2023 NHL Entry Draft

[Mrb1p]

Imagine what they would have been saying about Jonathan Toews after his first WJC with Team Canada in his draft year when he only had 2 assists. There are so many strong players who don't make these teams in their draft year.

Its the same every year. They were saying that Svechnikov was behind Tkachuk after the WJC in 18.

 

[JotAlan]

Bedard in another league can't even compare the two.

How many small wingers Habs need on top 6? To justify spending a high pick like this on. How much better is Benson than Mesar? Or Roy? Or Farrell? Guys he is going to compete for minutes with. Dach, Caufield, Slaf are locks for future top 6. By time Benson is ready

I'm not comparing Benson's talent to Bedard's. And I'm also not referring to anything related to the choice of Montreal. I only mentioned that the size does not justify a smaller pick for Benson, when many top picks in this draft are also small.

 

[TomKosto]

Whos your number 5 to 9? Assuming the top 4 is Bedard, Fantilli, Carlsson and Michkov.

 

[Weber Fan]

Whos your number 5 to 9? Assuming the top 4 is Bedard, Fantilli, Carlsson and Michkov.

Smith
Benson
Cristall
Yager

 

[WeThreeKings]

Whos your number 5 to 9? Assuming the top 4 is Bedard, Fantilli, Carlsson and Michkov.

Smith
Yager
Benson
Cristall

 

[MarkovsKnee]

Perf is a much better goalscorer, Cristall is better all over the board.


But someone has to be there, right? And I see a pretty big drop off for forwards after 20-25, while I think, tools wise, the defenders are all very close, in fact, I could name probably 15 Ds that have similar abilities.

Name them.

 

[Riggins]

Smith
Yager
Benson
Cristall

If we don't win the lotto, if we can get one of Smith/Yager and one of Benson/Cristall with our firsts that would be freaking amazing.

 

[Jabba11]

If we don't win the lotto, if we can get one of Smith/Yager and one of Benson/Cristall with our firsts that would be freaking amazing.

That's not good. We need to land one of the Bedard and big 3 after.

 

[InAG-P]

That's not good. We need to land one of the Bedard and big 3 after.

I totally agree with this. We need one of the Top 4. Tbh, ANY of the top 4 would be MASSIVE for the org. Add to that Florida's top pick being a top 20 would catapult us to a top tier team in 3-4 years IMO

 

[BenchBrawl]

That's not good. We need to land one of the Bedard and big 3 after.

I wouldn't go as far as "that's not good". Cristall has more offensive potential than anyone on this team. Probably Smith and Benson too. And Yager is already playing like an NHLer from the clips I've seen.

But spiritually, I agree with you here.

 

[SlafySZN]

That's not good. We need to land one of the Bedard and big 3 after.

That’s not the best that could happen but Smith could become a 1C too. He doesn’t have the size of let’s say Fantilli or his skating isn’t as good but his hockey IQ and vision are better and he has a ton of skills. I think he has everything to become a 1C probably not franchise but better than Suzuki and having both as 1-2 could be real good.

 

[SlafySZN]

Can we suck for the 2025 draft too?

Hagens is a beauty

 

[MarkovsKnee]

Can we suck for the 2025 draft too?

Hagens is a beauty

Also, Michael Misa draft.

 

[HuGort]

I'm not comparing Benson's talent to Bedard's. And I'm also not referring to anything related to the choice of Montreal. I only mentioned that the size does not justify a smaller pick for Benson, when many top picks in this draft are also small.

Can't go all small finesse forwards. Got to have mix. Hard to play against heavy defense that way. Playoffs are a different league. Caufield already lock in top 6. Dach is big but not physical. Slaf only 18. Mesar be in top 6 someday. Farrell could be. Roy possible. Your small in top 6 minutes

Habs likely to trade Anderson and Edmunston. That's lot of size and physical gone out of lineup

 

[FrankMTL]

The last Tankathon mock draft has us taking Will Smith at 6th and Andrew Crystal at 10th.....I have to say, I would be very pleased with that.

 

[sandviper]

1 - Bedard : Nothing to add ...
2 - Michkov : In 5 years, who gonna be the second best of his class? If you answer Michkov, you pick this guy!
3 - Carlsson : Like is overall game and the way he played the game!
4 - Fantilli : I have some concern with the way he battle with adversity like Byfield at the time he seem to have big offensive night versus weaker opponents! Nothing to be crazy but I need more time to evaluate him!
5 - Smith
6 - Benson
7 - Yager
8 - Dvorsky
9 - Sale
10 - Barlow

Maybe I'm crazy to draft Michkov at 2, but I will have difficulty to not pick him if he is available at your rank whatever your rank is. I didn't see us becoming good enough to be contender in the next 3-4 years and when the window will be open I want the best player I can and Michkov is that guy after Bedard. A really good center at ppg or a game breaker winger a la Kaprizov and a threat each time he step on the ice?

If we pick 2 and 7 hypothetically, I prefer a combo of Michkov + Dvorsky/Yager than Carlson/Fantilli + Sale/Barlow/Cristall; 1 winger and 1 center in each case! I think with Slaf, Caufield and Michkov at the wing and with Suzuki, Beck and Dvorsky or Yager at center we can become very competitive!

If Michkov is around for my second pick, i don’t even hesitate to take him. This implies I got who I really wanted with my first.

I’d really have to pause for a moment if I only have one pick in the top-5, depending if I’m a team that can wait.

 

[MeanMugging91]

If Michkov is around for my second pick, i don’t even hesitate to take him. This implies I got who I really wanted with my first.

I’d really have to pause for a moment if I only have one pick in the top-5, depending if I’m a team that can wait.

If hes there for the second pick and we didn't take him I'd be pretty disappointed. I know we should get a quality pick with Florida's pick regardless but Michkov is a talent I would hate to see us pass on specially with our second pick.

 

[le_sean]

Can't go all small finesse forwards. Got to have mix. Hard to play against heavy defense that way. Playoffs are a different league. Caufield already lock in top 6. Dach is big but not physical. Slaf only 18. Mesar be in top 6 someday. Farrell could be. Roy possible. Your small in top 6 minutes

Habs likely to trade Anderson and Edmunston. That's lot of size and physical gone out of lineup

Still something that needs to be addressed after talent is added.

 

[WeThreeKings]

That's not good. We need to land one of the Bedard and big 3 after.

Well there's a good chance we don't.. but at least we should have a second high pick to mitigate the loss if we get bumped out of the top 4.

 

[zzoo]

Seeing how Galchenyuk, Kotkaniemi and Slafkovsky developing, I really don't want that Habs play their next 1st-pick player in their first season, except his name is Bedard. Even if we get Fantalli or Carlsson, just let them playing in their current league.

 

[mbz]

Serious question: Why would we have to wait 3-4 years for Michkov? Wasn’t Kaprizov in Russia during the summer and they found a way to bring him to NA? Surely there would be a way for the habs to bring him over?

 

[morhilane]

Serious question: Why would we have to wait 3-4 years for Michkov? Wasn’t Kaprizov in Russia during the summer and they found a way to bring him to NA? Surely there would be a way for the habs to bring him over?

He signed a KHL contract last year that last until the 2025-26 season regardless of the political situation.

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

Serious question: Why would we have to wait 3-4 years for Michkov? Wasn’t Kaprizov in Russia during the summer and they found a way to bring him to NA? Surely there would be a way for the habs to bring him over?

He's getting paid more money playing home, basically. It took 5 years to get guys like Kaprizov and Kuznetsov to North America for that reason, it just wasn't worth it to them to make the jump early on ELC money. We had the same situation with Emelin back in the day (with some agent shenanigans on top).

 

[waitin425]

I'm interested in hearing how some of the top draft picks coming up compare to current or former NHLer's. What are some ceilings for these prospects?

Bedard - I see him as his own unique player. He sees the game like Gretzky and unleashes his shot like Matthews. By far his greatest assets are his shot and vision.
Michkov - haven't seen much of him since last year, but from what I see and the highlights he actually compares to Bedard. A #1B version.
Carlsson - Reminds me of Jeff Carter for some reason.
Fantilli - Eichel

 

[rahad]

I'm interested in hearing how some of the top draft picks coming up compare to current or former NHLer's. What are some ceilings for these prospects?

Bedard - I see him as his own unique player. He sees the game like Gretzky and unleashes his shot like Matthews. By far his greatest assets are his shot and vision.
Michkov - haven't seen much of him since last year, but from what I see and the highlights he actually compares to Bedard. A #1B version.
Carlsson - Reminds me of Jeff Carter for some reason.
Fantilli - Eichel

I can see him have a similar career as Stamkos. A 40-50 goals player in the NHL.