HF Habs: 2024 NHL Draft Thread

[Cubebrick]

The difficult thing with Iginla is distinguishing how much he is benefiting from a very offensively strong team. We know Catton is the one driving his teams offence but how much is Iginla benefiting from playing with an elite Whl player like Cristall? I honestly have not watched Kelowna enough to say so anybody’s observations would be appreciated.

Iginla has played alongside Gojsic and Cicek pretty much all season. The only time he's on the ice with Cristall is on the PP, and he only got like 17 points on it. He's just an even strength monster.

 

[CHwest]

Silver lining is most of these forwards after Celibrini are interchangeable and there’s so many good defencemen available. This isn’t like last year, getting frustrated by being outside of the obvious Top 4.

They are not interchangeable, some will do better than expected some worse, have to make the right pick.

 

[skidcells]

It’s lack of a 200ft game….he's a one dimensional player but man what a dimension lol

I’d be very happy if we drafted him so long as Demidov and Lindstrom are not still there

Really? I thought he did compete on the defensive side as well

 

[ChesterNimitz]

What makes you question his upside?

We could do far worse than selecting Catton whose skill set reminds me of Barzel. When you have a chance to draft that type of high-end talent, you pull the trigger.

Let’s not overthink this process.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Really? I thought he did compete on the defensive side as well

He does - he just also plays 30 minutes a night and has to conserve his energy.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

He does - he just also plays 30 minutes a night and has to conserve his energy.

He does have a tendency to switch off, he is still very young and he has a tendency to cheat offensively which is not good for a center but by watching him it does not seem like it his attitude related more about maturity and desire to drive the offense a bit too much, my assumption is that his team are way too often behind and he feel the pressure to create offense by himself. Anyway I believe people are overly critical of his flaws but totally overlook for some reason his obvious offensive flair and offensive abilities. Either he is a center or a left winger in the NHL is still unclear but he has star player abilities with the puck and he possess all the tools to develop as an offensive star player. The team that draft him will have to make sure he does put the work and he will take a couple years to mature physically but sky is the limit for sure.

 

[Team_Spirit]

It's going to be hilarious if we pick 7th with Calgary right behind at #8 and take Iginla in their faces.

 

[FrankMTL]

Cooley was 5 foot 10.5 and 180 pounds at the NHL draft combine in 2022.

I'm curious where Catton ends up as I think these two players will end up having somewhat similar builds in the NHL.. Catton may be slightly taller and lighter, but similar none the less.

 

[vokiel]

I'd be very, very surprised if Catton is not taken in the top 5. Overrated dmen or not.

 

[le_sean]

They are not interchangeable, some will do better than expected some worse, have to make the right pick.

Thanks for the great insight. Obviously if we could see into the future everything would be easy. My point is, come draft time there are a bunch of good options and an argument can be made for about 5 different forwards to be the 2nd one taken.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

I'd be very, very surprised if Catton is not taken in the top 5. Overrated dmen or not.

We should only be so lucky to be in a position to draft Catton. The kid’s a winner.

 

[SlafySZN]

Iginla has played alongside Gojsic and Cicek pretty much all season. The only time he's on the ice with Cristall is on the PP, and he only got like 17 points on it. He's just an even strength monster.

From what i've seen this season and last night Iginla was on PP2, not with Cristall

 

[Cubebrick]

From what i've seen this season and last night Iginla was on PP2, not with Cristall

I won't argue with you, it's possible they shuffle the PP waves (and I didn't watch yesterday's game) so perhaps we saw different games. But in my 10 viewings this season, he was on with Cristall, Szturc, Price and Cicek/Schelter.

Anyway, he doesn't get carried whatsoever by Cristall.

 

[CHwest]

Thanks for the great insight. Obviously if we could see into the future everything would be easy. My point is, come draft time there are a bunch of good options and an argument can be made for about 5 different forwards to be the 2nd one taken.

No need to get snarky, your explanation is different than your original statement.

 

[SlafySZN]

I won't argue with you, it's possible they shuffle the PP waves (and I didn't watch yesterday's game) so perhaps we saw different games. But in my 10 viewings this season, he was on with Cristall, Szturc, Price and Cicek/Schelter.

Anyway, he doesn't get carried whatsoever by Cristall.

Could be that they shuffle the PP waves, you're right!

What's great with him not playing with Cristall is that he has his own line and it's nice to see him drive it.

 

[Anardil]

There aren’t Denis Savards anymore either.

The way to score goals is to get lost in the weeds and fire off. Ovechkin (a dynamic player who did more than just score) scored tons of his goals this way. Caufield was doing this as well. Matthews isn’t fancy either - though he’s a solid two way player.

I see little reason to doubt that Eiserman will be anything less than a 40 goal guy. That doesn’t mean we should draft him ahead of others or that he’s got a complete game - but that shot’s amazing and he knows how to use it.

The main thing about him is that he’s only 17 and I think the other aspects can be taught. I love the ceiling. I just don’t want us to take Doug Jarvis over Mike Bossy again.

Just for accuracy's sake, the Habs chose Mark Napier over Bossy.

 

[le_sean]

No need to get snarky, your explanation is different than your original statement.

All I did was simply explain what interchangeable means.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Just for accuracy's sake, the Habs chose Mark Napier over Bossy.

Jarvis… Napier…. Same thing.

 

[Cubebrick]

Could be that they shuffle the PP waves, you're right!

What's great with him not playing with Cristall is that he has his own line and it's nice to see him drive it.

He is probably my favorite puck carrier/rush driver in the draft along with Helenius (not sure why he gets so much hate around here). I like how aggressive he is when driving the rush and finding lane openings.

I also like how effective he is at protecting the puck. The way he keeps his balance low by bending his knees and keeping his upper body straight, and leans into opposing players with his shoulder along with his strength. His form is perfect. He makes it very hard for other players to steal the puck from him.

 

[morhilane]

I'd be very, very surprised if Catton is not taken in the top 5. Overrated dmen or not.

I'll be very surprised if Catton was taken top 5, most ranking listing have him in the 6-10 range.

 

[montreal]

Very curious how Silayev knee injury imapacts his final draft position - could have significant impact on who’s available at 6-8

his team starts their new series at 6 am

 

[Lockin17]

We should do like ARI last year

#6= Saliyev
#24 = Artamonov

 

[KevSkillz4]

We should do like ARI last year

#6= Saliyev
#24 = Artamonov

I would destroy everything in my house if we draft Silayev. Please no.

 

[Lockin17]

I would destroy everything in my house if we draft Silayev. Please no.

you probably said that last year for Reinbacher ?

 

[KevSkillz4]

you probably said that last year for Reinbacher ?

Not really. I wanted a forward, but not destroying everything if it's Reinbacher.

But Anton freaking Silayev?! LD?! 6"8?! What the well?!?!