Most Talented Player Habs Have Drafted Since Lafleur ?

[DAChampion]

I rank Roy as the greatest goalie ever. But is it weird that for "most talented" i almost want to pick Price above him? I think Price has more talent....maybe. doesnt mean hes better though

Was concentration not Roy's greatest asset?

Do we not think of concentration as being separate from talent, in contrast to hand eye coordination or visualizing the ice? Are we mistaken?

 

[Burke the Legend]

Was concentration not Roy's greatest asset?

Do we not think of concentration as being separate from talent, in contrast to hand eye coordination or visualizing the ice? Are we mistaken?

Yeah people aren't rating brain functions very high. Just stick handling, shooting & agility.

I would probably rate Koivu top because he had all star talent before the injuries but also a very strong head on his shoulders unlike a lot of guys named here.

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

You guys don't seem to get DA's point.

He said 'as evaluated on draft day'. No room for revisionism and 20/20 hindsight.

By that metric, yes Galchenyuk is ahead of Patrick Roy, Andrei Markov, Patches, Subban and many others who were drafted much lower. Roy was a nobody on draft day. Only the Habs saw his potential, as he was playing on a terrible team in juniors.

Carey Price was obviously ranked very highly on draft day. Koivu, not as high (21st overall), but I do remember the hype around him even before he came into the league.

By that metric, Wickenheiser comes first. The question become more simple (and boring), we go with the rank draft. Wickenheiser first overall, followed by Galchenyuk 3rd and Price 5th overall.

 

[FrankMTL]

he was never the same because, because he simply played over his head for 2 months . A lot of players have had the same kind of injury, and they were able to play the same game .

Koivu always was very good to start the seasons ( so was M October Savage) and after december, he was slowing down

Let's agree to disagree on that one. It was only his second year, and you could see him blossoming into a star. I never saw the same player physically after that year. He was never as quick and sharp. Obviously, who really knows in the end right? He got hurt (often) and was sick. It's hard to say what kind of career he could have had.

 

[Brainiac]

By that metric, Wickenheiser comes first. The question become more simple (and boring), we go with the rank draft. Wickenheiser first overall, followed by Galchenyuk 3rd and Price 5th overall.

Drafts are not all created equal, though. So we could argue that, say, #5 overall in a certain draft might be better than #3 in another draft.

But yeah, we have to 'accept' that Wickenheiser was very highly valued on draft day. As dumb as it sounds with hindsight.

Let's remember that as yet another example that drafting is a very imprecise science. Tons of skilled players are picked in the top 5-10 and amount to basically not much. And the opposite happens quite a lot, too.

 

[sampollock]

Chelios , Roy , just to name 2

 

[Tighthead]

Drafts are not all created equal, though. So we could argue that, say, #5 overall in a certain draft might be better than #3 in another draft.

But yeah, we have to 'accept' that Wickenheiser was very highly valued on draft day. As dumb as it sounds with hindsight.

Let's remember that as yet another example that drafting is a very imprecise science. Tons of skilled players are picked in the top 5-10 and amount to basically not much. And the opposite happens quite a lot, too.

As much as people wish Savard was the pick, I recall Wickenheiser being basically the consensus number one pick. Savard was popular with our fans, but I don't think many scouts had him ranked higher. People sometimes forget that Babych went 2 to Winnipeg.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Add a poll to this thread so people can vote? I'll rank my top 11 and not sure if I'm forgetting anyone that deserves to be in this mix...

Roy
Price
Koivu
Markov
Richer
Subban
Gallagher
Shutt
LeClair
Patch
Gainey

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

Drafts are not all created equal, though. So we could argue that, say, #5 overall in a certain draft might be better than #3 in another draft.

But yeah, we have to 'accept' that Wickenheiser was very highly valued on draft day. As dumb as it sounds with hindsight.

Let's remember that as yet another example that drafting is a very imprecise science. Tons of skilled players are picked in the top 5-10 and amount to basically not much. And the opposite happens quite a lot, too.

Some expert at rds said that the year draft when Galchenyuk was 3rd, the very first would have been Vassilevski. Galchenyuk would have been 11th, Forsberg was something like 7th, that was 4 years after the draft. So yes, drafting is not an exact science.

For those who say Roy, Chelios and co were not quoted as high talent before the draft, one of my brother told me Roy will be an excellent goalie, a goalie with an excellent glove. He told me Cheliuos will become a very good offensive D. There wasn't internet at the time but there was LaPresse and hockey experts one in a while on tv.

 

[salbutera]

Chelios was drafted at a time the league didn’t hold US college hockey in as high regard vs juniors - one of the very few good moves under the Grundman era.

Prof Caron didn’t think Mike Bossy had the skill of Mark Napier and didn’t think Mark Messier could be more than a goon. Scotty was dispatched by Pollock to scout some kid named Orr and came back to say he didn’t think Orr would pan out.

Draft is an inexact science at the best of times....

 

[Paddyjack]

Some expert at rds said that the year draft when Galchenyuk was 3rd, the very first would have been Vassilevski. Galchenyuk would have been 11th, Forsberg was something like 7th, that was 4 years after the draft. So yes, drafting is not an exact science.

For those who say Roy, Chelios and co were not quoted as high talent before the draft, one of my brother told me Roy will be an excellent goalie, a goalie with an excellent glove. He told me Cheliuos will become a very good offensive D. There wasn't internet at the time but there was LaPresse and hockey experts one in a while on tv.

Problem with Roy was also that he had a terrible season stat wise in the draft year, his team was very bad. I remember back in the days the story was that the Habs thought that he was receiving so many pucks during a game in the junior that it would help him later on

 

[Chili]

One player I don't believe has been mentioned, Rod Langway.

He was a difference maker on the blueline, enough to win two Norris trophies.

 

[montreal]

I rank Roy as the greatest goalie ever. But is it weird that for "most talented" i almost want to pick Price above him? I think Price has more talent....maybe. doesnt mean hes better though

It's very hard to compare goalies from the high scoring days of the '80's to today's goalies.

 

[Seb]

Most definitely Alexander Avtsin

 

[callmek2]

Richer is a good choice. When you factor in the near crippling depression he dealt with for the bulk - if not all - of his playing career, it's a wonder he produced as well as he did. He'd likely have strung together numerous 50g seasons and not been traded for Sylvain Turgeon (good grief) if he either had good mental health or systems were in place to help him with it back then.

Him aside, and not limited to skaters, I have to name Roy. Single-handedly revolutionized the way the position is played. Spawned a generation of French Canadian goalies that might have gone on to be goal scorers if not for him. Four cups and 3 Conn Smythe trophies.

Richer is a good choice. When you factor in the near crippling depression he dealt with for the bulk - if not all - of his playing career, it's a wonder he produced as well as he did. He'd likely have strung together numerous 50g seasons and not been traded for Sylvain Turgeon (good grief) if he either had good mental health or systems were in place to help him with it back then.

Him aside, and not limited to skaters, I have to name Roy. Single-handedly revolutionized the way the position is played. Spawned a generation of French Canadian goalies that might have gone on to be goal scorers if not for him. Four cups and 3 Conn Smythe trophies.

Richer was traded for Muller
Claude Lemieux was trade for S Turgeon

 

[1909]

Chelios was drafted at a time the league didn’t hold US college hockey in as high regard vs juniors - one of the very few good moves under the Grundman era.

Prof Caron didn’t think Mike Bossy had the skill of Mark Napier and didn’t think Mark Messier could be more than a goon. Scotty was dispatched by Pollock to scout some kid named Orr and came back to say he didn’t think Orr would pan out.

Draft is an inexact science at the best of times....

In 1970, Pollock drafted Chuck Lefley in the 1st round instead of.... Darryl Sittler.

 

[eklund the clown]

Toss up between Doug Wickenheiser and McCaron.

 

[Chili]

In 1970, Pollock drafted Chuck Lefley in the 1st round instead of.... Darryl Sittler.

Considering all the high picks they had during Pollock's career, they didn't find many centres. Keith Acton and Doug Risebrough maybe the best of the bunch.

 

[Boris Le Tigre]

Was concentration not Roy's greatest asset?

Do we not think of concentration as being separate from talent, in contrast to hand eye coordination or visualizing the ice? Are we mistaken?

When P-Roy was in the zone he was unbeatable. Especially early in. His performance in the playoffs in his rookie season was a clinic.

That said if he wasn’t tested much in a game he could let in some bad ones. He was beat from behind the blue line for that reason ...not very often but still.

 

[Per Sjoblom]

Let's agree to disagree on that one. It was only his second year, and you could see him blossoming into a star. I never saw the same player physically after that year. He was never as quick and sharp. Obviously, who really knows in the end right? He got hurt (often) and was sick. It's hard to say what kind of career he could have had.

I agree, he was very well known in Sweden as well when he first came through. I saw him live as a junior in a game against Sweden and I thought he would become brilliant. One of the best junior players I had ever seen.

 

[groovejuice]

If we don't look solely at offensive numbers, there's a damn good case to be made for Bob Gainey.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Just to go outside-the-box: Andrei Kostitsyn.

Yeah, no brain and probably no heart. Or no heart and probably no brain. Or homesickness or whatever.

But the guy had all the tools. He was very strong, had a great arsenal of shots, great hands and great dangling skills, even his passing was underrated. Just no toolbox apparently.

 

[BenchBrawl]

It's very hard to compare goalies from the high scoring days of the '80's to today's goalies.

Roy won a Smythe in the early 2000s though. Hardly strictly a 80s goalie. He played over 100+ playoff games in the dead puck era alone, defined as 1997-2003 starting in the 96-97 season.

 

[BenchBrawl]

I rank Roy as the greatest goalie ever. But is it weird that for "most talented" i almost want to pick Price above him? I think Price has more talent....maybe. doesnt mean hes better though

No I agree, Carey Price is one of the greatest goaltending talent of all-time. He's naturally talented in a way that Roy was not. But Roy was twice the goalie Price is, though to be fair Price hardly ever had a team in front of him his entire career.

Roy was mentally stronger than everyone though.

 

[angusyoung]

Add a poll to this thread so people can vote? I'll rank my top 11 and not sure if I'm forgetting anyone that deserves to be in this mix...

Roy
Price
Koivu
Markov
Richer
Subban
Gallagher
Shutt
LeClair
Patch
Gainey

Naslund