HF Habs: Montreal's 2020 Draft Class (Immediate Thoughts?)

How would you grade the Habs 2020 draft class


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schnapshot

Mendoza baby
Jan 8, 2015
2,075
2,246
Montreal
certainly looking like the Habs will regret what seemed like a questionable trade at the time, to go from a early 4th to a late 3rd (caps) when Savioe, Stange, Pytlik, etc... were still on the board.
They did the same by trading one of their 2nd rounders and passing over Nick Robertson in 2019 (who was one of my favorites).

We picked up Norlinder but as of now, Robertson is a safer bet to make the NHL.
 

montreal

Go Habs Go
Mar 21, 2002
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I really hope they get it right with Guhle when we so badly needed forwards. With Romanov, Norlinder, Brook, Harris, Struble, Juulsen, Fleury, Fairbrother we were in good shape for D prospects and with just Caufield at forward that is very loopsided now. Granted trades can be made but trading prospects is risky and can backfire badly.

That said if they felt that Guhle was just that good that they had to take him or that the forwards just weren't that interesting then so be it and I just hope it works out.

The good news is I love what the future could hold for the Habs blueline and in nets, but the bad news is that after Suzuki, KK and Caufield we have no high end forwards at all (talking U-22's)
 

Estimated_Prophet

Registered User
Mar 28, 2003
10,159
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I really hope they get it right with Guhle when we so badly needed forwards. With Romanov, Norlinder, Brook, Harris, Struble, Juulsen, Fleury, Fairbrother we were in good shape for D prospects and with just Caufield at forward that is very loopsided now. Granted trades can be made but trading prospects is risky and can backfire badly.

That said if they felt that Guhle was just that good that they had to take him or that the forwards just weren't that interesting then so be it and I just hope it works out.

The good news is I love what the future could hold for the Habs blueline and in nets, but the bad news is that after Suzuki, KK and Caufield we have no high end forwards at all (talking U-22's)

I was a little torn on draft day as I felt Guhle was the BPA but couldn't help hoping for a forward.

I do understand and agree with the team's philosophy in taking the BPA and elevating the value of defencemen and centers as part of part of evaluation process. We look to be ridiculously stacked with D prospects and not enough spots to accommodate them. The good news is it is very easy to trade good D and C prospects for very good wing prospects or for immediate help on the wing. I think we need to remember that these prospects are assets first and foremost. The real trick is to identify which ones to keep and which ones to trade before their value drops. The key is that this approach to drafting greatly increases the chance that the main team is able to stock their most important positions with quality talent with the potential luxury of having great trade chips left over. MB has already went on record saying that some of these riches can be exchanged to fill specific needs, hopefully he proceeds wisely...
 

montreal

Go Habs Go
Mar 21, 2002
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I was a little torn on draft day as I felt Guhle was the BPA but couldn't help hoping for a forward.

I do understand and agree with the team's philosophy in taking the BPA and elevating the value of defencemen and centers as part of part of evaluation process. We look to be ridiculously stacked with D prospects and not enough spots to accommodate them. The good news is it is very easy to trade good D and C prospects for very good wing prospects or for immediate help on the wing. I think we need to remember that these prospects are assets first and foremost. The real trick is to identify which ones to keep and which ones to trade before their value drops. The key is that this approach to drafting greatly increases the chance that the main team is able to stock their most important positions with quality talent with the potential luxury of having great trade chips left over. MB has already went on record saying that some of these riches can be exchanged to fill specific needs, hopefully he proceeds wisely...

the problem I have is that they seem to pick and chose when to apply BPA as Timmins has admitted past mistakes in going for need in '06 with D's and in '13 for size and unless they felt KK was really the 3rd best player then '18 as well.

the problem with overloading on D prospects and having almost no forward prospects means you likely have to trade one or two and that can be risky.

I look at Nashville, they tried overloading on D prospects and never could win a cup with that plan, just hope we don't end up in the same boat.
 
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The Great Weal

Phil's Pizza
Jan 15, 2015
52,019
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The good news is I love what the future could hold for the Habs blueline and in nets, but the bad news is that after Suzuki, KK and Caufield we have no high end forwards at all (talking U-22's)
I personally don't see it that way. I see a bunch of potential top 4 dmen, but nobody that will lead the defense as a #1 dman for numerous. We need to get one of those desperately.
 

Estimated_Prophet

Registered User
Mar 28, 2003
10,159
10,172
the problem I have is that they seem to pick and chose when to apply BPA as Timmins has admitted past mistakes in going for need in '06 with D's and in '13 for size and unless they felt KK was really the 3rd best player then '18 as well.

the problem with overloading on D prospects and having almost no forward prospects means you likely have to trade one or two and that can be risky.

I look at Nashville, they tried overloading on D prospects and never could win a cup with that plan, just hope we don't end up in the same boat.

The problem with Tinordi and McCarron is that they were clearly selecting for a very specific need and not necessarily BPA. In KK's case he fit as BPA because he was the best C available and they had him ranked higher than the other D's. It is quite possible that they may have taken Tkachuk if they felt that there was enough of a talent gap to compensate for lesser positional value much like how Caufield was selected over other avalable C's and D's.

When comparing the Hab's philosophy to Nashville's, there is one very important distinction to make. Nashville did not have any center depth at all and were forced to trade D's for C's where it is more difficult to recoup equal value. MB is in a position where he appears to have solidified the C position for the next decade and has the luxury of leveraging high value D prospects for wingers who inherently hold less value which allows him to acquire higher tier wingers than Nashville could with targeting centers.

I agree that there is risk in this approach but there is also greater risk in drafting wingers who can rapidly lose value if they aren't immediately productive. With this approach we can target wingers who are either fully established or have been progressing in their respective post draft developmental curves.

I think that early mistakes in MB/Timmins approach have lead to refinements in an evolving philosophy that imo appears to have the team heading in the right direction.
 

montreal

Go Habs Go
Mar 21, 2002
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The problem with Tinordi and McCarron is that they were clearly selecting for a very specific need and not necessarily BPA. In KK's case he fit as BPA because he was the best C available and they had him ranked higher than the other D's. It is quite possible that they may have taken Tkachuk if they felt that there was enough of a talent gap to compensate for lesser positional value much like how Caufield was selected over other avalable C's and D's.

When comparing the Hab's philosophy to Nashville's, there is one very important distinction to make. Nashville did not have any center depth at all and were forced to trade D's for C's where it is more difficult to recoup equal value. MB is in a position where he appears to have solidified the C position for the next decade and has the luxury of leveraging high value D prospects for wingers who inherently hold less value which allows him to acquire higher tier wingers than Nashville could with targeting centers.

I agree that there is risk in this approach but there is also greater risk in drafting wingers who can rapidly lose value if they aren't immediately productive. With this approach we can target wingers who are either fully established or have been progressing in their respective post draft developmental curves.

I think that early mistakes in MB/Timmins approach have lead to refinements in an evolving philosophy that imo appears to have the team heading in the right direction.

it's a fair point on Nashville as long as KK can be what we think he can.

The problem I have with this draft comes down to Guhle vs Reichel, Mercer, Chinakhov, Lapierre, Zarry. Since those were the forwards taken around Guhle and we needed one so badly. I would have no problem taking a center since they can often easily just slid over to a wing spot but our forward prospects are so bleak going into the draft I just hope they nailed this pick. I like what i've seen from him, but others seem to not be very happy with the pick at all and I don't have much to go off with the WHL not in action yet.
 
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Estimated_Prophet

Registered User
Mar 28, 2003
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it's a fair point on Nashville as long as KK can be what we think he can.

The problem I have with this draft comes down to Guhle vs Reichel, Mercer, Chinakhov, Lapierre, Zarry. Since those were the forwards taken around Guhle and we needed one so badly. I would have no problem taking a center since they can often easily just slid over to a wing spot but our forward prospects are so bleak going into the draft I just hope they nailed this pick. I like what i've seen from him, but others seem to not be very happy with the pick at all and I don't have much to go off with the WHL not in action yet.

You are more level headed than most on this board. Most of the posters bawling over the pick are not very knowledgeable and are prone to hyperbolic rants when they don't get the toy that they felt was the shiniest.

Like I said earlier, I felt that he was the BPA before we called his name but I was secretly hoping for a forward as I am also enamoured by shiny toys and scoring forwards are always so enticing. The truth is that I was actually hoping for each of Florida, Carolina, Edmonton and Toronto to specifically select Guhle because I was certain that we wouldn't pass on him despite him being another LD. Lundell, Jarvis, Holloway and Amirov all fell in front of us and when we selected Guhle, despite missing out on some very good forwards, I felt that it was the right choice even if it wasn't necessarily what I wanted.

Only time will tell and even if the process was the correct one to follow that is hardly a guarantor of success. I just can't be upset with a negative outcome because I feel that this approach may not be the sexiest but imo it is the approach that gives us the greatest chance to succeed. I am a person who strongly believes in following processes that produce the highest percentages of success so I am prepared to live with the outcome of this particular process as it is not possible to entirely eliminate failure at the draft table.
 

VernonForrest

Registered User
Feb 20, 2003
396
98
San Diego
I'm completely fine if somehow we wind up taking another defenseman, just please not another Guhle. I want to like the first round pick more than the second rounder.
Lol give Guhle some time he will grow on you. Shutdown D who can skate and play physical are very valuable. He has some offensive potential too that will come around. You probably woulda said the same thing about Moritz Seider last year or Jake Sanderson this year, but both will grow into dominant defensive d-men who play a 2-way style, and Guhle has similar potential. Never know where we will pick in 2021. Could be 32nd overall after a big cup win ;).
 
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Habs76

Registered User
Nov 11, 2014
7,672
1,751
Fredericton, NB
Lol give Guhle some time he will grow on you. Shutdown D who can skate and play physical are very valuable. He has some offensive potential too that will come around. You probably woulda said the same thing about Moritz Seider last year or Jake Sanderson this year, but both will grow into dominant defensive d-men who play a 2-way style, and Guhle has similar potential. Never know where we will pick in 2021. Could be 32nd overall after a big cup win ;).
I was a massive Moritz Seider fan, but yes I was (and still am, relatively) low on Jake Sanderson.
 

Hins77

Registered User
Apr 2, 2013
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Devon levi, from montreal, first goaltender for team canada. Did i miss something? Why montreal didnt picked him? Loll. They knew all these stuff. Instead of gordin. I mean. Thats weird
 

Pompeius Magnus

Registered User
May 18, 2014
19,660
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Kanata ,ON
Devon levi, from montreal, first goaltender for team canada. Did i miss something? Why montreal didnt picked him? Loll. They knew all these stuff. Instead of gordin. I mean. Thats weird
He's like 5 foot 11, goalies like that just don't play in the NHL anymore. He's kinda lucky he was drafted at all TBH.
 
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montreal

Go Habs Go
Mar 21, 2002
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Devon levi, from montreal, first goaltender for team canada. Did i miss something? Why montreal didnt picked him? Loll. They knew all these stuff. Instead of gordin. I mean. Thats weird

they have one of if not the best group of goalie prospects as is imo, although I guess I should look closer at other teams. With Primeau we don't need another goalie prospect although it wouldn't hurt especially someone NCAA bound to give us 4 years. But with Dobes being huge and leading the USHL and going to a top program I guess they liked him more then the much smaller Levi who I look forward to watching him at Northeastern if he's that good. Not that the backup has been bad but he just gave up a 5 spot so getting their starter back would help.

The guy who scouted Primeau, liked Dobes so that's good enough for me.
 
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dackelljuneaubulis02

Registered User
Oct 13, 2012
11,393
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I personally don't see it that way. I see a bunch of potential top 4 dmen, but nobody that will lead the defense as a #1 dman for numerous. We need to get one of those desperately.

Could be a bunch of #2s though. That's not a bad situation at all. I still want that true blue #1D prospect though.
 

WeThreeKings

Habs cup - its in the BAG
Sep 19, 2006
91,120
91,550
Halifax
Devon Levi sucks and is emblematic of a bigger problem in Canada..

We have lost the plot and are stuck in the Allaire school of goaltending instead of progressing like the rest of the world.
 

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