Habs Fans Shouldn’t Sleep On Louis Leblanc

[WeThreeKings]

I really can't stand retroactive drafters.

"Why didn't we draft Shea Weber in 2003 !"
"Why didn't we draft Travis Zajac in 2004 !"
"Why didn't we draft Jamie Benn in 2007 !"
"Why didn't we draft Chris Kreider in 2009 !"

I actually remember the 2009 draft coverage. Fans were talking about Jordan Shroeder, not Chris Kreider. If it were Shroeder doing better than Leblanc they would have an actual point.

I wanted Josefson then Kreider. Looks like Kreider should have been ahead of Josefson in hindsight, but some of that I blame on the Devils for rushing Josefson.

I've been sleeping on Leblanc since he was picked in '09. Don't think I'm gonna wake up any time soon. It's ok, I understood the pick, it was 2009 in Montreal, Timmins was getting flak for always going the college route and here was a local boy playing in the USHL going to Harvard. There was little choice for Timmins to take anyone else on the board. I hoped very hard that someone would take him before us but alas, it was not meant to be. He's done little to prove me wrong since. I just don't see a spot for him on this team. He may find his way on the bottom lines of some weaker teams in the league.

 

[DAChampion]

I wanted Josefson then Kreider. Looks like Kreider should have been ahead of Josefson in hindsight, but some of that I blame on the Devils for rushing Josefson.

I've been sleeping on Leblanc since he was picked in '09. Don't think I'm gonna wake up any time soon. It's ok, I understood the pick, it was 2009 in Montreal, Timmins was getting flak for always going the college route and here was a local boy playing in the USHL going to Harvard. There was little choice for Timmins to take anyone else on the board. I hoped very hard that someone would take him before us but alas, it was not meant to be. He's done little to prove me wrong since. I just don't see a spot for him on this team. He may find his way on the bottom lines of some weaker teams in the league.

On our very team, I think Leblanc (and also Bournival) could make a decent upgrade on White, Bourque, Gionta, and Desharnais right now, and with development could become even better than that. I see it as a long-running issue with this team that we give preference to under-performing veterans over more talented rookies.

Down the road, I think Leblanc-Eller-Bournival could be a very effective second line.

 

[Smokey Thompson]

I really can't stand retroactive drafters.

"Why didn't we draft Shea Weber in 2003 !"
"Why didn't we draft Travis Zajac in 2004 !"
"Why didn't we draft Jamie Benn in 2007 !"
"Why didn't we draft Chris Kreider in 2009 !"

I actually remember the 2009 draft coverage. Fans were talking about Jordan Shroeder, not Chris Kreider. If it were Shroeder doing better than Leblanc they would have an actual point.

I don't know anyone who was saying "why didn't we draft Shea Weber / Jamie Benn" right when we picked. It's pretty obvious that in any other city Timmins would've picked the big and extremely fast American winger over Leblanc.

I actually remember the 2009 draft coverage as well. I wasn't on the boards back then but my buddies and I were all pretty pissed that we passed on Kreider, we weren't very interested in Schroeder.

 

[Born in 1909]

Have you ever really looked at 2009 draft.. Not really one for the ages

Ryan O'Reilly at #18... if one could go back in time.

or Marcus Johansson

 

[FerrisRox]

He was pretty high in ranking:
http://www.nhl.com/ice/draftprospectdetail.htm?dpid=5422&tab=prf
He was ranked 13th in NA prospects.

I believe he was the 15th NA prospect drafted. Clearly that would illustrate a solid case for him being selected where he was, but don't bring facts into this. It's makes it more difficult for people to drag out their same ol' axe for some grinding.

 

[FerrisRox]

Ryan O'Reilly at #18... if one could go back in time.

Ryan O'Reilly was a 2nd rounder so he had to be at least in the high thirties, not eighteen.

 

[FerrisRox]

Ryan O'Reilly at #18... if one could go back in time.

Ryan O'Reilly was a 2nd rounder so he had to be at least in the high thirties, not eighteen.

 

[dackelljuneaubulis02]

Leblanc showed some great effort during his brief call up this season and played like a man on a mission. Hope he has gotten everything together. If he's a .5 PPG in the NHL and is great defensively and on the PK, he'll be a useful asset.

yeah whenever i saw him during his call up, I loved his play. I think if he can play the way he can consistently then he'd eventually be a great improvement over Gionta or Briere. LL(at his best) and Bournival in our top 9 would change it's makeup quite significantly.

 

[Teufelsdreck]

It's too late to re-stage that draft (or any other one). Occasionally the Habs have signed player late in their careers when they should have drafted them in the first place. (Remember whom they passed over to take Doug Wickenheiser?)

 

[25get]

I believe he was the 15th NA prospect drafted. Clearly that would illustrate a solid case for him being selected where he was, but don't bring facts into this. It's makes it more difficult for people to drag out their same ol' axe for some grinding.

I can not remember one post that was against that pick.
A few were posting about Kreider at that time.
But the pick generated almost only positive comments.

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

Flyers used to have a player with near identical stats to Leblanc's at the various levels (if you ignore last years injury plagued season)

They gave up on him and traded him for Matt Ellison (7 GP with Philly) and a 3rd Round Pick (swapped to Montreal and we drafted Whitey)

Bet they'd like a Mulligan on that one

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

I really can't stand retroactive drafters.

"Why didn't we draft Shea Weber in 2003 !"
"Why didn't we draft Travis Zajac in 2004 !"
"Why didn't we draft Jamie Benn in 2007 !"
"Why didn't we draft Chris Kreider in 2009 !"

I actually remember the 2009 draft coverage. Fans were talking about Jordan Shroeder, not Chris Kreider. If it were Shroeder doing better than Leblanc they would have an actual point.

I agree with what you're saying, it's just those players usually aren't the ones we complain about (except maybe Kreider). More appropriate example for our fan base would be Giroux/Lucic.

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

I agree with what you're saying, it's just those players usually aren't the ones we complain about (except maybe Kreider). More appropriate example for our fan base would be Giroux/Lucic.

Or Price over Brule when we had a Hart winning goalie in the net, pretty glad I wasn't GM then....

 

[BaseballCoach]

Doesn't have enough in the toolbelt to take anyone's spot. lacks toughness/physical play and really doesn't do one thing particularly well enough to steal a position any time soon. So he won't be taking out a player like White/Moen/Parros ... and it appears Briere/King David can't lose their jobs... so .. don't see where he fits.

He could replace Gionta whose expensive contract expires.

 

[PricerStopDaPuck]

Leblanc was the the obvious pick. After him there wasn't to many studs selected so if he becomes a good nhler great! But if he doesn't oh well.

 

[LyricalLyricist]

On our very team, I think Leblanc (and also Bournival) could make a decent upgrade on White, Bourque, Gionta, and Desharnais right now, and with development could become even better than that. I see it as a long-running issue with this team that we give preference to under-performing veterans over more talented rookies.

Down the road, I think Leblanc-Eller-Bournival could be a very effective second line.

You give too much credit to the young players. I look forward to leblanc and others being here full time if they earn it but man, I don't think they'd be an upgrade just yet.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

Or Price over Brule when we had a Hart winning goalie in the net, pretty glad I wasn't GM then....

Personally I wanted Kopitar, but that's another can of worms

 

[Price is Wright]

I would definitely prefer Leblanc to Bourque.

 

[feds91]

Listen people, the draft was held in Montreal and Leblanc was ranked about 15-20th, so it was obvious that Habs would select the local kid if he was still available. Personally I wanted Montreal to pick Jordan Schroeder in 2009, but he is also struggling to make the NHL.

 

[ECWHSWI]

meh, if you look at the other 1st rounders picked after Leblanc, it's far from impressive.

It's a perfect case of "equal talent, pick local", so far he's no better no worse than the guys picked behind him.

 

[MrNasty]

Looking over that entire draft and there is only a dozen or so guys that will have good, long NHL careers.

 

[Joe Cole]

The article title sucks.

Draft revisionists are just walking cliches of "I told you so".

I hope LL gets his shot with the Habs or elsewhere and he does not blow it.

 

[Monctonscout]

On our very team, I think Leblanc (and also Bournival) could make a decent upgrade on White, Bourque, Gionta, and Desharnais right now, and with development could become even better than that. I see it as a long-running issue with this team that we give preference to under-performing veterans over more talented rookies.

Down the road, I think Leblanc-Eller-Bournival could be a very effective second line.

It's not "giving preference" it's letting kids develop in bigger roles in the AHL rather than small roles in the NHL. Not exactly a ground breaking concept but a shock to some on here for some reason...same for guys like Nygren, Pateryn, Beaulieu and Tinordi.

 

[JLP]

Same here. Not sure what the title means at all. Plus the article is riddled with grammar errors.

"grammatical errors"

But yeah that site says it has "several" lawyers, and just one professional editor. Their overall style is journalistic but the editing is lacking.

I also did not understand the article title until I visited my doctor for insomnia and back pain, and X-rays revealed Louis Leblanc was under my futon.

 

[madhi19]

Have you ever really looked at 2009 draft.. Not really one for the ages

I just did and to be honest I don't see what peoples are moaning about? Nobody not in the top seven in that draft made any splash at the NHL level yet. Leblanc development got stalled because of an injury at the worse moment. Add to that the fact that the Habs landed Galchenyuk in 2012 something nobody could have predicted in 2009 and the organization felt they were better off properly developing the guy in the AHL.