HF Habs: 2024 NHL Draft Thread

[le_sean]

You could argue picks 6-12 will be stronger this year with how desperately Arizona and Vancouver reached for a D, and the respective depth of this year's D class in comparison. I'd argue the forwards you mentioned all belong in the Eiserman/Greentree tier, and I also had Oliver Moore, who slid to 19, higher than all of them.

But 1-5 is much better, and the depth is much better last year. We're not getting a Gabe Perreault, Calum Ritchie or Gavin Brindley at the Winnipeg pick this year.

That’s fair and good on you for predicting Leonard’s positive trajectory. I liked him but didn’t expect that type of explosion.

 

[Habs Halifax]

The more I have thought about it, if Lindstrom and Demidov are both gone at our pick at 5 we should either trade down and draft a forward or take the best right shot D among our scouts consensus at 5.

From what I see in this draft, there is going to be a lot of movement in "redrafts" when we look back in 3-5 years. Guys you see listed 5-15 range will pass some guys listed 2-5. I think it applies more to this draft than most others.

I think we should be targeting Iggy. I'm not afraid of taking someone who is ranked 10th at the 5th spot. I just think this kid is going to break out in his D+1 and D+2 like his father. He's got good size/weight, one of the youngest, and one of the hottest trending prospects.

 

[sheed36]

McGuire's top 6 as of today from his TSN690 segment just now.

1. Celebrini
2. Demidov
3. Levshunov
4. Silayev
5. Dickinson
6. Lindstrom

Said things could change due to him not being fully aware about what's happening with Lindstrom's injury, which should be more known at the combine he said.

Melnick asked him since he as Dickinson @ 5 and the Habs saying they want a forward @ 5 which forward he would take at 5 today. He said as of today he would take Iginla.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Roy is still developing. I see him and Newhook as third line guys in our future. But until we fill that top line spot, I'd try one of them there.

I see us as needing 2 x top 6 forwards. Hopefully through this draft and via trade/UFA.

For shits and giggles. Let's say we trade the Jet's pick + Harris + sweetener for Necas. Draft Sennecke.

Necas - Suzuki - Slaf
Caufield - Dach - Sennecke

I was wrong we would land Dubois but I think I'm going to be right that we land Zegras (lol). I don't know how but I think it happens. When I hear media reports that the Ducks were not shopping Zegras but they were certainly listening when teams call, I do think Hughes was one of them and explored several packages we could offer (serious offers). Ducks engaged but both sides decided to delay it for the draft day.

Could be our 5th pick or could be one of Reinbacher or Guhle. I'm not 100% at trading Guhle but I am open (more like 60/40) in favor of of not trading him. However, I think we can survive on the back end without Guhle and adding Zegras and Iggy to the forward group. Zegras to me is trending as low as he will. Buy low now like we did with Dach. I understand the Sergachev/Drouin worry.

I think I can live with this like we did without Romanov.
Guhle out
Zegras and Iggy in.
* Not sure if we can pull off a Jets 1st++ for Zegras. Doubt it.

I like Iggy more than Sennecke. Close but I prefer the younger one who is trending and Iggy is just as heavy in weight as the older Sennecke.

 

[WeThreeKings]

McGuire's top 6 as of today from his TSN690 segment just now.

1. Celebrini
2. Demidov
3. Levshunov
4. Silayev
5. Dickinson
6. Lindstrom

Said things could change due to him not being fully aware about what's happening with Lindstrom's injury, which should be more known at the combine he said.

Melnick asked him since he as Dickinson @ 5 and the Habs saying they want a forward @ 5 which forward he would take at 5 today. He said as of today he would take Iginla.

Iginla not in his top 5, why wouldn't he just say Lindstrom who is his 6th

 

[sheed36]

Iginla not in his top 5, why wouldn't he just say Lindstrom who is his 6th

Not sure but I'd say it's very likely because he said he's not fully aware of Lindstrom's injury issues currently which he'll find out more about later. He did say those are his picks as of today but could change later.

I should add I didn't hear the full segment so I may of missed something so here's a link to the audio from earlier. Draft talk in the latter half about 12 minutes in or so.

McGuire: VAN needs to play smart hockey

Hockey analyst Pierre McGuire says Vancouver needs to pay smart tonight for game one against Edmonton and how teams go about preparing in advance for the draft

www.tsn.ca

 

[Maitz]

What's up with Sennecke? Wasn't even on the top 10 list of everyone and now he is consider for the top 5?

 

[Scintillating10]

The Athletic mock had Calgary trading with Mtl for them to take Buium, while Montréal was taking Iginla at 9.

That was Basu mock wasn't it? I remember him on 690 saying Kotkaniemi was going to Habs #1 center for next 15 years.

Levshunov for the Hawks. The draft class podcast seems to think the Hawks would like him and Dan Marr said he is the most NHL ready prospect in this draft class.

A lot have him at 2

 

[vokiel]

Iginla not in his top 5, why wouldn't he just say Lindstrom who is his 6th

Cause he only played 32 games all season... That's enough to doubt, but he did say that could change during the combine.

 

[Michoulicious]

I was wrong we would land Dubois but I think I'm going to be right that we land Zegras (lol). I don't know how but I think it happens. When I hear media reports that the Ducks were not shopping Zegras but they were certainly listening when teams call, I do think Hughes was one of them and explored several packages we could offer (serious offers). Ducks engaged but both sides decided to delay it for the draft day.

Could be our 5th pick or could be one of Reinbacher or Guhle. I'm not 100% at trading Guhle but I am open (more like 60/40) in favor of of not trading him. However, I think we can survive on the back end without Guhle and adding Zegras and Iggy to the forward group. Zegras to me is trending as low as he will. Buy low now like we did with Dach. I understand the Sergachev/Drouin worry.

I think I can live with this like we did without Romanov.
Guhle out
Zegras and Iggy in.
* Not sure if we can pull off a Jets 1st++ for Zegras. Doubt it.

I like Iggy more than Sennecke. Close but I prefer the younger one who is trending and Iggy is just as heavy in weight as the older Sennecke.

I always was a big proponent of the Guhle for Zegras trade, but I think Anaheim wants a RHD.

 

[morhilane]

Do Habs take Lindstrom if available at 5?

Maybe. Outside Habs liking Demidov since last year and Hughes saying Celebrini will be a team defining franchise player not that long ago or hint at there being a RHD high on their list yesterday, we don't have that much hints about how they might rank the rest of them. We just know they like quite a few forwards in this draft.

We will have a better idea around the Combine next month.

That was Basu mock wasn't it? I remember him on 690 saying Kotkaniemi was going to Habs #1 center for next 15 years.

Yep. He's been push hard on the idea of the Habs trading down for a few weeks now.

 

[Michoulicious]

That was Basu mock wasn't it? I remember him on 690 saying Kotkaniemi was going to Habs #1 center for next 15 years.


A lot have him at 2

Arpon must be one of the worst talent evaluators in the bizz. I remember he did kind of a scouting report on Wright a few years back... Tough.

He should stick to reporting what he hears.

He went to visit KK in Finland and got sentimental about the kid afterwards.

 

[Schooner Guy]

Sennecke is also skilled but pretty soft, like Dach. They play a skill game, they basically never hit and are more east-west kind if players.

Sennecke isn't soft. Geezaz man! You're making stuff up. He had no problem playing physical even before he grew 5 inches. He plays the body and uses his tall frame and reach to fend off opponents. It's a big reason reason he's been so productive in the playoffs when you need to battle to get space.

 

[Scintillating10]

Arpon must be one of the worst talent evaluators in the bizz. I remember he did kind of a scouting report on Wright a few years back... Tough.

He should stick to reporting what he hears.

He went to visit KK in Finland and got sentimental about the kid afterwards.

He was on 690 after the "mint" goal. Basu was way off base.

 

[Deux de Coeurs]

They lucked out at 30th with 11.5% odds.

They wouldn't have been in this spot with Dach and Debrincat in the lineup all year, would they?

Davidson tanked like no one else did before. His best players were still pretty young but he traded them anyway.

 

[SwiftyHab]

This will for sure be the Draft order for most of us:

1- San Jose- Celebrini
2-Chicago - Demidov
3-Anaheim - Your Hopes
4-Columbus - Your Dreams
5-Montreal - Eternal Disappointment

 

[sheed36]

Just listened to the end of the McGuire segment and he seemed a little ticked off that Eiserman as dropped.

 

[le_sean]

Just listened to the end of the McGuire segment and he seemed a little ticked off that Eiserman as dropped.

Pierre loves every single player he’s ever come across. He’s not really a source for drafts unless you want to know what’s the best blueberry pie spot in the prospect’s small hometown.

 

[Habano]

only if they want Lindstrom... if they don't they will still get the player they want(ed) by swapping with us.

I can see what you're saying but if they want Lindstrom they won't trade us their pick because they know we want him. If they don't want Lindstrom, we'll get him anyway.

 

[Kimota]

Based on needs we would have ended up with Kopitar, Sergachev (we had no one but Markov), Caufield (had no goal scorers except Gallagher lol), Mercer (would have been fine with it although I wanted Bourque).

Thing with this draft is there is no clear BPA beyond the first two picks. If you ask me who's BPA at 3 it's Catton. Ask someone else it's Lindstrom. Ask someone else it's Helenius. Ask someone else it's Levshunov, or Buium, or Dickinson, or Parekh, or Silayev, or Sennecke, or Iginla, etc.

You could make an argument for any of them being BPA at that point, and I'd see the logic in each of them. Once BPA gets that obfuscated you start to look at your competitive window and what would be the best fit for your team. We are currently a one line team with a high potential but injury prone 2nd line C, a barren prospect cupboard as far as top 6 forwards go (Roy is the only one who debatably has that potential), and d prospects coming out of our wiener.

So they'll determine which forward is BPA at 5 and we just gotta hope they were right.


If we're looking for a player to poop in Anderson's bag he's our guy.

Very talented guy.

 

[HabsForHire]

if demidov and lindstrom are gone I'd trade the pick in another dach style trade. a high offensive potential young already drafted forward

 

[le_sean]

if demidov and lindstrom are gone I'd trade the pick in another dach style trade. a high offensive potential young already drafted forward

But that player will likely be on or need a second contract. There is a lot more value in having a 5th overall talent on an ELC for 3 years. The only reason a high offensive potential young player would be available is because the team can’t afford him. If that’s the case, the price isn’t a Top 5 pick.

 

[DAChampion]

I wouldnt call Sennecke soft, he is just tall, lanky and needs to fill out. Otherwise he competes hard with the frame he has at that point. I understand the love, the hands/reach and skating combo is pretty attractive, I wish he plays vs London to have more viewings... The more options we have the best.

What's your ranking this draft?

 

[HabsForHire]

But that player will likely be on or need a second contract. There is a lot more value in having a 5th overall talent on an ELC for 3 years. The only reason a high offensive potential young player would be available is because the team can’t afford him. If that’s the case, the price isn’t a Top 5 pick.

who knows who could be made available behind the scenes, and if we make it known the 5th overall is available and offers suck then draft. I'm just saying I wouldn't be suprised if we did it.

 

[DAChampion]

If the Habs draft a LD, what do you guys think they could extract for Matheson, Guhle, Huston, Xhekaj on the trade market