HF Habs: 2024 NHL Draft Thread

[JeffreyLFC]

shoulda drafted Tkatchuk instead of KK (but then we wouldn't have ended up with Slaf/Hutson most likely) etc etc, shoulda woulda coulda

it's easy to talk in hindsight and it's only been 1 year, give it at least 5 years to see how these 2 drafts pan out

I am fully behind this management staff but it was obvious even a year ago that this year draft class of defenseman would be amazing and maybe the type you see once in a decade. Very similar to 2008 draft class in some regards. I think part of the Habs brass thought you can never have good enough defenseman and Reinbacher filled an obvious need and they went ahead to draft him. Now it's a bit painful because I would trade our top pick for like almost any of the top drafted forward from last year.

Michkov, yes
Leonard, yes
Benson, yes
Dvorsky, yes

I know it's not a popular take but I would 100% monetize our draft rank this year and look to trade down to around 12-14 to get more assets and draft the top rated forward that will available.

 

[Schooner Guy]

Should’ve took Leonard last year and drafted Buium, Levshonov or Perekh this year

Michkov was also a great pick.

You guys are all cracked! 20 months ago you were boohooing that we should have taken Wright over Slaf. A year ago you were saying we should have taken Cooley or Nemec over Slaf. Five months ago you were saying we should have taken Mintyukov or Jiricek over Slaf.

Leonard, Michkov, Reinbacher haven't even played in the NHL yet. Maybe let it all play out and give our hockey ops group the benefit of the doubt until there's a clearer picture.

 

[Canadienna]

I'm torn. I always preach BPA, but the Habs are in kind of a unique spot with such a positional imbalance in their prospect pool with D to F.

If they get to the podium and the best player in their mind is a Dman, do they skip over him and pick their best forward?

 

[Gustave]

I'm torn. I always preach BPA, but the Habs are in kind of a unique spot with such a positional imbalance in their prospect pool with D to F.

If they get to the podium and the best player in their mind is a Dman, do they skip over him and pick their best forward?

KH answered this; that D will have to totally be above said F. If they are « comparable » in their value, they will go F.

 

[skidcells]

Konsta Helenius will represent Finland at the U18 and can join the men’s team the Worlds afterwards. We get our wish for those that wanted to see him vs his age group.

 

[Canadienna]

KH answered this; that D will have to totally be above said F. If they are « comparable » in their value, they will go F.

Yeah I get what he's saying, but at the same time no two players are really "comparable". They're all individuals and what threshold of "better" a D needs to be to be picked is still subjective.

I hadn't seen that though, thanks.

It sort of feels like aiming for positional need last year has forced our hand to do so again. Not sure if that's justified.

 

[Gustave]

Yeah I get what he's saying, but at the same time no two players are really "comparable". They're all individuals and what threshold of "better" a D needs to be to be picked is still subjective.

I hadn't seen that though, thanks.

It sort of feels like aiming for positional need last year has forced our hand to do so again. Not sure if that's justified.

Like you, I have no idea how you come away with a must be above said players when you go down the list. To me, they are all so close in that top 8…

That’s why they get paid the big bucks.

 

[The Last Red]

I'm torn. I always preach BPA, but the Habs are in kind of a unique spot with such a positional imbalance in their prospect pool with D to F.

If they get to the podium and the best player in their mind is a Dman, do they skip over him and pick their best forward?

Yes.

 

[le_sean]

Helenius is going to the U18s finally. He might join the men’s team for the World’s after.

 

[vokiel]

I'm torn. I always preach BPA, but the Habs are in kind of a unique spot with such a positional imbalance in their prospect pool with D to F.

If they get to the podium and the best player in their mind is a Dman, do they skip over him and pick their best forward?

It'll be the BFA, which historically, usually ends up being the BPA.

 

[austin316]

The prospect of having Slaf, Dach, and Lindstrom in our top 6 is enticing to say the least. Those are three heavy bodies that would impose themselves on the opposition, especially in the playoffs.

This would allow us to incorporate a smaller forward like Mesar (or someone else) into our top 6/9.

 

[Michoulicious]

You guys are all cracked! 20 months ago you were boohooing that we should have taken Wright over Slaf. A year ago you were saying we should have taken Cooley or Nemec over Slaf. Five months ago you were saying we should have taken Mintyukov or Jiricek over Slaf.

Leonard, Michkov, Reinbacher haven't even played in the NHL yet. Maybe let it all play out and give our hockey ops group the benefit of the doubt until there's a clearer picture.

Was not a fan of the Slafkovsky pick (like many), but I am glad it is working out well.

It's ok also to just have an opinion, you know, not just praise the hockey ops all the time. I hate when people come here, then when they disagree with someone's opinion, they scroll through their post history and then call them out when they were "wrong", ignoring all the good calls also made over the years doing so.

Nobody is perfect, for sure, but yeah I loved Jiricek, Cooley, Wright and was BIG Mintyukov fan (had him at #6 OA). A also loved Luneau and wanted to draft him with our 2nd 1st round pick. If we draft Luneau in 2022 instead of Mesar and Beck, maybe we don't draft Reinbacher and draft Michkov or Leonard instead in 2023? Hughes himself said the fact he was a RD was a big factor since our pool is weak there. Luneau won CHL defenseman of the year in his D+1 and played in the NHL in his D+2 before getting a freak knee infection.

A few years ago, I had Caufield at #5 OA, Jarvis at #8... Wanted to trade up with our picks to get them. I was a huge Brock Faber fan as well and he was one of the players I wanted bad in 2020.

So yeah, I'll keep having my opinion. I still think drafting Helenius at 5-7 OA especially with the other players that will be available in that range would not be a good pick.

By the way, Mintyukov will become an incredible defenseman in Anaheim, I still LOVE that player.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Listening to NHL draft class.

Scouts really took notice of Eiserman in the 2nd half as he continued to build on his goal scoring and two-way play.

Parekh gets sort of a bad rap for being not so good defensively. He's improved his defense throughout the year.

Lindstrom - you can't miss that much time and come back and be 100% the player you were. He didn't and he did a little too much on his own. He did nothing to diminish his ranking. He's one of the best power forwards we've seen in a draft class in a while.

The way he plays the game, his smarts, his size, he generates something every time he's on the ice.

The unique part about his injuries weren't serious and he did them to himself in training and practice.

Cole Eiserman - I see him as a Chris Kreider where he'll score some goals and score some important goals. I think his game will round out and by the time he gets to the NHL he'll be a pretty good forward for whomever is lucky to get him.

 

[Redux91]

Should’ve took Leonard last year and drafted Buium, Levshonov or Perekh this year

It's easy to say this now
And while I dont necessarily disagree

It's impossible to know last June, that we would again be in top 5 pick spot the very next year..

This is hindsight 20/20 stuff really

(But yeah I would of taken Leonard and taken my chances for next year , which is now this year)

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

Leonard is meaner, Iginla is the better finisher.

Who’d you rank higher Iginla or Leonard last year?

 

[The Great Weal]

Lindstrom - you can't miss that much time and come back and be 100% the player you were. He didn't and he did a little too much on his own. He did nothing to diminish his ranking. He's one of the best power forwards we've seen in a draft class in a while.

The way he plays the game, his smarts, his size, he generates something every time he's on the ice.

The unique part about his injuries weren't serious and he did them to himself in training and practice.

Well if this is true then that's a relief, we'd still need to be sure before drafting him.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Who’d you rank higher Iginla or Leonard last year?

Leonard 7 last year, Iginla 8 this year. I do like this range of the draft better this year than last year.. this year lacks the top 4 last one had.

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

I am fully behind this management staff but it was obvious even a year ago that this year draft class of defenseman would be amazing and maybe the type you see once in a decade. Very similar to 2008 draft class in some regards. I think part of the Habs brass thought you can never have good enough defenseman and Reinbacher filled an obvious need and they went ahead to draft him. Now it's a bit painful because I would trade our top pick for like almost any of the top drafted forward from last year.

Michkov, yes
Leonard, yes
Benson, yes
Dvorsky, yes

I know it's not a popular take but I would 100% monetize our draft rank this year and look to trade down to around 12-14 to get more assets and draft the top rated forward that will available.

For some reason this reminded me of when @NotProkofievian tried to dunk on me after Dvorsky went pointless his first few games in Sweden.

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

Leonard 7 last year, Iginla 8 this year. I do like this range of the draft better this year than last year.. this year lacks the top 4 last one had.

Meant more of Leonard of last year was in this class, who would you prefer.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Meant more of Leonard of last year was in this class, who would you prefer.

Always hard because I've seen what Leonard did this year.. if I squint and try to pull that out of my mind, I think I'd give a slight edge to Iginla but it's tight.

 

[Goldenhands]

Helenius is going to the U18s finally. He might join the men’s team for the World’s after.

ouch, its going to be ugly, will likely lead the tournament in scoring, his draft stock will raise, I just hope he isnt out of reach if we pick 5-6 OV.

 

[The Last Red]

The prospect of having Slaf, Dach, and Lindstrom in our top 6 is enticing to say the least. Those are three heavy bodies that would impose themselves on the opposition, especially in the playoffs.

This would allow us to incorporate a smaller forward like Mesar (or someone else) into our top 6/9.

It’s more than enticing, it’s almost necessary.

 

[Lockin17]

Demidov or nothing !!!!!

Or Trade down and get Iginla

 

[CristianoRonaldo]

Celebrini
Demidov
Catton
Buium
Dickinson
Parekh
Levshunov
Lindstrom (PTSD of Anderson)
Iginla
Helenius

In that order... Or bust.

Give me one of the first 4 and I'm over the moon.

 

[Andrei79]

I am fully behind this management staff but it was obvious even a year ago that this year draft class of defenseman would be amazing and maybe the type you see once in a decade. Very similar to 2008 draft class in some regards. I think part of the Habs brass thought you can never have good enough defenseman and Reinbacher filled an obvious need and they went ahead to draft him. Now it's a bit painful because I would trade our top pick for like almost any of the top drafted forward from last year.

Michkov, yes
Leonard, yes
Benson, yes
Dvorsky, yes

I know it's not a popular take but I would 100% monetize our draft rank this year and look to trade down to around 12-14 to get more assets and draft the top rated forward that will available.

If Dach isn't injured, I don't think this team is in a position to get any of the high profile defensemen. A lot can happen over a year and unless you're Chicago, you can't reliably predict what will be available at your pick. If you like a player, you pick him. I don't think they went with strictly with need either, as both of Michkov and Leonard filled a need. I'm not saying the scouting on Reinbacher was accurate, but I don't think they can make decisions based on what will available the next year, there's too much variance.