Would you support trading to acquire Lafreniere this off-season?

[Tyson]

Habs have no manager capable or creative enough to pull off this type of move.

 

[Yoor]

I doubt it. Laf is good but we are not talking McDavid or Crosby here.

I agree, but would likely take something like Suzuki, Fleury, 2020 1st, 2021 1st unprotected and all 3 2nd rnd picks 2020.

People will say that is not enough but no one will ever know because it will never happen.

 

[habsfan92]

Wow. Is this guy that valuable? I know he is good, but I kind of equate him to a Taylor Hall/Seguin kind of player. Not exactly franchise players but players you can build a team around.
He isn't a Lindros, who was considered the next one (after Gretzky & Mario). I remember earlier in the season that even though he was the consensus #1, he was expected to get challenged by Byfield. His play at the WJC's really cemented his status & gave him a more separation from the rest. Crosby had 168 points in his draft year as a comparison. Is he worth the king's ransom posters are packaging? I do hope we win the lottery, but we will get a good player in the top 10 nonetheless.

 

[Scintillating10]

We screwed up Wickenheiser... why not Lafreniere?

Even Timmins can't miss on Lafreniere. I think?

 

[DAChampion]

Back in 1985, the Habs offered all of their draft picks for Mario Lemieux and they were turned down.

Because nobody ever trades the 1st overall.

Incidentally, that draft was arguably the most successful in Habs' history.

 

[Justin11]

Even Timmins can't miss on Lafreniere. I think?

I'm sure Timmins will pick Lafreniere, you have be on heavy drugs to pass on him at the Bell Centre no less.

But I can't help thinking how Julien will have him on the 4th line with Weal and the 4th liner free agent Bergevin will be signing on July 1st.

 

[V13]

The most realistic trade would be for #2 OA (A #1 pick hasn't been moved in 2 decades)

Wouldn't it be better to just draft Byfield (a big center) and add himto our core without giving up any assets ? The answer is probably yes so yeah.

As for Laf i'm not again trying to trade for him but i wouldn't do something crazy like Suzuki + KK + Caufield + Romanov + 1st + ??? for him. The return on the investment may not be worth it , especially considering that he's a winger. I'm not against packaging some of those assets to move to 1stov but not all of them. No doubt in my mind that the guy will be great but there is a limit to the price i would pay. If he was McDavid it would be another story but Lafreniere is not in that tier imho. He's more in the Stamkos/Matthews/Tavares etc tier (which is still pretty great of course but not generational like McD/Crosby/Ovy etc imho)

 

[scrubadam]

The Habs have tried the many good players but no great players, it doesn't work. The Blues are the only team that ever won with that approach and theyre the worst cup winner, probably since the war.

So you would have been ok with trading multiple pieces for Nico Hischer or Nail Yakupov?

And the Blues are tied for the 3rd best team in the league this year, 1 poitn behind TB. They aren't as bad as their last place record last year. They are a lot better than you give them credit for, but thats beside the point.

If the habs are trading away multiple pieces like Nick, Romanov, Cole + 1sts they better get a guy who is going to turn them into a cup contender, and I am not familar enough with Laff to say he is the guy. He sure has a lot less hype then Matthewes and Crosby. I think Hughes had even more hype then Laff.

But you can convince me that he is the next Crosby, I haven't followed him much so I don't know. If you have strong arguments that he is let me know.

This is a seperate debate if the habs should tank. This is a question of moving whatever is asked from the habs to land Laff. I just don't know if he is worth our top prospects and picks.

 

[OnTheRun]

2003.

That was the last time the 1st OA was traded on purpose.
So that kind of answer the thread question... Since it's pretty easy to "support" something so unlikely to happen.

 

[Yoor]

The easy answer is we don't have the assets to acquire the 1st overall. We need to win to get it.

I just don't want 3rd overall again because this team sucks at drafting 3rd overall

3rd time's a charm?

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Even Timmins can't miss on Lafreniere. I think?

It's not a question of missing on that pick, it's a question of f***ing up the pick. For all the abuse Timmins takes (and some is deserved) our development has sucked over the years.

Nice thing is that the twin towers of dumb are gone. Hate the way CJ "developed" KK but apart from that I don't think he's too bad.

Never underestimate our ability to f*** it up though. Wickenheiser was a can't miss and we totally screwed that up.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

Hell no, the cost to acquire him would absolutely not be worth it

 

[cajmonkey]

No, he's great but not generational.

If it only took picks, sure. But no way would I trade all our top prospects and leave him with nothing to work with.

 

[AshyHabs]

If drafting is basically darts to this organization and development is basically nonexistent. I'd rather gamble on a high end talent (that hopefully our development team can't ruin) than stick with the status quo of busts. Unless he becomes a louis leblanc. I dont see why we shouldn't go after him. But hey wtf do I know.

 

[MSSLYNX]

Ok so perfect, let's flip it to the other side. Lafreniere busts and you lost 4 solid prospects. In the highly unlikely scenario where that does happen what comes next?...

Most probably a Cup cause team would pick early for 3-4 years. Think Pittsburgh (Fleury, Malkin, Crosby), Chicago (Towes, Kane). One of the surest ways to get a cup is to get 2-3 early picks for a couple of seasons. Not a guarantee (Edmonton) but Tor and Florida should finish pretty high next couple of years. Same for Carolina in 13-18.

 

[Kimota]

Back in 1985, the Habs offered all of their draft picks for Mario Lemieux and they were turned down.

Because nobody ever trades the 1st overall.

Incidentally, that draft was arguably the most successful in Habs' history.

The Nords offered the three Stastny Brothers. It almost worked but Mario became friends with Bob Johnson, made peace with the Pens organization.

 

[Grand Admiral Thrawn]

Normally I would vote yes, however Habs are so completely inept at development that they would most definitely screw this kid up as well.

So voted no.

But that also alludes to drafting more and thus ruining more rookies careers.

 

[Kimota]

We could try getting Mantha too in the package

 

[MTL-rules]

Back in 1985, the Habs offered all of their draft picks for Mario Lemieux and they were turned down.

Because nobody ever trades the 1st overall.

Incidentally, that draft was arguably the most successful in Habs' history.

Mario Lemieux might have been considered the best prospect of all time going in the draft. Lafreniere isn't.

But, really, what kind of question is that... of course the answer is yes, but chances are slim like 90s Kate Moss.

 

[vokiel]

Voted yes, because I think it would require trading one of Price or Weber. Since we're not going to win with them, it would be better for their career if we found a way to move them to a contender and get pieces interesting to whoever gets the first overall in a 3 way manner.

 

[Legend123]

Instead of paying in assets we should pay in money. Bribe, uh, I mean pay a few millions to the NHL and win the 1rst OA pick.

 

[Milhouse40]

I've got my reservation on Lafrenière for multiple reasons.

1- The Q = Not the strongest league by far. Still players like MacKinnon were in the Q.

2- He's a winger = Most players that deserve to go all-in for, are centers. There's exception of course.
Not so long ago many Habs fans were advocating that we shouldn't build around a winger

3- One player = It's not enough to win anything, you need a cast around him and i'm not sure i would be ready to
trade that cast, especially that if a deal would ever be possible…..it would take at least our 1st + Suzuki and that's only
a start.

In the end, it doesn't really matter what we think the Habs should do….there's no way the winner of the next draft will even listened to any offer.

 

[habergeon]

It would probably take our 1st (around 10th overall) + Caufield + Romanov + Kotkaniemi (or Suzuki) for them to even consider trading the pick.

Take Suzuki's name off that list, and I'd do it in a heart beat.

I think Alexis is going to be something special, and in Montreal he'd be a legend. No one on the list (aside from Suzuki) has a ceiling nearly that high.

 

[THE HOFF]

this draft seems deep in terms of potential but there is a lack of clear generational talent. Not sure I'd break the bank for Lafreniere the same way I would for other 1rst OA. This thread is relevant in a sense that I'm sure the pick could be traded for depending on who wins the lottery, unlike when you have clear generational players available at #1.

 

[Frank JT]

Hell no, the cost to acquire him would absolutely not be worth it

We already have too much holes. I feel the same has you