HF Habs: 2024 NHL Draft Thread

[WeThreeKings]

[/QUOTE]

Live look at HFHabs realizing Dickinson will be playing himself into the top 4 by the time the Memorial cup is over.

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Especially as Heiskanen dominates for Dallas

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

Heiskanen is definitely a comparable, that's his ultimate upside IMO.

 

[Habs7631]

Especially as Heiskanen dominates for Dallas

It’s funny how we want guys like Dickinson/Buium to go into the top 4.

Meanwhile

HF Sens, Devils, Flames, Kraken, Utah : Dickinson/Buium/Lev/Silayev won’t fall to us, we’ll miss on the top tier Dman.

Honestly, 5 might not be such a bad spot. One of Demidov/Lindstrom is probably gonna be available for us and if not, we’ll be in the perfect position for teams below that want to get first dibs on one of these D to call us for a trade. Might receive an overpayment.

You don’t want to be a team in need of a guy like Sam or Zeev and risk losing him to a team right in front of you and now you either have to settle for Parekh/Yakemchuk or pick Catton/Helenius/Eiserman if you don’t need a F.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

I'm getting increasingly uncomfortable watching that podcast. Grant keeps coming across as a repulsive asshole, like having a couple thousand views a week is all it took to inflate his ego.

No wonder he can't get a real scouting job.

Grant is Orange Face level insecure and arrogant and tries to control the narrative but he is of well below average intelligence and much like the Don Cherry's of the world has no idea what is actually happening on the ice. He never really was a scout and never will get a sniff again....he is a pathetic joke.

I certainly don't watch all of Marinaro's podcasts as his guests are a who's who of clueless dimwits and NHL failures. I like Engels as he is easily he best regular by about 3 orders of magnitude but Laraque, Boisvert and the rest are buffoons on their best days.The Recruits podcast is a joke as it tries to come off as an insight into scouting yet there are no scouts on the panel and they yammer on about players that they have never seen live and have never met.

For those of you who think that Grant was a scout.....I won't share personal information but there is plenty of public information that will show how minuscule his "scouting" background is and how pathetic it is for him to try and parlay that into an authoritative broadcast.

Live look at HFHabs realizing Dickinson will be playing himself into the top 4 by the time the Memorial cup is over.

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He has deserved to be there all season long.

 

[Doublechin]

All of this Dickinson talk makes me realize more and more how important it is to go BPA. I see zero logic in passing on an LD if he's seen BPA, tier of his own especially.

I'm not saying they should rank Dickinson ahead of Demidov etc but let's say they do and still pass and go over need, atrocious asset management

You draft the BPA and unless it's Celebrini, you're waiting a year or two before they're in the lineup and you need to clear a roster spot and fit them in

 

[Balthazar]

Honestly, 5 might not be such a bad spot. One of Demidov/Lindstrom is probably gonna be available for us and if not, we’ll be in the perfect position for teams below that want to get first dibs on one of these D to call us for a trade. Might receive an overpayment.

That's fan fantasy. In reality the value for moving from one spot to another in the first round is almost set in stone. GM's already know the cost, it's a matter of if the other team wants to move or not.

Habs wouldn't get much for going from 5 to like 8. It's not worth it as they don't need extra lower end assets. Just pick your guy.

 

[Balthazar]

All of this Dickinson talk makes me realize more and more how important it is to go BPA. I see zero logic in passing on an LD if he's seen BPA, tier of his own especially.

There's no such thing as the Habs having to draft a LD at 5 because he's the BPA and in a tier of his own.

That won't happen, you can stop worrying about it.

 

[Scintillating10]

All of this Dickinson talk makes me realize more and more how important it is to go BPA. I see zero logic in passing on an LD if he's seen BPA, tier of his own especially.

I'm not saying they should rank Dickinson ahead of Demidov etc but let's say they do and still pass and go over need, atrocious asset management

You draft the BPA and unless it's Celebrini, you're waiting a year or two before they're in the lineup and you need to clear a roster spot and fit them in

Hughes said over and over he's not taking LD

 

[Doublechin]

Hughes said over and over he's not taking LD

Still don't make to sense

Especially if someone is the clear BPA and they pass on up him and I doubt their lists were finalized 4 weeks ago in order to reply no to that

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Watching some highlight videos and to me I see similar junior highlights to Dach, but j think Sennecke has more speed.

 

[Scintillating10]

Still don't make to sense

Especially if someone is the clear BPA and they pass on up him and I doubt their lists were finalized 4 weeks ago in order to reply no to that

What Hughes says, he's not taking LD. A slim, slim chance he may take RD though. He's said if forwards he likes gone at 5, he's trading down.

 

[SlafySZN]

Watching some highlight videos and to me I see similar junior highlights to Dach, but j think Sennecke has more speed.

I also see Dach when i watch him. He has a better shot than Kirby, though lol and more creativity in his game.

 

[The Last Red]

That's fan fantasy. In reality the value for moving from one spot to another in the first round is almost set in stone. GM's already know the cost, it's a matter of if the other team wants to move or not.

Habs wouldn't get much for going from 5 to like 8. It's not worth it as they don't need extra lower end assets. Just pick your guy.

NFL teams trade down because they're still drafting a player who will play right away. Not so in the NHL.

 

[The Last Red]

Anything Hughes says this far out from the draft is likely a smoke screen, and should be taken with a grain of salt, but fans like you want a forward at all costs, so you take it at face value. No GM is going to publicly divulge their actual positions or strategies ahead of time, not with how dynamic and fluid things can get leading up to the draft and on the draft floor.

I don't care who they draft, to be perfectly honest. But Hughes saying they won't draft a left D doesn't increase the value of the pick, in fact it diminishes it, so I don't think he's blowing smoke when he says he's not drafting a left D. Believe him, he's really not drafting a left D. So he's not drafting Sam Dickinson, Zeev Buium or Anton Silayev at 5OA. They drafted DR at 5 last year to build the roster, same thing will happen this year.

 

[Twisted Sinister]

This is seriously one of those weird drafts where I don't mind who they pick. All the D, Demidov, Iginla, Catton, Lindstrom, even Sennecke. Go nuts.

Only one I don't want is Helenius. (So of course they'll draft Helenius lol)

 

[CanadienShark]

I guess you never know but he seems to have clawed his way into that 2nd tier of forwards (Demidov, Lindstrom, Iginla). I think there’s more of a chance that someone like Eiserman or Connelly drops to 18.

I don't see Eiserman getting past the Sharks at #14. Granted he's not a Grier type, but he's the type of forward that would just about complete SJ's forward core if he pans out.

 

[MrNasty]

What Hughes says, he's not taking LD. A slim, slim chance he may take RD though. He's said if forwards he likes gone at 5, he's trading down.

I don't care who they draft, to be perfectly honest. But Hughes saying they won't draft a left D doesn't increase the value of the pick, in fact it diminishes it, so I don't think he's blowing smoke when he says he's not drafting a left D. Believe him, he's really not drafting a left D. So he's not drafting Sam Dickinson, Zeev Buium or Anton Silayev at 5OA. They drafted DR at 5 last year to build the roster, same thing will happen this year.

Yeah, I don't put all my trust into what Hughes says publicly, even when both Engels and Basu reiterate the fact he won't draft a defensemen. It would be poor judgement to simply pass over one of those 3 defensemen because of team depth.
Reality is those 3 guys are probably better than Guhle, Hutson, Xhekaj, Engstom etc. so why on earth would the GM not want one that's even better.
The last two drafts Hughes drafted two guys that nobody thought he would, yet we suddenly believe everything he says...

The poll should be updated to include Demidov, Lindstrom, Dickinson and Buim as its possible those guys are available.

 

[Seb]

Still don't make to sense

Especially if someone is the clear BPA and they pass on up him and I doubt their lists were finalized 4 weeks ago in order to reply no to that

There is no clear BPA

 

[MrNasty]

Just for fun - I looked at 7 recent mock drafts by mainstream sites (Athletic, TSN, Sportsnet, EP, FLO) to gauge who is most likely available to the habs at 5th. The mock drafts are mostly what they think the other teams will take based on talent & need.
Here is how often each player was selected in the top 4 picks:

Celebrini (7) - duh
Levshunov (7)
Silayev (6)
Demidov (4)
Dickinson (3)
Lindstrom (1)

 

[morhilane]

There is no clear BPA

I think it's better to say there is no clear consensus so we can't label the BPAs.

And the way Hughes is talking, they have D ranked in their top 5, they just expect them to be taken before #5. He wouldn't bring up the "trade down if a LHD or take a falling RHD" otherwise.

It's a bit like if Demidov is taken top 4 and the Habs don't take Lindstrom at #5 and people get pissed. Yet Lindstrom could very well drop out of the top 10 with his injury.

 

[Habs Icing]

Yeah, I don't put all my trust into what Hughes says publicly, even when both Engels and Basu reiterate the fact he won't draft a defensemen. It would be poor judgement to simply pass over one of those 3 defensemen because of team depth.

So what is the reasoning for saying what he said publicly? I don't see a mastermind tactic in telling the world he won't be drafting LDs. Actually, it would be to his advantage to say publicly all options are in play. We can draft LD, RD, or forward depending on the situation.

 

[Harry Kakalovich]

And? Hughes already said he’s not taking a left D.

Definitely not what he said

 

[The Last Red]

So what is the reasoning for saying what he said publicly? I don't see a mastermind tactic in telling the world he won't be drafting LDs. Actually, it would be to his advantage to say publicly all options are in play. We can draft LD, RD, or forward depending on the situation.

Yeah, that's what I said. Saying that you won't take a left D at 5 reduces the value of the pick, so it would seem clear he's not playing mind games here.

Definitely not what he said

It's exactly what he said. Around the 25 minute mark:

 

[Frank JT]

For now :
Lindstrom : back injury and questionning I.Q.
Catton : not tall and no Crosby
Sennecke : late riser (not enough viewing)
Helenius : not tall and no Crosby
All great prospects

Iginla : , young, good shut and overall player, good on the boards.
My choice is Iginla, if Demigod is already taken.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I don't see Eiserman getting past the Sharks at #14. Granted he's not a Grier type, but he's the type of forward that would just about complete SJ's forward core if he pans out.

San Jose is going defense at 14. They haven't drafted a single defense prospect in round 1 in like 5+ years and their system is limited on defense.

They'd have picked Eklund, Will Smith, Bystedt, Celebrini, Musty, Haltunnen, Lund, Wiesblatt, Bordeleau in the top 35 of drafts since Merkley in 2018.