HF Habs: 2024 NHL Draft Thread

[SOLR]

That's exactly who he reminds me of... and he's the better prospect to boot. It's mind-boggling that some wouldn't want him. I think I prefer him to Demidov even.


Who cares?


Catton doesn't have the skillset to make plays??

Catton doesn't have Demidov's skillset, and that's going to become an argument? Like at all? Okay, I'm wasting my time here. These two are not in the same league.

We need a physical, 30-goal scorer in the top 6, more than another small forward. Who cares? us if we want to win. That's Iginla, Lindstrom or Sennecke.

Or we need a tremendous playmaker with speed that will score the important goals when things are tight. That's Demidov.

These 4 players are way ahead of Catton for the habs. Because we have these roles open.

Then I'd take the top 5 D ahead of Catton as well, just as a bank for value for trades.
Dickinson, Levshunov, Silayev, Buuim, Yakemchuck

 

[ReHabs]

Catton doesn't have Demidov's skillset, and that's going to become an argument? Like at all? Okay, I'm wasting my time here. These two are not in the same league.

Debating Catton vs Demidov is certainly a worthwhile and fun discussion. Falsely claiming that Catton is too far away (but Demidov isn't?) or that we absolutely need to draft a physical player (and Demidov is a physical player?) with the 5OA is not the discussion. So maybe it is a waste of time talking with someone who doesn't want to concede a simple point: you just don't like him as a prospect for the Habs. That's perfectly fine. I don't like Lindstrom, for example.

We need a physical, 30 goal scorer in the top 6, more than another small forward. Who cares? us if we want to win.

What prevents the Habs from trading Newhook+ for a physical 30g scorer? Florida's Verhaeghe was picked up for free. Their only other 30g scorer is Sam Reinhardt, acquired in a trade.

 

[Justin11]

Demidov or Catton would be the kick in the ass injection of talent this roster needs.

I like Catton and I believe has the potential to be a very good player in the NHL, I just don't think he's on Habs radar at 5.

 

[Ozmodiar]

Because he's the last thing we need to win a cup.

If we have another pick at 15 and he's still there, sure. I like him quite a bit, but not for the Habs. You can't have Caufield AND Catton. It's one or the other. Plus, we have Newhook, which is in the same format as well. Suzuki isn't giant either; we have to take that into account. If Suzuki was as big as Barkov/Drai, it would be a different story.

Look at the top 8 teams in the NHL, they don't have a collection of these players.

No more than 1 undersized, with no physical dimension, and "not fast" player in the top 6 or bust.

Obviously, Demidov is the target here:

Necas(or another trade) - Suzuki - Slafkovski
Caufield - Dach - Demidov/Lindstrom/Iginla/Sennecke.
Roy - Newhook - Mesar
Evans- Beck -Gallagher

If the Habs were to add Catton their top 6 it would be bigger than that of the 2 teams going to the Cup Finals. (Not accounting for BC’s physical maturity/growth).

Where the Habs lag behind these 2 teams is in top 6 talent.

Not sure why you bring up Drai who is lighter than Suzuki and not more physical.

… and Newhook is above average weight (for forwards) at 199. Not a core piece anyway.

 

[SOLR]

Debating Catton vs Demidov is certainly a worthwhile and fun discussion. Falsely claiming that Catton is too far away (but Demidov isn't?) or that we absolutely need to draft a physical player (and Demidov is a physical player?) with the 5OA is not the discussion. So maybe it is a waste of time talking with someone who doesn't want to concede a simple point: you just don't like him as a prospect for the Habs. That's perfectly fine. I don't like Lindstrom, for example.


What prevents the Habs from trading Newhook+ for a physical 30g scorer? Florida's Verhaeghe was picked up for free. Their only other 30g scorer is Sam Reinhardt, acquired in a trade.

Lol that's all I've been saying.

You don't get Reinhart with Newhook. Ok?
You get Reinhart with Buuim or Yakemchuck.

 

[ReHabs]

Lol that's all I've been saying.

You don't get Reinhart with Newhook. Ok?
You get Reinhart with Buuim or Yakemchuck.

A 7th round goalie and a late 1st round pick was exchanged for an up-and-coming but not-yet-arrived Sam Reinhart. It wasn't a top10 pick or a super prospect, not sure why you're saying that.

 

[Gabouch04]

All the people wishing for Catton need to realize that the goal is winning hockey game, not being a Youtube highlight star. All he does is play on the rush beating player that won't make it to the NHL.

- Vegas had 1 player in their whole roster under 6 feet (Marchessault)
- Florida has 1 foward under 6 feet (Rodrigues)
- In their top 6, Dallas has 1 player under 6 feet (Stankoven)

If you want to succeed, size does matter (That's what she said). We already have Caufied, and this isn't taking into consideration Hutson on D, Gallagher who's still there because of the contract, Suzuki and Newhook.

My point is there's 0 chance Catton get drafted by us. If you want him to succeed, you wish that he goes to a team that he will thrive. Montreal ain't it. The only team I could see picking him in the top 10 is Calgary, the other will pass. Not a top 10 worthy pick.

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

Lol that's all I've been saying.

You don't get Reinhart with Newhook. Ok?
You get Reinhart with Buuim or Yakemchuck.

Reinhart was traded for Levi and the 28th pick in 2022

All the people wishing for Catton need to realize that the goal is winning hockey game, not being a Youtube highlight star. All he does is play on the rush beating player that won't make it to the NHL.

- Vegas had 1 player in their whole roster under 6 feet (Marchessault)
- Florida has 1 foward under 6 feet (Rodrigues)
- In their top 6, Dallas has 1 player under 6 feet (Stankoven)

If you want to succeed, size does matter (That's what she said). We already have Caufied, and this isn't taking into consideration Hutson on D, Gallagher who's still there because of the contract, Suzuki and Newhook.

My point is there's 0 chance Catton get drafted by us. If you want him to succeed, you wish that he goes to a team that he will thrive. Montreal ain't it. The only team I could see picking him in the top 10 is Calgary, the other will pass. Not a top 10 worthy pick.

Yeah Tampa was absolutely massive in their top 6.

Wait, nope, they made up for it with talent.

Also talking about Suzuki like he's small when he's over 210 lbs is hilarious.

 

[le_sean]

Or we need a tremendous playmaker with speed that will score the important goals when things are tight. That's Demidov.

While I agree that the players you listed are better options than Catton, Demidov isn’t exactly speedy. He’s really agile, but his top speed isn’t anything special.

 

[SOLR]

If the Habs were to add Catton their top 6 it would be bigger than that of the 2 teams going to the Cup Finals. (Not accounting for BC’s physical maturity/growth).

Where the Habs lag behind these 2 teams is in top 6 talent.

Not sure why you bring up Drai who is lighter than Suzuki and not more physical.

… and Newhook is above average weight (for forwards) at 199. Not a core piece anyway.

Drai is 6'2 95kg
Suzuki is 6'0, 96kg.

Drai is a bigger hockey player and can play with more size. Like I'm not sure how you think about this and think Suzuki is competing with Drai in terms of size.

Habs are behind in size and talent (obviously, we are drafting 5th again)

We will see if Dach can play a full season before we include him in our top six for our cup ambition. So maybe we don't have a 2nd C yet and our effective size (ie. players in the actual lineup) is not realized as bigger yet.

 

[Ozmodiar]

Oh man, I remember that!! Exactly so, great reference.

Nikita Kucherov is listed at 5'11" 182 lbs... Berkely Catton is listed (pre-combine) at 5'10 175 lbs according to that TVA interview... but we can't consider him because we have Alex Newhook on the roster.

Kooch has a big center to create space for him tho - Point.

Imagine the Devils drafting Hughes considering his combine weight of 160 when they already had Hishier at 175lbs.

 

[Gabouch04]

Reinhart was traded for Levi and the 28th pick in 2022


Yeah Tampa was absolutely massive in their top 6.

Wait, nope, they made up for it with talent.

Also talking about Suzuki like he's small when he's over 210 lbs is hilarious.

Yeah sure, taking Tampa Bay is a great comparable when they have 5 HHOF'er and we have yet to make the playoff !

 

[SOLR]

Reinhart was traded for Levi and the 28th pick in 2022


Yeah Tampa was absolutely massive in their top 6.

Wait, nope, they made up for it with talent.

Also talking about Suzuki like he's small when he's over 210 lbs is hilarious.

Of course you can get a Reinhart for less. I'm done with the hopium of that happening. You can't make it happen. You can make a Buuim for a high quality 30 goal scorer happen at a much higher %, so that's a PLAN.

Tampa was fast and deep. Again it's not just about size. Catton is small and average speed. Caufield is small and average speed.

Kooch has a big center to create space for him tho - Point.

Imagine the Devils drafting Hughes considering his combine weight of 160 when they already had Hishier at 175lbs.

Oops don't let the facts hit you on the forehead with Hughes being injured 30% of the time and the Devils going from the playoffs to way out of said playoffs. Yeah... that's how you build a cup team (NOT).

 

[ReHabs]

Yeah sure, taking Tampa Bay is a great comparable when they have 5 HHOF'er and we have yet to make the playoff !

How else do you get HHOFs other than drafting them? Automatically not drafting super skilled prospects who are the size of Kucherov and Point means you eliminate the possibility of picking up a ton of supremely skilled players.

 

[SOLR]

While I agree that the players you listed are better options than Catton, Demidov isn’t exactly speedy. He’s really agile, but his top speed isn’t anything special.

His front speed is not special but his lateral speed is, + agility = he's a much better skater than Catton, I think we'll agree on that. He's going to improve, too; he will be fast by the time he's 22-23.

 

[Gabouch04]

How else do you get HHOFs other than drafting them? Automatically not drafting super skilled prospects who are the size of Kucherov and Point means you eliminate the possibility of picking up a ton of supremely skilled players.

You developp them, by putting them in situttion they can succeed. We don't have that in Montreal for Catton. Not everybody can be Tampa and I would'nt compare myself to a dynasty.

It's evident the way the roster is build and the reinbacker pick that we're aiming to be the next Dallas stars, not the next Lightning. And it's great like that.

 

[WeThreeKings]

This is a lot of wasted energy

It's Demidov Lindstrom Sennecke Iginla or Levshunov if he somehow fell.

It's not Catton, it's not Silayev, it's not Dickinson, it's not Parekh, it's not Helenius, it's not buium, and it's not Eiserman.

 

[sampollock]

This is a lot of wasted energy

It's Demidov Lindstrom Sennecke Iginla or Levshunov if he somehow fell.

It's not Catton, it's not Silayev, it's not Dickinson, it's not Parekh, it's not Helenius, it's not buium, and it's not Eiserman.

sounds about right

habs take a forward cant see a D man coming here at all at pick #5

 

[le_sean]

His front speed is not special but his lateral speed is, + agility = he's a much better skater than Catton, I think we'll agree on that. He's going to improve, too; he will be fast by the time he's 22-23.

No unfortunately, while I like Demidov more, I do think Catton is a better skater. At the very least, Demidov definitely isn’t a much better skater.

 

[ReHabs]

You developp them, by putting them in situttion they can succeed. We don't have that in Montreal for Catton. Not everybody can be Tampa and I would'nt compare myself to a dynasty.

I don't understand this argument. What is it Montreal doesn't have? Insufficient ice rinks..? It's a rebuild, we have not enough of anything. We especially have not enough talent.

It's evident the way the roster is build and the reinbacker pick that we're aiming to be the next Dallas stars, not the next Lightning. And it's great like that.

Very strange to completely ignore the talent dimension. The Stars and Lightning, both, have a ton of talent. It's like saying this car company makes better cars than another car company and only looking at the shape of the frame and not the engine or drive-train.

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

No unfortunately, while I like Demidov more, I do think Catton is a better skater. At the very least, Demidov definitely isn’t a much better skater.

Demidov is absolutely the better player, no doubt about that. Catton is also the better skater though. I'm not sure how he can project Demidov's speed to get much faster by the time he's 22 or 23 whereas Catton will always be an average skater. That's just picking and choosing.

This is a lot of wasted energy

It's Demidov Lindstrom Sennecke Iginla or Levshunov if he somehow fell.

It's not Catton, it's not Silayev, it's not Dickinson, it's not Parekh, it's not Helenius, it's not buium, and it's not Eiserman.

I don't disagree, but the entire point of the thread is to discuss draft eligible prospects.

Like I said earlier, we won't draft Catton, but there's a good chance we regret that choice IMO.

 

[Ozmodiar]

Reinhart was traded for Levi and the 28th pick in 2022


Yeah Tampa was absolutely massive in their top 6.

Wait, nope, they made up for it with talent.

Also talking about Suzuki like he's small when he's over 210 lbs is hilarious.

I see it all the time. They should really just say “tall” instead.

 

[Gabouch04]

I don't understand this argument. What is it Montreal doesn't have? Insufficient ice rinks..? It's a rebuild, we have not enough of anything. We especially have not enough talent.

Very strange to completely ignore the talent dimension. The Stars and Lightning, both, have a ton of talent. It's like saying this car company makes better cars than another car company and only looking at the shape of the frame and not the engine or drive-train.

This is a laughable argument for Catton.

I'm wondering if you're watching playoff hockey, not just highlights ? If you don't undertsand that we're build like the Dallas Stars, not the Tampa Bay Lightning this is not even worth discussing.

We're going to succeeed by having 3 balanced lines like the Stars. We don't have a HHOF goalie (Vasilevsky), we don't have a HHOF defender (Hedman), but this doesn't mean that we're not going to succeed.

The new generations like youself just jerk off from hockey highlights because you never seen a PPG on the Habs. There's many way to win and we're not going the Tampa Bay routes, not that hard to understand.

As for Catton, he's going to have a hard time adjusting to the next level. I watched over 15 full games from him (WHL, Hlinka, WHL playoffs) and I can guarantee you he's not the next Zach Benson. Think Jonathan Drouin, perimeter player.

 

[ReHabs]

This is a laughable argument for Catton.

I'm wondering if you're watching playoff hockey, not just highlights ? If you don't undertsand that we're build like the Dallas Stars, not the Tampa Bay Lightning this is not even worth discussing.

We're going to succeeed by having 3 balanced lines like the Stars. We don't have a HHOF goalie (Vasilevsky), we don't have a HHOF defender (Hedman), but this doesn't mean that we're not going to succeed.

The new generations like youself just jerk off from hockey highlights because you never seen a PPG on the Habs. There's many way to win and we're not going the Tampa Bay routes, not that hard to understand.

We don't have a single forward as accomplished as the Stars either. We don't have enough of anything! What a strange argument to push.

There are many ways to win, and the Dallas Stars haven't figured it out yet.

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

This is a laughable argument for Catton.

I'm wondering if you're watching playoff hockey, not just highlights ? If you don't undertsand that we're build like the Dallas Stars, not the Tampa Bay Lightning this is not even worth discussing.

We're going to succeeed by having 3 balanced lines like the Stars. We don't have a HHOF goalie (Vasilevsky), we don't have a HHOF defender (Hedman), but this doesn't mean that we're not going to succeed.

The new generations like youself just jerk off from hockey highlights because you never seen a PPG on the Habs. There's many way to win and we're not going the Tampa Bay routes, not that hard to understand.

Weird to specify Vasilevskiy and Hedman when Heiskanen and Oettinger are both top 5, if not top 3 at their positions.

It's also not like Catton wouldn't contribute to us having 3 scoring lines. Whoever we get in this draft is being slotted in to that 2nd line wing spot as soon as they're ready. Doesn't matter if it's Catton, Iginla, Lindstrom, or Sennecke.