HF Habs: Final Team Board Draft Poll - Pick #3

[Gabriiel40]

I asked edmonton fans about a pacioretty for 10th pick and no one liked it. they don't want a guy who is almost washed up when they can get a young prospect with that pick

Yet I bet they liked the lucic signing lol

 

[GalHabsGal]

Zadina for me... he is the best player. If you look at is stat in eliteprospect he is always top scorer and always 2-3 years younger compare to player playing in thé same league .

Note: sorry for my poor inglish

 

[Saxon]

His ability as a goalscorer goes beyond his shot. If anything it's behind both Wahlstrom and Svechnikov's shots. Boqvist could probably give him a run there too.

What makes him stand out is his natural instincts and ability to sneak behind coverage and find weak spots in defences.

The guy is always open. It's quite amazing actually. He's the one guy that should be never be open......

 

[Milhouse40]

His ability as a goalscorer goes beyond his shot. If anything it's behind both Wahlstrom and Svechnikov's shots. Boqvist could probably give him a run there too.

What makes him stand out is his natural instincts and ability to sneak behind coverage and find weak spots in defences.

I know, but when i look at a top prospect i always look at skills that will translate well in the NHL.
These kids are doing a lot of stuff in the juniors they won't be able to do in the NHL.
Zadina already have that NHL release on his shot that will surely translate in NHL goals for sure.

 

[Cole Caulifield]

Boqvist because he's #3 on my list

I assume you say that because Boqvist has a better arsenal of shots than Hughes. I will also assume that his concussion history didn't factor at all in your evaluation ? Otherwise it means you think he's so far above everyone else that his concussion history can't bring him down past #3.

 

[Cole Caulifield]

Fair, you are high on Kotka. But it would be stupid to take him at 3 OA regardless of how much you like him. If that's the guy, trade down. We need to manage assets better.

If we like him more than any other prospect at 3rd, and let's assume we're right for liking him that much, it's entirely probable and likely that other teams feel the same way and will snatch him before we can after having traded down. This guy is rising, not falling. So we would gamble a shot at taking the 3rd best player of this draft - a center we need so badly (again, assuming we were evaluating him right), over what ? What could we possibly get from downgrading from 3rd to 6th ? Like... one or two 2nd round picks ? When we already have 4 ?

How about we trust our scouts to take that 3rd best player in the draft ?

 

[G0bias]

I assume you say that because Boqvist has a better arsenal of shots than Hughes. I will also assume that his concussion history didn't factor at all in your evaluation ? Otherwise it means you think he's so far above everyone else that his concussion history can't bring him down past #3.

Like some pointed out before, it's quite possible a lot of concussions don't even get diagnosed or reported. Specially in some of these remote leagues with most likely different protocols than the NHL's.

 

[Cole Caulifield]

The guy is always open. It's quite amazing actually. He's the one guy that should be never be open......

Will that translate well at the NHL level though ? Can players score at will based on positioning themselves properly in the O zone while having a good wrister ?

I think goals in the NHL level happen more as a result of speed, counter attacks, skill, powering through defense, etc but not so much about getting open and waiting for a pass. I could be wrong.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I assume you say that because Boqvist has a better arsenal of shots than Hughes. I will also assume that his concussion history didn't factor at all in your evaluation ? Otherwise it means you think he's so far above everyone else that his concussion history can't bring him down past #3.

Better shots, smarter player, can't be pressured, better defensively, younger. I don't care about the concussions because I think other players have had them too but aren't as documented because they didn't have them during tournamemto

 

[Habsddicted]

I'd go for the BPA, so Zadina, but it's pretty close between him and Dobson. I've never seen Kotkaniemi play, just read about him so I wouldn't pronounce myself on him. I'm not too fond of Tkachuk and I think Hughes would be a gamble at 3OA.

 

[Kairi Zaide]

Hopefully he drops down as far Bergeron and we get him in the 2nd round. That would be awesome!

How could he drop to the 2nd round when the Habs are picking him 3rd overall

 

[waffledave]

If we like him more than any other prospect at 3rd, and let's assume we're right for liking him that much, it's entirely probable and likely that other teams feel the same way and will snatch him before we can after having traded down. This guy is rising, not falling. So we would gamble a shot at taking the 3rd best player of this draft - a center we need so badly (again, assuming we were evaluating him right), over what ? What could we possibly get from downgrading from 3rd to 6th ? Like... one or two 2nd round picks ? When we already have 4 ?

How about we trust our scouts to take that 3rd best player in the draft ?

You trust our scouts?

I don't trust our scouts. I don't trust our GM to manage assets correctly. And I don't trust many of our fans to hold him accountable for the state of the team today.

 

[Habs Halifax]

54% vs 21% in favor of Zadina over Kotkaniemi so far. Seems about right.

 

[G0bias]

54% vs 21% in favor of Zadina over Kotkaniemi so far. Seems about right.

77 votes for Zadina vs 67 for someone else. Pretty divided if you ask me.

 

[The Great Weal]

54% vs 21% in favor of Zadina over Kotkaniemi so far. Seems about right.

I wonder how many people have actually watched both play before choosing.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I wonder how many people have actually watched both play before choosing.

I prefer to avoid bullying others and attacking if they watched them or not. Myself? I haven't seen too much of Kotkaniemi but I did watch a lot of video recently. I like his goal scoring ability and size. His skating didn't look bad to me at all.

 

[The Great Weal]

I prefer to avoid bullying others and attacking if they watched them or not. Myself? I haven't seen too much of Kotkaniemi but I did watch a lot of video recently. I like his goal scoring ability and size. His skating didn't look bad to me at all.

How is it bullying? I just don't see how it's clearly Zadina when I'm positive most people haven't even watched Kotkaniemi or other players. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[Giacomo]

I have a feeling that Evan Boucher reminds me of a young version of weber

 

[Giacomo]

My tablet drops the d

 

[Be a Hab]

I'd go for the BPA, so Zadina, but it's pretty close between him and Dobson. I've never seen Kotkaniemi play, just read about him so I wouldn't pronounce myself on him. I'm not too fond of Tkachuk and I think Hughes would be a gamble at 3OA.

I believe it’s pretty clear that the BAP right now at #3 is Zadina but to me that’s not a big enough reason to draft him.

We have the chance of drafting a 6’2 182 pounds Center who just finished a season playing with men in the Finnish league where he produced 10g-19a in 57 games as a 17 year old. He’s stock has been rising and he now projects to go anywhere between 6-10. The Canadiens, Blackhawks and Red Wings took him out for dinner. Hawk will pick 8th and Red wings 6th. I don’t think he gets out of the top 8.

So how many times are we going to let a top Center go by? At some point we need to draft out of need. And sure, maybe Zadina is the BAP now, but that doesn’t mean Kotkaniemi can’t surpass him later. Enough is enough, we need centres.

I voted Hughes but if I could I would change it to Kotkaniemi. He is no longer ranked between 10and 15, he is now between 6-10 I say we reach a little and pick what we actually need and what we’ve been waiting for since the departure of Koivu.

 

[Habsddicted]

I believe it’s pretty clear that the BAP right now at #3 is Zadina but to me that’s not a big enough reason to draft him.

We have the chance of drafting a 6’2 182 pounds Center who just finished a season playing with men in the Finnish league where he produced 10g-19a in 57 games as a 17 year old. He’s stock has been rising and he now projects to go anywhere between 6-10. The Canadiens, Blackhawks and Red Wings took him out for dinner. Hawk will pick 8th and Red wings 6th. I don’t think he gets out of the top 8.

So how many times are we going to let a top Center go by? At some point we need to draft out of need. And sure, maybe Zadina is the BAP now, but that doesn’t mean Kotkaniemi can’t surpass him later. Enough is enough, we need centres.

I voted Hughes but if I could I would change it to Kotkaniemi. He is no longer ranked between 10and 15, he is now between 6-10 I say we reach a little and pick what we actually need and what we’ve been waiting for since the departure of Koivu.

I'm sorry that I don't know much about Kotkaniemi...? He had a decent season as you said but he didn't stand out to me in the games I saw him play internationally. I haven't seen highlights of him in the Liiga. I wouldn't pick someone I don't know which is why I didn't say his name. We need a good puck moving defenseman too which is why I like Dobson too

 

[Cole Caulifield]

You trust our scouts?

I don't trust our scouts. I don't trust our GM to manage assets correctly. And I don't trust many of our fans to hold him accountable for the state of the team today.

Then fire Timmins, and all of his scouts.. and fire Bergevin. But they're there now. There's no point in going into a draft thinking they have already failed at their work. It's the only work we can rely on.

 

[waffledave]

Then fire Timmins, and all of his scouts.. and fire Bergevin. But they're there now. There's no point in going into a draft thinking they have already failed at their work. It's the only work we can rely on.

We can also base ourselves on the analysis that has been done by many dozens of other (more competent) people, who have reached the same conclusion that Zadina is the consensus #3 OA. This is by far the most common pick.

I have more faith in that conclusion than I do in the ability for Churla and his staff to identify a sneaky stretch pick at #3 given this is supposed to be a franchise shaping move. We can't afford to screw it up, and Churla hasn't exactly earned enough goodwill for me to trust him over everyone else.

 

[le_sean]

You trust our scouts?

I don't trust our scouts. I don't trust our GM to manage assets correctly. And I don't trust many of our fans to hold him accountable for the state of the team today.

Why wouldn’t we trust our scouts? The only 1st rounder they screwed up since 2012 is McCarron and he was picked 25th. Otherwise since Churla has been on, they’ve had a single Top 10 pick and it was used on Sergachev, which looks good, albeit for the Lightning.

 

[schnapshot]

I like how Bouchard at 3 has zero votes but Farabee has one. Lol

Why wouldn’t we trust our scouts? The only 1st rounder they screwed up since 2012 is McCarron and he was picked 25th. Otherwise since Churla has been on, they’ve had a single Top 10 pick and it was used on Sergachev, which looks good, albeit for the Lightning.

Agree with this. It's unfortunate we only had two picks in the top 3 rounds in a deep 2015 draft but 2016 and 2017 look pretty good with Mete, Bitten, Sergachev (sigh), Primeau (very promising), Fleury, Brook and Poehling. Even Ikonen could turn it around this season.

Two of the eight players above are in the NHL already. If two more (one could assume Poehling and Brook will make it) join the team it'll be a win with four homegrown players in two drafts.