GDT: 2021 NHL Entry Draft (AKA Christmas Day): Round One | 8 pm ET | ESPN2, SN, SN NOW, TVAS

[MON4NHLTOR4MLB]

Trade the pick! This draft stinks

 

[shao01]

Fun facts;
- L'Heureux and Marchand both has played or is playing on the Wildcats and Moosehead in the minors
- similar stats in Minors
- even similar birthdays(2 days apart)
- same physicality
- only blemish on L'Heureux being the spitting penalty he had this year.

I, for one wouldn't mind a bit if we picked him up

Zachary L'Heureux Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com
Brad Marchand Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com

 

[dinodebino]

Fun facts;
- L'Heureux and Marchand both has played or is playing on the Wildcats and Moosehead in the minors
- similar stats in Minors
- even similar birthdays(2 days apart)
- same physicality
- only blemish on L'Heureux being the spitting penalty he had this year.

I, for one wouldn't mind a bit if we picked him up

Zachary L'Heureux Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com
Brad Marchand Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com

Would be shocked. He isn't playing in the good leagues.

 

[1909]

What I hate the most about Habs draft this season - and I know and understand the rules - is the fact that everyone of their own picks are second to last in each and every round. It is hurting the most in the first and second rounds. That team finished 18 th overall and were having the 16th Playoffs spot . Instead of drafting mid rounds, they are drafting very late in each round.

 

[YukonCornelius 5thOA]

I can’t believe this is the least I’ve ever been into a draft since before I started following them (1988). Last years being strange and in October already disrupted my usual routine.

Usually it’s a 12 pack and pizza night, was not feeling it but now that the day has arrived perhaps I’ll do my usual rituals. Getting a little excited.

Anyway, thanks in advance and in real-time to those providing scouting reports and player ideas for the Habs. I know who my favourite HFHabs scouts are and am looking to them heavier than usual.

 

[No More Subban]

Don't want to be a downer but do people really care about the draft this year?

I heard of teams just googling the players lol

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

I can imagine life as a curmudgeon. Must be fun

I'm having a lot of fun.

Here's the secret: my fun is not solely based on having delusions on a sports team. There's so many other things to enjoy.

Only the 31st out of the first 50 in a weak draft is nothing to write home about, quite simply. Don't need to pretend you know me because I'm a (happy) pragmatic realist.

 

[calder candidate]

Fun facts;
- L'Heureux and Marchand both has played or is playing on the Wildcats and Moosehead in the minors
- similar stats in Minors
- even similar birthdays(2 days apart)
- same physicality
- only blemish on L'Heureux being the spitting penalty he had this year.

I, for one wouldn't mind a bit if we picked him up

Zachary L'Heureux Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com
Brad Marchand Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com

L’Heureux skating isn’t on par with Marchands, which is a pretty big distinction…

 

[Whitesnake]

Matthew Knies will be an interesting candidate to go with. Wonder if the end of his season just bought himself a spot in the 1st round.

 

[Schooner Guy]

What I hate the most about Habs draft this season - and I know and understand the rules - is the fact that everyone if their own picks are second to last in each and every round. It is hurting the most in the first and second rounds. That team finished 18 the overall and were having the 16th Playoffs spot . Instead of drafting mid rounds, they are drafting very late in each round.

On the positive side, if there is ever going to be a draft year that this draft positioning happens to us....this is the right year!

Bob McKenzie mentioned that the ranking lists vary significantly more than ever this year because of the lack of views (no views for some players). This is also a great year to have 8 picks in the first 4 rounds. Many players ranked in the 2-4 rounds never had an opportunity to play their way into the 1st this year.

 

[Hannibal]

Matthew Knies will be an interesting candidate to go with. Wonder if the end of his season just bought himself a spot in the 1st round.

Is he a overager?

 

[Whitesnake]

Is he a overager?

No but he's a late 02.

 

[Sterling Archer]

Räty plays for my hometown team Kärpät. He was well hyped prospect for a few good years in junior leagues. Then he was promoted to play finnish pro league and stuck on 3rd and 4th lines, then it all started to go wrong from there. Kärpät made wrong decision to rush him to play in pro league, there was no 1st and 2nd line centre positions available for 18yrs old kid. Then he drifted between junior league and mens pro league all season. Confidence was gone, so he`ll performances in junior league plummeted as well.
All the tools are there. Hard working and smart kid. Risky draft pic but could be rewarding if development goes well.

I said earlier that I hope he falls to us. He was really solid from what little I saw of him.

 

[WinterLion]

I do like him a lot but it would be a gamble since he was injured this season and missed over 30% of the season. Then you have his numbers weren't that impressive, as just over a ppg but on the best team in the league that was just stacked. So the question for Timmins would be, was the injury impacting him on his return, as he started the year looking every bit as good as Coronato, when it was Farrell Samoskevich Coronato line. But then he got injured, comes back and the line gets broken up though he was back with Coronato while Farrell got Doan. Plus one thing I look at which maybe I shouldn't place as much value on for these incoming NCAA prospects is what school they are going to. Michigan, North Dakota, etc.. those schools that churn out NHLers, I love to see our prospects at these programs vs others like Koberstein going to the weak WCHA, or how we kept picking ECAC bound kids like Pauquet, Leblanc, Wyman, etc.. as I've just never been a big fan of the ECAC (though I do really like the coach at Cornell and think it's a really good program.

It will be really interesting to see how many of Farrell's teammates get taken and where. At least we won one trade with Tampa!

 

[Tuggy]

The lack of activity from Seattle and the rest of the league is a little surprising.

Should change by tonight.

 

[dcyhabs]

The lack of activity from Seattle and the rest of the league is a little surprising.

Should change by tonight.

Rest of the league is scared after what happened with Vegas. A few GMs really tanked their reps. It's one thing to negotiate a trade and lose, it's another to give one guy away so another guy is selected and then both of them succeed.

Like the Sergachev and McDonagh trades, you can be surprised by the players you get in a trade but you should have an idea of how good your own guy is.

 

[blarneylad]

The lack of activity from Seattle and the rest of the league is a little surprising.

Should change by tonight.

Really early in the day? My guess something gives in the next hour or so

 

[Mikah]

L'Heureux is an attitude problem in the room and has been suspended 4 times (he spit on a guy) - so you're looking at a Marchand type player, where there's so much baggage with the talent. I don't really want to add him to the room.

It is not quite the same being in junior hockey with kids that are mostly 16-19 yrs old, versus playing and living with adults that are 20-38 yrs old and married with kids. I don't see veterans putitng up with that kind of stuff.

People can mature, and that kind of energy/fighting spirit can be channelled into something useful.

I prefer a player who hate to lose and has a winning mentality over someone nice who never finish his checks. Picking at 30, it will likely be a player who will end up on the 3rd or 4th line, so having someone with a bit of grit is probably a good idea. And with Alex Burrows as a coach, I think that's a great role model of what he can become.

 

[Rockomax]

Don't want to be a downer but do people really care about the draft this year?

I heard of teams just googling the players lol

It's a totally random draft this year, which could mean we could get very good players even when drafting late. This is what keeps me interested.

 

[Whitesnake]

I understand that we prefer drafts that are filled with superstars. But if that draft serves to fill 2nd, 3rd and 4th lines, and you can add quite a few NHL'ers there, well it's all good too. Will be less money for vet fillers and more for younger kids.

 

[KevSkillz4]

Trade the pick and a prospect for Ristolainen, do it Bergy!

 

[webersshot]

What I hate the most about Habs draft this season - and I know and understand the rules - is the fact that everyone of their own picks are second to last in each and every round. It is hurting the most in the first and second rounds. That team finished 18 th overall and were having the 16th Playoffs spot . Instead of drafting mid rounds, they are drafting very late in each round.

Just pretend we have no first and we finished 2nd last

 

[Hannibal]

I understand that we prefer drafts that are filled with superstars. But if that draft serves to fill 2nd, 3rd and 4th lines, and you can add quite a few NHL'ers there, well it's all good too. Will be less money for vet fillers and more for younger kids.

Timmins loves drafting fourth liners.

 

[VirginiaMtlExpat]

Räty plays for my hometown team Kärpät. He was well hyped prospect for a few good years in junior leagues. Then he was promoted to play finnish pro league and stuck on 3rd and 4th lines, then it all started to go wrong from there. Kärpät made wrong decision to rush him to play in pro league, there was no 1st and 2nd line centre positions available for 18yrs old kid. Then he drifted between junior league and mens pro league all season. Confidence was gone, so he`ll performances in junior league plummeted as well.
All the tools are there. Hard working and smart kid. Risky draft pic but could be rewarding if development goes well.

I will admit that I don't know him other than by name from the get go.

However, I don't know that bad usage/development during crucial years at 17-18 years old can be bought back and bring him back on the track where he should have been. Also, it's not like we have had a stellar development system for years. We're just beginning to implement a development culture in the organization and the development system is probably not tooled and mature enough to bring back a young player with already 2 years of bad development on the right track. Plus, as @WeThreeKings already said, players who seem to have peaked and then plateau'd around draft time usually don't make for success stories.

I personally think that it would not be a good idea for Montreal to draft him both for the organization and for him.

This is an interesting discussion, and could lead to a buy-low opportunity. Many posters see the situation strictly in terms of progression, which is just... kinematics. Is the slope upward or downward at the present time? But if you go beyond kinematics, and try to understand what happened... the equivalent of dynamics, what forces are at play that resulted (temporarily) in that downward slope, then this presents an opportunity. It suggests that with the right set of conditions, the right upward force, that player could rekindle his confidence and find himself on an upward path again.

This is the potential limitation in employing a narrowly focused approach based on just a few snapshots of the derivative of the curve. That said, doing better may require a lot of bandwidth and does not scale over all players, but this is a specific player that many saw as 1st overall a few years ago, so it's worth doing a little digging to see if he's fixable.

 

[Rockomax]

This is an interesting discussion, and could lead to a buy-low opportunity. Many posters see the situation strictly in terms of progression, which is just... kinematics. Is the slope upward or downward at the present time? But if you go beyond kinematics, and try to understand what happened... the equivalent of dynamics, what forces are at play that resulted (temporarily) in that downward slope, then this presents an opportunity. It suggests that with the right set of conditions, the right upward force, that player could rekindle his confidence and find himself on an upward path again.

True. However, I'm not confident enough in our current development system to throw our 1st at him. At this point, I think it would be a lose-lose scenario. I could see him thriving if he somehow fell to TB. But if we draft him, it feels like he will not progress and we will have wasted a pick.