Pre-Game Talk: 2022 NHL Draft Mega Thread: All Draft Talk Goes Here!

[Saundies]

I'm starting to think Hughes just wants to trade down to #3 so gets the easy pick and nobody gets mad

Eh, trading the first overall pick when the draft is in Montreal is gonna make people mad.

Damned if you do/don't type situation.

 

[NekkiChiconey]

So I put together a top 25, separated by tiers. Why 25? I don't feel like I've seen enough prospects regularly to rank them confidently past the 1st round, and at this point 26-32 would be pretty ambiguous. Also, after these 25+HM I can't say I particularly like any other prospect.

*Quick note 1: I've been following the draft since 2016 and I tried to correct common mistakes I made while projecting players in the past. So, I'm not only gunning for upside here, but I rather rank these players as what their probability-weighted impact on their team will be. Case in point; I have Gaucher ranked rather high because I don't see a probable scenario where he's anything less than a solid 3C, and I think he has more offense than he showed. In comparison, Mateychuk could have great offensive numbers (mostly PP) but I see him as a below-average defender, therefore regardless of upside there's a very real scenario in which he's not top-4 D worthy.

*Qn 2: BPA is a myth. You may not like it, but that's the truth. Seriously though, I think at any point in the draft you always have 3-4 players who could be considered BPA and in that mindset, players in each tier are pretty much interchangeable based on position or personal preference. Tiers are mostly separated on upside vs risk.

I didn't add comments but I'm all up for a discussion!

1. Simon Nemec
2. Shane Wright

1. Frank Nazar
2. Logan Cooley

1. Juraj Slafkovsky
2. Brad Lambert
3. Danila Yurov
4. David Jiricek
5. Jonathan Lekkerimaki

1. Owen Pickering
2. Matthew Savoie
3. Pavel Mintyukov
4. Marco Kasper
5. Cutter Gauthier

1. Conor Geekie
2. Mattias Havelid
3. Joakim Kemell
4. Ryan Chesley
5. Liam Ohgren

1. Jagger Firkus
2. Nathan Gaucher
3. Denton Mateychuk
4. Gleb Trikozov
5. Mats Lindgren
6. Jiri Kulich

HM: Sykora, Hutson, Bischel, Kyrou, Miroshnichenko, Korchinski

*idk why the numbers are formatted like that but anyway you get the point

 

[Mandala]

Since there is a clear pattern of hiring who you know (Gorton, Hughes, Bobrov, Lecavalier, St-Louis) I think they have a clear bias for Cooley. I hope they take Wright if he is deemed the BPA by their scouts.

 

[FrankMTL]

Wow, the articles coming out regarding who the Canadiens will potentially draft are all over the place. Nobody f***ing knows anything. Well done Habs, well done.

 

[Frank Drebin]

I do find it funny that the fans are all stressing about this but the drafting team has had the opportunity to meet these players and probably have had their choice made for a couple weeks now and are very comfortable with their decision

 

[Saundies]

Wow, the articles coming out regarding who the Canadiens will potentially draft are all over the place. Nobody f***ing knows anything. Well done Habs, well done.

I watched a video the other day of when Gorton and Co. drafted Laf with New York, and the first thing Gorton says on the call with Laf afterward is "Well, we tried our best to keep it a secret long enough." It's his draft MO,

That's what makes me think they're taking Wright, keeping it ambiguous and not as obvious. But I've been wrong before and will be again.

 

[HomeAndHome]

So I put together a top 25, separated by tiers. Why 25? I don't feel like I've seen enough prospects regularly to rank them confidently past the 1st round, and at this point 26-32 would be pretty ambiguous. Also, after these 25+HM I can't say I particularly like any other prospect.

*Quick note 1: I've been following the draft since 2016 and I tried to correct common mistakes I made while projecting players in the past. So, I'm not only gunning for upside here, but I rather rank these players as what their probability-weighted impact on their team will be. Case in point; I have Gaucher ranked rather high because I don't see a probable scenario where he's anything less than a solid 3C, and I think he has more offense than he showed. In comparison, Mateychuk could have great offensive numbers (mostly PP) but I see him as a below-average defender, therefore regardless of upside there's a very real scenario in which he's not top-4 D worthy.

*Qn 2: BPA is a myth. You may not like it, but that's the truth. Seriously though, I think at any point in the draft you always have 3-4 players who could be considered BPA and in that mindset, players in each tier are pretty much interchangeable based on position or personal preference. Tiers are mostly separated on upside vs risk.

I didn't add comments but I'm all up for a discussion!

1. Simon Nemec
2. Shane Wright

1. Frank Nazar
2. Logan Cooley

1. Juraj Slafkovsky
2. Brad Lambert
3. Danila Yurov
4. David Jiricek
5. Jonathan Lekkerimaki

1. Owen Pickering
2. Matthew Savoie
3. Pavel Mintyukov
4. Marco Kasper
5. Cutter Gauthier

1. Conor Geekie
2. Mattias Havelid
3. Joakim Kemell
4. Ryan Chesley
5. Liam Ohgren

1. Jagger Firkus
2. Nathan Gaucher
3. Denton Mateychuk
4. Gleb Trikozov
5. Mats Lindgren
6. Jiri Kulich

HM: Sykora, Hutson, Bischel, Kyrou, Miroshnichenko, Korchinski

*idk why the numbers are formatted like that but anyway you get the point

Nice list! Just curious if you had to pick between Cooley and Nazar who you would go with? And what makes you think Lambert will be able to put it together at the next level as there's a lot of talent in that range of picks that I'd be tempted to rank higher myself.

 

[Skip Bayless]

They're trying to play the devils for sure. I don't think they mind either Wright, Slaf or even Cooley...they know they will inevitably tank next season as well...we'll probably end up drafting a better prospect than any of those 3 next season.

 

[morhilane]

Since there is a clear pattern of hiring who you know (Gorton, Hughes, Bobrov, Lecavalier, St-Louis) I think they have a clear bias for Cooley. I hope they take Wright if he is deemed the BPA by their scouts.

Hughes said he watched Wright play since he was 12 years old. He probably saw him as much as he saw Cooley.

I think people forget that his job as an agent had him go scout kids who were 12-14 years old to find future clients. He said it himself in an interview a few days ago: he knows the next 5 years of draftees very well.

 

[Hins77]

Someone know if there is a streaming site for the draft? No cable yet im my new appartment and I just caught covid -___-

 

[blarneylad]

Th

My choices ranked (out of the top 3 available) :

1) Wright
2) Cooley
3) Slaf

Pick a Centre please. The sheer amount of years we've gone without 2 top end Cs have been agonizing. Suzuki is developing nicely, please pick a guy he can help mold and grow with.

If it's Wright, great. I value hockey sense really highly and he has it in spades. He's handled the pressure of being exceptional status and projected 1st overall for years now. Super mature, trains like a pro already. Wants to be a Hab.

If it's Cooley, okay. They value the skill/dynamism he brings along with his compete over Wright. Fine. He at least projects to be a C and I can get behind picking a C with a different skillset if that's what it takes. Hughes knows him really well so obviously he likes him if he's picked.

If it's Slaf, I'm pissed and am gonna have to start drinking to koolaid to like this. Rose way, way too high for me. Reminds me a lot of the Andrei Kostitsyn/KK picks where we try to be the smartest guys around when there are better players sitting there. We don't draft the C we've been looking for and who knows when we have this chance again.

Either way, Thursday can't come soon enough and intrigue is high.

Thanks for this post. Articulates my thoughts exactly. If they pick Slaf I’m sure I will settle on it as I’m quite loyal. As we all are as we are still here after suffering 20 plus years without top centermen!

We tried with Pacioretty already as a sniper on the wing. Didn’t work why? He had no center!

 

[NekkiChiconey]

Nice list! Just curious if you had to pick between Cooley and Nazar who you would go with? And what makes you think Lambert will be able to put it together at the next level as there's a lot of talent in that range of picks that I'd be tempted to rank higher myself.

Nazar, but they're close, and admittedly Nazar is probably my favorite prospect in the draft. On talent alone they're pretty much on par with a slight edge to Cooley but I see Nazar's game as more translatable and he has grown so much throughout the year in how he attacks and defers to teammates. The deciding factor for me is how Nazar handles physicality, as I have 0 concern with his size because he's so stable and excellent at reaching under bigger players and separating them from the puck.

Honestly Lambert is a head-scratcher but at the end of the day I couldn't ignore the upside, which is second only to Wright's. He might be dumb off the ice but I firmly believe that he's a very smart player who had a weird/difficult year. I'd bring him to NA ASAP though.

 

[Captain97]

Ty Nelson no matter what

I'm with you. Ty Nelson seems like a good gamble after the 1st.

Ty Nelson no matter what

I'm with you. Ty Nelson seems like a good gamble after the 1st.

 

[Saxon]

I'm with you. Ty Nelson seems like a good gamble after the 1st.



I'm with you. Ty Nelson seems like a good gamble after the 1st.

You can say that again!

 

[HomaridII]

Engels has a draft article today, talks about all 3. No leaks there.

 

[BLONG7]

Engels has a draft article today, talks about all 3. No leaks there.

Draft day is gonna be fun!!

 

[Adam Michaels]

 

[jaffy27]

Since there is a clear pattern of hiring who you know (Gorton, Hughes, Bobrov, Lecavalier, St-Louis) I think they have a clear bias for Cooley. I hope they take Wright if he is deemed the BPA by their scouts.

I don't think so lol

Hiring people and drafting people is two completely different things, I doubt if we are drafting first overall next year, we'll be taking Fantilli over Bedard because of the "he plays south of the border" connection.

Habs are going with BPA, and more then likely this will be Shane Wright

 

[Adam Michaels]

 

[Colezuki]

Engels has a draft article today, talks about all 3. No leaks there.

That to me leans towards Wright but that may be wishful thinking, If it was Cooley or Slaf that would be the lean, but if it's all three it leans Wright

 

[jaffy27]

I'm with you. Ty Nelson seems like a good gamble after the 1st.



I'm with you. Ty Nelson seems like a good gamble after the 1st.

 

[Saxon]

Worth putting some money on Cooley...

 

[Frank Drebin]

Th

Thanks for this post. Articulates my thoughts exactly. If they pick Slaf I’m sure I will settle on it as I’m quite loyal. As we all are as we are still here after suffering 20 plus years without top centermen!

We tried with Pacioretty already as a sniper on the wing. Didn’t work why? He had no center!

And he was pacioretty

 

[Frank Drebin]

You can say that again!

Just please don't quote it again. That hair!

 

[HuGo Burner Acc]

If Habs select wright and then Devils pass on Cooley, that would be a sizable mistake. Everyone always says draft BPA but this time around we are suppose to just discredit that because Slaf is a winger that they need. Lowkey Cooley is better than Hischer and close to if not on par with Jack Hughes. So draft him and trade Hischer for more assets than what you'd get for the 2OA as he's a proven commodity. Imo if Cooley goes 2OA, he'd be the 2nd/3rd best 2OA since 2010 no cap