HF Habs: 2024 NHL Draft Thread

[KevSkillz4]

Who would you guys pick at number 2 if ever the Habs end up picking there? Do you go Eiserman? Or do you have any other favourites?

Cayden Lindstrom will be my 2nd overall pick for Habs. He is a top 3 talent in this draft and he exactly what Habs need. Habs need to be bigger and talented. With Dach, Slaf and Lindstrom, that will be fun to watch for many years to come.

I just want a very good offensive prospect!

 

[_vivelequebec_]

Where do you guys see Helenius?

 

[Nedved]

Where do you guys see Helenius?

hopefully he falls to us if we end up 8/9/10. Right now though I see him @ 6. IMO. there are three forwards clearly above him right now: Celebrini, Eiserman, Demidov. You have 2 knock out D man: Dickinson and Levshunov, maybe Silayev Parekh ascend up the d rankings. After that, it looks like it could go a lot of ways: Helenius Catton Lindstorm. Heck, I've even seen Lindstorm ranked in the top 3 and Eiserman outside the top 5.

Anyway, he'll most likely fall in the 5-10 range.

 

[HuGort]

Parekh putting some impressive numbers

 

[KevSkillz4]

Where do you guys see Helenius?

Top 12 for sure. He is a very talented offensive forward. If Habs can't draft Celebrini, Lindstrom, Eiserman, Demidov, Catton... Helenius will be a serious option after that. He have already 20 points in 8 games in SM-Liigaa, that's impressive. If Habs stay in top 8, they will able to grab a great offensive piece.

No more D, the D is more than set.

 

[Nicko999]

Who would you guys pick at number 2 if ever the Habs end up picking there? Do you go Eiserman? Or do you have any other favourites?

Catton

Like Lindstrom but Catton is the better player.

 

[Nicko999]

My top 5 at the moment would be:

1. Celebrini
2. Catton
3. Demidov
4. Helenius
5. Lindstrom

Eiserman has been slipping in my rankings (I had him at #2 at the start of season). Would be 6th right now.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

Parekh putting some impressive numbers

He's a really fun player to watch too.

 

[HuGort]

He's a really fun player to watch too.

Parekh going to be real good one. An offensive right shot, a lot there to like. Even Drysdale, Clarke or Dobson never put up his numbers.

 

[Nevins]

Some WHL names for you. They don't all hit your criteria but these are players I've tracked for a few years now that have shown significant progress this year.

Colton Roberts - Steady, 6'4 RHD - might be some sneaky offensive upside here. Summer birthday.

Colton Roberts at eliteprospects.com

Miguel Marques - prolific scorer at every level who is just starting to figure out what he can do in the W. Shifty, great hands and shot, super active stick and is awesome fighting for loose pucks relative to his size. My favourite player outside of the big names in the W this year.

Miguel Marques at eliteprospects.com

HM's:

Clarke Caswell: Clarke Caswell at eliteprospects.com

Tarin Smith: Tarin Smith at eliteprospects.com

Carson Wetsch: Carson Wetsch at eliteprospects.com (sorry WTK, probably hates this guy)

Tomas Mrsic: Tomas Mrsic at eliteprospects.com

And Michael Hage seems like another guy who *could* be undervalued atm.

Thanks

 

[Mrb1p]

Who would you guys pick at number 2 if ever the Habs end up picking there? Do you go Eiserman? Or do you have any other favourites?

Demidov without a thought.

 

[covfefe]

Anyone who watches the WHL quite frequently for years, why are players not exploding offensively when before it was such a defensive league?

a complicated question, i'll point to three things:

- the best players are getting better earlier on. in the CSSHL they're effectively on WHL schedules from age 13-15. aside from the obvious issues with this squid game, not to mention the parallels with our broader societal plight, it's working. i see three 9 figure career earners coming out of an upstart minor hockey league in the next decade which is wild.

- coaches are trending younger and the games are more wide open vs even 5 yr prior. there are more stretch passes, more "positionless players," and definitively worse goalies. those are some obvious things I'd point to over the last few years.

- the tank incentives have changed and the bad teams are getting worse. if I were to define the WHL of old it was escalator up, stairs down. now it is escalator up, escalator down. teams now get 3 kicks at the can as the draft has split b/w the US and Canada, alongside the imports.

more broadly this all means sucking has immediate benefits, which means more goals.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Catton

Like Lindstrom but Catton is the better player.

Team Canada could use both today.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Demidov without a thought.

Without the Putin factor, I agree. Demidov is everything Michkov isn’t. And if he was playing in North America he may well be challenging Celebrini in some evaluators’ minds.

 

[SOLR]

Without the Putin factor, I agree. Demidov is everything Michkov isn’t. And if he was playing in North America he may well be challenging Celebrini in some evaluators’ minds.

Imo. Celebrini is a tier of his own. But Demidov looks like the best of the next tier right now.

 

[Nipsey]

Celebrini is the clear cut 1st pick. Quite a drop off after him. Dynamic Jonathan Toews. 80-100 point potential.

Demidov - top line winger - Shiftier Tarasenko
Catton - 2nd line center - Matt Duchene
Lindstrom - 2nd line center - Pierre-luc Dubois
Eiserman - 1st/2nd line winger - Phill Kessel
Brandsegg-Nygard - 2nd line winger - more physical Bjorkstrand

 

[Jaynki]

Celebrini is the clear cut 1st pick. Quite a drop off after him. Dynamic Jonathan Toews. 80-100 point potential.

Like 2022 but with a clear cut 1st ov.

It makes the draft more fun honestly.

 

[Nedved]

Celebrini is the clear cut 1st pick. Quite a drop off after him. Dynamic Jonathan Toews. 80-100 point potential.

Demidov - top line winger - Shiftier Tarasenko
Catton - 2nd line center - Matt Duchene
Lindstrom - 2nd line center - Pierre-luc Dubois
Eiserman - 1st/2nd line winger - Phill Kessel
Brandsegg-Nygard - 2nd line winger - more physical Bjorkstrand

I would say after the top 5 forwards, if they're all gone, I would draft either Dickinson or Levshunov right now. Things can change but I'll be hard pressed to pass on a top 4 dman for a middle 6 forward.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I would say after the top 5 forwards, if they're all gone, I would draft either Dickinson or Levshunov right now. Things can change but I'll be hard pressed to pass on a top 4 dman for a middle 6 forward.

There's 0 chance 5 forwards are gone in the first 5 picks.

Dickinson and Levshunov are going top 5 without a question.

And Buium Silayev Yakemchuk will all have top 10 cases.

 

[Simarino]

I'm pretty confident that Dickinson is going high, looks like Silayev will too and Buium is gonna continue to rise. Levshunov going super high as well.

Plenty of opportunity for us to get an offensive piece.

I expect both Colombus and Anaheim to draft a forward since they're stacked on D, Chicago and San jo can go both ways since they have holes to fill everywhere, hopefully we'll draft 5th at worst.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I expect both Colombus and Anaheim to draft a forward since they're stacked on D, Chicago and San jo can go both ways since they have holes to fill everywhere, hopefully we'll draft 5th at worst.

You never know on either one of them. Columbus recently drafted Kent Johnson and Adam Fantilli. Anaheim have drafted Zegras, Carlsson, McTavish as forwards in the top 10.

 

[Gravity]

I really like Catton but won't get my hopes up, even if he's available at our pick.

 

[Intangir]

I really like Catton but won't get my hopes up, even if he's available at our pick.

Considering we most likely will draft between 9 and 14, Berkly Catton won't be there for us to pick him.

Personally, I'd have Catton 3rd overall right now after Celebrini and Demidov.

Looking at what forwards would be available where we will most likely draft this year (since I really don't think we go D again this year, but perhaps we trade one of our own for something and nab a guy like Parekh?), I think we have a very outside chance at perhaps having the opportunity to draft Helenius, and if not, then one of Brandsegg-Nygaard, Greentree, Iginla, Ritchie or Connelly most likely.

Of those I like Brandsegg-Nygaard the most, though I also really like Iginla and Greentree.

Problem is, it's a stretch to project any of those guys as future first-liners in the NHL. And that's what we most sorely miss.

Aside from that, Andrew Basha has impressed me too when I watched some Lindstrom games to try and get a grasp for him.

 

[Nedved]

There's 0 chance 5 forwards are gone in the first 5 picks.

Dickinson and Levshunov are going top 5 without a question.

And Buium Silayev Yakemchuk will all have top 10 cases.

I agree. I would rather go with a D man if there's not a homerun forward left, is what I was trying to imply, I feel more comfortable drafting Dickinson, Levshunov, Silayev, Parekh than a lot of middle six wingers. It seems like some top heavy talent with not a lot depth, in my eyes,

Right now, I have some groupings:

Celebrini
Demidov

Dickinson
Eiserman
Levshunov

Helenius
Catton
Lindstrom
Silayev

Parekh
MBN
Yakemchuk
Buium
Basha

Admittedly, I've only watched youtube highlights of demidov and silayev and have them based more on the rankings of other scouts. Silayev is in the top 5 of a lot of scouts now, but i find russian d don't live up to their talent in the nhl.

I've watched a bit more of the other guys over the last couple years. It's hard to say this, but I miss Russia at the international tournaments. I'm not sure how they come back from all this war. It's quite sad to think about how much this war has broken families and livelihoods going forward from when the war ends, if it ends. And for what? not too sure.

 

[Gravity]

Considering we most likely will draft between 9 and 14, Berkly Catton won't be there for us to pick him.

Personally, I'd have Catton 3rd overall right now after Celebrini and Demidov.

Looking at what forwards would be available where we will most likely draft this year (since I really don't think we go D again this year, but perhaps we trade one of our own for something and nab a guy like Parekh?), I think we have a very outside chance at perhaps having the opportunity to draft Helenius, and if not, then one of Brandsegg-Nygaard, Greentree, Iginla, Ritchie or Connelly most likely.

Of those I like Brandsegg-Nygaard the most, though I also really like Iginla and Greentree.

Problem is, it's a stretch to project any of those guys as future first-liners in the NHL. And that's what we most sorely miss.

Aside from that, Andrew Basha has impressed me too when I watched some Lindstrom games to try and get a grasp for him.

I don't think we're drafting between 9 and 13 but I agree that it's a stretch to label any prospect as a surefire 1st liner unless they're a can't miss.