HF Habs: 2023 NHL Draft part 2

[SwiftyHab]

The Habs need talent, worry about position and playstyle when you have that talent.

Fair but Kent Hughes specifically said that if it’s a tie on BPA they’ll go for positional needs and I’m wondering if they think that the centre position is less of a need now especially if they get PLD

 

[Skip Bayless]

Fair but Kent Hughes specifically said that if it’s a tie on BPA they’ll go for positional needs and I’m wondering if they think that the centre position is less of a need now especially if they get PLD

You never have too many good Cs.

Remember when everyone thought we were strong with Suzuki, KK and Poehling coming up?

Yeah, good times.

 

[Goldenhands]

What in Woods game makes you rank him so low?

Skating mainly, he has heavy feet, the same way Geekie does and thats really hard to fix. Not really physical for a big guy either, but does use his size well in some situations. Overall, I might have ranked him a bit higher and he still could become a really good player if he works hard on his weaknesses. A kid like Wahlberg maybe has a bit less natural talent, but the skating is there and kid is really dominant along the walls.

 

[SwiftyHab]

You never have too many good Cs.

Remember when everyone thought we were strong with Suzuki, KK and Poehling coming up?

Yeah, good times.

Sure but if Hughes says positional needs would break a tie, you have to assume our strongest position is or could be centre and left D

 

[Goldenhands]

Thank you Sir. What is the Monthly subscription rate for your scouting site?

Im a generous dude, I even share my draft betting predictions with the HF community.

 

[Skip Bayless]

Sure but if Hughes says positional needs would break a tie, you have to assume our strongest position is or could be centre and left D

Yeah, but I don't think teams pass on a C if it's a tie with a W. They will always go with the C regardless of need as Cs can be easily converted to Ws and gives more flexibility cap wise.

Ds vs Ws and Cs vs Ds will need the tie break.

 

[HabsForHire]

Would anyone here take Leonard over Smith if Smith is available at 5 ?

 

[KevSkillz4]

Would anyone here take Leonard over Smith if Smith is available at 5 ?

No. Smith and Carlsson are a lock at 5 if one of them are available. Even Michkov, Habs need really to draft that type of talent. Michkov is the best russian prospect since Ovechkin.

 

[TomKosto]

Would anyone here take Leonard over Smith if Smith is available at 5 ?

No way, Smith has way more upside, we need an offensive star so much.

 

[NekkiChiconey]

Would anyone here take Leonard over Smith if Smith is available at 5 ?

I would. I believe Leonard will be a more valuable player down the road.

 

[Mrb1p]

Im not sure exactly how Will Smith is supposer to produce once he gets in the bigs but Im looking forward to seeing him pan out.

Does anyone see 100 points?

 

[Mrb1p]

I would. I believe Leonard will be a more valuable player down the road.

I have Smith ahead but I dont think thats far from the truth. If everything stays as it is for both players. Overall, Id say both are likely #3 on a first line and as it stands, Leonard will be the more valuable player.

I have Smith ahead on the off chance that he can combine his existing hard skills with other soft skills like 2way play, physicality, size, speed or a better shot.

 

[Kennerback]

Im not sure exactly how Will Smith is supposer to produce once he gets in the bigs but Im looking forward to seeing him pan out.

Does anyone see 100 points?

My feeling when I see Will Smith is he has all the offensive tools but there’s something unpolished about him. He’ll lose a puck or miss receiving a pass that a “lesser” player like Dvorsky would not. There’s the impression that he “needs to bring everything together” and he’ll be an offensive jugernaut in the NHL.

 

[Mrb1p]

My feeling when I see Will Smith is he has all the offensive tools but there’s something unpolished about him. He’ll lose a puck or miss receiving a pass that a “lesser” player like Dvorsky would not. There’s the impression that he “needs to bring everything together” and he’ll be an offensive jugernaut in the NHL.

But how will he produce exactly? Who can he be compared with? Hes so similar to Zegras to me, but he doesnt have that same creativity or the little edge that Zegras has.

What other player has poor skating, average size and non-elite shooting arsenal and produces like an offensive juggernaut? Marner ? Hes a much better skater. Panarin? Hes just better all over the board. Gaudreau? Better skater.

To me hes really Huberdeau if everything pan out for him. Funny that this might sound like a bad thing because Huberdeau is a 100 pts forward afterall but in this draft, crazy as it sounds, I think the Habs can do better than a Huberdeau, lol.

 

[NekkiChiconey]

I have Smith ahead but I dont think thats far from the truth. If everything stays as it is for both players. Overall, Id say both are likely #3 on a first line and as it stands, Leonard will be the more valuable player.

I have Smith ahead on the off chance that he can combine his existing hard skills with other soft skills like 2way play, physicality, size, speed or a better shot.

But how will he produce exactly? Who can he be compared with? Hes so similar to Zegras to me, but he doesnt have that same creativity or the little edge that Zegras has.

What other player has poor skating, average size and non-elite shooting arsenal and produces like an offensive juggernaut? Marner ? Hes a much better skater. Panarin? Hes just better all over the board. Gaudreau? Better skater.

To me hes really Huberdeau if everything pan out for him. Funny that this might sound like a bad thing because Huberdeau is a 100 pts forward afterall but in this draft, crazy as it sounds, I think the Habs can do better than a Huberdeau, lol.

If i'm projecting their roles, I see Smith as a 2C and Leonard as a 1RW.

I don't think Smith will be well-rounded enough to be considered as a first line center, although I think the offensive flair is there. He'll put up points (100 is definitely possible), but I don't see him being a dominant force. For instance, I think the stickhandling/shot/vision is on par with Jack Hughes, but the skating is so far that I don't see Smith reaching that level. Looking at the league, an average-skating center needs to be either big or extremely responsible to be a 1C.

Leonard will make life easier for skilled players on the top line for sure, but people tend to underestimate his own skill. He will create offense.

 

[Vachon23]

If i'm projecting their roles, I see Smith as a 2C and Leonard as a 1RW.

I don't think Smith will be well-rounded enough to be considered as a first line center, although I think the offensive flair is there. He'll put up points (100 is definitely possible), but I don't see him being a dominant force. For instance, I think the stickhandling/shot/vision is on par with Jack Hughes, but the skating is so far that I don't see Smith reaching that level. Looking at the league, an average-skating center needs to be either big or extremely responsible to be a 1C.

Leonard will make life easier for skilled players on the top line for sure, but people tend to underestimate his own skill. He will create offense.

I don’t even think Smith is gonna be a center in the NHL. I see him having a similar impact then Clayton Keller

Would anyone here take Leonard over Smith if Smith is available at 5 ?

Wouldn’t do it but I wouldn’t be mad and would understand it

 

[Mrb1p]

I don’t even think Smith is gonna be a center in the NHL. I see him having a similar impact then Clayton Keller


Wouldn’t do it but I wouldn’t be mad and would understand it

Same. Dont think hes a C.

 

[Jack Skellington]

But how will he produce exactly? Who can he be compared with? Hes so similar to Zegras to me, but he doesnt have that same creativity or the little edge that Zegras has.

What other player has poor skating, average size and non-elite shooting arsenal and produces like an offensive juggernaut? Marner ? Hes a much better skater. Panarin? Hes just better all over the board. Gaudreau? Better skater.

To me hes really Huberdeau if everything pan out for him. Funny that this might sound like a bad thing because Huberdeau is a 100 pts forward afterall but in this draft, crazy as it sounds, I think the Habs can do better than a Huberdeau, lol.

hemsky

 

[NotProkofievian]

Carlsson vs Reinbacher now. Get some.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Carlsson vs Reinbacher now. Get some.

I'm there

 

[ginomini]

Im not sure exactly how Will Smith is supposer to produce once he gets in the bigs but Im looking forward to seeing him pan out.

Does anyone see 100 points?

I personnally think he tops out more at PPG, but I could definitely see a 100 pts in a similar way to Robertson or Claude Giroux, or even Huberdeau in that they all seem to have that magic touch were everything works and the puck ends up in the net even if nothing impressive happens most of the time. You know what I mean, we all played with that guy who kept scoring even if he was rather unimpressive. Guys like Robertson, Giroux, Hubderdeau have the skillset of 60-80 pts players, but they score a lot more some years because they have that touch.

I feel like Smith could have that in him, but hard to say given the competition he played against this year.

 

[dcyhabs]

No. Smith and Carlsson are a lock at 5 if one of them are available. Even Michkov, Habs need really to draft that type of talent. Michkov is the best russian prospect since Ovechkin.

The top 5 is very authoritative on the site this year. We’ll see how it shakes out and we’ll see how it looks in hindsight. The top 5 look unlikely to bust but probably at least one of them will. There will definitely be some surprises later and the habs better work at getting value from their late first and early second.

 

[NotProkofievian]

Im not sure exactly how Will Smith is supposer to produce once he gets in the bigs but Im looking forward to seeing him pan out.

Does anyone see 100 points?

Not really. But I dunno, to say that ''everything would have to go right'' is just true of anyone. So I don't know how meaningful that is. Marner's never hit 100, not even this year, playing on an offensive juggernaut.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Probably poster, but probably bot because people probably don't care, but...

Benjamin Gaudreau is re-entering the draft.

 

[BoneHutson]

Men, Reinbacher is sooo good already. A better Guhle + RHD. Best case scenario imo (outside of a Carlsson drop), would be Michkov falling to us, WAS paying us a shitload to move up and grab him (like a 2024 first) and us grabing either Leonard, Benson or Reinbacher at 8th (I suspect Reinbacher would be going 6th in that scenario tho).