Rumor: Eric Engel: "Mtl is locked on Kotkaniemi"

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

From the sounds of it quite a few teams have Kotkaniemi pretty high.

McKenzie's list will be released so we'll see where he falls on that.

 

[Rebels57]

If someone in the organization actually leaked this, they just made it a lot harder on themselves to trade down and get good value in return. Morons.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

If someone in the organization actually leaked this, they just made it a lot harder on themselves to trade down and get good value in return. Morons.

This has been going around for over a week now.

There was also the rumours of Montreal wanting a d and liking Tkachuk sprinkled in there.

 

[FreeBobbyFarnham]

Eh, people were laughing at Columbus for taking Dubois ahead of the great Puljujarvi, don't see much of that these days though...

We took Pouliot instead of the best player available at the time (Forsberg/Trouba). Turns out it wasn't the smartest decision.

 

[Rebels57]

Sigh, just draft Zadina then draft 2 centres with picks 35 & 38 (guys like Wise, Lundestrom, Olofsson and Foudy should be available)

Lundestrom could go as high as 19

Olofsson could go as high as 25

Foudy is a late-riser and sometimes they sneak into the late 1st

There's no guarantee any are there at 35

 

[NJ DevLolz]

Lundestrom could go as high as 19

Olofsson could go as high as 25

Foudy is a late-riser and sometimes they sneak into the late 1st

There's no guarantee any are there at 35

Agree 100%

 

[Gainesvillain]

Given that top Cs are almost never available via trade - and nobody knows that better than Bergevin himself - I'll be pretty surprised if Kotkaniemi is not Montreal's pick at this point.

 

[93LEAFS]

Not a shock. They are desperate for a center, and finding one outside the top 5 tends to be a challenge. I personally, think Kotkaniemi is closer to 10 than 3 and will be hard pressed to become much more than a 1B/2A center.

Sigh, just draft Zadina then draft 2 centres with picks 35 & 38 (guys like Wise, Lundestrom, Olofsson and Foudy should be available)

Finding top 6 centers outside the first round is much easier said than done. It is not like the Habs need center depth, they need legit top 6 options. Look around the league and how many teams have top-line centers drafted outside the first? Basically, Vegas (with neither guy having a long track record of success), Arizona (not really an ideal situation) and Boston. Most teams top 2 centers are taken in the top 31.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

We took Pouliot instead of the best player available at the time (Forsberg/Trouba). Turns out it wasn't the smartest decision.

That's also why you never draft a Pouliot in the first round.

 

[Agalloch]

Ouch. Ya just pick a center because. Even if there are better players available.

2018 NHL Entry Draft Prospect Profile: Jesperi Kotkaniemi

Kotkaniemi is a legit choice at #3.

 

[SR]

5OA +55oa and another small add for 3ao?

 

[beowulf]

Bob McKenzie has stated that this would not be an off the board pick at 3.

Zadina has been falling and Kotkaniemi is rising according to many insiders

Don't get how this is really possible during the off season. I doubt the combine would cause Kotkaniemi to rise as high as third...

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

5OA +55oa and another small add for 3ao?

Small add might be Coyotes swapping their 3rd with Ottawa's 4th( as an example) So they won't take Kot

 

[beowulf]

2018 NHL Entry Draft Prospect Profile: Jesperi Kotkaniemi

Kotkaniemi is a legit choice at #3.

Don't agree at all.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

hahahaha. Montreal and Ottawa are really going all in on the biggest tire fire this year. Good Lord do I feel for Habs fans if they take him at 3.

Nah between the Karlsson situation, the Hoffman situation and the Randy Lee situation plus Melnyk being Melnyk Ottawa has that on lockdown

 

[Agalloch]

Don't agree at all.

Fine, anyway we will see with McKenzie final rankings.

 

[justafan22]

Reminds me of the CBJ taking Johansen at 4. Not a bad pick, but likely won't be playing in the NHL for a year at least.

 

[Habs Halifax]

For all the crap Ottawa is dealing with right now, having Zadina fall to them seems nice.

I've seen some people speculating that Zadina drops even further as some D-men are taken ahead of him, but I can't see that happening.

In my opinion, Montreal should just take him at 3 or trade to 5th - no lower. Don't risk losing the guy you want by trading down further than that.

Make another trade with the Coyotes to swap 3/5 picks. Deal is the Coyotes take Zadina at 3rd and screw over the Sens. Then the Habs take either Kotkaniemi or Dobson with the 5th pick. Habs get a 2019 2nd for moving down.

Agreed on the Wings... they might take Kotkaniemi

 

[Critical13]

I would just take Zadina, personally. However it's not like this is a bad pick.

 

[bleedgreen]

The guy isn’t really ready for the nhl so drafting him for need doesn’t make much sense. Zadina, Tkachuk and Quinn would all make more sense to me but who knows.


Probably all smoke anyways. The amount of garbage news we get just before the draft is always amusing. Gotta create some excitement for an event that’s always a bit anti climactic.

 

[Mortiest Morty]

We took Pouliot instead of the best player available at the time (Forsberg/Trouba). Turns out it wasn't the smartest decision.

Yeah and sometimes the best player from a draft is taken in the 7th round, that's the point. These guys are 18-20+ years old, outside of an exceptional talent, they're all far from a sure thing.

 

[FreeBobbyFarnham]

Yeah and sometimes the best player from a draft is taken in the 7th round, that's the point. These guys are 18-20+ years old, outside of an exceptional talent, they're all far from a sure thing.

I meant based on the draft's rankings.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Thinking there is a definite BPA at 3rd is stretch. Zadina is the most popular pick at 3rd, not the definite BPA. Dobson, Kotkaniemi, Wahlstrom, Boqvist, Tkachuk are all very similar value.

The biggest thing is how you measure their development moving forward. That's what makes the difference. Kotkaniemi is 8/9 months younger than Zadina for example and peaking late. If you think this don't matter, you don't know much about the development of 17, 18, 19 year old kids.

 

[HockeyDBspecialist]

Agree 100%

I'm really not that high on Lundestrom ( underwhelming at world juniors) , I think Foudy is going to be a better player IMO.

 

[General Disarray]

Take best player available and worry about your weaknesses with your strengths. Unfortunately their GM uses the few assets he has for more wingers... I think you only go for positional if two players are fairly even. Remember when everyone laughed at Columbus?