HF Habs: 2024 NHL Draft Thread

[Estimated_Prophet]

Scouts loved Caufield's overall game in his draft year, his size was the main negative. They listed things like great compete, good motor, great IQ, tries to play over 200 feet, good agility, improving playmaking and manage to create time/space for his teammates.

Eiserman public scouting reports are a lot more negative listing poor decision making, passiveness/poor compete, late behind plays, poor at transition, playmaking regressed over the year , only play in one zone (ozone) and more.

Caufield was a more complete player in his draft year than Eiserman.

Caufield was widely regarded as a substantial defensive liability who did make some adjustments in his final season at Wisconsin. He has always been a player who severely cheats in transition until this season where he has been held more accountable. I think the Eiserman hate might be over the top and he has been in the spotlight for too many years. I am undedcided on my opinion on Eiserman as there is absolutely no way for any of us to know the details that will separate him from being a one dimensional shooter who doesn't score enough to offset his weaknesses from a potential 50 goal scoring gamebreaker. He is a gamble that I am willing to trust HuGo to make the correct, informed decision on.

If Eiserman checks off the personality traits that HuGo are looking for I could absolutely see us drafting him as MSL may be able to put him in the right environment with the right support to flourish. He is a strong kid with great hands and is a decent skater who they could p[potentially mold into a true star scorer.

Caufield always escaped the type of criticism that Eiserman gers because he is the underdog who naturally captures people's hearts whereas Eiserman could play exactly the same and have his game picked apart due to him being touted as a potential #1OA for years now. Caufield's shortcomings were viewed as a given and were forgiven due to his stature whereas Eiserman is offered no quarter by his critics due to the need to take down the "privileged kid" and their need to impose their cynicism and take down the the kids at the top for any perceived weakness.

Like I said, I am not taking a stance on Eiserman's developmental projection other than the fact that I think he has enough tools to potentially be a star forward. I am only pushing back at the backlash from fans and some fake scouting services as I do not believe that the level of negativity accurately correlates to the evidence at hand. I do not know the kid and neither do any of these sites or the fans railing on him but he is extremely young for his draft year (only two weeks from going into the 2025 draft). The only issues that he could possibly have are between his ears and without any knowledge whatsoever, I don't see how anyone can have a strong opinion one way or another and expect to be taken seriously.

Hope this doesn't come across as being pointed at yourself as I generally agree with you on most things....and that is extremely rare on these boards for myself lol.

 

[Habs Icing]

Please just draft BFA on their list!

Celebrini
Demidov
Lindstrom
Iginla
Helenius
Catton
Eiserman

And one more F with Winnipeg pick unless KH make a trade.

How did you get your hands on the Habs' prospect list?

 

[Goldenhands]

You are talking about an 18 yr old boy, I was not aware that boys don't put on weight.

If you compare Catton to Helenius or kids like Benson, Brindley or even Cooley, they were all physically much stronger in their draft year. Want it or not, strength/power is something scouts considere in their evaluations. Catton is pretty tiny shoulder to shoulder.

 

[austin316]

I can't wait to watch this forum go apeshit when we go BPA and draft a RD at #6 overall!

I would love to add a stud #1 RD to our team. We still don’t have a #1 RD in our system. We have plenty of #3-#4s but no true #1. I would not be shocked to see us take a D this year.

 

[Adam Michaels]

I can't wait to watch this forum go apeshit when we go BPA and draft a RD at #6 overall!

That's a day I'll be more a lurker than a participant. Just to enjoy the madness!

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

I can't wait to watch this forum go apeshit when we go BPA and draft a RD at #6 overall!

I think that taking a LD will cause a an even more hellacious response.

I feel as though Levshunov and Dickinson will be the two D that tempt HuGo the most and I don't think we will have a shot at either unless we win one of the lotteries and draft 2nd or the miniscule possibilty of drafting 3rd. It will be incredibly interesting/nerve wracking if some or all of Demidov, Eiserman and Lindstrom drop to us. I really like like all of Iginla, Helenius and Catton as well and definitely feel myself starting to really push away from Parekh and he will be the guy that I really don't want in that spot. Iginla feels like the right type of addition from a play style, attitude and skillset perspective but if they believe that one of the other options are a better asset I am sure that they will go that direction.

Much like everyone else here....I don't know sh*t and will defer to the pros who have infinitely more resources than all of us combined. It is still fun to cheer for certain names to be called but by the end of the day my bias's are usually emotionally severed and I find a way to enjoy the addition of new talent and do my best to get on the bandwagon with as measured approach as I am able.

 

[The Last Red]

I would love to add a stud #1 RD to our team. We still don’t have a #1 RD in our system. We have plenty of #3-#4s but no true #1. I would not be shocked to see us take a D this year.

WTF is Reinbacher?

I think that taking a LD will cause a an even more hellacious response.

I feel as though Levshunov and Dickinson will be the two D that tempt HuGo the most and I don't think we will have a shot at either unless we win one of the lotteries and draft 2nd or the miniscule possibilty of drafting 3rd. It will be incredibly interesting/nerve wracking if some or all of Demidov, Eiserman and Lindstrom drop to us. I really like like all of Iginla, Helenius and Catton as well and definitely feel myself starting to really push away from Parekh and he will be the guy that I really don't want in that spot. Iginla feels like the right type of addition from a play style, attitude and skillset perspective but if they believe that one of the other options are a better asset I am sure that they will go that direction.

Much like everyone else here....I don't know sh*t and will defer to the pros who have infinitely more resources than all of us combined. It is still fun to cheer for certain names to be called but by the end of the day my bias's are usually emotionally severed and I find a way to enjoy the addition of new talent and do my best to get on the bandwagon with as measured approach as I am able.

Guhle’s fragility is an issue.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

WTF is Reinbacher?


Guhle’s fragility is an issue.

It is too early to make such claims.

Random clustering is a common phenomena and when viewed in such a tiny sample can be meaningless. I would agree that he does need to get a little stronger and gain a little mass but the most important thing is he needs to make more of an effort to elude contact without necessarily rushing the play. He is playing big minutes against top lines who often have the best forecheckers and spend the most time on the O-zone. The opportunity for injury is very elevated for a defender of his age and he simply needs to learn some different tactics to both save and buy time in order to take the edge off of the hits that he is receiving. My opinion is that he isn't using his feet enough and is way too static which makes him an easy target to square up and obliterate. He is brave AF and allows himself to get hit and get hit hard way too often. He certainly doesn't seem fragile as he consistently gets up and looks for more punishment lol be it by absorbing hits or blocking shots. It is just inevitable that he will continue to sustain these injuries if he keeps allowing these big hits to happen. David Savard may not be the best mentor for him as he may be the most well padded defender in the game and is a tank out there. Guhle needs to apply more of Matheson's approach but with improved risk management decisions.

 

[morhilane]

Caufield was widely regarded as a substantial defensive liability who did make some adjustments in his final season at Wisconsin. He has always been a player who severely cheats in transition until this season where he has been held more accountable. I think the Eiserman hate might be over the top and he has been in the spotlight for too many years. I am undedcided on my opinion on Eiserman as there is absolutely no way for any of us to know the details that will separate him from being a one dimensional shooter who doesn't score enough to offset his weaknesses from a potential 50 goal scoring gamebreaker. He is a gamble that I am willing to trust HuGo to make the correct, informed decision on.

If Eiserman checks off the personality traits that HuGo are looking for I could absolutely see us drafting him as MSL may be able to put him in the right environment with the right support to flourish. He is a strong kid with great hands and is a decent skater who they could p[potentially mold into a true star scorer.

Caufield always escaped the type of criticism that Eiserman gers because he is the underdog who naturally captures people's hearts whereas Eiserman could play exactly the same and have his game picked apart due to him being touted as a potential #1OA for years now. Caufield's shortcomings were viewed as a given and were forgiven due to his stature whereas Eiserman is offered no quarter by his critics due to the need to take down the "privileged kid" and their need to impose their cynicism and take down the the kids at the top for any perceived weakness.

Like I said, I am not taking a stance on Eiserman's developmental projection other than the fact that I think he has enough tools to potentially be a star forward. I am only pushing back at the backlash from fans and some fake scouting services as I do not believe that the level of negativity accurately correlates to the evidence at hand. I do not know the kid and neither do any of these sites or the fans railing on him but he is extremely young for his draft year (only two weeks from going into the 2025 draft). The only issues that he could possibly have are between his ears and without any knowledge whatsoever, I don't see how anyone can have a strong opinion one way or another and expect to be taken seriously.

Hope this doesn't come across as being pointed at yourself as I generally agree with you on most things....and that is extremely rare on these boards for myself lol.

What I wrote aren't my opinions, but what I read from public scouts and people on HF boards who watch players a lot more than me (and I searched for Caufield draft year writes up to see what they were saying back then). I like to aggregate/compare what people say (skating is always hilarious since nobody seems to agrees on it) because I don't have much time to watch the kids.

I haven't watched Eiserman playing (full shifts) either (I try to watch a few for the top prospects) everything I know about him if from the internet. I prefer more well rounded players thought, but won't complain if the Habs take him.

In fact, I don't mind like 12ish players (include Ds) for the Habs choice. Last year it was easy for me: Reinbacher, Benson or Leonard if Habs couldn't get a top 4 forward by like January. This year, it's more like "hopefully they pick a kid that is coachable".

I do have somewhat favorites (Demidov, Helenius and Iginla), but I don't think (Helenius/Iginla) necessarily have higher ceiling than others who could be taken around the same spots. I just like how they play (or experiment in Iginla's case).

 

[Nevins]

It's like Cayden Lindstrom never left!The 2024 #NHLDraft prospect nets his first point since December as the
@tigershockey
add to an early lead.


https://x.com/TheWHL/status/1773883928505446634

 

[Schooner Guy]

It's like Cayden Lindstrom never left!The 2024 #NHLDraft prospect nets his first point since December as the
@tigershockey
add to an early lead.


https://x.com/TheWHL/status/1773883928505446634

He actually had 2 points in the playoffs before tonight.

 

[BergevinBurner]

He actually had 2 points in the playoffs before tonight.

That clip is from the first game of the series.

 

[Deam78]

Elite Prospects came out with their top 96 today. Article is paid, but this is their top 25.

1. Macklin Celebrini (C)
2. Ivan Demidov (W)
3. Cayden Lindstrom (C)
4. Artyom Levshunov (RD)
5. Zayne Parekh (RD)
6. Tij Iginla (F)
7. Berkly Catton (C)
8. Sam Dickinson (LD)
9. Anton Silayev (LD)
10. Zeev Buium (LD)
11. Cole Eiserman (W)
12. Konsta Helenius (C)
13. Liam Greentree (W)
14. Trevor Connelly (W)
15. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard (W)
16. Andrew Basha (W)
17. Igor Chernyshov (W)
18. Carter Yakemchuk (RD)
19. Beckett Sennecke (W)
20. Miguel Marques (W)
21. Nikita Artamonov (W)
22. Sacha Boisvert (C)
23. Teddy Stiga (F)
24. Charlie Elick (RD)
25. Harrison Brunicke (RD)

Sennecke has been on my radar for the Jets pick for a while, mainly as my main option, I'm starting to worry he won't make it
But if Yakemchuk drops even close to 15, we NEED to do everything possible to move up and get him

 

[Michelangelo]

WTF is Reinbacher?


Guhle’s fragility is an issue.

Reinbacher should be a very good 2D if all goes well

 

[JeffreyLFC]

If you compare Catton to Helenius or kids like Benson, Brindley or even Cooley, they were all physically much stronger in their draft year. Want it or not, strength/power is something scouts considere in their evaluations. Catton is pretty tiny shoulder to shoulder.

As was brayden point and his astonishing 158 pounds frame at his NHL combine or David Pastrnak and his 168 pounds frame at the NHL draft combine. You don't have to become 220 to be very strong on the puck. Martin St.Louis was not big but he was one of the strongest player on the puck and he was well below 190. I find talking and speculating about player expected strength and frame over time quite intellectually poor. We already project and assume player size based on their 17 years old frame. I know for a fact that players body change significantly from 17 years to 24 years old. Especially if you are serious in getting stronger and a professional athlete instead of a junior aged amateur player. Every drafted player will have to become stronger or they will never make it and they know it. There is no way that Berkly Catton if he plays in the NHL 4 or 5 years from now will have the same frame and size as he has now. Patrick Kane was never a strong player and had/has a slight frame and I would say he had a pretty good career everybody questioned it too when he was drafted and many thought he would not survive in the NHL against the big sized NHL defenders and he did quite good. Same could be said about Jack Hughes right now. Catton game is not based on over powering the other players he is a skilled player that use his hands and skating to create his chances. You cannot have a model player and say all the players have to fill this mold, every players are different. Cooley or Benson were also not the biggest guy in his draft year Cooley got stronger in the NCAA and by training like a pro. Benson is playing against the big NHL players and he is doing fine. We will see how Catton perform at the NHL combine, maybe he has a slight frame but he is extremely strong for his size. We could even compare his physical number with Benson after the combine.

 

[austin316]

WTF is Reinbacher?


Guhle’s fragility is an issue.

I see Reinbacher as (hopefully) a very good #2 but more likely a solid #3. I hope I am wrong and he is a #1, especially given where he was selected, but at this time I just don’t see it.

 

[Playmaker09]

Newhook has been listed at 199 and I do recall a claim after we traded for him that he was over 200 lbs. Newhook has an extremely strong lower body and is sturdier and stronger than Catton in every way, including comparables at the same age. Former coaches were raving about his lower body strength as far back as college and he has only become stronger since. Newhook could certainly use some more upper body strength but so could Catton in a big way.

I am very intrigued by Catton as well but I feel like you may be forcing the narrative a little too strongly in this case. Perhaps he ends up filling out and becoming a much stronger player but there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that he will or will not do so.....everything else is just unsupported speculation that is very often bias driven.

Strength is strength. Balance is balance.
We've seen players like Andrei Kostitsyn carry around 215 lbs yet still end up on his ass at the first sign of contact. Or Benoit Pouliot, or KK.

Newhook's lower body strength shows in his explosiveness for sure, but his fundamentals are weak which is why he struggles along the boards and in traffic and wasn't trusted in Colorado. Prime Gallagher, for example, was also much better at leveraging the strength that he had, even though Newhook has 10+ lbs on him.

Artemi Panarin is another who's routinely able to create separation by lowering his shoulder into defenders much bigger than him and spinning off them while in full control of the puck at only 175 lbs. It's hockey strength (and intelligence) vs gym strength.

Catton already handles himself though traffic much better vs his peers. If anything, the fact that he isn't as physically developed as Newhook at the same age is a sign of room to grow, and potential to leverage any future strength gain in a more effective way.

 

[calder candidate]

I guess I'm nitpicking, but just because your dad, or someone else was good doesn't mean you will be.

Mario Lemieux's kid was no good.
Martin Brodeur's kid was/is no good.
Patrick Roy's kid sucked.

If people see his stats and see who is dad is and think he's a no brainer, that's just bad scouting.

If that is the only thing you consider yes it is bad scouting but Genetic play a role, those guy didn’t make the NHLbut they were probably still above avg hockey player. Lot of prospect have connections to pro player in a lot of sports, dad, oncle, brothers and cousins that had some level of success it usually isn’t a negative…

 

[Playmaker09]

I would love to add a stud #1 RD to our team. We still don’t have a #1 RD in our system. We have plenty of #3-#4s but no true #1. I would not be shocked to see us take a D this year.

I don't think there's many people out there with the belief that any of these Ds are future #1s.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

If we don't win Celebrini..

Slaf-Suzuki-Roy (beast 2-way line)
Caufield-Dach-XXX (lots of offensive zone starts)
Newhook-Beck-XXX

Who is the best fit for an offensive line with Dach and Caufield? I think Demidov would be my #1 choice. Iginla or Lindstrom would be great too. Catton and Eiserman afterwards.

 

[The Last Red]

If Reinbacher is a 2 that means he’s first-pairing. Good enough. There’s also no guarantee that any of the D in this year’s draft will be a “true no. 1” whatever that actually means. We have enough D. We need forwards.

 

[BergevinBurner]

Tij with the game tying goal with 50 seconds left.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Strength is strength. Balance is balance.
We've seen players like Andrei Kostitsyn carry around 215 lbs yet still end up on his ass at the first sign of contact. Or Benoit Pouliot, or KK.

Newhook's lower body strength shows in his explosiveness for sure, but his fundamentals are weak which is why he struggles along the boards and in traffic and wasn't trusted in Colorado. Prime Gallagher, for example, was also much better at leveraging the strength that he had, even though Newhook has 10+ lbs on him.

Artemi Panarin is another who's routinely able to create separation by lowering his shoulder into defenders much bigger than him and spinning off them while in full control of the puck at only 175 lbs. It's hockey strength (and intelligence) vs gym strength.

Catton already handles himself though traffic much better vs his peers. If anything, the fact that he isn't as physically developed as Newhook at the same age is a sign of room to grow, and potential to leverage any future strength gain in a more effective way.

I don't disagree that balance and strength don't always form a linear correlation but you are dead wrong about Newhook vs Catton as Newhook's college coach is on record talking about his lower body strength and balance. You also can't use the extra 10 lbs that he has on Gallagher when Gallegher is 2 inches shorter. Gallagher is extremely strong and I don't see the relevance to Catton who is not even in the same conversation as these guys as he is mostly a perimeter player who does not play to contact. Newhook lives in the middle of the ice and is taking on massive dmen and opposing centers that Catton has never faced. Newhook was a beast in college who drove through and around defenders and is just starting to figure it out at the NHL level now. He does need to develop some more upper body strength so that his torso doesn't twist so much over his hips due to his upper body not being strong enough to maintain leverage over his opponent and leaving his core to do too much of the heavy lifting.

I don't want to continue this much more if we are not going to agree because it distracts from Catton's strengths and I have been a bigger fan than most so I don't need to be painted as a Catton hater lol....you know how this place is.

He does seem to have something special about him and even though he doesn't necessarily seem to be exactly what we need in an undersized scorer, he may be too good to pass up.

 

[Playmaker09]

I don't disagree that balance and strength don't always form a linear correlation but you are dead wrong about Newhook vs Catton as Newhook's college coach is on record talking about his lower body strength and balance. You also can't use the extra 10 lbs that he has on Gallagher when Gallegher is 2 inches shorter. Gallagher is extremely strong and I don't see the relevance to Catton who is not even in the same conversation as these guys as he is mostly a perimeter player who does not play to contact. Newhook lives in the middle of the ice and is taking on massive dmen and opposing centers that Catton has never faced. Newhook was a beast in college who drove through and around defenders and is just starting to figure it out at the NHL level now. He does need to develop some more upper body strength so that his torso doesn't twist so much over his hips due to his upper body not being strong enough to maintain leverage over his opponent and leaving his core to do too much of the heavy lifting.

I don't want to continue this much more if we are not going to agree because it distracts from Catton's strengths and I have been a bigger fan than most so I don't need to be painted as a Catton hater lol....you know how this place is.

He does seem to have something special about him and even though he doesn't necessarily seem to be exactly what we need in an undersized scorer, he may be too good to pass up.

Yeah, agree to disagree.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

What I wrote aren't my opinions, but what I read from public scouts and people on HF boards who watch players a lot more than me (and I searched for Caufield draft year writes up to see what they were saying back then). I like to aggregate/compare what people say (skating is always hilarious since nobody seems to agrees on it) because I don't have much time to watch the kids.

I haven't watched Eiserman playing (full shifts) either (I try to watch a few for the top prospects) everything I know about him if from the internet. I prefer more well rounded players thought, but won't complain if the Habs take him.

In fact, I don't mind like 12ish players (include Ds) for the Habs choice. Last year it was easy for me: Reinbacher, Benson or Leonard if Habs couldn't get a top 4 forward by like January. This year, it's more like "hopefully they pick a kid that is coachable".

I do have somewhat favorites (Demidov, Helenius and Iginla), but I don't think (Helenius/Iginla) necessarily have higher ceiling than others who could be taken around the same spots. I just like how they play (or experiment in Iginla's case).

Anybody back then who claimed that Caufield was a 200 foot player with the USNTDP would immediately lose any and all credibility. He quite literally didn't even attempt to play defensively responsible hockey of any sort before the draft as that team was like the Harlem Globetrotters dunking on anyone and anything that they could dunk on. That is a staple of that program as they are far more interested in skill development than structure and just try and reign in their play a little in international tournaments. Cole even admitted after his first season at Wisconsin that he didn't know much about the defensive side of the game because he was never really expected to do it. He made significant improvements in his D+2 as his coach acknowledged and has been a willing pupil ever since even if he had shown a strong tendency to blow the zone and cheat on breakouts.

The posters who made such claims and any fake scouting services who may have made these claims (I don't recall any that did so) are entirely without credibility and you shouldn't mistake volume for credibility.

He is still a poor defender despite his improved efforts and that is unlikely to change given his stature and his stubby arms as he lacks the reach to be effective with his stick and isn't fast enough to compensate for his lack of reach or lack of size/strength. I do love his effort as he comes back hard on the back check and has made some great plays but....my god is he useless in the dzone once the opposition has established possession.

I was pumped when we selected him and am still happy with the selection as I think he will eventually be a 40+ goal scorer and he brings so much positivity to the locker room. This does not erase his flaws however and they are the same one's that he has always had. I think the positives outweigh the negatives and if we are going to have one or two small forwards on a cup contender i think he is a good one to have.