise if he continues to develop. Bergevin likes his character and he's local. Good enough for a 6th round pick.

Jeremiah Addison: Would rather have taken Noel. All a crapshoot at this stage of the draft though. Don't expect anything major - if at all.

 

[Team_Spirit]

Timmins said in his post-draft interview that he thought Juulsen had a chance for the Canadian team same with Vejdemo for Sweden. We'll see.

http://www.rds.ca/vidéos/hockey/timmins-fait-le-point-sur-sa-récolte-3.1138494

He said this here.

Apparently Rockstrom was so excited he could not believe he was still there in the 3rd round (Vejdemo)

 

[blueberry]

That's the guy, the small dude, the Francis Bouillon of Boston. I remember him now.

Nonetheless, Boston was a funny act to follow. Now that Quasimodo is out, who's going to provide the humor when we play the Booins, as there's only Shrek and the Finnish goalie left as the opening acts?

Hey we still have that Rene Rancourt, he's always entertaining!

 

[calder candidate]

Juulsen: Unsexy but solid. Love him but I didn't want to draft a RD...
Vejdemo: Taken to early, I would of like Filip Ahl, Austin Wadger or maybe even N. Roy (just for media candy).
Bradley: Seems like a bottom 6 player but doesn't really have size. I would of like Bondra or maybe Jaros player that will be at WJ
Bourque: same like a good pick but at this point in the draft I don't think we can really complain...
Addison: seem like a great pick at this point

 

[odishabs]

Noah Juulsen: He was somebody when asked by scouts who could be saying a few years from now was a steal in this draft. What I love about this kid is he was an anchor on his blueline and they lean on him a lot. Definite top 4 defenseman. Love the pick.

Lukas Vejdemo: I can't tell you that I know a single thing about this player. What I do know however is that this was a massive reach, pegged by most to go in the 5th round at the earliest. In my opinion it's because of that, that it's a bad pick. Based on value you could've taken this guy much later.

Matthew Bradley: Had limited viewings this year. Never the best player on the ice but never the worst. In my opinion he won't be an NHLer but I've been wrong before. Reminds me of the year we took Ben Maxwell.

Simon Bourque: Solid value pick. As long as he continues to develop he'll have a fair chance to be a bottom pair defenseman in the NHL.

Jeremiah Addison: Love this pick here. The bigger the game, the better Jeremiah plays. Working in the OHL i saw a lot of this kid. Character guy who at the very least will play a grinding role in the league and play it effectively.