HF Habs: 2023 NHL Draft part 2

[Estimated_Prophet]

Has anyone watched Grant's "scouting breakdowns"

I appreciate the footage but the breakdowns are f***ing hilarious.

There's no voice over, just a highlight on the player and sometimes a textbox at the top.

You can tell if he likes someone, for example, "great play by the defender to cut the pass." vs. "has to do better"

But none of the textbox provides any analysis, it just functions as a play by play.

"Good outlet."
"Shot low for rebound."

Exactly, Grant has very little ability as an actual scout.

There is a reason that his scouting career in the NHL was so brief, he has no more ability to form a detailed and accurate breakdown of a prospects strengths/weaknesses than most casual fans.. He got in through nepotism and was exposed as nothing more than the equivalent of your typical old school Don Cherry quoting dinosaur.

The guy clearly loves the game but like many fans he doesn't fully understand what he is watching and is all too happy to share his ill informed opinion. Grant's ego is gross as he just won't admit when he is wrong without declaring a face saving caveat. He is obtuse and stubborn and is entirely embarrassing himself on Marinaro's show and with Recruits with his layman level attempts to break down prospect's games.

Hutson was 5'8 on a good day last year. Benson was measured at 5'10.5. Its like Plekanec size.

When/where was this measurement taken?

 

[BenchBrawl]

Not even. He can buy out his contract and come.

It should be minimum three years. But it could be 2, or never.

We can all only speculate.

Thing is, on the opposite end of him not coming, when is the last time we had the chance to get such a talent ? Lafleur maybe?

Getting a 5th overall is not tough. Getting a player like Michkov is sometimes impossible even when you win the 1st overall.

Lafleur, yeah.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

Moving from 5 to 3. Really, really doubtful that happens.

Columbus needs D, goaltending & centers. They can get a pretty good center at #3.

 

[ginomini]

Exactly, Grant has very little ability as an actual scout.

There is a reason that his scouting career in the NHL was so brief, he has no more ability to form a detailed and accurate breakdown of a prospects strengths/weaknesses. He got in through nepotism and was exposed as nothing more than the equivalent of your typical old school Don Cherry quoting dinosaur.

The guy clearly loves the game but like many fans doesn't understand what he is watching and is all too happy to share his ill informed opinion. His ego is gross as he just won't admit when he is wrong without declaring a face saving caveat. He is obtuse and stubborn and is entirely embarrassing himself on Marinaro's show and with his layman level attempts to break down prospects games.



When/where was this measurement taken?

I've noticed that one of the main things he looks for is players that seem to hustle when they backcheck (skating with intensity down the middle to come back). But being intense does not mean that you know where you are going, and often the players that look the more intense on the backcheck are those who are the most tired because their skating technique breaksdown and they seem to really put in a lot of effort (compared to a smooth skater).

This is something that all his favourites have in common (McLeod, Dvorsky, Slaf, Peohling, etc.) and I think its so stupid.

 

[Mrb1p]

Exactly, Grant has very little ability as an actual scout.

There is a reason that his scouting career in the NHL was so brief, he has no more ability to form a detailed and accurate breakdown of a prospects strengths/weaknesses than most casual fans.. He got in through nepotism and was exposed as nothing more than the equivalent of your typical old school Don Cherry quoting dinosaur.

The guy clearly loves the game but like many fans he doesn't fully understand what he is watching and is all too happy to share his ill informed opinion. Grant's ego is gross as he just won't admit when he is wrong without declaring a face saving caveat. He is obtuse and stubborn and is entirely embarrassing himself on Marinaro's show and with Recruits with his layman level attempts to break down prospect's games.



When/where was this measurement taken?

Start of the season as usual, his height was updated from 5'09 to 5'10 in september on the WHL website and the EP one.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Moving from 5 to 3. Really, really doubtful that happens.

Columbus needs D, goaltending & centers. They can get a pretty good center at #3.

It's really all about flipping with San Jose.. but they have to be completely all in on taking Michkov, if they are as scared of the risk as we seem to be - then there's no way any of those teams entertain it.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

I've noticed that one of the main things he looks for is players that seem to hustle when they backcheck (skating with intensity down the middle to come back). But being intense does not mean that you know where you are going, and often the players that look the more intense on the backcheck are those who are the most tired because their skating technique breaksdown and they seem to really put in a lot of effort (compared to a smooth skater).

This is something that all his favourites have in common (McLeod, Dvorsky, Slaf, Peohling, etc.) and I think its so stupid.

Intensity/character/team play/work ethic are all good traits and are demonstrated through a player's willingness to backcheck. I agree that he puts too much consideration on these things as we are dealing with kids and he is pointing out a trait that any player can choose to do well and they may very well choose to do so as a pro.

 

[Mrb1p]

I've noticed that one of the main things he looks for is players that seem to hustle when they backcheck (skating with intensity down the middle to come back). But being intense does not mean that you know where you are going, and often the players that look the more intense on the backcheck are those who are the most tired because their skating technique breaksdown and they seem to really put in a lot of effort (compared to a smooth skater).

This is something that all his favourites have in common (McLeod, Dvorsky, Slaf, Peohling, etc.) and I think its so stupid.

Mcloed was probably the best skater of the 2016 crop, dont think it applies to him.

 

[ginomini]

Mcloed was probably the best skater of the 2016 crop, dont think it applies to him.

The technique breakdown does not apply, but the backchecking intensity certainly does Peohling is also a very strong skater, my point was more on the intensity. In his videos he has 5 seconds clips of guys just skating back down the middle without them interracting at all with the play (or very little) and he writes something like "good hustle". It's just ridiculous to use that to prop up a player like Dvosky for example when there is so much more to look for in his game.

 

[JoelWarlord]

Cue Will Smith

Yeah I like Smith and if he's our guy at 5 that's fine, but I don't really get this whole idea that he's the #5 in a definitive top 5 tier. To me there's pretty clearly a top 4 (or a Bedard/Michkov tier 1A and Carlsson/Fantilli tier 1B to slice it a little thinner) and then Smith is in the discussion for the higher end of the big 5-12ish range, I don't really see it in terms off him being a definitive #5 talent in the draft.

 

[NotProkofievian]

Lol Michkov really had 97 shots on goal in 27 KHL games. That's absolutely absurd.

 

[McGees]

So Wood, Dvorsky or Reinbacher?

Ya I think they’ll take Dvo Reinbacher or Leonard.

 

[le_sean]

The 2024 1st rounder would be enticing to teams if the Habs want to move up. I doubt the Florida pick moves the needle much. I’d be inclined to do it for Carlsson. Having that future Calgary 1st would mitigate the risk a bit. I just don’t think the Habs are going to be this bad again next year. Could Top 2 protect.

 

[ReHabs]

Lol Michkov really had 97 shots on goal in 27 KHL games. That's absolutely absurd.

Yeah but his dad died in tragic circumstances so there are many doubts… are we sure we want to take on that risk?

 

[NekkiChiconey]

*Slowly creeps in *

View attachment 707167

These stats are what they are, but there's too much positive data (stats, microstats, on-ice play, attitude) on Benson for me to rank him below Smith. Benson is and will be an amazing player.

From the Habs' perspective, he's the one who will be a game-breaker wherever he plays. Will Smith needs the puck on his stick to be effective, Benson doesn't. He's one of the best forecheckers in the draft, and possibly the best defensive forward as well. Oh, and did I forget to mention he has top-5 IQ/vision in the class?

Hughes said he doesn't care about size this year (is that true or not, idk), but skill + character screams Zach Benson to me.

 

[NekkiChiconey]

Pardon me if it has been posted already, but here's a good breakdown of Benson's game:

 

[River Meadow]

Yeah but his dad died in tragic circumstances so there are many doubts… are we sure we want to take on that risk?

Right....

His father died in suspect circumstances which means there's an evil plot to keep Michkov in Russia forever, or else.

 

[JoelWarlord]

The 2024 1st rounder would be enticing to teams if the Habs want to move up. I doubt the Florida pick moves the needle much. I’d be inclined to do it for Carlsson. Having that future Calgary 1st would mitigate the risk a bit. I just don’t think the Habs are going to be this bad again next year. Could Top 2 protect.

There'd definitely be some sticker shock but I wouldn't be opposed to it. I think we're probably looking at the 8-12 range next year pre-lottery absent somehow having an even worse injury situation than last season.

 

[NotProkofievian]

He also had 68 shots on goal in 12 VHL games, and still managed to rock a close to 15% shooting percentage.

 

[The Last Red]

https://www.tvasports.ca/2023/05/09/le-dossier-matvei-michkov-vu-par-un-informateur-proche-des-russes

"The GM who will draft Michkov must prepare so that the timeline for his arrival in North America may resemble that of Artemi Panarin and Kirill Kaprizov." (after 6 or 7 seasons in the KHL).
-From a russian source.

It wouldn't surprise me if Michkov and his clan are trying to deter certain teams from drafting him, and I'm referring to CBJ when I say "certain teams."

 

[Mrb1p]

He also had 68 shots on goal in 12 VHL games, and still managed to rock a close to 15% shooting percentage.

Im the biggest Michkov fan on this board, I think, but I have to mention that he is probably the premier cherry picker in the league, which somewhat explains his shooting totals.

With that said, if a player were to be a cherry picker like that, this is exactly the result you would want.

 

[phillytennis]

Did HuGo say that they want the most talented player last year when we won the lottery? Or did he only say it for this year? All I remember is him saying they are projecting who can be the best player in the Montreal Canadiens environment in a couple of years, nothing else though. I wonder if that's a tell if that's the case.

Even if privately Hugo are saying they really like and want Michkov, they won't say it publicly. Trust the process...

 

[Kennerback]

Lol Michkov really had 97 shots on goal in 27 KHL games. That's absolutely absurd.

Stats are just part of the picture. But yeah, every which way you look at it, he basically destroyed all stats coming out of Europe for the past 20 years. Oh well.

 

[NotProkofievian]

Im the biggest Michkov fan on this board, I think, but I have to mention that he is probably the premier cherry picker in the league, which somewhat explains his shooting totals.

With that said, if a player were to be a cherry picker like that, this is exactly the result you would want.

He definitely picks some cherries, but good lord, shooting more than 5 times per game against pros as an 18 year old has gotta be unprecedented.

 

[Kennerback]

He definitely picks some cherries, but good lord, shooting more than 5 times per game against pros as an 18 year old has gotta be unprecedented.

I know there’s big Shane Wright fans in these parts, but Michkov fights for the puck as a Winger behind his own net against KHLers. Which was basically a no-go zone for Wright in the OHL playing the Center position. We’re dealing with a player that’s built like a tank that fights all over the boards in the defensive zone without thinking twice. Plus the motor is always running.