HF Habs: Montreal Finally Has Some Prospect Depth at The Center Position, is it Enough Moving Forward?

Genesis76

True Leader
May 3, 2013
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1,301
I remember at some point we had like 5-6 centers on the roster and they said we had too many.

Its not about the quantity its about the quality

Its not the size that matters its how u use it
 
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DAChampion

Registered User
May 28, 2011
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I remember back in or around 2008, I was arguing that the Habs had great prospect depth on D:

David Fischer, Ryan McDonagh, Yannick Weber, Alexei Emelin, Nicklas Torp, PK Subban, Greg Pateryn, Mathieu Carle.

Other posters would go through those prospects and argue that none of them were a sure thing. They were right -- none of them were a sure thing. But if you collect a lot of these guys, you should eventually do well.

However, there's an important difference -- back then the Habs had a better development team. If the development is improved now with Bouchard, etc, then these centre might pan out. Hopefully they allow Kotkaniemi to spend another year in Finland, followed by a year in the AHL.

I remember the 2013 spring training camp ... I suspected that Galchenyuk making the Habs would be bad news, and argued as such. We all know what followed.
 
Apr 28, 2010
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Judging from stats, Fonstad looks like a steal. Could be the center version of Gallagher as a 5th rounder.

Im gonna watch out for this kid. He's also compared to Alex Tanguay.
 

JianYang

Registered User
Sep 29, 2017
17,752
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No, it is not. Kuznetsov, backstrom, crosby, malkin, toews, kopitar, bergeron, staal, brind'amour, lecavalier, datsyuk, getzlaf.

Those are the caliber of centers who have won the last 14 Stanley Cups. The habs took a step in the right direction, but to get that elite, cup winning caliber center is the hardest part, and we don't have it.
 

Miller Time

Registered User
Sep 16, 2004
22,838
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Drafting has been ONE of many problems. Guys like Collberg didn't even play for us and busted hard.

Find me a team that hasn't had players who "busted hard"?

Ironically, you used a rare example of a 2nd round pick that was very well used by the franchise... Good pick, moved at the right time.

A player not succeeding at the NHL level does not mean it was a bad pick by default, much more complex than that.

Consistently drafting players outside of the first round who go on to meet or exceed their projected NHL ceiling, as we have as well or better than the vast majority of NHL clubs, is, imo, a strong indicator of quality drafting.

The failure of our development system to convert higher picks in the same way, and our overall dearth of depth, speak to the failings further down the chain
 

dackelljuneaubulis02

Registered User
Oct 13, 2012
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you said last drafts. Those were the picks from the last 2. Early returns are very good. Two NHLers already. Don't see the issue with the 'last drafts'.
 

montreal

Go Habs Go
Mar 21, 2002
57,340
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Ikonen
Vejdemo

I would count Evans before Ikonen and Vejdemo as I'm not sure either will stick at center long term. Evans every year was one of the best in the NCAA in face-offs, smart, hard working with a solid two way game. The question is can his average skating/speed and lack of strength/weight hold him back at the next level or not.

Ikonen they can take their time with, so maybe after he recovers from injury, then next year maybe he improves enough to show more but for now I can't say if he's a center or winger in the future.

Vejdemo has the size, skating, speed, but he's bounced around between center and LW, for now I just am interested to see what he does in Laval first before saying what position he'll be down the road.
 

cphabs

The 2 stooges….
Dec 21, 2012
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5,130
The future is starting to look much better for us at the Center position. All of these guys are supposed to be natural Centers.


KotKaniemi
Poehling
Olofsson
Hillis
McShane

Which ones are we going to try to turn into natural wingers to support our natural center Drouin? Finland is closest to Russia so my bet is on KotKaniemi.
 

yianik

Registered User
Jun 30, 2009
10,608
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Couple of years ago or so I analyzed where top 6 centres were drafted and I was shocked to find that about 80% to 90% ( forget exactly now ) were found in the 1st 2 rounds. Literally just a handful from the 3rd and 4th and a couple in later rounds.

Take way is that scouts as a whole are very efficient at finding centres.

The moral to me is that outside of the 1st 2 rounds you are extremely unlikely to get a top 6 centre, so maybe you shouldn't even fish for that in those waters.

So when we look at our pool now, the quality is really only found in Poehling and Kotkaniemi. Guys like Olofsson , Vejdemo, Mcshane, Hillis etc are real long shots statistically speaking. Having said that, better to have a pool of centres than not, and maybe we luck out. But we need to keep drafting centres in the 1st couple of rounds on a regular basis, and for sure in the foreseeable future, as Poehling and Kotkaniemi are just prospects, and who knows.
 

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