RD PK Subban (2007, 43rd, MTL)

[Psycho Papa Joe]

I'm sure Timmins job isn't drafting players for Hamilton.

AHL championship mean very little for a NHL franchise success and Hamilton championship isn't apart. Minus Price I saw very little future "key" contributor for the Habs on the Hamilton roster.

Timmins hasn't been around long enough for his picks to make a big impact at the NHL level. We'll see in the next 5 years, but the AHL success, given the time he's been on the Habs is certainly a good sign.

 

[Whitesnake]

I know, but those names can replace Johnson, Bonk, Murray and others stiff like that. I said minus Price no one can be "key" contributor. And my point still with the names you're throwing.

Well......Samuel Pahlsson and Rob Niedermayer were "key" contributors this year....and I would say that Draper and Maltby were with the Wings, Madden with Jersey and all.....I guess it depends of your definition of key.

But I don't think it should only mean the goalie, the top 2 d-men and the 1st offensive line.

As far as their upside goes, Chipchura might become one of those guys, Grabovsky a 2nd line centerman, O'Byrne an #3-4, D'Agostini a 2nd liner and Lapierre a Avery type of player. And you can ask the Rangers who was a key contributor to the end of their season and their relative playoff success.....

 

[Dominator13]

I know, but those names can replace Johnson, Bonk, Murray and others stiff like that. I said minus Price no one can be "key" contributor. And my point still with the names you're throwing.

At the very least Chipchura,Lappierre, Grabovski and O'byrne will be part of the core one day. Anyways it's not that bad, we stil have both Kosty's, Fisher, Mcdonaugh, Emelin and Pacioretty coming in 2 or 3 years

 

[montreal]

I'm sure Timmins job isn't drafting players for Hamilton.

AHL championship mean very little for a NHL franchise success and Hamilton championship isn't apart. Minus Price I saw very little future "key" contributor for the Habs on the Hamilton roster.

Hamilton was missing both their AHL All Stars in the playoffs in Andrei Kostitsyn and Jaroslav Halak. But it depends on your defenition of key. Guys like Chipchura, O'Byrne, D'Agostini and Grabovski were all rookies in the AHL this year, so who's to say how much they will progress. O'Byrne should be a regular within 2 years but he may never be more then a 3rd pairing guy as his offensive game isn't that good. But he's in the mold of Komisarek and Hab fans are going to love watching him crush players. Grabovski is the wild card, he when paired with teammate Kostitsyn, formed one of the better duo's in the AHL this year, and were great in the SO but he's still adjusting to the smaller ice, tries to do too much with the puck, needs to get stronger, could end up a good nhler as he's got a lot of offensive skills and he's likely the fastest player in the organization. Should see more time with the Habs next year.

Chipchura had a great playoffs, I know the Habs are going to give him a hard look at camp for a spot but another year in the AHL won't hurt as he needs to improve his offensive game. Still he is a very good PKer and should be a good nhl shutdown center. D'Agostini is someone that goes unnoticed but he had a great year in the OHL last season and this year he was one of the better rookies in Hamilton, hard to say what his future holds at this point but his development is going nicely.

The thing is, the Habs don't need a lot of rookies to make the team. They have been adding several young guys like Komisarek, Higgins, Plekanec, Latendresse, Kostitsyn, Lapierre, Halak. O'Byrne, Chipchura, Price and Grabovski should all start to make their way onto the team within the next 2 years. Guys like Fischer, Emelin, Valentenko, White, Maxwell, S.Kostitsyn all are making good strides in their development and start their pro career next year or the year after for most of them.

 

[leafsrok]

i go to the same school as him...

 

[Believe in Blue]

Talented, Talented Kid

 

[Thirty One]

PK Subban

what's his upside? where would you rank him compared to 2008 draftees like Ness, Sbisa and Karlsson in terms of offensive upside and likelihood of reaching that upside?

thanks

 

[chaosrevolver]

P.K. Subban has very, very good offensive upside. One of the fastest prospects out there and a fantastic stickhandler. He also has a shot that is just below triple digits. He is physical and is definetly not afraid of dropping the gloves.

Anyone who reads the article he has on HF saying he basically sucks at defense....well...your reading inaccurate information. Here's the thing...hes pretty good defensively actually. Problem is, he is risky because thats the way he plays in junior. He likes to rush the puck because the offense Belleville plays is high powered and fast. That's the way the coaches want him to play.

His defensive mishaps are overblown. But because he takes huge chances, they are very noticeable. Once he reaches the AHL, Don Lever will tone his game down on the offensive side which should help his defensive progression.

 

[montreal]

what's his upside? where would you rank him compared to 2008 draftees like Ness, Sbisa and Karlsson in terms of offensive upside and likelihood of reaching that upside?

thanks

I can't rank him vs the others since i've only seen Ness out of that group, but I will add that imo Subban has very high upside and if you don't count guys like Price, Halak, S.Kostitsyn, O'Byrne as prospects then I'd say he's easily one of the Habs top prospects behind Pacioretty and McDonagh.

He brings a good mix of offensive skills plus good physical abilities (skating/speed/strength) He's raw and he's still got a good bit to work on but I think he stands a good chance of reaching his upside although it's still very early in his development. With another year in juniors and a couple in Hamilton, it will be interesting to see how he develops.

 

[Fire Brunet*]

He's a poor man's Mike Green with a heck of a shot

Subban is awesome too!

 

[Dominator13]

If Subban would of been picked in the 1st round last year we'd be talking about him in a much different way right now.

 

[Wats]

PK Subban

He had a great WJC (was on the all star team, tied for the most points by defenseman, led the tourney in +/-, and named one of the top 3 players on Canada by the coaches). I recall that he was viewed more as a boom or bust type player who makes a lot of defensive blunders. Has your view on him changed and what do you believe his NHL outlook might be.

 

[Twist and Shout]

Still boom or bust with lots of defensive blunders. He started proving that he has the offensive to make up for those blunders in the WJC, lets see if that continues ...

 

[Le Tricolore]

His defense was solid in the tournament. He was very good in one on one battles, and I've heard he's been great with Belleville this season. Here's hoping he'll turn out to be a good one.

 

[Fire Brunet*]

He's been on the ice for 3 ES goals against for the entire tournament.

 

[shortshorts]

Giving him a stay at home defensive pairing that'll make up for his mistakes and you've got a winner

 

[habs1988]

Don't overhype too much this kid!

He's something special. He'll be in the NHL for sure one day. At best, he's a d-man who excel on offensive while underrating his defensive play. At worst, he's a PP specialist.

I think he could develop into something new in Montreal because he's a player with so much passion, confidence and good attitude like Komisarek. I like this kid alot with what he can bring on and off the ice.

Well, just be patient with him because he's a rough in the diamond IMO.

 

[Hale The Villain]

Not saying this because I am Sens fan but I am just not a fan of this guy

Made many, many bad defensive plays and was too flashy (Pat Quinn was mad at him for being to flashy and being a bit of a show-off)

Every 5 or so plays he would make an exceptional one, but the other 4 would turn into a rush for the other team

Looks to me as a 2nd/3rd pairing PP specialist who can put up 30-40 points, but is bad defensively. Kind of like a poor man's Lubomir Visnovsky IMO

 

[massivegoonery]

I thought he was outstanding.

 

[Vinceee]

Not saying this because I am Sens fan but I am just not a fan of this guy

Made many, many bad defensive plays and was too flashy (Pat Quinn was mad at him for being to flashy and being a bit of a show-off)

Every 5 or so plays he would make an exceptional one, but the other 4 would turn into a rush for the other team

Looks to me as a 2nd/3rd pairing PP specialist who can put up 30-40 points, but is bad defensively. Kind of like a poor man's Lubomir Visnovsky IMO

i probably didnt watch the same wjc as you

 

[Mr. Hab]

Hab fan or not...

I really thought that Subban was very entertaining to watch.
I don't get the few negative comments out here on HF...is it jealousy? bitterness? anger? is it 'cause he's a HAB prospect?

IMO, PK Subban did really well for Canada.

I'm 100% sure (even if he wasn't a HAB prospect) that I would be able to admit that he is going to be a good one in the NHL (a grittier Mike Green? a grittier version of Brian Campbell?).





Off topic: also...I enjoyed watching Victor Hedman (another
Bouwmeester? a softer version of Pronger? taller version of Lidstrom? he should have a solid NHL career).

 

[Fozz]

Not saying this because I am Sens fan but I am just not a fan of this guy

Made many, many bad defensive plays and was too flashy (Pat Quinn was mad at him for being to flashy and being a bit of a show-off)

Every 5 or so plays he would make an exceptional one, but the other 4 would turn into a rush for the other team

Looks to me as a 2nd/3rd pairing PP specialist who can put up 30-40 points, but is bad defensively. Kind of like a poor man's Lubomir Visnovsky IMO

I saw him make a grand total of 4 bad plays during the entire WJC. Every other time, he made the right decision.

 

[Blind Gardien]

He had a great WJC (was on the all star team, tied for the most points by defenseman, led the tourney in +/-, and named one of the top 3 players on Canada by the coaches). I recall that he was viewed more as a boom or bust type player who makes a lot of defensive blunders. Has your view on him changed and what do you believe his NHL outlook might be.

My view hasn't changed much. Granted, as a Habs fan I was really happy to see him elevate himself into such a primetime role for the team. But I still see a fair bit of boom or bust to him. He made a lot of high-risk plays even whilst toning down his play at the WJC, and while maybe not as many ended up with a "blunder" label on them, he still won't get away with *any* of that stuff in the NHL. Well, with most NHL coaches, anyway. Coaching will have a big impact on how he makes his transition. I think the current Habs staff would be great for him. But there are a lot of other more conservative/less secure coaching situations where he might find it a lot harder to play his game effectively and successfully.

I'd give him a couple years in the AHL first. I do think he'll be an NHLer, though, I always have. The "boom or bust" is more about whether he'll be an impact 1st-pairing kind of point producer like he was in this WJC, or whether he'll be more of a depth guy/PP specialist who needs to find the right niche on the right team to maintain employment. With the way the current Habs org is developing their players, I'm really optimistic.

 

[FrankMTL]

Not saying this because I am Sens fan but I am just not a fan of this guy

Made many, many bad defensive plays and was too flashy (Pat Quinn was mad at him for being to flashy and being a bit of a show-off)

Every 5 or so plays he would make an exceptional one, but the other 4 would turn into a rush for the other team

Looks to me as a 2nd/3rd pairing PP specialist who can put up 30-40 points, but is bad defensively. Kind of like a poor man's Lubomir Visnovsky IMO

Ya he must have been so mad with his overall play that he named him Team Canada's best defenceman.

 

[sauce]

I think the Visnovsky comparison is a good one. He played very well at the world juniors. But 5v5 he didn't stand out among the Canadian D.

After all the recognition he received during and after this tourney (I think Pierre McGuire would leave his family to be with PK) he is a no brainer NHLer. The old boys network will give this guy shot after shot even if he stumbles time after time. It'll take 300 bad NHL games before he is out of opportunities. I'm not saying he'll stumble, he might not.