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

[SakuKoivu11]

I like the question the French guy asked Trevor Timmins. “What was the reason why you didn’t draft French players?” LMAO.

 

[The Real Timo]

I like the question the French guy asked Trevor Timmins. “What was the reason why you didn’t draft French players?” LMAO.

and out of morbid curiosity - what was the response?

 

[Habaneros]

and out of morbid curiosity - what was the response?

none of the french draft picks wanted to sign here

 

[admiralcadillac]

I like the question the French guy asked Trevor Timmins. “What was the reason why you didn’t draft French players?” LMAO.

He specifically asked about players from the QMJHL, you made it seem like it was purely about french players.

 

[lamp9post]

I really haven't followed this draft class much at all this year so I can't comment on the players, but what I like on the surface is the overall composition of the players chosen. It seems like a good mix of positions and player types. In contrast, some previous drafts it seemed pretty clear we were reaching for current organizational needs. 2013 for example we clearly wanted to address size. It seemed like every player drafted that year was either over 6'3" or under 5'10". Not a good balance IMO. In more recent drafts we seem to be prioritizing LD highly, as if in response to the failure of managing that position at the NHL level.

 

[Habs Icing]

Forget the pick value, we have too many picks at the moment and not enough contracts. It makes sense to space out certain picks if you don’t feel anyone is worth drafting that highly. With the amount of draft picks we’ve had lately we’re short on contracts to hand out.

It makes better sense to couple lower draft picks to move up in the draft.

 

[admiralcadillac]

It makes better sense to couple lower draft picks to move up in the draft.

Not if you’re getting guys on your list anyways. And we did move up in the draft... next year’s draft. In the grand scheme of things next year’s draft is no less important than this year’s.

 

[McGees]

That's three NHLers from the draft. More than Timmins usual batting average.

We had more picks than an average year so the numbers would skew. Also the caliber of NHL players written is on the pessimistic side.

 

[SakuKoivu11]

and out of morbid curiosity - what was the response?

Timmins sounded mad and his response was “What kind of a question is that? I don’t have to answer that question “.

 

[Hannibal]

Honest question:

Are teams allowed to make player developement camp in their respective cities in a somewhat bubbles?

 

[sheed36]

Timmins sounded mad and his response was “What kind of a question is that? I don’t have to answer that question “.

Timmins was just on TSN690 for about 30-35 minutes and was asked about taking no Q players and about the article about that subject this morning. He didn't sound very happy said he takes that stuff personal. Very interesting listen which should be up on the TSN690 website later today.

 

[The Real Timo]

Timmins sounded mad and his response was “What kind of a question is that? I don’t have to answer that question “.

But did he say it en francais?

 

[The Real Timo]

Timmins was just on TSN690 for about 30-35 minutes and was asked about taking no Q players and about the article about that subject this morning. He didn't sound very happy said he takes that stuff personal. Very interesting listen which should be up on the TSN690 website later today.

Well, I believe if Laff was available at 16th he would have taken him, no? Totally agree, dumb question.

 

[The Marsh King]

We had a middle of the pack draft position, so our prospects from this draft were always going to be worthy of a B. I love the Farrell pick, and I'm okay with the Guhle selection. Glad we got Mysak too. I'm more confident in our draft after seeing how our picks compare to Mackenzie's list, but still some head scratchers. I didn't like the Smith pick, picking someone out HS with a injury history (even if it was the 4th round). Also I didn't like trading our 2nd rounder from this year. It's not just that I was really hoping we'd be all over Poirier despite his obvious warts, it also kind of felt like a spinning our tires kind of move, not sure what the difference will be next year vs. this one.

So this draft gets a B from me!

 

[SOLR]

Not saying he's a bad pick. I didn'T see him a whole lot. Just saying it's still a WTF pick. Nobody ranked him aside from CSS who had him at 169.

Not saying he's not, just that I'm happy with the pick. He's clearly talented like a 2nd rounder (high IQ etc.). The issue is, less data because of the injury and not a lot of data about him scaling. So he could stumble in many ways.

 

[sheed36]

Here's the audio of the Timmins chat with Marinaro from earlier this morning on TSN690 discussing the Habs draft.

Timmons: We have no bias against players in the Q

At around the 14 minute mark is when Marinaro brings up the question about the lack of players drafted from the Q. Interesting listen.

 

[habsfan92]

If you go with Bob Mackenzie final draft rankings we actually did very well:
1. Guhle....on Bob Mackenzie list 14....16th
2. Tuch....on BM list 43....47th
3. Mysak....on BM list 34....48th
4. Biondi....on BM list 93...109th
5. Farrell...on BM list 85....124th

So basically the organization can get rid of most of their scouts & use Bob Mac's list. Save a lot of money.

 

[RealityHurts]

I will not vote, as I know I'd definitely give the Habs a low grade. I would do so not because I believe they drafted bad prospects, but because they went significantly opposite of what I had wanted.

I am happy Holloway was picked away from us because I believe he's a bust with low ceiling. However, I really wanted us to draft Reichel and/or Mercer and was heartbroken we did not get them and both were drafted subsequently at 17th and 18th. Reichel, in particular, has a high ceiling and very good game sense so it was clear he was going to hit the NHL someday. His ceiling is high because his high game sense, when combined with his good shot and undevelopped body, can lead to stardom. Mercer, on the other hand, if I recall, was further developped physically and has a good shot.

Either way, the reviews I have seen from Guhle are very mixed. This troubles me. However, taking into consideration that our draft over the last 2-3 years (excluding this one) seem very successful thus far despite many negative critics, I'm led to believe I can give it some time. I do not think we needed a D-man in the system over a great forward we've been coveting for 2 decades, however, if Guhle pans out, then great.

That being said, I am unsatisfied we traded our 98th pick instead of grabbing Savoie. I think he might be a home-run. I'm very satisfied with the Farrel, Mysak and high school kid picks however. Habs need a game changer and it is very rare 4th round picks hit the NHL and become impactful players. Thus, drafting for home-run with Smith and Biondie is fine.

Not convinced about the goaly however.. his stats look abysmal.

The draft this year seemed centered around long term. I thought they were looking to possibly open a window now for Price and Weber. It's becoming increasingly clear they are losing hope in the current core. However, it is ok to recycle a little bit.

I don't expect us to do too well in 2020-21 season, but we shouldn't be too bad either. Let us however hope that we will be able to earn a top 3 pick following the 2021-2022 season. There are 3 potential super stars there, and we have waited long enough....

 

[DAChampion]

So basically the organization can get rid of most of their scouts & use Bob Mac's list. Save a lot of money.

That might actually be true for a lot of NHL teams lol.

 

[admiralcadillac]

Here's the audio of the Timmins chat with Marinaro from earlier this morning on TSN690 discussing the Habs draft.

Timmons: We have no bias against players in the Q

At around the 14 minute mark is when Marinaro brings up the question about the lack of players drafted from the Q. Interesting listen.

They don’t draft from the Q because they don’t focus on it. It’s not a question of bias against but if they’re consistently taking kids of USHS programs every year that’s because there is a structural interest in american programs.

It’s a legitimate question to ask about the dearth of Q players, but every team has it’s focuses.

Swedes/QMJHL players take a backseat empirically looking at the habs track record.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

Timmins must have been trolling when he drafted Tuch Mysak back-to-back. I know the pronunciation is different but that's good stuff, someone should change their username to Tuch Mysak

 

[domiwroze]

Guhle is amazing, 99% chance to be a top4 minimum.
Tuch is safe depth nhl
Mysak could end up top 10 talent of this draft, big steal.
Excellent round 1-2

and then you have homerun type of pick, see Farell. Exactly the type of pick I want for round 4+

My only problem with this draft is that we never trade up and we had the chance to do it for a 3rd rounder like Poirier

 

[franck50]

I like our drafting strategy since 2017 , getting picks for next year is smart as we have to be able to keep our contracts under control.

Just need a little bit of luck with one or two late rounders and mathematically its bound to happen.

This draft is alright but covid really robbed us of a true potential game breaker.

The big team sucks a bit but the youth pool has lots of size and different skills , great depth. We could have an exciting home grown team soon..

Really lacking that one big blue chipper tho :/

It's really hard to find blue chipper with a mid first round pick ...

But i have strong feeling that Ghule is gonna become one

 

[calder candidate]

If you go with Bob Mackenzie final draft rankings we actually did very well:
1. Guhle....on Bob Mackenzie list 14....16th
2. Tuch....on BM list 43....47th
3. Mysak....on BM list 34....48th
4. Biondi....on BM list 93...109th
5. Farrell...on BM list 85....124th

Mackenzie list is usually great at predicting where player are drafted but in term of being good at predicting how player turn out I don’t think it any better than any other list so I’m not sure we can claim a win based on this.

 

[franck50]

Timmins with another of his patented boring drafts. What a terrible few days for the Habs. Going back to sleep until this management is fired from top to bottom.

24 hours after the draft hahaha