HF Habs: What are your initial impressions of the Habs 2023 Draft class?

[HomeAndHome]

I like the Reinbacher and Fowler picks. Xhekaj, while a fun pick, was an odd one for me.
I'll give a B for now and we'll see where things go from here...

 

[Habs Halifax]

TBH, with the way the rest of the draft unfolded, trading for Newhook was very smart. Know thyself lol.

What's your opinion of the "deep draft" narrative and where it ended?

They are rushing the rebuild by drafting overagers and drafted to plug holes like goalies within the depth chart hoping one of them pans out. No confidence left.

You talking about the 4th round+ picks? You lost confidence on not being able to pick the right person with 4th+ picks?

 

[JeffreyLFC]

Very hard to be excited. It seems like the rebuild will be very boring moving forward.

 

[Seb]

Ultra happy with Reinbacher and Fowler

Don't know the rest but loved the meme picks. Here's hoping they develop into something!

 

[Bacchus1]

Every year drafts are graded, and it is the dumbest idea. People are usually grading them on Bob's draft rankings of something like that. If a draft team is competent, they should have greater insight than the regular scouts, and professional team based scouts will not give up their secrets or hunches. Come back in 2-3 years at least until we can determine where we landed. Ppl were probably over the moon about the Galchenyuk pick, but years later, he is not the top 3 pick anymore. The Price pick was booed at 5 in his draft year, and probably now, he is still in the top 5 of his draft year. If a draft is boring, that is good, because it means that the casual fans have no idea what is happening because they are not professional scouts. Kick back and relax all!

 

[L4br3cqu3]

C

50/50 on Reinbacher, he kinda has to develop in at least a #2 with how high he was drafted (and hope he will), but we need high-scoring forwards more than D, especially since we already have a few good ones.

Optimistic about the goalies.

Very 'meh' about the rest.

A 'fire and forget' type of draft for me, honestly.

If we add Newhook to the fray, like some did, could push it to B-, but he's soon to be 23 so he shouldn't count in that.

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

The class will be defined by Reinbacher and Newhook.

 

[badfish]

I warmed up to Reinbacher. Lots of advance stats and NL people saying what he did is unique.

I think it's b/s when they say they couldn't get eyes on Michkov. If that's true how are you comfortable drafting all those Russians in later rounds?

Michkov better not turn into a 100-pt forward because that's HuGo and Bobrovs legacy right there.

Honeymoon is over at my end.

 

[L4br3cqu3]

Every year drafts are graded, and it is the dumbest idea. People are usually grading them on Bob's draft rankings of something like that. If a draft team is competent, they should have greater insight than the regular scouts, and professional team based scouts will not give up their secrets or hunches. Come back in 2-3 years at least until we can determine where we landed. Ppl were probably over the moon about the Galchenyuk pick, but years later, he is not the top 3 pick anymore. The Price pick was booed at 5 in his draft year, and probably now, he is still in the top 5 of his draft year. If a draft is boring, that is good, because it means that the casual fans have no idea what is happening because they are not professional scouts. Kick back and relax all!

Yeah, well, it's Hockey's Future board, if people can't talk about drafts, they may as well scrap the concept.

 

[Playmaker09]

Can we start the 2024 draft thread already and put this nightmare behind us?

 

[Vachon23]

Great start with Reinbacher and Fowler but after that…

I did like the Quentin Miller pick

 

[Scriptor]

The Reinbacher pick I'm tentatively fine with. He should fit in well with what we already have in place. If he becomes a top pairing guy that's huge for us. A potential good fit with Hutson too, whereas Barron and Mailloux would not be.

When will we ever get an elite forward? It's probably not happening in the next decade.

Mailloux's best fit is with Guhle, IMO, so, yeah, not a good fit at all with Hutson.

Reinbacher's potential mission is not to be a #1 D, but rather to enable Hutson to be a #1D and the offensive dynamo he has the potential to become.

If that's what Reinbacher can accomplish as a shutdown D with offensive upside, we'll be in business. Reinbacher could also team up with Guhle in specific game situations to shutdown the opponent and hold onto tenuous leads late in a game.

There appears to be multifarious upside to acquiring Reinbacher at this draft. I'm not sold it was abetter idea than picking Michkov, but, it has a potential to fill a glaring need at D for the Habs.

However, there is an argument to be made that HuGo still considered that Reinbacher, for them, was the BPA, not just a pick based on current need.

 

[abo9]

C?

Newhook is an NHL player... how good is to see. Can't say that about most 31 + 37 picks
Reinbacher looks really interesting - but consensus seems that he was a bit high at 5.

Fowler: Everyone has good words.


Obviously the rest (even Fowler) are darts.
Xhekaj I dislike, looks like nepotism and not BPA at all - but 4th round.

Russian goalie looks like a good one.

The Swedish center has some fans on the internet, SHL next year and had a big injury this year - hopefully it's behind him.

Overall, idk how good a draft can be with only a 1st and one 3rd rounder. The selections look interesting though, so a C from me.

 

[NotProkofievian]

What's your opinion of the "deep draft" narrative and where it ended?

I think it was pretty deep, but the rest of the NHL kept taking my guys lol. So it didn't feel that deep. The one guy of mine that really fell hard was Ciernik.

 

[nilan30]

Initial reactions to drafts are about as meaningful as power rankings.

 

[Wats]

Ultra happy with Reinbacher and Fowler

Don't know the rest but loved the meme picks. Here's hoping they develop into something!

Hopefully Reinbacher becomes a #2 D, Folwer a starting G, and Newhook a 50-60 point 2way W. Rest of the draft can be just fun names.

 

[kgboomer]

I can't stop laughing so it was entertaining. I'm giving it a D, it looks like something Bergevin and Timmins would have done.

 

[Seb]

Hopefully Reinbacher becomes a #2 D, Folwer a starting G, and Newhook a 50-60 point 2way W.

I expect Reinbacher to become a #1D.

 

[Crusher117]

Good draft IMO. Not flashy or anything but cerebral picking filling needs for long term success. Really like how we building this team moving forward.

 

[Scriptor]

Great start with Reinbacher and Fowler but after that…

I did like the Quentin Miller pick

If anyone was looking for WOW factors from 4th round picks and beyond, they have little grasp on what late round picks yield as results, overall.

I agree with you about the three picks you listed.

Habs were in dire need of G depth within their system and with Gs you listed are interesting picks. I have no problem with those selections. The other Jack-Eye for more Wi-Fi bamndwith and more black eyes is neither here nor there. Harris, the winger, isn't without flavour. The young Russian D who held his own against adults is a bit meh...

Not the most exciting draft of the last 15 years on the surface.

Still, let's hope Reinbacher becomes the insulating RHD to allow Hutson to play his game, within the game, at the NHL level, to quote MSL.

 

[Fatbiggie]

Feel like a pretty underwhelming draft. That only means that this will likely be a killer draft down the line.

 

[larek]

I accidently pressed D I meant to press F

 

[Ghetto Sangria]

I just figured out how we turn this draft day into a win…

We likely drafted the best Dman and best goalie out of the draft class…

 

[Kosseca]

This is a hard week with expectations....
no PLD
no top end offensive talent
lost 2 good pick for another project in newhook
very obscure draft....

There is much to desire from a fan perspective and you need of high level of faith that:
- No5 pick turns into a no1 Dman like Josi or Seider
- Newhook can slide into a top 6 role and be a point producers
- some of these picks are under the radar good....

 

[larek]

I accidently pressed D I meant to press F