HF Habs: 2024 NHL Draft Thread

[SannywithoutCompy]

He screams surefire top 4 yeah, with upside. Levshunov had the little things that make a norris winner though. Of course his variance is greater and he could end up being another Matheson.

Theres not a lot of Ds his size that push the play as hard, he plays it a lot like Makar does but hes also 6'3. Im seeing his realistic upside as Serge though, don't think thats too far off what Dickinson would be in a good scenario.

I agree he's got the highest ceiling, I just think he's less likely to reach it than Dickinson.

I'd take them both in an instant over Silayev though

 

[Mrb1p]

I agree he's got the highest ceiling, I just think he's less likely to reach it than Dickinson.

I'd take them both in an instant over Silayev though

Me too, and Buium and Parekh. Not a fan of Silayev. Miss me with that 6'9 hype.

 

[Benstheman]

Lindstrom will be gone by Columbus unless they win the Celebrini lottery. So, yes, we'd have to slide ahead of CBJ (not happening) or win the 2nd overall pick.

Demidov is still viable.. he's playing in the MHL, a level not good enough for his talent level, he's still a russian, and he's a winger. A lot of those teams picking in the top who haven't drafted their #1 defenseman and have used their picks lately on forwards, are gonna bypass the scoring winger for the defenseman.

Worst case is we decide between Catton, Helenius, Eiserman and Iginla.



Yakemchuk
Iginla
Greentree
Letourneau
Sennecke
Luchanko
Mustard



I will tell you right now - the left shot defenseman with 3 years left on his KHL contract, will not be a Habs pick.

It willbe 3 years after the draft?? I didn't know that.

 

[HuGo Burner Acc]

Lindstrom will be gone by Columbus unless they win the Celebrini lottery. So, yes, we'd have to slide ahead of CBJ (not happening) or win the 2nd overall pick.

Demidov is still viable.. he's playing in the MHL, a level not good enough for his talent level, he's still a russian, and he's a winger. A lot of those teams picking in the top who haven't drafted their #1 defenseman and have used their picks lately on forwards, are gonna bypass the scoring winger for the defenseman.

Worst case is we decide between Catton, Helenius, Eiserman and Iginla.



Yakemchuk
Iginla
Greentree
Letourneau
Sennecke
Luchanko
Mustard



I will tell you right now - the left shot defenseman with 3 years left on his KHL contract, will not be a Habs pick.

Ya that's exactly how I see it. Anaheim is the most probable to take a D. Chicago and San Jose are the teams (besides the Habs of course) I hope get the no. 1 pick because they're just looking for pure talent without thinking about position. Lindstrom and Columbus are destined for eachother imo. Habs fans just gotta hope whichever left of San Jose or Chicago who didn't win the first lottery is interested in another player besides demidov.

Besides that Habs badly need that no.5 pick. Even if it's not to pick demidov, to ensure the player they want us still on the board when they're drafting like last year with Reinbacher

 

[The Last Red]

I would also draft Trevor Connelly before any d-man if I’m HuGo, and yes, I’m aware of the incident in his past but he’s apparently reformed himself, yada, yada.

 

[The Great Weal]

Celebrini is clearly the better player, yes. That doesnt mean the difference is Mcdavid to Alex Newhook. The difference is more like Kucherov to Mackinnon, like I said.

There are also magnitude differences between the best player in the league and a middle 6 player compared to the difference between the 2nd and 3rd best players in the league. So no, I don't see that as being "clearly the better player".

Scouts value leagues, size, position and the russian factor. Celebrini scores high on all those, Demidov scores lowest on all those.

Why wouldn't a scout value size and position? I mean the MHL is a complete dog shit league, you look at some of these goals that Michkov score and wonder if the other team has ever played hockey before. It's not discrediting what Demidov is doing there which is still extremely remarkable, but when people here shit on Michkov because the KHL is a joke due to the likes of Reid Boucher and Chris Wideman being top players there, that needs to be multiplied by a billion for the MHL.

I tend to agree that there would be no debate had Demidov not been in Russia this year, hed be a slam dunk 2OA and wed be hearing about the 1A to 1B race similar to what we had 2015.

You really think there was a race between McDavid and Eichel? Lol. For the record, Demidov is currently my 2nd OA at the moment too. I'm taking Celebrini over him every single time and it's not even close (like how it is with Mack and Kucherov) to me.

 

[Kaiden Ghoul]

For me, if it's not Celebrini, Demidov or Lindstrom, i want the Habs to draft Silayev. I want the D to also have their Slafsquatch.

I have no interest in Parekh or Buium kind of prospect. We already have enough offense coming from the D with Hutson and Mailloux.

So for me it's :

1-Celebrini
2-Demidov
3-Lindstrom
4-Silayev
5-Catton
6-Iginla
7-Helenius

Really like your top 6, anyone of them and im happy, especially your top 4, would rather go with Dickinson or maybe Eiserman instead of Helenius personnaly

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

For me, if it's not Celebrini, Demidov or Lindstrom, i want the Habs to draft Silayev. I want the D to also have their Slafsquatch.

I have no interest in Parekh or Buium kind of prospect. We already have enough offense coming from the D with Hutson and Mailloux.

So for me it's :

1-Celebrini
2-Demidov
3-Lindstrom
4-Silayev
5-Catton
6-Iginla
7-Helenius

If we take a blueliner, I’m going to have a stroke.

 

[Mrb1p]

There are also magnitude differences between the best player in the league and a middle 6 player compared to the difference between the 2nd and 3rd best players in the league. So no, I don't see that as being "clearly the better player".

Why wouldn't a scout value size and position? I mean the MHL is a complete dog shit league, you look at some of these goals that Michkov score and wonder if the other team has ever played hockey before. It's not discrediting what Demidov is doing there which is still extremely remarkable, but when people here shit on Michkov because the KHL is a joke due to the likes of Reid Boucher and Chris Wideman being top players there, that needs to be multiplied by a billion for the MHL.

You really think there was a race between McDavid and Eichel? Lol. For the record, Demidov is currently my 2nd OA at the moment too. I'm taking Celebrini over him every single time and it's not even close (like how it is with Mack and Kucherov) to me.

I never said there was a race, I specified that Celebrini was the clear number one and that there was no doubt.

The MHL isn't that much worse/better than the WHL.
I mean watch these clips... It's probably the league in the world with the most odd man rushes. Theres a reason tehres like 10 players putting up "record breaking" numbers.

 

[The Great Weal]

The MHL isn't that much worse/better than the WHL.

How many MHL players get drafted compared to WHL players? Don't give me that "Russian factor" argument because eventually these high end MHLers would be good enough to get offers from NHL teams alter in their careers if they are good enough.

 

[Mrb1p]

How many MHL players get drafted compared to WHL players? Don't give me that "Russian factor" argument because eventually these high end MHLers would be good enough to get offers from NHL teams alter in their careers if they are good enough.

I mean, there's four different leagues where Russian players play, there's also more imports in the CHL. Generally they're both very similar leagues.
Last year there was 19 players drafted from russia and 33 from the WHL, unsure why that matters much though, they clearly draft more players from the canadians league, thats well-known.

 

[The Great Weal]

I mean, there's four different leagues where Russian players play, there's also more imports in the CHL. Generally they're both very similar leagues.
Last year there was 19 players drafted from russia and 33 from the WHL, unsure why that matters much though, they clearly draft more players from the canadians league, thats well-known.

There are three different leagues for Canadians as well. I don't really see how they are similar given that the success rate of becoming NHLers is not even comparable. Again, I have Demidov at 2 for now but he's very clearly not the 1B in this draft. You say Celebrini is the clear number one but then compare the difference between Celebrini/Demidov to Kucherov/Mackinnon which is negligible. It's not making any sense.

 

[Mrb1p]

There are three different leagues for Canadians as well. I don't really see how they are similar given that the success rate of becoming NHLers is not even comparable. Again, I have Demidov at 2 for now but he's very clearly not the 1B in this draft. You say Celebrini is the clear number one but then compare the difference between Celebrini/Demidov to Kucherov/Mackinnon which is negligible. It's not making any sense.

Yes, the diffrence between the two is clear but negligible, just like Mack to Kuch.

 

[CAUFIELD]

If we take a blueliner, I’m going to have a stroke.

Why? everyone on this forum wants to draft BPA. If BPA is clearly a dman, i have no problem with drafting a dman.

Wingers is the easiest position to fill via UFA or trade . We have Winnipeg and Calgary 1st for trading chips, + Harris/Barron/Struble, etc.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Why? everyone on this forum wants to draft BPA. If BPA is clearly a dman, i have no problem with drafting a dman.

Wingers is the easiest position to fill via UFA or trade . We have Winnipeg and Calgary 1st for trading chips, + Harris/Barron/Struble, etc.

Why?

Because we have tons of great blueliners and not enough forwards.

 

[Mrb1p]

Why?

Because we have tons of great blueliners and not enough forwards.

The Habs can always trade a player if something arises. Guys like Levshunov, Buium and Dickinson could be norris winning Ds, especially the first two ones have packages that we just don't have in the pipeline. Im sure Mailloux, Hutson, Engstrom or others could return good forwards.

We have a 1C , and two top line W plus a 1B and a 2nd LW, we just need to fill in the 2nd line RW, that could be done by trading from a position of strength, like the Ducks did with Drysdale.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

The Habs can always trade a player if something arises. Guys like Levshunov, Buium and Dickinson could be norris winning Ds, especially the first two ones have packages that we just don't have in the pipeline. Im sure Mailloux, Hutson, Engstrom or others could return good forwards.

We have a 1C , and two top line W plus a 1B and a 2nd LW, we just need to fill in the 2nd line RW, that could be done by trading from a position of strength, like the Ducks did with Drysdale.

This place will burn down if we don’t take a forward.

 

[Goldenhands]

This place will burn down if we don’t take a forward.

You can rest peacefully, only defenseman I would draft is Silayev, he is Russian and under contract for the next 3 yrs, I doubt the Habs go there, its likely going to be a foward or trading the pick for a young promising foward.

Guhle is starting to worry me with his injuries though and Xhekaj has had his up and down. You never know but the odds largely favor a foward.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

You can rest peacefully, only defenseman I would draft is Silayev, he is Russian and under contract for the next 3 yrs, I doubt the Habs go there, its likely going to be a foward or trading the pick for a young promising foward.

Guhle is starting to worry me with his injuries though and Xhekaj has had his up and down. You never know but the odds largely favor a foward.

Not worried about Guehle. As for the draft, I’m confident we’ll take a forward.

 

[HuGo Burner Acc]

The Habs can always trade a player if something arises. Guys like Levshunov, Buium and Dickinson could be norris winning Ds, especially the first two ones have packages that we just don't have in the pipeline. Im sure Mailloux, Hutson, Engstrom or others could return good forwards.

We have a 1C , and two top line W plus a 1B and a 2nd LW, we just need to fill in the 2nd line RW, that could be done by trading from a position of strength, like the Ducks did with Drysdale.

This is very true. It's just a much harder avenue that takes good GMing which Hughes is capable of imo. If Levshunov drops you take him and think about the rest later (I'm assuming the top Fs were already picked). I also really like Dickerson. But there's no point taking a forward that you weren't in love with and see as a compromise.

 

[Sam de Mtl]

This is very true. It's just a much harder avenue that takes good GMing which Hughes is capable of imo. If Levshunov drops you take him and think about the rest later (I'm assuming the top Fs were already picked). I also really like Dickerson. But there's no point taking a forward that you weren't in love with and see as a compromise.

True. And if that's the staff's assessment, I am okay with that pick, but I don't think a guy like Helenius is a compromise. I think he will be just as good as the better players of this draft.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Always take the player that you believe is the BPA.......no discussion other than that is worth having.

 

[Toene]

Always take the player that you believe is the BPA.......no discussion other than that is worth having.

Well, if there's a forward they really want after Celebrini but believe he'll be gone before their turn, they can discuss the option of trading up.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Well, if there's a forward they really want after Celebrini but believe he'll be gone before their turn, they can discuss the option of trading up.

And that’s what I hope we do.

 

[Toene]

And that’s what I hope we do.

Hughes has acquired loads of futures during his tenure, so we can definitely survive turning some of those assets into a big quality piece. We can't just draft quantity ad vitam aeternam, there's a contract limit and you have to leave room for the players in the line-up eventually to see what they have there.

Although it may be a move they'd be wiser to do at next year's draft instead of the coming one. We'll have more data on the progression of guys like Roy, Heineman, Kidney, Farrell, Beck, Hutson, etc.

2024 may be the last draft where Habs pick below 10th in some time, I think this team is middle-of-the-pack as soon as next year (barring more terrible luck with the injuries *touches wood*).