HF Habs: 2023 NHL Draft part 2

[NotProkofievian]

His red flags are just way too important, he has very high bust potential, I would target safer players like Wahlberg, Bjarnasson, Strbak who could all help the team down the road or being used as trade bailts. Cristall has very high chances to bust IMO and would be a wasted asset.

These guys could bust too.

 

[Blame the referee]

These attempts to diminish Michkov’s game are amusing. Spoiler alert all prospects have areas you can nitpick including Bedard. Doesn’t change the fact he performed in a historic way in a men’s league and when the pressure was on always performed for his country. Again at a historic pace. His ability to both shoot and pass on a power play itself will be deadly in the playoffs and gives me Kucherov vibes.

We can draft such a player at 5th overall lol. Why are we debating this or justifying HuGo’s bad decisions. Mgmt can peddle whatever bs they want doesn’t mean we have to repeat it in here. It’s a bad decision to not draft him. HuGo will live to regret it.

This…just this…

Pick Michkov and wait. Don’t overthink.

It’s really a Montreal thing to think like that.

We pick first….it’s a bad year, we always pick top 5 on bad year

We can pick a generational talent at 5 for once….too risky

You have to take risk to win in life.

Just draft Michkov if he’s there….please

 

[Goldenhands]

These guys could bust too.

No doubt, but the bust factor is lower

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

No doubt, but the bust factor is lower

I do like Strbak a lot and think he'd make a great partner for Hutson in the future. I wouldn't be mad if we took him at 31, I just would prefer taking a chance on Cristall.

Agreed that the bust factor is definitely higher, but skill like that isn't available there very often.

 

[NotProkofievian]

No doubt, but the bust factor is lower

True, especially for Strbak IMO. But it's still substantial, and their upside is lower.

Bust risk is like ''what if I'm wrong about this player.'' Upside asks the question ''what if I'm right about him?''

 

[NotProkofievian]

Drafting a guy like Cristall, or Sale, or Musty or Ciernik or Lardis or any other high octane offensive player who doesn't exactly play The Right Way™ is a balancing act between what you get when you're right versus how often you're wrong.

You may look at a guy like Cristall and say ''that guy busts 3 out of 4 times'' which may even be correct. But if Cristall hits, that will more than likely compensate for the lost pick value except for at the very top of the draft.

 

[Garbageyuk]

This…just this…

Pick Michkov and wait. Don’t overthink.

It’s really a Montreal thing to think like that.

We pick first….it’s a bad year, we always pick top 5 on bad year

We can pick a generational talent at 5 for once….too risky

You have to take risk to win in life.

Just draft Michkov if he’s there….please

People are getting carried away with this. He’s got star potential - something like Kaprizov. I seriously doubt he ever becomes as good as guys like Patrick Kane or Kucherov, and nobody would ever call those two “generational”.

He also is flawed in more ways than one and carries plenty of bust risk, baggage, question marks, etc. I’d personally steer clear. I’m all for swinging for the fences most times, but there are just too many red flags with him that a lot of people on here seem to be ignoring.

We can safely assume that Bedard, Fantilli, and Carlsson are gone at 5th, so I’d take all of Smith, Leonard, and Benson over Michkov. All three are fantastic prospects with tremendous upside, and they don’t come with all the BS and uncertainty that Michkov does. Sure Michkov could end up as the best player out of the 3, but as time goes on, that seems less and less likely.

His stock hasn’t only fallen due to the geopolitical situation; it’s been intrinsic factors as well. A couple years ago, he was being talked about as being in competition with Bedard for 1st overall. That seems ridiculous now. If I’ve learned anything about prospects and scouting, it’s that these “fallers” leading up to a draft rarely end up being good picks.

One more thought: I don’t find Reinbacher appealing at all. He’s a vanilla prospect who’s potential has been exaggerated due to “playing against men”, ignoring the fact that he’s physically mature and the league he plays in is one of the weakest major pro leagues. He seems like the defenseman version of Kotkaniemi. I’d pass, especially when several of the other prospects are guaranteed to be available. This is the only pick that would piss me off out of the ones that are likely. The rest of the guys mentioned, I could live with, including Michkov if it’s a choice between him and Reinbacher.

 

[Kaladin]

People are getting carried away with this. He’s got star potential - something like Kaprizov. I seriously doubt he ever becomes as good as guys like Patrick Kane or Kucherov, and nobody would ever call those two “generational”.

He also is flawed in more ways than one and carries plenty of bust risk, baggage, question marks, etc. I’d personally steer clear. I’m all for swinging for the fences most times, but there are just too many red flags with him that a lot of people on here seem to be ignoring.

We can safely assume that Bedard, Fantilli, and Carlsson are gone at 5th, so I’d take all of Smith, Leonard, and Benson over Michkov. All three are fantastic prospects with tremendous upside, and they don’t come with all the BS and uncertainty that Michkov does. Sure Michkov could end up as the best player out of the 3, but as time goes on, that seems less and less likely.

His stock hasn’t only fallen due to the geopolitical situation; it’s been intrinsic factors as well. A couple years ago, he was being talked about as being in competition with Bedard for 1st overall. That seems ridiculous now. If I’ve learned anything about prospects and scouting, it’s that these “fallers” leading up to a draft rarely end up being good picks.

You sure wrote a lot of words to say very little of substance related to Michkov. Why do you *seriously* doubt he could ever become as good as Kucherov? So far in their respective careers michkov is tracking as the better player at that age. What are all these bust factors that stand out for him vs a Smith or Carlson? Let alone a Benson or a Leonard? And does his upside not outweigh whatever bust factor you attribute to him?

He isn’t “falling” because of his on ice play. If michkov had a chance to play against his age group this year none of us would be having this conversation to be honest. And the comparisons to Bedard wouldn’t seem as “ridiculous”.

 

[Pazucha]

If Montreal trades 5th to Detroit for 9th and 17th

9 - Dvorsky
17 - Honzek
31 - Sale
37 - Hrabal
69 - Strbak
101 - Gajan
110 - Misiak
128 - Pekarcik
133 - Urban



We could add Florian Xhekaj since he probably speaks Czech.

 

[NotProkofievian]

If Michkov doesn't deserve the title generational prospect then it loses all its meaning. Russia has perhaps never produced a prospect with his resume, and if they have, they turned out to be generational players.

 

[Saxon]

If Michkov doesn't deserve the title generational prospect then it loses all its meaning. Russia has perhaps never produced a prospect with his resume, and if they have, they turned out to be generational players.

 

[JuJu Mobb]

Didn't know Bedard was this jacked.

 

[NotProkofievian]

Didn't know Bedard was this jacked.

Kid is too swole to control

 

[Pazucha]

Didn't know Bedard was this jacked.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Quotes from The Athletic again in the other thread.

Nobody expects them to take Michkov and Michkov continues to be seen as dropping, perhaps out of the top 10.

 

[ReHabs]

Didn't know Bedard was this jacked.

It’s not fair, short guys get swoled easier.

Quotes from The Athletic again in the other thread.

Nobody expects them to take Michkov and Michkov continues to be seen as dropping, perhaps out of the top 10.

The Athletic… famous for having scoops. Right.

 

[HomaridII]

Quotes from The Athletic again in the other thread.

Nobody expects them to take Michkov and Michkov continues to be seen as dropping, perhaps out of the top 10.

Out of the top 10? That would be stupid.

I understand NHL teams are scared to have zero control over his development for three years but its not like we don't have 7-8 other recent examples of kids coming to the NHL from the same program. Its ridiculous if he drops out of the top 10.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Out of the top 10? That would be stupid.

I understand NHL teams are scared to have zero control over his development for three years but its not like we don't have 7-8 other recent examples of kids coming to the NHL from the same program. Its ridiculous if he drops out of the top 10.

That's the chatter - now maybe a team or scouting staff feels the risk is worth it earlier.

Just saying the perception of Michkov as a player and the understanding of his risk from a public perspective does not seem to match up with what the scouts and NHL teams are saying/believing.

 

[NotProkofievian]

Michkov slipping alters the calculation for trading down. Picking a player like Michkov is a rare opportunity. Getting paid to do it is nonsense.

 

[crosbyshow]

Cristall had 95 points in 54 games..

Benson had 98 in 60 games on a pack team.

Before his injury Cristall was alone behind Bedard in the scoring race in the WHL..

Cristall is a very good bet at 31st if he is still there.


Also...Snake Boisvert has Musty 6th overall on his list.

We can laught but Boisvert was the only one who had Stutzle first overall in 2020 and for example he had Robert Thomas 5th in 2017..and Thomas was drafted 20th...also in 2017 Boisvert had Makar first overall and Heiskanen second...when alomost everybody had Nico Hichier and Nolan Patrick 1 and 2..

Boisvert was so wrong thought with Nichuskin in 2013

 

[NotProkofievian]

Cristall had 95 points in 54 games..

Benson had 98 in 60 games on a pack team.

Before his injury Cristall was alone behind Bedard in the scoring race in the WHL..

Cristall is a very good bet at 31st if he is still there.


Also...Snake Boisvert has Musty 6th overall on his list.

We can laught but Boisvert was the only one who had Stutzle first overall in 2020 and for example he had Robert Thomas 5th in 2017..and Thomas was drafted 20th...also in 2017 Boisvert had Makar first overall and Heiskanen second...when alomost everybody had Nico Hichier and Nolan Patrick 1 and 2..

Boisvert was so wrong thought with Nichuskin in 2013

One of Musty, Sale, Cristall, or Lardis might be available at 31. All high octane guys with left shots, that'd be a great first two picks to go with a guy like Leonard if we go in that direction.

 

[HuGort]

Is The Hockey News Draft Preview out yet?

 

[WeThreeKings]

One of Musty, Sale, Cristall, or Lardis might be available at 31. All high octane guys with left shots, that'd be a great first two picks to go with a guy like Leonard if we go in that direction.

Musty at 31 would be a dream.. hell, any of those guys would be a great skill bet at 31.

I also like Ziemmer, But, Sawchyn and Dragicevic there.

 

[Gustave]

Cristall had 95 points in 54 games..

Benson had 98 in 60 games on a pack team.

Before his injury Cristall was alone behind Bedard in the scoring race in the WHL..

Cristall is a very good bet at 31st if he is still there.


Also...Snake Boisvert has Musty 6th overall on his list.

We can laught but Boisvert was the only one who had Stutzle first overall in 2020 and for example he had Robert Thomas 5th in 2017..and Thomas was drafted 20th...also in 2017 Boisvert had Makar first overall and Heiskanen second...when alomost everybody had Nico Hichier and Nolan Patrick 1 and 2..

Boisvert was so wrong thought with Nichuskin in 2013

He only has hot takes, and that's the broken clock syndrome. How's Jost doing? That's just one example. He couldn't hack it as a Q scout. He does a living out of being the guy that just reshuffles the deck of cards.

 

[HomaridII]

From Arpon Basu and Marc ANtoine Godin this morning:

1) Mitchkov likely slips outside the top 10
2) Top 4 is likely to be Bedard - Fantilli - Carlson - Smith
3) Habs value elite level compete

They believe the choice will come down to Leonard vs Reinbacher. Both seen to have Elite Level Compete, specially Leonard and future leaders come playoff time. Here is a particular quote from a very long article:

In the gold medal game, with the U.S. down a man in the first minute of overtime, Leonard was killing the penalty when Swedish defenceman Theo Lindstein took a shot from the high slot. Leonard got down on one knee, blocked the shot with his left foot or leg and immediately took off after the puck, getting an excellent chance to end the game.

When he returned to the bench, the leg was in bad shape. He thought he might have to sit for a bit to let the pain subside. He was back on the ice the very next shift. And he scored the golden goal.