HF Habs: 2024 NHL Draft Thread

[Habs Halifax]

After watching his highlights, yes. His game footage is much less convincing. There will be a gap between any player's highlight reel and any given game, but the gap is larger for Sennecke than for Iginla, to my eye at least.

How I see it was well. I really do like Sennecke's stick skills and skating/size/shot package but when you add up everything, he lags a bit behind others. Close but not close enough.

How do you interpret or evaluate Lindstrom's vision/play making? The rest of his game looks very good but not so sure he has great vision.

 

[Habs Icing]

Now imagine we take Sennecke over Lindstrom

I'm pretty sure he'll break you for suggesting it.

 

[Habs Halifax]

There are a few other 1st round hopeful draftees who have been injured almost all season and you don't hear a pip from their agents. So I feel like Lindstrom's agent is panicking which probably means his medicals files will show a long term issue.

I'm expecting Lindstrom to drop out of the top 10 at this point.

I expect Lindstrom to be taken 6-10 range. Drop outside of the top 10? Possible but not according to my board.

My issue with Helenius is that I just don't see elite attributes anywhere. He's a Johnny-All-Around with good hockey sense and Meh size. Some of those players translate, but, against the best in the world, I feel there's often a plateau. I don't tend to bet on them.

Didn't Helenius play in the WC's? How did he look there with the eye test against men and an fair amount of NHL players?

 

[Habs Halifax]

It’s the other way around. After watching games of him you’d start overthinking about why Iginla and even Lindstrom should be taken before him.

I like Sennecke's game but he's a 8-13 range pick on my board. Taking him earlier is a reach. I have him in a same waive as Catton and Eiserman.

Eiserman

I personally don't think he slips like some think. He's going 8-13 range. We would have to trade up to get another pick from 10-13 in order to have a shot at him.

He's a 30 goal threat in the NHL (like Caufield was) and he has size. That's not slipping 13+

 

[NotProkofievian]

How I see it was well. I really do like Sennecke's stick skills and skating/size/shot package but when you add up everything, he lags a bit behind others. Close but not close enough.

How do you interpret or evaluate Lindstrom's vision/play making? The rest of his game looks very good but not so sure he has great vision.

I rate Lindstroms vision as average, nothing special but not terrible either. Sennecke's vision is better.

Sennecke could have the highest peak of any of our options at 5. But I also think he has the highest variance. That might be what's important though. We went for high variance with Slafkovsky and that's working out well for us.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I rate Lindstroms vision as average, nothing special but not terrible either. Sennecke's vision is better.

Sennecke could have the highest peak of any of our options at 5. But I also think he has the highest variance. That might be what's important though. We went for high variance with Slafkovsky and that's working out well for us.

Those are my concerns with Lindstrom. Vision/play making. It's lacking when you watch the highlight videos with him IMO. Not like it sucks but I just don't see reason to give him high grades in that area. Other parts like size, skating, shot, worth ethic are top notch.

I do like Sennecke's hands in tight spaces. He's got an offensive mind and knows how to score.

Still higher on Demidov and Iggy though. Lindstrom is close.

 

[Benstheman]

I’m 99,99% positive we will have Lindstrom, Iginla, Sennecke, Catton disponible at 5. I wouldn’t even be surprised if Demidov is there.

My mock draft top 4:

1-Celebrini
2-Silayev/Levshunov/Demidov
3-Silayev/Levshunov/Demidov
4-Silayev/Demidov/Dickinson

All in all, I think top 4 is Celebrini, Silayev, Demidov, Levshunov with Dickinson having an outside chance.

Based on that, BPA available at 5OA might be :

Dickinson, Lindstrom, Iginla.

Pretty good problem to have. I don’t know what I would do if I was the GM having this choice to make. I love Dickinson and think he is BPA between the 3 but I would be thrilled with the other 2.

 

[DemidovSZN]

After watching his highlights, yes. His game footage is much less convincing. There will be a gap between any player's highlight reel and any given game, but the gap is larger for Sennecke than for Iginla, to my eye at least.

I’m talking about games, never highlights.

I’d take the kid who’s still growing into his body but still gives hits. Disrupt his opponent with his reach and uses his hands and creativity to get the puck off the walls and keep possession of it. Really good in possession and the circle. And i’m not even talking about his offensive skills.

For me he’s better than Iginla. Lindstrom it’s another story, the size/physicality is hard to pass up.

 

[skidcells]

I rate Lindstroms vision as average, nothing special but not terrible either. Sennecke's vision is better.

Sennecke could have the highest peak of any of our options at 5. But I also think he has the highest variance. That might be what's important though. We went for high variance with Slafkovsky and that's working out well for us.

I don’t know what they’ll ultimately do but the other thing this management group has is confidence in their player development team to get each player to the best version of themselves. I’d add the coaching staff especially Marty as part of the dev. Team.

 

[Shutdown]

It’s the other way around. After watching games of him you’d start overthinking about why Iginla and even Lindstrom should be taken before him.

if Sennecke had gone through his growth spurt 4 months earlier and he had put up his scoring pace for 75% of the season instead of 50% people would be a lot less hesitant to include him in that conversation. people forget these are 17 year olds

 

[DemidovSZN]

if Sennecke had gone through his growth spurt 4 months earlier and he had put up his scoring pace for 75% of the season instead of 50% people would be a lot less hesitant to include him in that conversation. people forget these are 17 year olds

Both Lindstrom and Sennecke were honourable mentions in Bob Mckenzie’s top 16 in his pre-season ranking in september. Iginla wasn’t on his list. So all 3 of them are some sort of risers.

 

[Habs Halifax]

if Sennecke had gone through his growth spurt 4 months earlier and he had put up his scoring pace for 75% of the season instead of 50% people would be a lot less hesitant to include him in that conversation. people forget these are 17 year olds

Iggy is 7 months younger and you just wait for his growth spirt after this draft. I think there is a fair discussion to be made at the age timing of how they are trending.

No doubt Sennecke is in the mix but with me, it's 8-13 range talk.

 

[Habs Icing]

I rate Lindstroms vision as average, nothing special but not terrible either. Sennecke's vision is better.

Sennecke could have the highest peak of any of our options at 5. But I also think he has the highest variance. That might be what's important though. We went for high variance with Slafkovsky and that's working out well for us.

Shouldn't the new highly regarded development team minimize that variance? Or are they just a stick to beat down the Bergevin tenure?

 

[Hannibal]

Wait ‘til you see Iggy next year. I have a very good feeling for him.

Lindstrom or Iggy for me. Depending if lindstrom is there or not

 

[NotProkofievian]

I’m talking about games, never highlights.

I’d take the kid who’s still growing into his body but still gives hits. Disrupt his opponent with his reach and uses his hands and creativity to get the puck off the walls and keep possession of it. Really good in possession and the circle. And i’m not even talking about his offensive skills.

For me he’s better than Iginla. Lindstrom it’s another story, the size/physicality is hard to pass up.

Respect the opinion, but I'm going with Iginla. I find he's a lot better and more consistent with his wall play, and just has a much higher rate of involvement overall. With Iginla, you're getting 50% more shots on net, and if I had to guess something like 50% more pucks retrieved per shift.

Does anyone have Mitch Brown's player cards for these two btw?

 

[Habs Halifax]

Imagine growing up and playing against your dad (Iginla) and having to deal with his competitiveness with puck battles. That surely gives you obstacles to try to overcome that other kids just don't face. I bet it was the same with the Tkachuk brothers.

The focus in Tig's eyes is someone of value for me too. You know he wants to be one of the best.

Tig probably felt he was improving when playing against kids his own age and his father said, show me... try your game against me (1/1 battles).

 

[Shutdown]

Iggy is 7 months younger and you just wait for his growth spirt after this draft. I think there is a fair discussion to be made at the age timing of how they are trending.

No doubt Sennecke is in the mix but with me, it's 8-13 range talk.

there was a TVA article saying that Sennecke's dad is 6'3 and his mom is 6'0


not sure how much room there is for Tij to grow, he's already almost his dad's height and i don't think he's got a giant mom.

anyway, they're different players. i prefer Sennecke's ceiling over Iginla's - he doesn't initiate physical contact because he's more slippery and rangy. Iginla is more projectable because of how he plays and engages in the o-zone. i can see why someone wouldn't want to pick Sennecke in the top 5.

Imagine growing up and playing against your dad (Iginla) and having to deal with his competitiveness with puck battles. That surely gives you obstacles to try to overcome that other kids just don't face. I bet it was the same with the Tkachuk brothers.

The focus in Tig's eyes is someone of value for me too. You know he wants to be one of the best.

Tig probably felt he was improving when playing against kids his own age and his father said, show me... try your game against me (1/1 battles).

loving the fan fiction component to this player analysis - what else did Jarome say to Tij?

 

[Benstheman]

What do you guys think of this :

Dickinson-Reinbacher
Hutson-Guhle
Xhekaj-Mailloux/Engstrom/Barron

Going forward?

I mean this is d core without flaws. I'm still on the fence about playing Guhle on the right side but damn that is an elite defensive corps.

 

[Mrb1p]

What do you guys think of this :

Dickinson-Reinbacher
Hutson-Guhle
Xhekaj-Mailloux/Engstrom/Barron

Going forward?

I mean this is d core without flaws. I'm still on the fence about playing Guhle on the right side but damn that is an elite defensive corps.

Guhle isn't a RD and the Habs are gonna have trouble scoring goals.

 

[Benstheman]

Guhle isn't a RD and the Habs are gonna have trouble scoring goals.

Yeah but alot of goals will be coming from this D. i don't know. Dickinson is so good it might be a good idea to draft him anyway.

 

[MSLs absurd thighs]

After watching his highlights, yes. His game footage is much less convincing. There will be a gap between any player's highlight reel and any given game, but the gap is larger for Sennecke than for Iginla, to my eye at least.

The thing with Sennecke is this;

The very thing that makes him unique (consistently beating Ds one-on-one, making high-risk plays and getting away with his because of his great hands), are things that nobody is doing in the NHL, unless you're called McDavid or Kucherov.

So you pretty much bank on him being able to fool guys like Charlie McAvoy and Jacob Trouba like he SOMETIMES does in junior without getting his head ripped off. That means you bank on him doing things that 95% of players in the NHL can't do. Or else, if you take that trait away from him (his ability to slip past defenders with a deke like it's nothing), there's not a whole lot of things to like.

His size? Well, he's definitely not a guy who uses it just yet. People are pegging this on "not having grown into his body yet". But you're putting a lot of chips on a VERY abstract possibility - him ending up using his physical tools accurately. Something a lot of players never learn to do properly in the show.

His speed? He's not slow, but I wouldn't say he has the speed to be able to stand out in the big league.

His engagement? Definitely not.

So what's left?

If the kid ever turns into something substantial in the NHL, it's going to be by playing a completely different game that he plays in junior, because there's no way in hell half the stuff he does down there works in the big league. Hell, it's far from always working in the junior as well, it's just that when it does it ends up in a highlight reels package.

To me, it seems like a lot of people are trying to talk themselves out of a very safe, rather high-reward, logical pick in Iginla for some reason. There are so few reasons to make a tough exercise like this even tougher.

 

[Habs Halifax]

there was a TVA article saying that Sennecke's dad is 6'3 and his mom is 6'0


not sure how much room there is for Tij to grow, he's already almost his dad's height and i don't think he's got a giant mom.

anyway, they're different players. i prefer Sennecke's ceiling over Iginla's - he doesn't initiate physical contact because he's more slippery and rangy. Iginla is more projectable because of how he plays and engages in the o-zone. i can see why someone wouldn't want to pick Sennecke in the top 5.


loving the fan fiction component to this player analysis - what else did Jarome say to Tij?

Iggy will probably top out around 6'-1" and 200+ lbs. Suzuki size but maybe slightly more. That's a good size body to go along with his hard work ethic. Very high chance he has his father's height and weight from what we know today.

Iggy is 2" shorter, 7 months younger, and already has Sennecke's weight. Most guys 6'-0" or under at age 17/18 are in the 160-165 lbs area. Iggy is well ahead of the curve in terms of filling into this frame.

 

[Skip Bayless]

It’s the other way around. After watching games of him you’d start overthinking about why Iginla and even Lindstrom should be taken before him.

That hasn’t happened to me, I’m still waiting.

 

[Jack Skellington]

Knowing what we know about this management so far, I would be flabbergasted if they passed on Lindstrom unless they know something about his medical situation.

 

[Habs Halifax]

The thing with Sennecke is this;

The very thing that makes him unique (consistently beating Ds one-on-one, making high-risk plays and getting away with his because of his great hands), are things that nobody is doing in the NHL, unless you're called McDavid or Kucherov.

So you pretty much bank on him being able to fool guys like Charlie McAvoy and Jacob Trouba like he SOMETIMES does in junior without getting his head ripped off. That means you bank on him doing things that 95% of players in the NHL can't do. Or else, if you take that trait away from him (his ability to slip past defenders with a deke like it's nothing), there's not a whole lot of things to like.

His size? Well, he's definitely not a guy who uses it just yet. People are pegging this on "not having grown into his body yet". But you're putting a lot of chips on a VERY abstract possibility - him ending up using his physical tools accurately. Something a lot of players never learn to do properly in the show.

His speed? He's not slow, but I wouldn't say he has the speed to be able to stand out in the big league.

His engagement? Definitely not.

So what's left?

If the kid ever turns into something substantial in the NHL, it's going to be by playing a completely different game that he plays in junior, because there's no way in hell half the stuff he does down there works in the big league. Hell, it's far from always working in the junior as well, it's just that when it does it ends up in a highlight reels package.

To me, it seems like a lot of people are trying to talk themselves out of a very safe, rather high-reward, logical pick in Iginla for some reason.

Well explained. Not to take anything away from Sennecke, but those dangle moves don't work on guys who know how to play D in the NHL. I do like this hands and shot though. Just don't know how this translates at the pro level.

Whenever I watch video, I always look at how that player is doing what they are doing. Loaded talent on their line, PP open space, D breakdowns, weak D because they are young, etc.

Sennecke's has 5 U17 international games. No U18's or anything else to evaluate. It would be reach to take him 5 IMO. Looking good in the CHL and stalling in the AHL/NHL has to be carefully evaluated.

Sennecke is 8-13 range consideration. We can debate this which is fair but it would be reaching to justify picking him 5th.