Louis Leblanc?

[Playmaker09]

Leblanc's biggest problem is that he's still just as skinny as he was when we drafted him.

Seems to me like the whole "1st rounder from Montreal, drafted in Montreal" went straight to his head and he thought he'd have everything handed to him on a silver platter.

 

[Yep]

Christ, you people make it sound like we drafted some schmuck who nobody who had ever heard of, just because he was French.

Leblanc was ranked 17th in Bob McKenzie's final draft ranking for that year.

http://www.tsn.ca/draftcentre/feature/?fid=11892

We drafted him 18th. Hardly a stretch. Here is the write-up on Leblanc from NHL Central Scouting, quoted in the above draft ranking:

"The most impressive things about Louis LeBlanc are his hands and his evasiveness with the puck; that separates him from other players on the ice right away. He needs to fill out a little bit yet, but he has the frame to be a big center. The other part of LeBlanc's game that I noticed was his vision; his ability to see and dissect a play and to make the right play. He's also very competitive and he gets involved in the play."

So, let's see... a guy who was ranked right around where we were picking, a guy who had scouts thinking he was going to fill out and be a big RIGHT shooting center, and a guy who was described as being "very competitive". And yet we only drafted him because he was French.

Right.

It didn't work out. Oh well, it happens. Lots of first round picks don't make it, it just happens. But this revisionist "he was only drafted because he was French" crap is just that - crap. Yeah, he was and is a local boy, and maybe that factored into the decision a little bit, but it was hardly a terrible pick at the time. If you think his mother-tongue was the ONLY reason he was drafted then you are seriously mistaken.

GTFO master.

(just kidding, please stay, we need more like you)

 

[Darkstorm]

Under Bergevin
2013: Michael McCarron, Jacob De La Rose, Zach Fucale, Artturi Lehkonen, Connor Crisp, Sven Andrighetto, Martin Reway, Jeremy Gregoire

2012: Alex Galchenyuk, Sebastien Collberg, Dalton Thrower, Tim Bozon, Brady Vail, Charles Hudon, Erik Nystrom

Under Gauthier
2011: Nathan Beaulieu, Josiah Didier, Olivier Archambault, Magnus Nygren, Darren Dietz, Daniel Pribyl, Colin Sullivan

2010: Jarred Tinordi, Mark MacMillan, Morgan Ellis, Brendan Gallagher, John Westin

Under Gainey
2009: Louis Leblanc, Joonas Nattinen, Mac Bennett, Alex Avtsin, Gabriel Dumont, Dustin Walsh, Mike Cichy, Petteri Simila

2008: Danny Kristo, Steve Quailer, Jason Missiaen, Maxim Truner, Patrick Johnson

2007: Ryan McDonagh, Max Pacioretty, P.K Subban, Olivier Fortier, Yannick Weber, Joe Stejkal, Andrew Conboy, Nichlas Torp, Scott Kishel

2006: David Fisher, Ben Maxwell, Mathieu Carle, Ryan White, Pavel Valentenko, Cameron Cepek

2005: Carey Price, Guillaume Latendresse, Juraj Mikus, Mathieu, Matt D'Agostini, Sergei Kostitsyn, Philippe Paquet

2004: Kyle Chipchura, Alexei Emelin, J.T Wyman, Mikhail Grabovski, Loic Lacasse, Jon Gleed, Greg Stewart, Mark Streit, Alexander Dulac-Lemelin

2003: Andrei Kostitsyn, Cory Urquhart, Maxim Lapierre, Ryan O'Byrne, Corey Locke, Danny Stewart, Christopher Heino-Lindberg, Mark Flood, Oskari Korpikari, Jimmy Bonneau, Jaroslav Halak

Even though Gauthier was an awful Gm, he did a few good choices, he allowed Timmins to do his job. Unlike Gainey, who was telling Timmins to chose who Gainey wanted. Everybody were calling Timmons not good. IMO he is a very good scout, the thing he couldn't make draft picks cause Gainey was calling the shots. 2007, 2005 were two of Gainey's best drafts, the reason he gave us a franchise Goalie (Carey Price) a Norris Trophy Winner (P.K Subban), a capable 40-45 goal scorer (Max Pacioretty). The rest of the drafts in Gainey's tenure were awful, Sergei Kostitsyn, Andrei Kostitsyn, Guillaume Latendresse, Yannick Weber, Louis Leblanc, Matt D'Agostini, Ryan O'Byrne, Kyle Chipchura all got burned and they weren't developed properly, they got rushed by the coaching staff.

Sebastien Collberg: (was traded by Bergevin for Tomas Vanek (good pickup at the Trade Deadline, only if he performed in the series)
Ryan McDonagh (was traded by Gainey for Scott Gomez, pure awful)
Guillaume Latendresse (was traded by Gauthier for Benoit Pouliot, 50/50 trade)
Maxim Lapierre (was traded by Gauthier for Brett Festerling and a fifth-round draft pick, never understood this one)
Danny Kristo (was traded by Bergevin for Christian Thomas)
Ryan O'Byrne (was traded by Gainey for Michael Bournival, great trade)
Andrei Kostitsyn (was traded by Gauthier for a 2nd round pick in 2013 and a 5th round pick)
Sergei Kostitsyn (was traded by Gainey for Dan Ellis and Dustin Boyd)
Yannick Weber (signed by Vancouver via Free Agency)
Matt D'Agostini (was traded by Gauthier for Aaron Palushaj was claimed by Colorado on waivers)

Gainey and Gauthier traded a lot of those players since they weren't performing, cause their development was rushed and they burned them. Bergevin only traded Collberg to get a impact player (well at the time it was a good pickup

 

[68*]

No hands, no feet, no size, no shot, no skills, no mental toughness. He won't make it.

 

[Prairie Spitfire]

Despite everyone tearing Leblanc to shreds (the constant litany of 'no shot, no size, no work ethic' etc), I think he can still be an NHL player. Not in Montreal but somewhere. Even though everyone keeps spewing out his flaws, Leblanc has hockey sense and an alright skill set. Somewhere along the line, it'll translate (if he still wants) into a pro hockey career. People can say that Leblanc's flaws have always been obvious but he fell to Montreal right where he was projected and was considered a safe bet at the time.

And for those saying 'we could of had' and 'we shoulda drafted', hindsight is 20/20. Moreover, the 2009 draft wasn't exactly a deep draft. Many of the players outside of the top 7 or 8 picks are still struggling to make the big leagues. Chris Kreider has only played 89 NHL games. Leblanc has played 50. Is the margin of budding star and total bust really only 39 games?

By no means do I think that Leblanc will be a better player than Kreider but at this point, the difference between picking Leblanc and anyone after him is minimal right now.

 

[TennisMenace]

No thank you to little Louie. I see nothing in him that gives me the impression he could rise above mediocrity. Most of all, desire and passion for the game.

 

[HabsCowboysOwn]

Soon to become a confirmed 1st round bust like many others before him. He reminds me a lot of Angelo Esposito in that regard.

 

[Goldthorpe]

Wouldn't be surprised at all if he ends up on a fourth line, but it won't be with the habs. He really needs a change of scenery.

 

[JLP]

If only Louis Leblanc and Alex Galchenyuk could trade names.

 

[MD thaivuN]

Soon to become a confirmed 1st round bust like many others before him. He reminds me a lot of Angelo Esposito in that regard.

To Leblanc's credit, he played games in the NHL unlike Esposito. There's that I guess.

Honestly, I'm not too bothered that Leblanc didn't pan out. You look at the rest of the first rounders drafted after him and there isn't a lot of prospects panning to be top 6 forwards or top 4 Defensemen. Kreider, Johansson and maybe Palmieri. Pretty weak first round on that year to be honest.

 

[Burke the Legend]

Gainey and Gauthier traded a lot of those players since they weren't performing, cause their development was rushed and they burned them. Bergevin only traded Collberg to get a impact player (well at the time it was a good pickup

haha ok

or maybe they weren't good enough to make the NHL, like 90% of draft picks (especially outside the top 20 picks)

but no, our prospects are special, but management ruined them by not nurturing their delicate self esteem adequately.

 

[Lebowski]

Getting tired of this guy. He just isn't all that talented, and doesn't have the personal drive to amount to anything more than a bottom sixer in the NHL, and that's from an optimistic point of view.

If anyone in the league feels like giving us a top 5 round pick for this guy, then by all means, get rid of him. I'm sure he's a nice kid, but his personality just doesn't have the make up to perform in Montréal.