HF Habs: 2023 NHL Draft part 2

[Schooner Guy]

People underrating Dvorsky because he doesn’t go 1 on 5 and try and win outside with speed or flashy dekes as if that works regularly in the NHL lol

Yup. NHL style game. He's also one of the youngest in the draft. Of all the top 15 candidates, only Bedard is younger.

He torched the U18 with no support and he shut down Cooley and Wright at the WJC even though he's over a year younger than both. He owned them in the face off circle. Slovakia beat USA and lost in OT vs Canada.

 

[BeliveauFan4ever]

I am a Barlow fan, people under-estimate his speed leadership.
He is a great athlete with quick twitch muscle producing explosiveness in the shot and speed.

I would no longer take him with our pick though as I think there are better prospects, which is a testament to the depth of quality.

Leonard at Pick 5 gives me chills. Flu-like ones.

What a freaking disappointment that would be.

 

[Weber Fan]

Centre isn’t our biggest need. He’s in no way ever going to be better than Suzuki and I don’t think he’ll be better than Dach. Hopefully we also get PLD, and Dvorsky won’t be as good as him either.

I can see Dvorsky having a good career in the NHL as a winger…

 

[Belial]

Leonard at Pick 5 gives me chills. Flu-like ones.

What a freaking disappointment that would be.

Because he's not flashy?

The kid is an effective player out there.

 

[BeliveauFan4ever]

Because he's not flashy?

The kid is an effective player out there.

Is he the only effective player at pick 5?

To elaborate, Habs unfortunately fell out out the Sweet Zone of the Top 4.

Personally, I wanted a 1C. Not sold on Smith.

Leaves Carlsson as a faint possibility.

Alternative? Super winger Michkov or Reinbacher. Love Benson, but not feelin’ that’ll happen. Could I suppose. I’m alright with it.

Anyone saying Reinbacher at 5 is too early, well I’d certainly say the same about Leonard.

Give me a skilled RD over Leonard at that spot.

 

[Belial]

Is he the only effective player at pick 5?

I can only speak for myself but I find his game extremely translatable to the NHL level.

His versatility and the fact that he checks all the boxes are highly endeavoring.

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

Centre isn’t our biggest need. He’s in no way ever going to be better than Suzuki and I don’t think he’ll be better than Dach. Hopefully we also get PLD, and Dvorsky won’t be as good as him either.

Dvorsky and Dach would be a great combo on a line. I think Dvorsky would be the primary center but they could go lefty/righty on draws. Put Slafkovsky with them and that would be an amazing big boy line that can protect the puck with high skill levels.

 

[SlafySZN]

Because he's not flashy?

The kid is an effective player out there.

He can be flashy, though but it’s like people think he’s a grinder or something

 

[Belial]

He can be flashy, though but it’s like people think he’s a grinder or something

Agree 100%, he actually was the one that was stirring the drink on that line IMO even if he didn't get as many points.

 

[SlafySZN]

Agree 100%, he actually was the one that was stirring the drink on that line IMO even if he didn't get as many points.

Yeah, he is skilked, smart and can also play hard. Knows how to drive the net, not scared to take the middle to shoot or make a play.

 

[Belial]

Yeah, he is skilked, smart and can also play hard. Knows how to drive the net, not scared to take the middle to shoot or make a play.

I'm sold!

 

[SlafySZN]

I'm sold!

 

[Belial]

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Oh yeah, baby! An Anderson with hands and hockey sense!

 

[Riggins]

Oh yeah, baby! An Anderson with hands and hockey sense!

That's like saying Gallagher with a brain and a wicked shot. Incomprehensible

I'm warming up to Leonard at 5 if we're doomed to passing on Michkov. He'd fit in well in our future top 6 especially if we can get Dubois too. But then I also need Celebrini or Eiserman next year.

 

[Belial]

That's like saying Gallagher with a brain and a wicked shot. Incomprehensible

I'm warming up to Leonard at 5 if we're doomed to passing on Michkov. He'd fit in well in our future top 6 especially if we can get Dubois too. But then I also need Celebrini or Eiserman next year.

But we can agree that Gally with a brain and a wicked shot would be deadly!)

 

[An0n]

So…. How big Ryan Leonard really is? People are calling him Josh Anderson with hands but… isn’t he like 5’11?!

 

[Goldenhands]

So…. How big Ryan Leonard really is? People are calling him Josh Anderson with hands but… isn’t he like 5’11?!

Central scouting lists him at 6 foot 192 lbs. He is definitely not a train like Anderson, more of a small power foward with grit, skills and 2-way commitment.

 

[Goldenhands]

Here are 2 vids of Leonard I made earlier this year. We could do much worse than selecting Leonard at 5, I actually like him alot.

 

[Skip Bayless]

Ok boys..

Matthew Mania is him.

We need to talk boys.

 

[Mrb1p]

Yeah, he is skilked, smart and can also play hard. Knows how to drive the net, not scared to take the middle to shoot or make a play.

Hes skilled but what he did, is mainly against junior opp. The problem is that he relies A LOT, probably the most out of all the top 15 (Moore not included), on his physical tools.

He just wont do those reverse hit or those back control with the puck far out on the opposite hand for like 20 seconds in the NHL. The Ds are going to eat him up. He's not 6'4, he's 6' and thats probably being generous.

If Im honest too ? It sucks because I love the way he plays. Had he been like 2 or 3 inches taller, he'd probably in the conversation with Fantilli. The fact is, he's not big. He plays like a powerforward, he initiates contact when he has the puck (Even though he has the hands to not do it, but thats what makes him great.) and he uses his physical tools (Strength, balance, quickness and speed) to dominate... That advantage goes away for his type on the NHL.

Is he going to do this to Chiarot ? To Seider ? To Hedman? To Sergachev? To Ekblad ? To McAvoy ? To Carlo? To Dahlin ? To Samuelsson ? To Power ? To Sanderson ? To Guhle ? To Xhekaj? Probably not, it's a lot more likely that they will knock him on his ass, and potentially injure him.

All the Benson "Small boi" concerns are actually concerns for Leonard, because unlike Benson, he actually engages physically and isn't supper slippery like Zach Benson.

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Here are 2 vids of Leonard I made earlier this year. We could do much worst than selecting Leonard at 5, I actually like him alot.

Love him too. The shot he does up there is vintage Leonard, he has a very peculiar release.

Theres also a goal he scored at the five nation, I think against sweden where he completely destroys the two defensemen with super skilled silky smooth moves. He is 100% skilled and any team should be happy to have him.

It is a generational draft though, and the Habs should have had more than a Ryan Leonard to compelte the rebuild, but wtv.

 

[Mrb1p]

So…. How big Ryan Leonard really is? People are calling him Josh Anderson with hands but… isn’t he like 5’11?!

He's probably like 5'11 and 3/8 and they call him 6' to help him draft wise, that's what they did with me at 5'11 and 3/4 when I played football. He's small but he does have broad shoulders.

Here he is with "tiny" Perrault.

 

[NotProkofievian]

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Here are 2 vids of Leonard I made earlier this year. We could do much worst than selecting Leonard at 5, I actually like him alot.

The thing about Leonard is that there's nothing wrong with him. You could say he could be more this, or more that, he's not Tkachuk blah blah blah, but there are no red flags. Everything is at least above average, and some things are well above average. We could definitely do worse.

 

[Jaynki]

So…. How big Ryan Leonard really is? People are calling him Josh Anderson with hands but… isn’t he like 5’11?!

Other poster made a parallel with Romanov.

Like Leonard, he is not big. The are bricks, tough, resilient player.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Centre isn’t our biggest need. He’s in no way ever going to be better than Suzuki and I don’t think he’ll be better than Dach. Hopefully we also get PLD, and Dvorsky won’t be as good as him either.

He is better than Suzuki at the same age so writing him off as never going to be able to be better than Suzuki just doesn't make any sense. Making absolute statements about prospects is not something that scouts do and is not advisable for anyone to do.

It is also ridiculous to not take a center because your team has more holes on the wing as any center can play the wing but not vice versa. Both Dach and Suzuki still suck at faceoffs which Dvorsky and Beck look to be potentially much better at so maybe Nick and Kirby end up on the wing lol. It should also be pointed out that it is a growing trend to play 2 centers on a line to ensure that you always have a strong side faceoff option and both Dach and Suzuki are RHC's while Dvorsky is a LHC so there actually is a positional need for Dvorsky. Beck is also a RHC so Dvorsky is a great future fit as the team will need a LHC for defensive zone faceoffs, perhaps Dubois is that player but I try not to entertain the Dubois topic until there are verified talks in the works to get a deal done.

I would say that the one position you absolutely never should specifically draft for is winger as it is the easiest to fill by a mile and any forward can play it. I didn't read back far enough to know who you are advocating for but if you are using positional value only D is comparable to C with W and G in completely lower tiers.

 

[Harry Kakalovich]

A mere one more month to go...