2023 NHL Entry Draft

[jellybeans]

Defence is not a strength. Our goalies have to make 10 bell saves on the regular and the team gives up over 30 shots a game.

I think he means our future def is our force.

 

[Goldenhands]

Hutson, Mailloux and Engstrom are all pretty far from being sure thing in the NHL.

Guhle is a 1D to me so Im not too pressed for a D, but if the Habs are gonna go the "no elite forward" way again, we better have the modern PK/Markov again. Guhle+Reinbacher could both anchor their pairings for 50 minutes of the game and give the Habs top 30 D quality play.

Basically, theres four ways the Habs can compete out of this draft:
1. Draft top 4.
2. Draft a 1D and hope the supporting cast offense can allow for a win (Anaheim style.)
3. Draft a forward that will magically become elite. (I guess Benson/Cristall can be this, but I wouldn't bet the house on this.
4. Somehow get the 2nd coming of Carey Price again.

I like Guhle, but I see him as a good #2, he has been fighting injuries too, so another reason why I wouldnt hesitate to draft Reinbacher. I agree that none of Hutson, Engstrom, Mailloux are surefire NHLers, but I like their chances, especially Engstrom and Hutson.

 

[Habs Icing]

Then we should be less concerned since it will be Hughes who makes the pick...

Really?! I thought it was LaBo (Lapointe/Bobrov)

 

[montreal]

Barlow 1g, 1a was impressive again. Rehkopf 2G

 

[Mrb1p]

Barlow 1g, 1a was impressive again. Rehkopf 2G

I know you do already so much for us, prospect plebs, but is it possible for you to put some time stamps of goals and or notable sequence if you ever have more time for your next vids ?

Signed, your biggest fan MrB1P.

 

[Habs Icing]

It would be so foolish to pick a def with our first pick with all the good forwards available maybe with Florida's first you go for a def and even then it should be 2 forwards with our 1rst this year.

I totally agree with you.

For 12 forward positions, we have Suzuki, Caufield and Dach as skilled offensemen. 3/12. That's it. Roy, Kidney, and Farrell are prospects.

For 6 defence positions, we have Guhle, Matheson, Barron, Harris and Xhekaj. 5/6. For argument's sake, I would even eliminate Harris and Xhekaj and say it's 3/6.

Those ratios tell me we have bigger needs ith our forwards, not our defencemen.

If Reinbacher was a sure-fire #1 d-man okay go for him but it's questionable whether he even projects as a first pair d-man. Leaving first-line forwards on the draft table to get a second pair d-man doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

Exactly, lol.

No one knows anything about the habs. Hughes keeps his moves very close. Why would Wilde, of all people know who the habs wants 4 months before the draft when we don’t even know where we’ll pick yet.

The reinbacher thing started when Hughes said he booked a trip to Switzerland and people started saying he was going to see him play. When in reality they most likely booked a trip there to go watch the U18… Wilde always goes with those kind of rumours without checking if it’s true.

I've been saying it will be Reinbacher just based on deductive reasoning well before Hughes said he was going to Switzerland. Hughes going to Switzerland only added fuel to the fire

I try to keep 2 draft lists in mind. My list, which is who I think will be the best player, and then a list of who I think the Habs will take. I have the luxury of ranking Michkov #2, but the Habs probably don't consider him top-3. Having 2 high picks allows us to play the draft a little differently as well.

Reinbacher is the only highly ranked d-man in this draft who fits HuGo criteria. ASP is too small to draft top-10 and Gulyayev is as good as a No Draft for them. If they think Reinbacher is gone at the Florida pick they'll take him.

 

[Goldenhands]

I know you do already so much for us, prospect plebs, but is it possible for you to put some time stamps of goals and or notable sequence if you ever have more time for your next vids ?

Signed, your biggest fan MrB1P.

 

[BeliveauFan4ever]

Barlow 1g, 1a was impressive again. Rehkopf 2G

I’d be buzzed to get Rehkopf with our 2nd.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

I'm not saying that he's too close to Smith to pick him for fear of nepotism concerns (which is why he didn't consider picking his son last year)

I'm saying that he's known Smith's game and character for a very long time, so he has a good understanding of how he's stacked up with his peers over time.

This is a management group that picked Slafkovsky over Wright because he made them giggle, and there aren't very many 14-15 year old boys I know that impress adult men with their character and leadership abilities.

Fair enough but why rule out the possibility that they might like Smith's character? Wright was an extreme case where it has come to light that he was clearly acting like an entitled knob in his draft year.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I've been saying it will be Reinbacher just based on deductive reasoning well before Hughes said he was going to Switzerland. Hughes going to Switzerland only added fuel to the fire

I try to keep 2 draft lists in mind. My list, which is who I think will be the best player, and then a list of who I think the Habs will take. I have the luxury of ranking Michkov #2, but the Habs probably don't consider him top-3. Having 2 high picks allows us to play the draft a little differently as well.

Reinbacher is the only highly ranked d-man in this draft who fits HuGo criteria. ASP is too small to draft top-10 and Gulyayev is as good as a No Draft for them. If they think Reinbacher is gone at the Florida pick they'll take him.

The U18s are in Switzerland.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

Fair enough but why rule out the possibility that they might like Smith's character? Wright was an extreme case where it has come to light that he was clearly acting like an entitled knob in his draft year.

I think it's more to do with the fact that Smith was never seen as the head and shoulders best product coming out of the USA when Kent was coaching him. Stramel seemed like the cream of the crop last year and Moore, Perreault, and Leonard were all ranked similarly to Smith.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

I think it's more to do with the fact that Smith was never seen as the head and shoulders best product coming out of the USA when Kent was coaching him. Stramel seemed like the cream of the crop last year and Moore, Perreault, and Leonard were all ranked similarly to Smith.

Well, Smith is lapping the field now and Hughes more than anyone knows how little previous rankings mean when dealing with kids so young. Smith is even blowing away Cooley's numbers from last season as well.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

We're finally at #5!

Hallelujah!

 

[Mrb1p]

So close to Bedard and Fantili but yet so far.

 

[HuGort]

We're finally at #5!

Hallelujah!

For how long though? Team playing well

 

[Lockin17]

For how long though? Team playing well

have you seen who do we play agains in the next 10 games ??
we are doom to loose them all,, good for us

Being ou of the top #4 would suck....

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

Well, Smith is lapping the field now and Hughes more than anyone knows how little previous rankings mean when dealing with kids so young. Smith is even blowing away Cooley's numbers from last season as well.

Who exactly has he lapped? Perreault is still leading the USA in scoring and gets ranked 20-30 most lists, Leonard has more goals in less games than him.

I was big on the USDP kids early this year and had Smith as my consensus #5 super early. Lately I've liked Benson more until his injury. Maybe I'm just a contrarian because once all the USDP kids got put in the top-10 I stopped considering them steals.

 

[jaffy27]

For how long though? Team playing well

Not well enough to beat top NHL teams which is the bulk of our schedule

 

[jaffy27]

this team has 3 top 9 fwd and im reading on this forum that you want another D man? wtf? 6-7 young D already in the organisation, which 3 might be top 4. Relax, Hughes will draft 90% fwds this year

Depending who’s still available with the Florida pick, he may opt for Reinbacher or Dragicevic with that selection.

One of those two would really solidly our L/R D core

 

[ginomini]

Many are complaining about drafting a D in the top 10, but honestly I would love Reinbacher! Even if we win the lottery I hope we try to trade in the top 10 with Florida's pick to grab him.

I'm very biased towards that type of smart and mobile all-around D (Had Nemec, Sanderson, Seider, Dobson, Heiskanen all solidely in my top 5s).

I much prefer being in Carolina's position where you have an amazing D and look for punch up front than being in Toronto's position, but that's just me! Obviously it would be sad to draft him and have a Hanifin/Fleury situation, but that can also happen with the top forwards.

 

[Hins77]

Many are complaining about drafting a D in the top 10, but honestly I would love Reinbacher! Even if we win the lottery I hope we try to trade in the top 10 with Florida's pick to grab him.

I'm very biased towards that type of smart and mobile all-around D (Had Nemec, Sanderson, Seider, Dobson, Heiskanen all solidely in my top 5s).

I much prefer being in Carolina's position where you have an amazing D and look for punch up front than being in Toronto's position, but that's just me! Obviously it would be sad to draft him and have a Hanifin/Fleury situation, but that can also happen with the top forwards.

I rather like to have a solid prospect at D over another potential top 6 forward that I could get on UFA market. And one of the principal reason is the market value. As exemple, NY islanders prefered to have Romanov over Kirby Dach. Dman are tough to get, and there is much more good forward on UFa market over Dman. Thats why some dman are gonna be select earlier like Reinbacher, axel sandin, dragicevic. Etc.

 

[Nico Cauzuki]

I rather like to have a solid prospect at D over another potential top 6 forward that I could get on UFA market. And one of the principal reason is the market value. As exemple, NY islanders prefered to have Romanov over Kirby Dach. Dman are tough to get, and there is much more good forward on UFa market over Dman. Thats why some dman are gonna be select earlier like Reinbacher, axel sandin, dragicevic. Etc.

big skilled centers like Dach are much harder to find then defenders like Romanov

 

[Mrb1p]

Many are complaining about drafting a D in the top 10, but honestly I would love Reinbacher! Even if we win the lottery I hope we try to trade in the top 10 with Florida's pick to grab him.

I'm very biased towards that type of smart and mobile all-around D (Had Nemec, Sanderson, Seider, Dobson, Heiskanen all solidely in my top 5s).

I much prefer being in Carolina's position where you have an amazing D and look for punch up front than being in Toronto's position, but that's just me! Obviously it would be sad to draft him and have a Hanifin/Fleury situation, but that can also happen with the top forwards.

People whining about Reinbacher just havent seen him play. Hes a surefire top 5 pick in any draft, wouldve had him in my top 4 last year.

big skilled centers like Dach are much harder to find then defenders like Romanov

Name another defender that brings what Romanov brings?

this team has 3 top 9 fwd and im reading on this forum that you want another D man? wtf? 6-7 young D already in the organisation, which 3 might be top 4. Relax, Hughes will draft 90% fwds this year

Thats stupid. If you can draft Hedman youd rather try to draft another Suzuki?

 

[le_sean]

I disagree...our young defense will only get better with experience. Already, they have proven to naysayers that they are wrong.
As well, you can add the likes of Hudson, Trudeau and Mailloux. That is pretty impressive!!

Young defence, all LD except for Barron. And Hutson/Mailloux won’t be put in the same on-ice situations as Reinbacher. There’s a hole there.