HF Habs: 2024 NHL Draft Thread

[Skip Bayless]

We talking about that 160 pound stick that lives and breathes bigotry and bullying?

I'd slap a DND on him and move on

I like him more now.

 

[Gustave]

I'd lose it at Buium. Buium and Helenius are the least appealing options that have been discussed with the Habs.

I’m surprised to be honest, I would’ve bet the farm that Buium did it for you.

Helenius is not in the convo that seems clear.

Freewheeling like Parekh does is fine… for a team that doesn’t sport Lane Buium inspires me more of a structured player, but Dickinson would be my preferred option between the rest of the D. I’m looking for a minute cruncher with upside and size if I’m out of Demidov Lev Iggy or Lindstrom.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I’m surprised to be honest, I would’ve bet the farm that Buium did it for you.

Helenius is not in the convo that seems clear.

Freewheeling like Parekh does is fine… for a team that doesn’t sport Lane Buium inspires me more of a structured player, but Dickinson would be my preferred option between the rest of the D. I’m looking for a minute cruncher with upside and size if I’m out of Demidov Lev Iggy or Lindstrom.

Buium creates offense like Lane but doesn't do it as good as Lane and I don't find him better defensively than Guhle, Xhekaj, Engstrom or even Struble.. so the combo doesn't work for me on the left side.

 

[le_sean]

Mailloux is destined to be a 3rd pairing D at best, so drafting or not drafting Parekh doesn’t really affect his standing

It should change his standing. I’d sell while his value is high and we know both of the top 4 RD spots are taken. I wouldn’t wait. You’re better off getting a veteran RD for the bottom pairing than having a guy who doesn’t offer much value defensively or has no chance to show what he has offensively.

 

[Schooner Guy]

Yes, I also watched Ryan Poehling's NHL debut when he scored a hat trick and his "poor shooting" argument was apparently completely invalid because he had some nice goals. Mailloux was impressive in his first game but one game at the end of the season doesn't mean all his previous seasons of a questionable defensive game is not valid anymore.

I'm not denying his progression, he's just got a lot to work on defensively since it's been an issue for a while. If he turns into someone you can play on the PK then great, but it's definitely not something you can feel confident about given his resume and one game won't change that.

His defensive and positional play came a long way in Laval this year. He has great assets to work with to keep on improving with that size, skating, wingspan and strength. Everyone has a hard on for Hutson but his defensive game has more question marks than Mailloux's.

We've been crying for decades to get offensive players. When we have them, we shouldn't be looking at getting rid of them early in their development stages.

 

[Scotianhab]

How are Cgy going to swap 9OA for 4OA? When was the last time a team moved down or even traded a top-5 pick?

Cal has a 2nd first rd pick. Plus they’d have to throw in a prospect or another 2nd rd pick. Will depend how bad they want that player. Not saying it will happen but you just never know.

 

[themilosh]

wouldn't mind this result! but I would prefer moving up to nab Michael B-N or Sennecke at 15.

 

[TheBuriedHab]

Understatement of the century.

If they go Parekh at 5 I will lose it.

I wouldn't lose it if they went Parekh, I see the upside there.

But I think Buium is better and have had him higher than Parekh most of the year. He had one of the best draft eligible years ever in NCAA history for a defenseman. He helped lead USA to gold and won the NCAA national title.

I also see a common trend where people think these players are "low ceiling" but they turn out to be some of the best players of the draft looking back. Rewind to me arguing with these same people in 2020 that Guhle should be a target of ours in that draft and they told me he had a low ceiling.

I'd suspect one of Lindstrom or Demidov is there at 5 anyway so I think this conversation will turn out to be moot anyway.

 

[Andrei79]

Did that twice before got burnt hard. Kotkaniemi and Kostitsyn. Costs us Tkachuk and Parise. Probably 3-4 cups also. We had good teams in '06, '10, '14, '21.

Taking a guy rated way back based on good 2 months. I say again, Like I said then on here, I seen Brian Savage played like Coco Lemaire for 2 months. But it doesn't make him Lemaire. You want to learn through your mistakes. Base your draft on long term play.

There is no world where this team was a Parise away from 4 cups.

 

[Skip Bayless]

wouldn't mind this result! but I would prefer moving up to nab Michael B-N at 15.
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I like Greentree, but I doubt he'll be there at 26.

I prefer we move up to nab a guy like Eiserman or Connelly if they're still on board.

 

[Schooner Guy]

I wouldn't lose it if they went Parekh, I see the upside there.

But I think Buium is better and have had him higher than Parekh most of the year. He had one of the best draft eligible years ever in NCAA history for a defenseman. He helped lead USA to gold and won the NCAA national title.

Parekh was CHL dman of the year, won the Memorial Cup and had one of the most productive seasons every by an OHL dman in his draft year with 33 goals and 96 points. He has unreal offensive gifts that cannot be coached. By all accounts, he worked hard on his defensive play this season and will continue to.

My main concern with Parekh is that he's reckless and puts himself in situations where he gets absolutely tattooed. I worry about potential for concussion issues with this style of play.

 

[themilosh]

Lindstrom//Demidov - Reinbacher. For sure.

Michkov have high offensive potential, but Lindstrom and Demidov are much complete player than him.

Reinbacher is in the same tier of Leshunov, the difference, Reinbacher is better at D zone, more safe choice between both.

and Reinbacher is younger.

 

[le_sean]

Parekh was CHL dman of the year, won the Memorial Cup and had one of the most productive seasons every by an OHL dman in his draft year with 33 goals and 96 points. He has unreal offensive gifts that cannot be coached. By all accounts, he worked hard on his defensive play this season and will continue to.

My main concern with Parekh is that he's reckless and puts himself in situations where he gets absolutely tattooed. I worry about potential for concussion issues with this style of play.

I like Parekh, but the lackadaisical style irks me a bit. He needs to give a shit at the next level. That playstyle better not keep following him.

He plays like Karlsson, but Karlsson is a phenomenal skater. Parekh can’t afford to play at 75% with his lack of physical tools.

 

[Andrei79]

I don't see how Chicago lets Levshunov slip or Columbus picks Demidov over someone like Lindstrom.

I think the biggest probability is that Demidov is available and that's who management will pick.

NHL teams value size, low risk, translatable games (not just into en regular season, but the playoffs as well). They don't bank on sub 6' players being outliers like Point, Briere and Kucherov. They expect them to perform with difficulty in the post-season. They don't like leagues like the MHL with poor competition and structure or countries with instability. Its possible hes picked before 5, but that would be the surprise of the draft for me.

 

[themilosh]

Did that twice before got burnt hard. Kotkaniemi and Kostitsyn. Costs us Tkachuk and Parise. Probably 3-4 cups also. We had good teams in '06, '10, '14, '21.

Taking a guy rated way back based on good 2 months. I say again, Like I said then on here, I seen Brian Savage played like Coco Lemaire for 2 months. But it doesn't make him Lemaire. You want to learn through your mistakes. Base your draft on long term play.

Savage was Mr. October!

He's a beast, but hfboards has gone woke. Sad!

can you imagine some of the past "all stars" who had done things way worse, before muh-feelings?

 

[Simarino]

Demidov, Lindstrom, Catton, Dickinson, Buium, Iginla and Sennecke
To me those could all end up being worth the 5th.
But they also all have potential red flags…

Whats the red flags on Iginla??

 

[G0bias]

This would indeed be worst case scenario.
With already Hutson, Reinbacher and Mailloux, i see zero use in adding another D who'll require considerable offensive minutes. Specially at the cost of a 5th OV.

Whoever we'd end up trading away likely doesn't return a forward that really moves the needle.

 

[TheBuriedHab]

Parekh was CHL dman of the year, won the Memorial Cup and had one of the most productive seasons every by an OHL dman in his draft year with 33 goals and 96 points. He has unreal offensive gifts that cannot be coached. By all accounts, he worked hard on his defensive play this season and will continue to.

My main concern with Parekh is that he's reckless and puts himself in situations where he gets absolutely tattooed. I worry about potential for concussion issues with this style of play.

Yup, Parekh had a great year too. I just have more concerns about his defensive game compared to Buium and generally his engagement and his upright stance.

Buium had a better freshman year offensively than Makar, Hughes and Fox. Not saying he will reach that in the NHL, but he's also no slouch offensively while in my opinion being much better than Parekh in his own zone.

Like I said though, I won't hate Parekh at 5. I just like Buium much much more.

 

[le_sean]

Whats the red flags on Iginla??

I wouldn’t say it’s a red flag, but he’s not the fastest, isn’t the strongest, cheats defensively. Nothing glaring though.

 

[The Great Weal]

His defensive and positional play came a long way in Laval this year. He has great assets to work with to keep on improving with that size, skating, wingspan and strength. Everyone has a hard on for Hutson but his defensive game has more question marks than Mailloux's.

Sure Hutson has more of a questionable defensive game, but neither are projected to be good enough to feel comfortable putting them in penalty-killing situations.

We've been crying for decades to get offensive players. When we have them, we shouldn't be looking at getting rid of them early in their development stages.

To a certain degree, and it's mostly for forwards. We've got everyone losing their minds at how bad Matheson is yet he's 9th in points for dmen this season.

You don't trade away any of Mailloux/Hutson/Parekh right away, but you most likely have to down the road.

 

[Schooner Guy]

I like Parekh, but the lackadaisical style irks me a bit. He needs to give a shit at the next level. That playstyle better not keep following him.

He plays like Karlsson, but Karlsson is a phenomenal skater. Parekh can’t afford to play at 75% with his lack of physical tools.

Parekh might not be Karlsson pre-achilles but he's a still a very fluid skater. He flies through the neutral zone at high speed. If the Habs do pick him, he'll be the most offensively gifted player we'll have drafted in decades. He'll add 10 points per season to Slaf's, Suzuki's and Caufield's totals. It would be the end of our PP woes.

He would require some work but would have huge payoff if they could get him playing adequate D at the NHL level. Like I mentioned, my biggest concern is his potential for injuries the way he's so reckless and puts himself in harm's way.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

So I just listened to the podcast StevenIves was on and what he's saying about Nygard and why he places him so high is.

1. He does more Little things to win a hockey game then any 18 year old

2. He played in the 2nd best Swedish league but didn't put up big numbers which is why he's ranked in the lower teens but in international play he was phenomenal

3. Best Defensive Winger in the entire draft. He's so good that that when he moved up into the Swedish men's league later in the season the coach trusted him enough to play at center. That rarely happens for a an 18 year old in the top men's league in Sweden. and when he played center he did really well.

4. Big, physical one of the fastest forwards in the draft

5 He's so versatile that he could potentially be used up and down the lineup in different situations and succeed

6. Elite level shot, Elite IQ and likes to go to the net where most goals are scored in the NHL

7. All purpose player

8. His player comparison is which is pretty lofty but he thinks he can do it is "Faster Mark Stone"
------

So basically he's not a potential 80-100 pt player like some in the draft but he'll give you 60pts while making sure his team doesn't get scored on while he's on the ice.

A player like that can me way more valuable in tough games and in the playoffs.

Here's the podcast he was on where he goes through his rankings and talks about them in depth.

I expect New Jersey to take him at #10. He's exactly what that organization needs. They'd be dumb not to take him.

First 15 picks:

1. SJS: Celebrini
2. Chi: Levshunov
3. Ana: Dickinson
4. CBJ: Lindstrom
5. Mont: Demidov
6. Utah: Buium
7. Ott: Yakemchuk or Parekh
8. Sea: Yakemchuk or Parekh
9. Calg: Iginla
10. NJ: MBN
11. Buf: Sennecke or Helenius
12. Phil: Sennecke, Helenius or Catton
13. SJS: Silayev
14. Minnesota: Sennecke, Helenius, Catton or Eiserman
15. Detroit: Same as above.

 

[Hannibal]

I swear of CLB steal Lindstrom one pick away again from us…! ****.

Lets trade up with Anaheim ffs

 

[The Great Weal]

I expect New Jersey to take him at #10. He's exactly what that organization needs. They'd be dumb not to take him.

First 15 picks:

1. SJS: Celebrini
2. Chi: Levshunov
3. Ana: Dickinson
4. CBJ: Lindstrom
5. Mont: Demidov
6. Utah: Buium
7. Ott: Yakemchuk or Parekh
8. Sea: Yakemchuk or Parekh
9. Calg: Iginla
10. NJ: MBN
11. Buf: Sennecke or Helenius
12. Phil: Sennecke, Helenius or Catton
13. SJS: Silayev
14. Minnesota: Sennecke, Helenius, Catton or Eiserman
15. Detroit: Same as above.

Mike Grier would get charged for public indecency by running around naked if he came out with Celebrini+Silayev.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

Mike Grier would get charged for public indecency by running around naked if he came out with Celebrini+Silayev.

We'll see where he lands, but even if Silayev gets taken by Ottawa or Seattle chances are high Yakemchuk is probably there.

With 2 top 15 picks, he's coming out of this draft with 2 core pieces.