HF Habs: 2024 NHL Draft Thread

[Jaynki]

Wouldnt trade him for either but they are two top 6ers under 23 YO. Its not impossible that they become better players than Slaf.

Look at Galchenyuk if you will, in 2013-2014 he had similar production to Slaf and outproduced Toffoli pretty badly, yet who's had the much better career ? Chalie Coyle? Niederreiter ? Stone ? Kuznetsov ?

Well it is not set in stone and unless Slafkovsky stagnate and the other two have massive growth, Slaf is simply in another tier. Production is one thing but it's also about how the players evolve through times. Slafkovsky display a development path that Galchenyuk never displayed.

Pretty sure that 32 out of 32 NHL GM take Slafkovsky before Perfetti or Rossi.

Barring any anomaly that are out of anyones control, Slafkovsky is the clear top prospect between those three. Although it is not impossible Perfetti and Rossi have better career in the end, it's not something anyones intelligent would bet on.

 

[DiglettDangles]

[...]
He's 5'11. We have one small player, the rest are average sized, just like Demidov. The Habs acquired two of the largest top 6 forwards in the league exactly for this reason. The Habs D is also massive.

Again, 4 out of the 8 last cup winners had an overwhelming majority of sub 6'1 players in their whole top 9.

It's pretty funny how on this site/thread, North American players like Benson/Hutson/Cooley can still grow a few inches and add 20lbs of muscle after the draft, whereas sub-6ft Russians are small forever.

 

[Trabdy2]

I'm not as obsessed with player size as some others on here, but I do think there needs to be a balance. Bigger players have a tendency to make space and time for smaller linemates on the ice, and they can be harder to play against just because of their stature and reach advantage.

Most top teams in the league only have a handful of players under 6 ft at forward. The Rangers, Jets, and Stars only have one each. The Bruins, Canucks, and Panthers only have three.

As things stand right now, we have five forwards under 6 ft: Newhook, Suzuki, RHP, Gallagher and Caufield. Only one, Gallagher (and maybe RHP), would be expected to depart at some point during this rebuild. On the other hand, most of our biggest players (Anderson, Armia, Dvorak, Pearson, Evans?), will probably be leaving our roster in the next year or two as we rebuild.

I don't think we can plan our rebuild around replacing all those bigger players with sub 6 ft players. To me, this means that bringing size into our forward group should be considered as we rebuild in order to maintain balance.

That being said, I'd be happy if we got either Demidov or Lindstrom from this draft. We need skill and they both have it. If we take Demidov, it just means we probably should prioritize size with our other picks.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I have Demidov ahead of Lindstrom and its clear he's the more talented player, but Lindstrom is a talented, athletic guy in a big frame.

So if you're drafting with the ultimate goal of winning the cup and the determination between the two is that Lindstrom will be more effective in the playoffs than Demidov, I think that's an acceptable conclusion.

I'm not gonna be upset about a playoff top 6 that includes the skill and size of Lindstrom, Dach and Slafkovsky. With more and more defenses becoming mobile and not strong, they'd be a real load for teams to handle.

 

[sampollock]

I have Demidov ahead of Lindstrom and its clear he's the more talented player, but Lindstrom is a talented, athletic guy in a big frame.

So if you're drafting with the ultimate goal of winning the cup and the determination between the two is that Lindstrom will be more effective in the playoffs than Demidov, I think that's an acceptable conclusion.

I'm not gonna be upset about a playoff top 6 that includes the skill and size of Lindstrom, Dach and Slafkovsky. With more and more defenses becoming mobile and not strong, they'd be a real load for teams to handle.

I like lindstrom but can't see him falling

 

[WeThreeKings]

I like lindstrom but can't see him falling

No one knows right now, Celebrini is going 1.. that's about how clear it is. We also don't know where we are picking cause 4th is on the menu

 

[sampollock]

No one knows right now, Celebrini is going 1.. that's about how clear it is. We also don't know where we are picking cause 4th is on the menu

true enough.. going to be good draft.. when KH makes a deal too

 

[Mrb1p]

I'm not as obsessed with player size as some others on here, but I do think there needs to be a balance. Bigger players have a tendency to make space and time for smaller linemates on the ice, and they can be harder to play against just because of their stature and reach advantage.

Most top teams in the league only have a handful of players under 6 ft at forward. The Rangers, Jets, and Stars only have one each. The Bruins, Canucks, and Panthers only have three.

As things stand right now, we have five forwards under 6 ft: Newhook, Suzuki, RHP, Gallagher and Caufield. Only one, Gallagher (and maybe RHP), would be expected to depart at some point during this rebuild. On the other hand, most of our biggest players (Anderson, Armia, Dvorak, Pearson, Evans?), will probably be leaving our roster in the next year or two as we rebuild.

I don't think we can plan our rebuild around replacing all those bigger players with sub 6 ft players. To me, this means that bringing size into our forward group should be considered as we rebuild in order to maintain balance.

That being said, I'd be happy if we got either Demidov or Lindstrom from this draft. We need skill and they both have it. If we take Demidov, it just means we probably should prioritize size with our other picks.

The Habs have two of the biggest top 6 forwards in the league, thats where the balance is. Suzuki is also one of the player with the highest BMI in the league. He's 5'11 and 210+ lbs. He's a rock. Size doesn't only come from height, it comes from muscle, it comes from weight, it comes from limb and stick length and it comes from athleticism. Crosby, Datsyuk, Suzuki, Mackinnon, etc are all sub 6' players but no one in their right mind would ever see them as small.

Joshua Roy is also 6' and another very stocky player. Newhook is 5'11 as fast as lightning and 200+ pounds. We have absolutely no reason to even consider size as a problem. What we need is to find someone talented enough to push Newhook back to the 3rd line, which would effectively unlock a 2nd 2nd line.

 

[crosbyshow]

Again my grand Mother could have been a scout if the only thing to looking at is that the player must be 6.0 and 200 pounds.

Bs.

Half of the best players in NHL history were less than 6.0 or less than 200 pounds.

Rocket
Dionne
Gretzky
Yzerman
Sakic
Crosby
Kane
Bedard
St louis

They were not bad in the playoffs either....

...and some of the most injury prone players were more than 6.0 like Lemieux, Lindros etc..

We are in 2024 for godsake...I dont care at all if the player is 5.10 or 6.2

Bring me 5 or 6 talented players sub 6.0 in our top 9 any day or the week.

 

[TheBuriedHab]

I mean we will get an average sized winger in one of Demidov, Eiserman, Iginla or a big boy in Lindstrom so I don't see the worry about drafting undersized players.

Obviously we aren't going to draft a midget to play on the wing with Caufield already in the top 6 but that goes without saying.

 

[McGees]

Catton has chances to just flat out be better than Zegras, Helenius and especially Iginla too. Zegras is the last thing this team needs.

I'll be so triggered if we trade our 1st for Zegras.

 

[Redux91]

Again my grand Mother could have been a scout if the only thing to looking at is that the player must be 6.0 and 200 pounds.

Bs.

Half of the best players in NHL history were less than 6.0 or less than 200 pounds.

Rocket
Dionne
Gretzky
Yzerman
Sakic
Crosby
Kane
Bedard
St louis

They were not bad in the playoffs either....

...and some of the most injury prone players were more than 6.0 like Lemieux, Lindros etc..

We are in 2024 for godsake...I dont care at all if the player is 5.10 or 6.2

Bring me 5 or 6 talented players sub 6.0 in our top 9 any day or the week.

Yeah I won't lie
Comments like 'Catton's frame concerns me' are just mind blowing to me like..

It's as if every single 5'11 170 teenager should never even try to make it or something
It makes no sense to me lol

 

[McGees]

Demidov vs Lindstrom...
Chances are they're both gone by the time we pick anyway.
I think the choice they'll have to make is Catton vs Iggy vs a Dman.

 

[sampollock]

I'll be so triggered if we trade our 1st for Zegras.

the peg 1st

 

[Adam Michaels]

I'll be so triggered if we trade our 1st for Zegras.

I won't be triggered. But I'd rather hold onto our pick, especially if its Top-5. If it's in the 8-10, range I won't mind trading the pick for Zegras.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Demidov vs Lindstrom...
Chances are they're both gone by the time we pick anyway.
I think the choice they'll have to make is Catton vs Iggy vs a Dman.

I don't think the chances are they'll both be gone. Defenseman are going high.

San Jose isn't gonna pick a forward unless it's Celebrini. They haven't drafted anything but forwards since they've been rebuilding in round 1.

 

[Mrb1p]

Talent-wise very similar, you're right. Catton is more inside-driven and involved defensively though. If in 5 years Catton is what Zegras is now, this is an average outcome imo, not terrible but not great.

I think Zegras is much more talented, but Zegras doesn't have it in his lil' brain-rotted head that he can be who he can be, thus he sucks. Perimeter player at best, Im sure he'll have other 60+ points seasons, he's just not gonna be useful doing it. Catton can be that + more and have an actual impact.

Which is fine. Drafting Russian players that high who aren’t already in North America seems a bit risky at this juncture. Sure they’ll probably come over at some point . . . but it’s not guaranteed and you don’t know when. I’m sure HuGo were hoping that one of the teams drafting before them last year would have taken Michkov and helped them avoid the PR disaster that ensued.

Whens the last time a high profile russian player didn't come to the NHL ? Kaprizov is the only one and he was a 5th rounder. Miro came the year after he was drafted, theres 48 russian players in the NHL right now, soon to be 3 more with Nikishin, Michkov and Demidov coming over in the next two years.

I'll be so triggered if we trade our 1st for Zegras.

Same. He's so far from what we need.

the peg 1st

That I wouldn't mind, but I doubt Anaheim doe sthat.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Again my grand Mother could have been a scout if the only thing to looking at is that the player must be 6.0 and 200 pounds.

Bs.

Half of the best players in NHL history were less than 6.0 or less than 200 pounds.

Rocket
Dionne
Gretzky
Yzerman
Sakic
Crosby
Kane
Bedard
St louis

They were not bad in the playoffs either....

...and some of the most injury prone players were more than 6.0 like Lemieux, Lindros etc..

We are in 2024 for godsake...I dont care at all if the player is 5.10 or 6.2

Bring me 5 or 6 talented players sub 6.0 in our top 9 any day or the week.

It's nice to have a mix of size in the lineup though. We've got some smaller players. Hutson, CC, Newhook... even Suzuki's not really big (though he is thick.)

We've got two genuinely big guys in the top six with Dach and Slaf and Dach is an injury risk. I get why folks want size in this draft.

But I get where you're coming from too. I'd love to have a guy like Eiserman. But how well does he mix with what we have?

Good news is I think we win either way. Lindstrom certainly wouldn't be bad to have in the lineup.

Also, how cool is it that there's and Eiserman and Lindstrom in this draft? Wings fans would rejoice if they could land them.

 

[Ozmodiar]

It's pretty funny how on this site/thread, North American players like Benson/Hutson/Cooley can still grow a few inches and add 20lbs of muscle after the draft, whereas sub-6ft Russians are small forever.

My advice to anyone with concerns over his size (5’11”, 170 ish) or his home country is this:

take a look at the NHL scoring race.

 

[Draft]

I haven't seen Eiserman as much as others, but stagnation/regression in your draft year is not what you want to see out of a young player. Everyone and his grandma can see what he needs to work on and you really have to identify whether this is an issue with coachability, lack of IQ, or simply a once-dominant young player hitting their plateau and living off the hype. Unless he flips a switch through the rest of the season, he's not a top-10 pick to me.

 

[Heffyhoof]

I won't be triggered. But I'd rather hold onto our pick, especially if its Top-5. If it's in the 8-10, range I won't mind trading the pick for Zegras.

You're more even tempered than me. It'd be my giving up on the team moment as I'd see it rushing the rebuild. The light at the end of the tunnel of this garbage year of rebuild hockey had better not be the cast-offs of another rebuilding team in the form of Zegras.

 

[HuGort]

View attachment 825950

Playoff scoring leaders since '04. Lot of guys Demidov's size or smaller there.

Skill and size harder to get. You need size in playoffs.

 

[QuinNasty]

Scout’s Analysis: Ranking the top 40 prospects for the 2024 NHL Draft – Sportsnet.ca

 

[BergevinBurner]

Scout’s Analysis: Ranking the top 40 prospects for the 2024 NHL Draft – Sportsnet.ca

That's the lowest I've seen Lindstrom in a while.

This feels just like last draft where there was a clear cut top 4(excluding Michkov) and we're going to be picking right after the big names are gone and there's little consensus on BPA.

 

[MTL Dirty Birdy]

Yeah I won't lie
Comments like 'Catton's frame concerns me' are just mind blowing to me like..

It's as if every single 5'11 170 teenager should never even try to make it or something
It makes no sense to me lol

Some people are like bergevin- stuck thinking we’re still in the 90’s where size was the only thing that mattered