HF Habs: 2022 HF Habs Prospect Rankings #12

[Estimated_Prophet]

Because they were depth defenseman, all these players have value and brought something good to the team, that doesn't change the fact he paid too much money for depth.

They clearly were not overpaid if teams wanted to give large returns via trade. Chiarot just signed with Yzerman and the Wings for 1.25 million more than MB signed him for plus an extra year despite being 4 years older. Everyone knows for a fact that if Hughes wanted to deal Edmundson he would get a very similar return to what Chiarot yielded.

You don't have to like the contracts but the fact that the contracts were at worst market value and at best good value is not up for debate. This is not a subjective excercise and you may just need to accept the going rate for middle pairing physical dmen who can skate. Especially ones who are battle tested and proven to be effective in playoff hockey.

 

[26Mats]

Depth defensemen? What the f***, man?

They were Top 4 defensemen and an integral part of what made this team go so deep.

TOI last playoff run:

Player	Pos	GP	ATOI ▼
Carey Price	G	22	60:59
Ben Chiarot	D	22	25:15
Shea Weber	D	22	25:13
Jeff Petry	D	20	24:04
Joel Edmundson	D	22	23:23
Phillip Danault	C	22	18:56
Nick Suzuki	C	22	18:55
Tyler Toffoli	C	22	17:48
Jake Evans	C	7	15:32
Cole Caufield	RW	20	15:14
Artturi Lehkonen	LW	17	15:07
Brendan Gallagher	RW	22	14:41
Paul Byron	LW	22	14:35
Josh Anderson	RW	22	14:30
Tomas Tatar	LW	5	13:57
Corey Perry	RW	22	13:54
Jesperi Kotkaniemi	C	19	13:42
Joel Armia	RW	21	13:41
Jonathon Merrill	D	13	12:53
Brett Kulak	D	13	12:52
Alexander Romanov	D	4	12:24
Eric Staal	C	21	11:31
Erik Gustafsson	D	16	10:0

I always thought one of our biggest trade chips in the rebuild could have been a package of Edmundson and Petry at 50% retained. The contending team that gets that gets a legit elite 2nd pair, at great cap hits (about 3.5M each).

I wonder if we could have got Pittsburgh's unprotected 2023 1st and Owen Pickering for that, especially if we took back the Petterson contract...

They clearly were not overpaid if teams wanted to give large returns via trade. Chiarot just signed with Yzerman and the Wings for 1.25 million more than MB signed him for plus an extra year despite being 4 years older. Everyone knows for a fact that if Hughes wanted to deal Edmundson he would get a very similar return to what Chiarot yielded.

You don't have to like the contracts but the fact that the contracts were at worst market value and at best good value is not up for debate. This is not a subjective excercise and you may just need to accept the going rate for middle pairing physical dmen who can skate. Especially ones who are battle tested and proven to be effective in playoff hockey.

I hope Eddy's trade value doesn't go down between now and when Hughes moves him. Imo, he's better than Chiarot. Different roles though. But Eddy is a good mentor for the youth.

 

[Mrb1p]

They clearly were not overpaid if teams wanted to give large returns via trade. Chiarot just signed with Yzerman and the Wings for 1.25 million more than MB signed him for plus an extra year despite being 4 years older. Everyone knows for a fact that if Hughes wanted to deal Edmundson he would get a very similar return to what Chiarot yielded.

You don't have to like the contracts but the fact that the contracts were at worst market value and at best good value is not up for debate. This is not a subjective excercise and you may just need to accept the going rate for middle pairing physical dmen who can skate. Especially ones who are battle tested and proven to be effective in playoff hockey.

Citing market value doesnt mean anything as the market usually overpays for players. What you need is good contracts, not market value (arguably more).

Also it doesnt take into account that he overpaid/paid market value for too many depth players and underpaid for all his core players save Weber.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Citing market value doesnt mean anything as the market usually overpays for players. What you need is good contracts, not market value (arguably more).

Also it doesnt take into account that he overpaid/paid market value for too many depth players and underpaid for all his core players save Weber.

I don't think you understand what market value means.....the statement "market usually overpays for players" does not make any sense whatsoever. Market value is dictated by the amount that the market is willing to pay.

Unrestricted free agents are the only true test of market value and if you need to acquire one then you pay market value.

Every good GM has to set aside budget for controllable contracts where leverage can be applied to pay below market value and they have to budget for free agents to suppliment their roster where they will be exposed to market value contracts as determined by the open market. Comparing the salary of a free agent acquisition or retention to a bridge deal or entry level deal is apples to oranges as the latter two are never enough to fill out a competitive roster.

 

[Fandangle]

Watching that OHL championship made me a huge Xhekaj booster. Going end to end using his physicality and speed; crushing everyone near him in his own end; creating havoc with that bomb of a shot. Diamond in the rough.

add Simoneau

​

 

[dcyhabs]

Heineman, add Struble

Our top 20 is insane. The fact that we will have at least 20 prospects who have real legitimate NHL upside and not just as bottom line depth players but all with the upside to become a significant NHL contributor is really rare.

This is not to imply that they are all going to make it as many likely won't but at this point in a pool's depth chart you expect to see a much lower upside group. It isn't even limited to the top twenty as there are still a few very interesting prospects who are not even in the poll yet.

I have never seen this much depth in a Habs pool before......not even close.

It's deep. If a quarter of these guys make it that will be good. Not sure how many of them are going to be impact players, though, and the habs need a bunch.

 

[Skip Bayless]

Man, people turned on Norlinder faster than freaking Macho Man on Hulk Hogan. Went from hero to zero in a real hurry.

TBH, he hasn't done much of anything besides being flashy.

So yeah, the hype existed, but was founded on almost fooking nothing.

 

[Ezpz]

TBH, he hasn't done much of anything besides being flashy.

So yeah, the hype existed, but was founded on almost fooking nothing.

He still has talent, but we also picked up like ten or fifteen 1st and 2nd round players in the last few years. Guys like Barron push everyone down. Xhekaj came out of nowhere. Kapanen, Tuch and Mysak are all recent 2nd rounders that won't make our top 20 either

 

[McGuires Corndog]

Watching that OHL championship made me a huge Xhekaj booster. Going end to end using his physicality and speed; crushing everyone near him in his own end; creating havoc with that bomb of a shot. Diamond in the rough.

add Simoneau

​

There is only one diamond in the rough and that’s Shea Weber

 

[Tyson]

Ylonen dropping in rankings is deserved. He has not shown enough progress.

 

[Treb]

Ylonen dropping in rankings is deserved. He has not shown enough progress.

There's also a lot of high picks added. Still have him at 16.

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

...went with Xhekaj...kid's a tank...

 

[Goldenhands]

Ylonen dropping in rankings is deserved. He has not shown enough progress.

Agree, has looked good in his short stretches with the Habs, clearly has the speed, stickhandling,shot and motor of a NHLer, but his lack of efficiency along the boards, the average defensive game and lack of dominance in the AHL is starting to worry me. Still a big fan of his tools and I think he will be a NHLer at the end, but probably more as a decent middle 6 than a solid top 6 at that point. I would be disappointed if he comes to the camp with the same lack of upper body strength, this is where he needs to focuss in the off season.

 

[Saku K]

Dobes deserves more even though goaltender are hard to rank I'll admit. Co rookie of the year with a prospect like Luke Hughes and goaltender of the year in his first season & first all-star team. He deserves to be in the discussion at this point, I voted for him. Add Struble.

 

[HABitual Fan]

It's deep. If a quarter of these guys make it that will be good. Not sure how many of them are going to be impact players, though, and the habs need a bunch.

Agreed, but if you can draft and develop non impact players on a regular basis, you have the cap space to be a player for the missing impact players instead of being forced to spend the money on those players like Bergevin had to.

 

[Tyson]

Dobes deserves more even though goaltender are hard to rank I'll admit. Co rookie of the year with a prospect like Luke Hughes and goaltender of the year in his first season & first all-star team. He deserves to be in the discussion at this point, I voted for him. Add Struble.

He had an impressive NCAA season for sure. Agreed.

 

[Naslund]

Riley is never coming close to making this team. Should be Dobes and Heineman.

 

[Treb]

Riley is never coming close to making this team. Should be Dobes and Heineman.

Why?

 

[Sherwoo9]

It’s crazy that Not a single 2nd rounder from previous drafts is piercing the top 10 prospects… we got 7 of them and it’s not because they crashed and burned as prospects with nhl upside (Kidney, Mysak, Ylonen, Heineman).. but mostly because they have less star potential..