2021 NHL Entry Draft Part 1

[Jesker]

Scott Morrow (RH puck moving defenseman), Corson Ceulemans (RH puck moving defenseman) or Simon Robertsson (LW powerforward) for me

I personally wouldn't touch Ceulemans before the 2nd round with the main reason that the draft gets thin very quickly IMO, I would say about mid second round... A big gamble in the first round doesn't seems like a good option for me as they're won't be a lot of NHLers coming out of that draft in later rounds. Better be safe with our first to get something, Montreal needs talent and we can't afford to add another 1st rounder to our bust list, but that's just me. A defensemen who played 2 games in the AJHL... I just don't know how you can evaluate him correctly.

I do love Morrow though, very poised and good analytics around him, and Robertsson is a stud I dont expect him to be available where we pick.

 

[Jesker]

I watched a lot of USNTDP U18 games the last couple of weeks and I always kind of check for darkhorses, good value for some later rounds. And Red Savage (son of Brian !) is my guy this year, I love the speed and the skill, there is something here for sure. 3rd round maybe ? I'd like that pick. Liam Gilmartin stands out too but for less sexy reasons, just looks like the perfect bottom 6 guy to have on your team.

And Luke Hugues is a beauty btw.

 

[1000eeer]

I watched a lot of USNTDP U18 games the last couple of weeks and I always kind of check for darkhorses, good value for some later rounds. And Red Savage (son of Brian !) is my guy this year, I love the speed and the skill, there is something here for sure. 3rd round maybe ? I'd like that pick. Liam Gilmartin stands out too but for less sexy reasons, just looks like the perfect bottom 6 guy to have on your team.

And Luke Hugues is a beauty btw.

Never again a poor skater in the first round.

That's my first criteria this year

 

[Sagikev]

Do we have any news regarding the NHL's plan with this draft? I hope it gets moved back, would be a blessing in disguise for the Habs as MB wouldn't be able to rush another 1st round pick

 

[robert ethan]

I personally wouldn't touch Ceulemans before the 2nd round with the main reason that the draft gets thin very quickly IMO, I would say about mid second round... A big gamble in the first round doesn't seems like a good option for me as they're won't be a lot of NHLers coming out of that draft in later rounds. Better be safe with our first to get something, Montreal needs talent and we can't afford to add another 1st rounder to our bust list, but that's just me. A defensemen who played 2 games in the AJHL... I just don't know how you can evaluate him correctly.

I do love Morrow though, very poised and good analytics around him, and Robertsson is a stud I dont expect him to be available where we pick.

Ceulemans played a full AJHL season last year, and was very good. Craig Button called him the best Canadian defence prospect in the draft (including Clarke and Lambos).

 

[robert ethan]

I watched a lot of USNTDP U18 games the last couple of weeks and I always kind of check for darkhorses, good value for some later rounds. And Red Savage (son of Brian !) is my guy this year, I love the speed and the skill, there is something here for sure. 3rd round maybe ? I'd like that pick. Liam Gilmartin stands out too but for less sexy reasons, just looks like the perfect bottom 6 guy to have on your team.
Tyler Boucher, who has missed most of the season, could be a bargain. Great blend of size, skill, and aggressiveness. I like D Ty Gallagher as well. Character kid who might have the best point shot in the draft.
And Luke Hugues is a beauty btw.

Tyler Boucher could be a second/third round bargain, as he's missed most of the season with injury. Big, fiesty winger with skill. D man Ty Gallagher might have the best point shot in the draft.

 

[1000eeer]

Ceulemans played a full AJHL season last year, and was very good. Craig Button called him the best Canadian defence prospect in the draft (including Clarke and Lambos).

I've read somewhere that he's quite athletic. MB, Timmins and Lapointe type of pick. I'm pretty sure he's going to be really high on the habs list.

He has the potential to become a top pairing D IMO

 

[MarkovsKnee]

We are looking at middle of the pack again this year... 15 Caufield 16 Guhle and...?

I'd probably look a lot at l'Heureux, McTavish, Bourgault, Sillinger.

I like a lot Dylan Duke from the USNTDP U18 but he is a small center, not sure Habs want to make that pick.

I really don't see L'Heureux as a 1st round prospect. Not sure what everyone loves about him. He's 2nd round for me. There's some skilled wingers & D I'd take before him.

 

[Jesker]

Ceulemans played a full AJHL season last year, and was very good. Craig Button called him the best Canadian defence prospect in the draft (including Clarke and Lambos).

I don't know if your point was that Ceulemanns was a top tier prospect or should be taken over Clarke ? Cause I couldn't disagree more with the second part... First part is debatable.

Yes he had a good year last year but... let's not pretend there hasn't been any problems over analyzing draft-1 years of several prospects who finally didn't do anything at the draft year... Not to add that the AJHL is so hard to evaluate, I don't know if you actually saw games, but feel free to enlighten me with that scouting skill I don't have. It's just so uncertain don't you agree ? I feel like Ceulemanns would be a very good exemple of why the draft should be pushed a bit until october so you can see his game a bit in september... He's commited to a good school too so would be very curious to see that and be a lot more confortable ranking him because I'm just not right now.

 

[Jesker]

I really don't see L'Heureux as a 1st round prospect. Not sure what everyone loves about him. He's 2nd round for me. There's some skilled wingers & D I'd take before him.

Debatable. You would convince me easily to take some players above him but I think 2nd round is a bit harsh. Were you a fan of Mavrik Bourque, Jacob Perreault, Tom Bordeleau ? To me those offensive players that are ''driving the bus'' stats wise for their teams and lines (I'm talking advanced stats) are good value, I like those offensive players, and L'Heureux fits the bill for me, but they are somehow always ranked late first round early secound for lack of defensive awareness or let's say ''passive'' games. I just think they end up being a lot more valuable to a team (and skilled, I think it's the more important thing, you end up always waiting skill in your line up) than some safer guys that rankings always have over them.

 

[Jesker]

Tyler Boucher could be a second/third round bargain, as he's missed most of the season with injury. Big, fiesty winger with skill. D man Ty Gallagher might have the best point shot in the draft.

This USNTDP team is very interesting this year. I Like Martin a lot too as a steady defender, seems to be a lot of later round good values. Chaz Lucius is finally healthy will watch him closely, I'm not the biggest Pastujov fan. And I think there is something there with Hreschuck and Behrens but not totally convinced yet.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

Debatable. You would convince me easily to take some players above him but I think 2nd round is a bit harsh. Were you a fan of Mavrik Bourque, Jacob Perreault, Tom Bordeleau ? To me those offensive players that are ''driving the bus'' stats wise for their teams and lines (I'm talking advanced stats) are good value, I like those offensive players, and L'Heureux fits the bill for me, but they are somehow always ranked late first round early secound for lack of defensive awareness or let's say ''passive'' games. I just think they end up being a lot more valuable to a team (and skilled, I think it's the more important thing, you end up always waiting skill in your line up) than some safer guys that rankings always have over them.

I don't think he lacks defensive awareness or is passive. He plays a strong physical game & has a great wrist shot.

At his size, I don't think the physical part of his game is translatable without significant improvement in skating. It's a lot harder to win board battles and live in the slot in the NHL.

If we're picking top 20, he's not on my board.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

Tyler Boucher could be a second/third round bargain, as he's missed most of the season with injury. Big, fiesty winger with skill. D man Ty Gallagher might have the best point shot in the draft.

I definitely like Gallagher as a 2nd round pick, if he's there. RHS too.

What's with so many players from that team going to Notre Dame next year? Is that like their unofficial school, or something?

 

[JeffreyLFC]

I want the next Pastrnak anything less is dissapointing!

 

[bopeep]

While watching Farrell, has anyone had an opportunity to see his teammate Ryan Ufko play? Right dman projected to go 2nd or 3rd round with impressive stats though not very large... just wondering if he's legit

 

[montreal]

While watching Farrell, has anyone had an opportunity to see his teammate Ryan Ufko play? Right dman projected to go 2nd or 3rd round with impressive stats though not very large... just wondering if he's legit

yes, saw the Steel several times this year, I like Ufko as well as Farrell's wingers from early in the season.

 

[le_sean]

The more I look at the draft the more I just want to give a 1st for a player to help now. It’ll be better to just take chances trying to strike gold with the two 2nds and three 3rds rather than hope for a middling 1st in a bad year to pan out.

 

[robert ethan]

The more I look at the draft the more I just want to give a 1st for a player to help now. It’ll be better to just take chances trying to strike gold with the two 2nds and three 3rds rather than hope for a middling 1st in a bad year to pan out.

I don't buy the "good draft/bad draft" predictions. They never pan out. Five years down the road you can make an assessment. The consensus #13 overall prospect Cole Sillinger had 53 points in 48 games in the WHL last season. 2020 #13 overall pick Seth Jarvis had 38 points in 63 WHL games the year before he was drafted. Sillinger is considerably larger and more of a goal scorer as well. Luke Hughes, top 5 rated U18 defender, has much better offensive totals than Jake Sanderson, #5 pick in the last draft, had with the 2020 squad. Luke is about the same size, plays a similar style, and will be a few months younger when he's drafted.

 

[Treb]

I don't buy the "good draft/bad draft" predictions. They never pan out. Five years down the road you can make an assessment. The consensus #13 overall prospect Cole Sillinger had 53 points in 48 games in the WHL last season. 2020 #13 overall pick Seth Jarvis had 38 points in 63 WHL games the year before he was drafted. Sillinger is considerably larger and more of a goal scorer as well. Luke Hughes, top 5 rated U18 defender, has much better offensive totals than Jake Sanderson, #5 pick in the last draft, had with the 2020 squad. Luke is about the same size, plays a similar style, and will be a few months younger when he's drafted.

It's almost like Jarvis rose during his draft year when he had 42 goals 98 points.

There's no bona fide #1 overall talent this year.

 

[SOLR]

I don't buy the "good draft/bad draft" predictions. They never pan out. Five years down the road you can make an assessment. The consensus #13 overall prospect Cole Sillinger had 53 points in 48 games in the WHL last season. 2020 #13 overall pick Seth Jarvis had 38 points in 63 WHL games the year before he was drafted. Sillinger is considerably larger and more of a goal scorer as well. Luke Hughes, top 5 rated U18 defender, has much better offensive totals than Jake Sanderson, #5 pick in the last draft, had with the 2020 squad. Luke is about the same size, plays a similar style, and will be a few months younger when he's drafted.

Everybody knew the Patrick Stefan draft was awful and it was awful. 2021 is a Patrick Stefan draft, all scouts have known about it for years. They do pan out.

 

[SOLR]

It's almost like Jarvis rose during his draft year when he had 42 goals 98 points.

There's no bona fide #1 overall talent this year.

There is no bona fide top 5 talent either.

If you were to draft the 2022s at the same time as the 2021s, you would get 16 2022s in the top 20 and maybe 2 2021s (Beniers and Power) in the top 10, none in the top 5.

Lambert
Wright
Savoie
Slafkovsky
McGroarty

Are all easily better than any 2021s and I'm not even talking about Casey, Nazar, Devine, Geekie, Luneau, all of whom could outcompete Beniers/Power out of the top 10.

 

[robert ethan]

It's almost like Jarvis rose during his draft year when he had 42 goals 98 points.

There's no bona fide #1 overall talent this year.

Point is, players can develop quickly from year to year. Majority of the players in this draft have had little or no opportunity to show that. This draft is especially difficult to characterise beforehand.

No clear cut #1 pick is just one spot in the draft. Habs haven't drafted first overall for about 40 years, and aren't likely to do so this year. It says nothing about what the 10th or 20th or 50th pick will become relative to other drafts.

 

[Treb]

Point is, players can develop quickly from year to year. Majority of the players in this draft have had little or no opportunity to show that. This draft is especially difficult to characterise beforehand.

For sure. However, there's usually a guy that you see coming a year or more before that is dominating. No such thing this year. Can't even say there's a guy that stand out significantly in the top5-10 as the bona fide choice.

We could be looking at this draft in 5 years see that we underestimated it, but right now it look more like 1999/2012 than 2006/2007/2015.

Speaking of, 2012 looked way better than it ended up as, so indeed surprises happen.

 

[Yarice]

For sure. However, there's usually a guy that you see coming a year or more before that is dominating. No such thing this year. Can't even say there's a guy that stand out significantly in the top5-10 as the bona fide choice.

We could be looking at this draft in 5 years see that we underestimated it, but right now it look more like 1999/2012 than 2006/2007/2015.

Speaking of, 2012 looked way better than it ended up as, so indeed surprises happen.

While I agree there does not seems to be a bonafide #1 this year, I don't like to evaluate a draft only by looking at the first few picks. I don't know why, but a lot of people do this. For exemple, in 2013, a lot of people said it was a deep draft, because there were players like MacKinnon, Drouin, Jones and Barkov at the top of it. Same thing in 2009 with Tavares and Hedman. Okay, it was stacked at the top in both those year, but after those picks, it really does not seems like that those drafts are deeper than others.

On the other hand, in 2017, people said it was a bad draft, because there was no clear top pick. Well, looking at it now, it looks like some teams got a great player outside the top 10 (And even in the top 5, there were some solid picks there).

Of course, there are some drafts that are top heavy AND deep (like 2015), but that does not mean it is always the case

So, since the habs will probably not pick top 5, I really don't see why we should consider this class like a weak one, just because the first few picks don't look too good. In fact, there is more odds that some players will slide because of COVID and fewer scouting.

 

[robert ethan]

While I agree there does not seems to be a bonafide #1 this year, I don't like to evaluate a draft only by looking at the first few picks. I don't know why, but a lot of people do this. For exemple, in 2013, a lot of people said it was a deep draft, because there were players like MacKinnon, Drouin, Jones and Barkov at the top of it. Same thing in 2009 with Tavares and Hedman. Okay, it was stacked at the top in both those year, but after those picks, it really does not seems like that those drafts are deeper than others.

On the other hand, in 2017, people said it was a bad draft, because there was no clear top pick. Well, looking at it now, it looks like some teams got a great player outside the top 10 (And even in the top 5, there were some solid picks there).

Of course, there are some drafts that are top heavy AND deep (like 2015), but that does not mean it is always the case

So, since the habs will probably not pick top 5, I really don't see why we should consider this class like a weak one, just because the first few picks don't look too good. In fact, there is more odds that some players will slide because of COVID and fewer scouting.

That's how I see it. Great year to have a boatload of mid round picks, which the Habs have. I think they have 14 darts to throw at the board presently. Couple of them have to hit.