2023 NHL Entry Draft

[SwiftyHab]

Maybe I'm coping right now, but it feels like if someone knows what's up with Michkov, it will be Bobrov (through his connections). That makes me slightly more comfortable, whether we pick him or not.

Winnipeg also got their Russian prospect over yesterday so there a chance

 

[le_sean]

Scott Wheeler's top 10

1. Bedard
2. Fantilli
3. Michkov
4. Carlsson
5. Smith
6. Benson
7. Moore
8. Perreault
9. Dvorsky
10. Wood

Not sure how anyone can put Moore ahead of Leonard at this point.

 

[FrankMTL]

Scott Wheeler's top 10

1. Bedard
2. Fantilli
3. Michkov
4. Carlsson
5. Smith
6. Benson
7. Moore
8. Perreault
9. Dvorsky
10. Wood

So he has Moore and Perreault in the Top 10, but not Leonard

Interesting.

 

[phillytennis]

Dvorsky is so steady, so a 200ft player, so a kind of player you can win with. When the chips are down, prospects like Dvorsky are there to try super, super hard with his ceiling of 0.85ppg.

Dvorsky is made for NHL playoff hockey....rugged, determine, great instincts around the net.

 

[FrankMTL]

Just for reference, here was Scott Wheeler's Top 10 before the 2022 NHL Draft

1- Shane Wright
2-Simon Nemec
3- Logan Cooley
4- Matthew Savoie
5- Juraj Slafkovsky
6- David Jiricek
7-Joakim Kemell
8- Brad Lambert
9- Jonathan Lekkerimaki
10- Isaac Howard

 

[River Meadow]

Just for reference, here was Scott Wheeler's Top 10 before the 2022 NHL Draft

1- Shane Wright
2-Simon Nemec
3- Logan Cooley
4- Matthew Savoie
5- Juraj Slafkovsky
6- David Jiricek
7-Joakim Kemell
8- Brad Lambert
9- Jonathan Lekkerimaki
10- Isaac Howard

Dang he did our boy Slaf dirty....

 

[MarkovsKnee]

Miroshnichenko coming over, putin must be asleep at the wheel!

Where did you see that?

Nevermind, found it. CapFriendly doesn't have a contract signing for Washington yet.

It should be noted that all players can terminate their contracts with KHL, but they have to pay the organization to do it. Basically, you buy yourself out of your contract. It can be a significant amount depending on length & cost of contract.

NHL teams are not allowed to buy out contracts of KHL players. This is a NHL stipulation, and organizations are fined heavily for trying it. I believe Carolina was fined $1.1m for attempting it, as they're trying to get Alexander Nikishin to come over.

Miroshnichenko had one year left on his contract.

 

[McGuires Corndog]

Just for reference, here was Scott Wheeler's Top 10 before the 2022 NHL Draft

1- Shane Wright
2-Simon Nemec
3- Logan Cooley
4- Matthew Savoie
5- Juraj Slafkovsky
6- David Jiricek
7-Joakim Kemell
8- Brad Lambert
9- Jonathan Lekkerimaki
10- Isaac Howard

What a terrible list

 

[Jaynki]

Just for reference, here was Scott Wheeler's Top 10 before the 2022 NHL Draft

1- Shane Wright
2-Simon Nemec
3- Logan Cooley
4- Matthew Savoie
5- Juraj Slafkovsky
6- David Jiricek
7-Joakim Kemell
8- Brad Lambert
9- Jonathan Lekkerimaki
10- Isaac Howard

Holy smokes, McCagg looks great compared to him

 

[Vachon23]

Take on of the forward with our pick and take Tom Willander at 17

 

[MarkovsKnee]

I didn't think Russian players were allowed to terminate their contracts with their respective KHL teams?

They are, but they owe the organization the balance of the contract. If Miroshnichenko was making $100,000 next year, the player pays some agreed portion of that amount up to full amount to his KHL organization.

Miro had one year left, and who knows how much he needed to pay. NHL teams are not allowed to buyout the contracts.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

Scott Wheeler's top 10

1. Bedard
2. Fantilli
3. Michkov
4. Carlsson
5. Smith
6. Benson
7. Moore
8. Perreault
9. Dvorsky
10. Wood

We need to stay in top 5. Pretty much explains why Arizona was so desperate to pass us they continuously played their worst goalie towards the end.

I've gone off Benson a bit as I'm concerned his play style just makes him injury prone at next level. I'm concerned his future maybe Fabbri-like.

Hopefully no one behind us wins the lottery.

 

[SOLR]

I like Benson, he plays with such enthusiasm that he’s fun to watch.

Just think he’s a notch below the likes of Smith and Dvorsky.

Suddenly I’m feeling like we could be screwed lol could end up picking 7th and 30th instead of 5th and 17th.


I remember getting into so many arguments about KKs shot. People comparing him to Eli

I believe we'll have another mid round pick.

Dang he did our boy Slaf dirty....

Slaf was 4th overall for me too. I always believed in him, but knew it would take 4-5 years to connect.
I just don't like picking players who need 4-5 years in Montreal, very hard market to evolve slowly like this.

 

[FrankMTL]

What a terrible list

Two of his top 10 players barely got picked in the 1st round (Lambert and Howard)

 

[zaluty]

It will be interesting in 5 years to look back on last years draft and see how it would be ranked then.

 

[Andrewcoursol]

Agreed. First I had to cheer for the Bruins and now I have to cheer for the Leafs...I feel so dirty.

I will not ever cheer for the laffs, let the pick be bottom 4, it is worth it to see the leafs out of the playoffs, besides the meltdown at tsn and leafsnet is almost priceless, also the steve dangle reaction should be a yearly tradition.

 

[phillytennis]

I will not ever cheer for the laffs, let the pick be bottom 4, it is worth it to see the leafs out of the playoffs, besides the meltdown at tsn and leafsnet is almost priceless, also the steve dangle reaction should be a yearly tradition.

I am cheering for the Oilers and Leafs...I want the Cup back in Canada.

 

[badfish]

Earlier this year I speculated on the mainboards about how Michkov is using his contract as a way to influence where he will be drafted. Given the news about Miro I thought I'd repost it.

My theory is that Michkov has no interest in playing for the "less desirable" teams that frequent the top-5 on any given year and has signed the contract as a way to try and manipulate them into not drafting him similar to how Jagr did it in his draft year.

For those of you unfamiliar with the story, the oral history is that Jagr wanted to play with Mario. In Jagr's draft year Pittsburgh had the 5th pick. Jagr told teams 1-4 that he wouldn't come over for a few more years, but then told Pittsburgh he would show up tomorrow if they picked him. The rest is history.

I suspect that Michkov will tell teams he is not interested in playing for that he will honour the remainder of his contract, whereas teams he is interested for he will tell them in the interviews he's interested in exploring options to come over earlier.

For this to happen the following has to be true:

1. Michkov would have to be drafted by a team he is interested in joining
2. Michkov's contract would have to be low enough that he could buy it out without compromising his future financially.
3. The speculation I found on Twitter is that Michkov is making anywhere from $1M to $6M, but that was pre-sanctions, and the exchange rate has been volatile since then.
4. If it's at the lower end of that range, he could likely buy out his contract and come out ahead financially over the first 5 years of his career, but it does carry risk if he gets injured before his ELC is done.
5. He would need access to financial resources to do this, this could be a combination of savings or maybe a private loan, but I don't think the hurdle to this is a challenge given his reputation and projection, and depending on exchange rate fluctuations there may be an arbitrage element here.
6. He would have to not fear any repercussions to him or his family.

Also worth noting is the financial calculus changes on this every year for the remainder of his contract. So while the conditions above might not be met at the end of this season, it could be met at the end of next season for example.

 

[ginomini]

They are, but they owe the organization the balance of the contract. If Miroshnichenko was making $100,000 next year, the player pays some agreed portion of that amount up to full amount to his KHL organization.

Miro had one year left, and who knows how much he needed to pay. NHL teams are not allowed to buyout the contracts.

Since he probably had a pretty small contact in the KHL, his NHL signing bonus probably covers the cost of buying out his contract.

Won't be the case for Michkov tho!

 

[SlafySZN]

Miro and his team had an agreement, that’s why he can come over before his contract ended. Not sure Michkov has this kind of agreement.

 

[KevSkillz4]

Michkov at 5 will be massive for the future of Habs. I can't wait to 8th May. Stay in top 5 please. But again... at 6, Habs are going to have a chance to grab a really good one too.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Miro and his team had an agreement, that’s why he can come over before his contract ended. Not sure Michkov has this kind of agreement.

View attachment 701004

He won't but the issues around Michkov isn't the 3 year contract (it might be for some) it's about whether he would be permitted to leave Russia when it is up.

Miro was permitted.. so that's a good news story.

 

[dackelljuneaubulis02]

I really don't get why some are so lukewarm on Slaf yet are drooling over the guys that are likely available to us with our pick.

I think some are too ensconced in the narratives that this year's so amazing for forwards and last year was the worst year ever to get a no.1

Do yourself a favour and look at Slaf's pre-draft highlights. He was doing more impressive things against men. Not the best of the best of the world because that would be INSANE lol. But damn fine players nonetheless.

I would be fairly shocked if we end up with a better player than Slaf with this pick.

 

[KevSkillz4]

I really don't get why some are so lukewarm on Slaf yet are drooling over the guys that are likely available to us with our pick.

I think some are too ensconced in the narratives that this year's so amazing for forwards and last year was the worst year ever to get a no.1

Do yourself a favour and look at Slaf's pre-draft highlights. He was doing more impressive things against men. Not the best of the best of the world because that would be INSANE lol. But damn fine players nonetheless.

I would be fairly shocked if we end up with a better player than Slaf with this pick.

Yes agree with you. Slafkovsky is a unique young player with impressive skillset. People need to see that we have picked a very very good one with Slaf. Already a great two-way ability and great protection of puck at 18 years old. He have always put great stats in Sloviakia junior and Finland junior aswell.

 

[dackelljuneaubulis02]

Yes agree with you. Slafkovsky is a unique young player with impressive skillset. People need to see that we have picked a very very good one with Slaf. Already a great two-way ability and great protection of puck at 18 years old. He have always put great stats in Sloviakia junior and Finland junior aswell.

and he's still quite raw. Which makes it all the more impressive. He's far from a finished product. He'll need some time.

I should be a bit more precise though. I would be surprised if we get someone with more upside more so. Slaf could bottom out as a 50 pt guy. It's not impossible. He just has way too much going for him.