HF Habs: 2025 NHL Draft: Part II

[Treb]

lol , wow.gif , heart.gif , nothanks.gif

To be fair, Desnoyers at 10 could be a great pick.

 

[themilosh]

And that's what I love, a rebuild take more than 3 years and you have to stick to the plan to get succesfully through it. Don't be impatient, keep stocking quality prospects, at some point they will have way too much and THEN you can trade for a big player. We are not there yet

The Irony is, Suzuki will be the old man vet hoisting the Cup..
Our true core is: Slaf, Hutson, Demidov, Hage, Fowler. Suzuki and CC are passengers on this train

 

[vokiel]

I don't think the difference between 9-10 and 16-17 is big enough to bother. If they want to go up, they can package 2nds, 3rds and 4ths from this draft and the next. If that's not enough, just pick whoever you feel you can develop the best.

If we touch any fan favorite picks this draft, it will have to be Carbonneau.

 

[montreal]

I really am falling in love with Vansaghi the more I watch. He might be the unicorn. I'd like to know if Michigan state plan to play him in a bigger role next year.

 

[A55P2]

I'd keep the picks. Pick 2 forwards. We're not as deep as we think we are and that would help our prospect pool.

 

[montreal]

Desnoyers is not there at 6th.

He would be draft by Chi at 3rd and I would not be surprise...the dude is a Winner!!!

i've seen rumors on twitter linking the Hawks to Martone.

 

[Habs7631]

Who do you guys like for our 2 2nds? Pick #41 and #49.

Is it also worth packaging those 2 picks to move up for another 1st? Is there at tier drop in the 30-40 range?

 

[JustAHabFan]

Right now Brady Martin and Kashawn Aitcheson might both go top 10.

It means some good players in the top 10 will drop.

 

[dcyhabs]

But don’t you always have to go with the big RHD when given the chance, could’ve sworn I heard that here before

Brad Brown? Half a dozen habs picks in the disastrous draft era? Yep, it’s a rule.

 

[dcyhabs]

He's definitely up there in talent level, IQ, and effort, that's for sure. In fact, I'd say that Bear is closer to the top-5 than to the 15th rank out of all prospects in this year's draft if we look only at those three attributes.

The only issue is that the last time a highly-touted prospect tore-up his achilles before the draft was Peyton Krebs, and he went from borderline-elite speed going into the draft to basically NHL-average afterwards.

Achilles tear injuries have historically been amongst the very worst injuries to heal across multiple sports, and also Hockey unfortunately.

On a pure eye-test basis, Bear was in my opinion a more-or-less "serviceable, but slightly below-average" skater by NHL standards as a draft-eligible before the injury (above-average agility, good edges, subpar burst, balance issues, top speed was lacking a bit but he looked fast compared to junior players and his hockey IQ exacerbated that even more).

With some natural gains physically over time post-draft, and some technique refinements, pre-injury Bear definitely had the potential to end up as an overall "above-average" skater for the NHL once he was fully developed.

And that, combined with Bear's very high skill level, great IQ, and top-flight compete level meant that he was one of the very best players in this year's draft.

I personally had Bear #9 before the injury, and thought he definitely had first-line upside if he developed well.

Except that he then got injured, and a major asterisk had to be put on Bear's future potential as a result.

If a guy like Peyton Krebs went from "borderline-elite" skater pre-draft to "NHL-average" after having suffered a complete achilles tear. Then even if Carter Bear's injury is only a partial tear (again, we don't know how severe it was except that it wasn't complete) what does that mean for his skating ability going forward?

In my opinion, the partial achilles tear both takes major development time away from Bear AND reduces his skating ceiling. All of which means that Bear not only could accumulate development setbacks, but also fail to develop much skating-wise going forward and may top-up as only an "average-adjacent" skater.

And that may even be generous of an estimation given how crippling an achilles tear can be for a prospective NHLer.

The question then becomes at which point of the draft a team's scouting department thinks that Bear's skillset, IQ, and compete level become too good to pass-up and offset the very real fact that Bear may end up average-ish speed-wise by NHL standards AND doesn't have nearly as much physical runway as other players in this draft, both elements that limit his ultimate upside in playoff hockey.

Speaking for myself only, because of the uncertainty I currently wouldn't have Bear in my own top-15. But I can definitely understand why other people would have Bear there, and even much higher than I currently do.

I jus think that, given the fact that we already have a couple of average-ish skaters (Suzuki, Caufield, Demidov, Slafkovsky all have pretty average speed for the NHL) in our top-6 and need more size too (which Bear brings neither of), that we might elect to trade-up for another type of player rather than for Bear.

For example, if a guy like Eklund (McQueen, Smith, and more) fell a bit, then I'd be much more comfortable trading-up to select him.

Though Eklund is also a small-ish player (though he doesn't at all play like it), he has many of the same traits as Carter Bear (a non-stop motor, high skill-level, IQ) but also possesses a very good skating ability which means Eklund has both higher upside AND floor compared to Carter Bear.

Partial versus full tears can be deceptive. I had partial ACL tears and they never really got better when complete tears could be fixed with a transplant. I don’t know if there is a similar thing for achilles injuries, but partial tears aren’t necessarily more repairable than full ones.

 

[Toene]

The Irony is, Suzuki will be the old man vet hoisting the Cup..
Our true core is: Slaf, Hutson, Demidov, Hage, Fowler. Suzuki and CC are passengers on this train

Old man? He's 25. Our window will begin in like 2-3 years max. He's going to be in his late 20s.

 

[rahad]

Old man? He's 25. Our window will begin in like 2-3 years max. He's going to be in his late 20s.

In hockey age, being 30 years is considered old. Not many people can still play like Ovechkin in their late thirty. If we end up winning the stanley cup, Suzuki could be around 29-32.

Our main core will be Demidov and Hutson.

 

[WinterLion]

Third best ranked euro: Milton Gastrin who is barely a 1st rounder in a normal draft year.

Best NTDP ranked players: William Moore and Jack Murtagh respectively ranked 29 and 30th on the NA central scouting.

So it comes down to the CHL and 2-3 guys playing in the NCAA and while thats a good year for the CHL, alot of them will be drafted higher than they should, because yeah, thats a weak DY.

It's definitely weak at the top due to not having any great Fins and USA players. These years tend to still produce great players further down... but yeah not ideal.

I really like quite a few guys , but I'm not sure that this is the year to nab our next superstar... it might be more roleplayer types.

 

[Nevins]

So far, from what I've read ,it appears that Canadiens scouts have met with or been present to observe Carter Bear, Caleb Desnoyers, Justin Carbonneau, and Gabriel Daigle. What have you read about this? Other names?

 

[WeThreeKings]

So far, from what I've read ,it appears that Canadiens scouts have met with or been present to observe Carter Bear, Caleb Desnoyers, Justin Carbonneau, and Gabriel Daigle. What have you read about this? Other names?

They won't be high enough to pick Desnoyers. Wouldn't touch Daigle, the mental component of goaltending is too important and he doesnt have any mental game.

 

[Draft]

So far, from what I've read ,it appears that Canadiens scouts have met with or been present to observe Carter Bear, Caleb Desnoyers, Justin Carbonneau, and Gabriel Daigle. What have you read about this? Other names?

There’s a very under the radar, big bodied, physical player in SK that I know they’ve spoken with. Not going to name names as I’m not sure the player’s shown enough through the year to warrant being a project pick. Likely more of an invite. Remember this post if you see a guy matching that vague profile as a pick late in the draft

 

[Fuonki]

It's definitely weak at the top due to not having any great Fins and USA players. These years tend to still produce great players further down... but yeah not ideal.

I really like quite a few guys , but I'm not sure that this is the year to nab our next superstar... it might be more roleplayer types.

I'm very curious to see how will this and next year's Swedish prospects pan out in a few years, as it's really one of the best age classes ever in Swedish hockey despite what seems like a lack of a total gem at the top. I'd definitely want to target a lot of the Swedes after the first round, with Filip Ekberg, Ivar Stenberg and Theodor Hallquisth all being especially interesting and seemingly undervalued to me

 

[Ozmodiar]

In hockey age, being 30 years is considered old. Not many people can still play like Ovechkin in their late thirty. If we end up winning the stanley cup, Suzuki could be around 29-32.

Our main core will be Demidov and Hutson.

Suzuki on the Barkov trajectory. Should be contending by late 20’s.

30 is still prime for hockey players. 30 is old if you’re an NFL running back.

 

[austin316]

The Athletics two round mock is out, put together by Pronman and Wheeler. They have the Habs taking:

16. Justin Carbonneau
17. Jackson Smith
41. Mason West
49. Ryker Lee

Bear, Mrtka, Aitcheson, Lakovic, and Cootes were taken prior to our first round picks.

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

The Athletics two round mock is out, put together by Pronman and Wheeler. They have the Habs taking:

16. Justin Carbonneau
17. Jackson Smith
41. Mason West
49. Ryker Lee

Bear, Mrtka, Aitcheson, Lakovic, and Cootes were taken prior to our first round picks.

Lots of size and a decent amount of skills, I like it . This group hasn't been quite as eager to take long gambles on highschool prospects than in the Timmins area, but West and Lee are both very solid. Both should be in the NCAA right away in their D+1 season too, so no junior A limbo, which is always a big plus IMO. West is a talented 2 sports guy by the way and is also being recruited as a football quarterback, it's not 100% certain which route he'll take just yet.

 

[zzoo]

I, along with many others, didn't expect that Caufield dropped to 15th, nor Hutson dropped to late 2nd round, nor Demidov at 5th.

In the coming draft, who you wish to be dropped to 16th, à la Caufield and Hutson ? Try to be realistic, so no Misha or Hagens.

Which player is worth to exchange our 16th and 17th picks to move up to grab that player, maybe around 10th ? Desnoyers ?

 

[Seb]

The Athletics two round mock is out, put together by Pronman and Wheeler. They have the Habs taking:

16. Justin Carbonneau
17. Jackson Smith
41. Mason West
49. Ryker Lee

Bear, Mrtka, Aitcheson, Lakovic, and Cootes were taken prior to our first round picks.

I swear every single f***ing mock gives us Carbonneau and it's driving me crazy. People are so f***ing lazy.