HF Habs: 2024 NHL Draft Thread

[River Meadow]

Just realising now that there is a near 100 point defenseman in Zayne Parekh that will be available interesting. Smallish blue liner for sure but his insane offensive production has to amount for something...

He's RHD too

 

[Mrb1p]

The picks are pretty much set in stone IMO.

1. Celebrinj
2. Levshunov
3. Demidov
4. Lindstrom

The weight of the world is on Hugo's shoulders. I'm glad I'm not the one picking. Going the easy way out and grabbing one of the LDs would be smart maybe but it would hurt roster wise.

 

[Scriptor]

Hutson will get the puck to the O-zone and keep it there. Last I checked, that's the best D there is.

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

So Hughes thinks Reinbacher will be a #2. So who will be our #1D? Guhle?

Does Guhle have the potential to be a #1D on a championship team?

Because if not, this draft sounds like the perfect draft to get that #1D... just saying...

Look at the Leafs, or even better the Oilers. You can have the best player of this era (McDavid) and another generational forward (Draisatl) but if you don't have that #1D you're not sniffing the cup.

Look at the Habs. You can have an elite 1D (Subban, Weber) and the best goalie in the world but if you don't have elite talent up front you're not sniffing the cup.

 

[Riggins]

If I'm Chicago I'm picking a D all day long. They take longer to develop and they need to set up the cornerstones of their future top 4. They'll still be horrible next year and there are several stud forwards in the 2025 draft by the looks of it.

 

[Gravity]

Why is that? Dach is already a C and Lindstroms game would be tailored for the wing.

I'm not sold on Dach yet.

Really sucks to be missing Demidov.

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

So for the next 6 weeks I get to be nervous on whether Lindstrom goes 1 pick before us like Will Smith last year..

Hey at least you didn't have to be nervous about your guy getting picked from 2-4 only to have them pass on your guy.

This is stuff he won’t be able to do in the NHL. All of his offense come from the rush, he will not translate well.

But hey for a few highlights clips he’s fun to watch.

Or maybe it's just that rush offense is most tailor made for highlights? He's great in the offensive zone too lmao

 

[Le Tricolore]

Here's the thing, I get excited when I see our second round Hutson and watching him play, I don't get that about our #5 and I feel it's wrong. I wouldn't trade Lane before Reinbacher. Nobody is talking about Reinbacher in the prospect world, they are drooling over our second rounder. I watched that, and in another off-beat interview he says 2nd pairing, so maybe it's all in the wording. I hope I'm wrong, we need him to be a stud with that high of a pick.

Hutson playing in college gave him way more exposure. He also plays a flashier game. That doesn't take anything away from Reinbacher who should still be a great player for the team.

 

[GrandmaCookie]

Look at the Habs. You can have an elite 1D (Subban, Weber) and the best goalie in the world but if you don't have elite talent up front you're not sniffing the cup.

formula for Stanley Cup still remains: 1C franchise or at least elite, 1D franchise or at least elite, 1G elite or at least really good. Habs may have their #1 C in Suzuki, but do they have the D and the G?

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

Trade down and take Catton.

 

[Habs7631]

So that's 4. Plus Matheson. Plus Struble. Plus Harris.

I don't see the issue at LD , we'd have to be the unluckiest team in the league to have trouble at that position in the upcoming years.

Matheson won't be around when it's time for us to truly compete. And even then he's a second pairing guy on a serious playoff team in my opinion. He shouldn't have any weight in our our long-term decision making.

Struble and Harris are both irrelevant or sweeteners on a trade when it's time for us to cash in on our assets for a big fish. Players like them are available for a 2nd or a 3rd which we have plenty in the next couple years. One of them might even be gone soon with the WPG pick for help upfront or to move up for another top 15 1st.

I don't see an issue at LD either, but I see a bunch of second pairing dudes with maybe 2 that have top pairing potentital as a complimentary piece to a true #1D.

If we're serious about winning a cup we need a #1D. Whether he's a LD or RD I don't care. Looks like there's multiple of those in this draft, why not leave with one of them over the rest of the forwards that don't have game-breaker potential once Celebrini and Demidov are gone.

Like I don't think Matheson/Struble/Harris should get in the way of us getting Buium/Dickinson.

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

formula for Stanley Cup still remains: 1C franchise or at least elite, 1D franchise or at least elite, 1G elite or at least really good. Habs may have their #1 C in Suzuki, but do they have the D and the G?

You can also win with 2 franchise 1C, a mediocre defense and a rookie goalie (see Pittsburgh).

There's a lot of ways to win the cup, not many of them feature a lineup without any PPG forwards.

 

[Simarino]

I think it’s 80% likely that they’re gone. That’s the main reason we are all debating who is the next best forward.

You really think theirs an 80% chance that Leshnukov and Silayev are not going top 4? Or even a Buium or Dickinson?? I think its almost the opposite, theirs 65-75% chance that two of these guys will be top 4

 

[austin316]

So for the next 6 weeks I get to be nervous on whether Lindstrom goes 1 pick before us like Will Smith last year..

We are definitely going to miss out on him.

 

[Nicko999]

Kent Hughes said that they will likely go with forward or RD, not LD.

I'm a big fan of Buium tough.

He is bluffing for sure.
But if this is for real and he skips Buium for that sole reason, I am sorry but he is not better than BargainBin.

This is a guy who had Makar's production in the NCAA while being 2 years younger.

 

[SlafySZN]

I am prepared for Demidov to fall to #5 and them going for frickin Sennecke...

Won’t happen.

Sennecke only happens if Demidov and Lindstrom are gone.

 

[CanadienShark]

I accept the results.

 

[jaffy27]

He is bluffing for sure.
But if this is for real and he skips Buium for that sole reason, I am sorry but he is not better than BargainBin.

This is a guy who had Makar's production in the NCAA while being 2 years younger.

Chicago is taking him….so no need to split our brains over this

 

[Naslundforever]

Just realising now that there is a near 100 point defenseman in Zayne Parekh that will be available interesting. Smallish blue liner for sure but his insane offensive production has to amount for something...

I am watching their highlights, Parekh looks like a special player above the other kids listed in the vote from the ole youtube eye test wow.

I had Catton.

 

[SlafySZN]

I like all 3 of Sennecke, Iginla and Lidstrom but I think for Talent and IQ Sennecke is my favorite. I guess it can be reviewed after the playoff if he co.es back.

Hope his injury was just minor and after a couple of days off he comes back thursday to start game 1 of the final.

 

[Habs7631]

Look at the Habs. You can have an elite 1D (Subban, Weber) and the best goalie in the world but if you don't have elite talent up front you're not sniffing the cup.

Sure we didn't win the cup. But we got to the finals and made playoffs more often than not. We won at least 1 round 10 times in the last 20 years. 3 ECF. With often the worst forwards group of the playoffs that year.

Ottawa were 1 goal away from a final appearance themselves thanks to EK. Against the Penguins when they won their last cup. Their best forward that year was... Mike Hoffman.

Meanwhile the Canadian teams that were built around generational offence but didn't have a franchise D, what did they do? They need that #1 D.

 

[Habricot]

No. I like him a lot. I will pick him at 5 over Iginla if Demidov and Lindstrom has already gone.

That's because YOU think these are the only two option in front worthy of the 5oa selection.

formula for Stanley Cup still remains: 1C franchise or at least elite, 1D franchise or at least elite, 1G elite or at least really good. Habs may have their #1 C in Suzuki, but do they have the D and the G?

D'S take longer to develop. There is no way to know what exactly we have on our hands yet. That is excluding Matheson who can be considered a #1D. So if we have two players that are close..take the forward.

 

[GrandmaCookie]

You can also win with 2 franchise 1C, a mediocre defense and a rookie goalie (see Pittsburgh).

There's a lot of ways to win the cup, not many of them feature a lineup without any PPG forwards.

last 10 teams to win the cup seems to have a recurrent tandem of elite 1C, oftentime two-way and elite 1D:

2023: 1C (Eichel), 1D(Pietrangelo)

2022: 1C(Mackinnon), 1D(Makar)

2021: 1C(Point/Stamkos), 1D (Hedman)

2020: 1C(Point/Stamkos), 1D (Hedman)

2019: 1C(O’Reilly), 1D (Pietrangelo)

2018: Different formula

2017: Different formula

2016: 1C(Crosby), 1D(Letang)

2015: 1C(Toews), 1D (Keith)

2014: 1C(Kopitar), 1D (Doughty)

2013: 1C(Toews), 1D (Keith)

the times the formula for 1C + 1D wasn’t respected happened to be for teams with generational talent in Ovechkin or Crosby.

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

So for the next 6 weeks I get to be nervous on whether Lindstrom goes 1 pick before us like Will Smith last year..

Lindstrom has the better shot, but other than that and being more filled out (bad thing?), why do you prefer Lindstrom over Sennecke? Their skating is close, though I prefer Sennecke, but what sets Sennecke apart is his hands and vision. It’s just on another level compared to Lindstrom who’s got hands of stone and blinders on while Sennecke has some of the best mitts and offensive vision in the draft. To me it’s just what gives Sennecke much more upside. Lindstrom is big, mean and can really rip pucks, but Sennecke is just a much more well rounded offensive package in a physical 6’3” frame himself.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

San Jose will obviously pick Celebini

Chicago has needs everywhere, so they could take anyone. Most likely they take one of Demidov, Levshunov, and Silayev. I would guess they go with Demidov.

Ducks will take Levshunov for sure since they need RD.

Columbus is where it gets interesting. They don't have any major holes that cannot be fixed with what they already have in the system.

At wing, they are extremely deep. They have Gaudreau (signed for 5 more years), Laine, Marchenko, Chinakhov, Kent Johnson, and Nylander at the NHL level. As prospects, they have Brindley and Dumais.

At center, they have Fantili, Sillinger, Voronkov, and Del Bel Belluz. Fantili will be their 1C, and both Sillinger and Voronko have top 6 C potential.

At LD, they have Werenski, Mateychuk, Provorov (1 year left before UFA)
At RD, they have Jiricek, Severson (7 years left on his contract), Ceulemans.

Their dmen are pretty offensive, so I don't see them going with an offensive D like Parekh and Yakemchuk. If they pick D, it will probably Silayev or Dickinson. Buium also a possibility. Werenski will be 27 in a couple of months, and has 4 years left on his contract. By the time, that D prospect is ready to play a top 4 role, Werenski will be about 30 and will have 1 year left on his contract. So I don't see them not picking an LD because they have Werenski and Mateychuk.

They could go with Lindstrom if they see him as a center, and are not confident in Sillinger/Voronkov becoming a top 6 center.

Ultimately, I think it will be between Silayev and Lindstrom.

I think they will go with Silayev for the following reasons:
- He was ranked higher than Lindstrom in Bob's rankings and pretty much every rankings.
- 7 of 10 scouts that Bob asked had Silayev in their top 4.
- Jackets have shown interest in Silayev more than other teams



At 5, its an easy decision for the habs to pick Lindstrom.