TSN: McKenzie :If Habs take a center it's no longer an off the board pick

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

If we acquire anybody over 30 I will lose my freakin mind.

Even Sid or Malkin?

 

[MadMslm]

Stastny would start his 6th year at 37 years old.
Year 1 : 32
Year 2: 33
Year 3: 34
Year 4: 35
Year 5: 36
Year 6: 37

So he might get 6 years in a market like this. But i see the salary going lower.
There's always that desperate GM out there and sadly, he's in MTL.

Longer contract are usually better in a cap era because you can reduce the average salary that a player will make.

Stastny is an interesting case to say the least. Not many centers hit the market at 32 so it is hard to draw a comparable around the league. I tried and it's difficult to find something similar because most guys are younger and sign their big contract around 28. Still he holds his own with 0,67pts per game in the last three seasons and I could see him making less than 6 if the contract is long enough. ​

 

[blarneylad]

The problem is we have no assets to offer. We squandered them on wingers. Or position of strength is winger, the least valuable position. For example if I was a GM I wouldn't trade a first line centre for a first line winger. I could just play my centre on the wing if I needed to and still have that depth to cover any injuries to the starting centres. Why would I hand cuff myself? We don't have the assets to aquire a proper top line centre, they rarely go to free agency and when they do they never come to Montreal. The only way to get one..... The draft.

This post is exactly why you draft Kotkaniemi

Maybe not the better player vs Zadina but he will be worth more to the roster due to position of need and worth more on the market due to toughness to acquire centers

 

[HabsFather]

If he doesnt grab Zadina, that kid will light us up his entire career.

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

Always fun to look at previous years rankings
mckenzie-s-pre-season-ranking-the-nolan-patrick-draft-1.567410
Hischier wasn't in the TSN Top 15 at the beginning of 2017 and went 1st OA, not as big of a dramatic rise at the end of the year as Kotka but that's cause of the exposure Nico got playing in NA

Poehling at 15

 

[Habaneros]

This post is exactly why you draft Kotkaniemi

Maybe not the better player vs Zadina but he will be worth more to the roster due to position of need and worth more on the market due to toughness to acquire centers

Trevor Timmins says Habs will draft best player available regardless of position...then he also said you got to be careful about drafting for "need"

So everyone here thinks Kota is the 3rd best overall in this draft?

 

[WeThreeKings]

Trevor Timmins says Habs will draft best player available regardless of position...then he also said you got to be careful about drafting for "need"

So everyone here thinks Kota is the 3rd best overall in this draft?

If you weigh his talent versus positional value.. then yes he's in the conversation with Boqvist and Dobson for 3rd overall.

 

[Saxon]

Trevor Timmins says Habs will draft best player available regardless of position...then he also said you got to be careful about drafting for "need"

So everyone here thinks Kota is the 3rd best overall in this draft?

Yes I do actually.

 

[Sterling Archer]

If we acquire anybody over 30 I will lose my freakin mind.

Kopitar? Malkin? Ovi? Crosby?

 

[G0bias]

Trevor Timmins says Habs will draft best player available regardless of position...then he also said you got to be careful about drafting for "need"

So everyone here thinks Kota is the 3rd best overall in this draft?

He also said positional value is accounted for in their evaluations.

 

[Scintillating10]

Quite sure it will Kotkaniemi. Engels was on 590 this week, and said Domi deal did original involve a draft position switch but Montreal backed out fearing Ottawa may take him at 4.

I think it will be a mistake as they are weak drafting/developing center. Wish they trade for a ROR instead and draft a Dobson

 

[Laurentide]

If you weigh his talent versus positional value.. then yes he's in the conversation with Boqvist and Dobson for 3rd overall.

Positional value is BS. Talent uber alles. Zadina is the best pure scorer in the draft. Scoring is the one talent that one must be born with; you cannot teach it. You can teach a guy to play center but you can't teach him to be good at scoring goals. The Habs always do this: they think themselves into stupid picks. Just take the guy who can pump pucks into the net blindfolded and teach him how to develop the other, less essential tools.

 

[Laurentide]

If he doesnt grab Zadina, that kid will light us up his entire career.

Just like Denis Savard did when we passed on him to draft Wickenheiser. Opening night at the Forum it just so happened that Chicago was in town. Savard put on a clinic while the Habs didn't even bother to dress Wickenheiser because they already knew that they had screwed themselves. How would Larouche, Lafleur and Savard have looked on a line during the early 80's? And can you imagine if they had also not screwed up years before when they passed on Bossy to take Napier? We'd have 26 Cups by now.

Simon Gagne anyone?

 

[Runner77]

What are we trading for a centre, and who is giving us one?

Based on Bergevin precedents:

• The center will be either older or less talented than outgoing asset, or both.
• Bergevin will overpay.
• It will be a center who somehow can still play wing or was used as a winger not long ago.
• The center will have an anchor boat contract.
• The center will be at best, a 2nd line center on most teams but on the Habs he'd be a first liner.
• The center will be a two-way player who offers only a moderate offensive contribution.
• The center will cost the price of a first line center, because Bergevin.
• The center will likely not be Russian.
• The center will likely have a Bergevin connection with a close friend from his playing days.
• The center is likely to be valued on account of intangibles (attitude, leadership, character, work ethic, dressing room presence)

 

[Rockomax]

Based on Bergevin precedents:

• The center will be either older or less talented than outgoing asset, or both.
• Bergevin will overpay.
• It will be a center who somehow can still play wing or was used as a winger not long ago.
• The center will have an anchor boat contract.
• The center will be at best, a 2nd line center on most teams but on the Habs he'd be a first liner.
• The center will be a two-way player who offers only a moderate offensive contribution.
• The center will cost the price of a first line center, because Bergevin.
• The center will likely not be Russian.
• The center will likely have a Bergevin connection with a close friend from his playing days.
• The center is likely to be valued on account of intangibles (attitude, leadership, dressing room presence)

Toews fits with several points. Also Chicago connection. Also speaks some French

 

[Laurentide]

Toews fits with several points. Also Chicago connection. Also speaks some French

I'd gladly take him provided we didn't have to cripple the franchise to make it happen.

 

[Rockomax]

I'd gladly take him provided we didn't have to cripple the franchise to make it happen.

Of course, but fits Runner's description. His better days are behind him, he has a huge contract, Bergevin would overpay, intangibles and leadership, 2nd line production, not Russian and Chicago connection.

 

[scrubadam]

Based on Bergevin precedents:

• The center will be either older or less talented than outgoing asset, or both.
• Bergevin will overpay.
• It will be a center who somehow can still play wing or was used as a winger not long ago.
• The center will have an anchor boat contract.
• The center will be at best, a 2nd line center on most teams but on the Habs he'd be a first liner.
• The center will be a two-way player who offers only a moderate offensive contribution.
• The center will cost the price of a first line center, because Bergevin.
• The center will likely not be Russian.
• The center will likely have a Bergevin connection with a close friend from his playing days.
• The center is likely to be valued on account of intangibles (attitude, leadership, dressing room presence)

And that Center is......

Jumbo Joe. He checks almost all the boxes.

Book it 9 Mill cap hit, either 1 or 2 years.

 

[Laurentide]

Of course, but fits Runner's description. His better days are behind him, he has a huge contract, Bergevin would overpay, intangibles and leadership, 2nd line production, not Russian and Chicago connection.

Yes, but even now he's still got plenty of tangibles left that the Habs are in desperate need of.

 

[Laurentide]

And that Center is......

Jumbo Joe. He checks almost all the boxes.

Book it 9 Mill cap hit, either 1 or 2 years.

Only if he shaves off that ridiculous hipster beard first.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

And that Center is......

Jumbo Joe. He checks almost all the boxes.

Book it 9 Mill cap hit, either 1 or 2 years.

why a bottom 5 team would sign a 60 year olds smh

 

[scrubadam]

why a bottom 5 team would sign a 60 year olds smh

Its such a MB move

 

[WeThreeKings]

Positional value is BS. Talent uber alles. Zadina is the best pure scorer in the draft. Scoring is the one talent that one must be born with; you cannot teach it. You can teach a guy to play center but you can't teach him to be good at scoring goals. The Habs always do this: they think themselves into stupid picks. Just take the guy who can pump pucks into the net blindfolded and teach him how to develop the other, less essential tools.

Positional value is not BS. A center controls the game more than a winger does. You've watched the Habs long enough to know what being weak down the middle does.

Zadina isn't the best pure scorer in the draft. Both Wahlstrom and Svechnikov are better in that regard. Zadina doesn't control the game from the wing the way that a Kane or Kucherov does. He's a pure sniper and the defense are simply better value than he is.

 

[scrubadam]

Only if he shaves off that ridiculous hipster beard first.

Why you think MB grew the beard last year ?

All a ploy to get Jumbo Joe here.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

Its such a MB move

not sure why fat joe joins this team , literally 0 reasons