HF Habs: 2024 NHL Draft Thread

[Pompeius Magnus]

Would you put Julius Miettinen in 25 range?

Way too high for me, I have him in the mid-second round . He starts being real great value around #50 though, I'd absolutely pick him there.

 

[Goldenhands]

I can almost guarantee that Helenius is VERY high on their list, he checks way too many boxes not to. Had he been just a tad bigger, I would bet he'd be far in front of Lindstrom even. The various euro scouts are probably pushing pretty heavy for him at #5.

If they have Helenius/Iginla/Sennecke on a similar tier, the versatility Helenius brings will be highly valued as he can play both center and wing. On another side, the other 2 have the size advantage. Its going to be an interesting draft.

 

[le_sean]

It’s a no brainer, Levshunov

Guhle-Lev
Hutson Reinbacher
Xhekaj-Mailloux

That has the potential to be very very scary

Not when they have to pass the puck to first line winger Michael Pezzetta

 

[ChesterNimitz]

One of these are MTL bound:

Demidov
Lindstrom
Iginla
Sennecke

It will be a good day then.

But what Hughes does with that very valuable Jets' first round pick will determine how good a day/draft we really have. While even a Bergevin-level General Manager would be hard pressed to screw up the pick at 5OA, it will take an intuitive General Manager to maximize that Jet's pick.

While many here are pressing for Hughes to move up in the draft to maximize that Jets, pick, I would be very hesitant to over reach /over spend in such an effort. This is a deep draft and when one looks at some the forwards who could (will) be available at the bottom of the first round: Luchanko, Vanacker, Ritchie, Hage, Beaudoin, O'Reilly, Ziemer, Parascak, Basha, Masse, Hemming, Jecho, Stiga, Letourneau, Meittinen, Greentree, Connelly , Helenius, Brandsegg-Nygard, Artamonov, and Eiserman, (all of whom would, other than the forward we probably will take at 5 OA, probably become our most promising forward prospect) I would be very judicious before entering into any transaction that has a high price tag associated with it. Perhaps that says as much as to the quality/depth of our current forward prospects as it does as to the quality / depth of the players available at the bottom of the first round in this draft.

If it was me, I would be more aggressive with the Avalanche's second rounder in an effort to move up closer to the top of the second round in order to be in a position to secure a player that I was high on. It would be a less expensive exercise and, with the depth of this draft, probably be just as an impactful move as trying to move up in the first round.

 

[bsl]

I'm not sure..

I liked Zetterberg at the U18s before he got hurt.
Freij and Sahlin Wallenius likely go in round 1 so not them.
Lucas Pettersson had some moments but the skill looks lesser than the frame and skating.
Noel Fransen gets no love from public scouting lists but he's got a lot of talent.

Karl Sterner?
Hugo Traff?



Anaheim wants right shot D or right shot forwards.. but if that scenario plays out, it's almost assured the Habs would just take Levshunov. They didn't rule out a right shot D and staring at the best D man in the draft who shoots right at 5 would be a god-send.

Guhle-Levshunov
Hutson-Reinbacher

Done.

I hope that Habs would define all tier 1 forwards and d men. Say 3 of each. Tier 1 means stud. Top line for sure. No doubt. If no tier 1 forwards left at 5. Take tier 1d. And if no tier 1 forwards left at 5, take the tier 1 d.

 

[bsl]

I'm not sure..

I liked Zetterberg at the U18s before he got hurt.
Freij and Sahlin Wallenius likely go in round 1 so not them.
Lucas Pettersson had some moments but the skill looks lesser than the frame and skating.
Noel Fransen gets no love from public scouting lists but he's got a lot of talent.

Karl Sterner?
Hugo Traff?



Anaheim wants right shot D or right shot forwards.. but if that scenario plays out, it's almost assured the Habs would just take Levshunov. They didn't rule out a right shot D and staring at the best D man in the draft who shoots right at 5 would be a god-send.

Guhle-Levshunov
Hutson-Reinbacher

Done.

Habs of the seventies hugely dependant on the big 3 d men. And guy. Lemaire was fantastic but I think Suzuki compares. Slaf compares well to shutt in a different way. If a true star d man is available at 5, and the remaining forwards are not star material, take the star d man.

 

[McGees]

Who ran those mocks, Iggy’s family?

Goes against the overwhelming majority of sources/ users I’ve been reading on Twitter. I wonder what the rationale might be.

I should say 1 of those nhl.com guys had Demidov - I just don’t see him falling that low. If Lindstrom was ever available they have Habs taking him but most have:

Celebrini
Demidov/Levshunov
Demidov/Levshunov
Lindstrom/Silayev
Lindstrom/Iggy

Who are you seeing online in mocks?

 

[Runner77]

I hope that Habs would define all tier 1 forwards and d men. Say 3 of each. Tier 1 means stud. Top line for sure. No doubt. If no tier 1 forwards left at 5. Take tier 1d. And if no tier 1 forwards left at 5, take the tier 1 d.

Basically, take the BPA, which, with such an early pick normally begets an elite player, regardless of position. Only caveat is that Hughes has said they won’t draft an LD however, there should be more than enough viable options.

 

[Runner77]

I should say 1 of those nhl.com guys had Demidov - I just don’t see him falling that low. If Lindstrom was ever available they have Habs taking him but most have:

Celebrini
Demidov/Levshunov
Demidov/Levshunov
Lindstrom/Silayev
Lindstrom/Iggy

Who are you seeing online in mocks?

Not mocks, Twitter pundits and Hab fans.

We’re in a good place this draft compared to last year where Hughes was unable to land a top 4 pick. We’ll likely come out with one of Demidov/ Lindstrom/ Iginla this time around.

 

[Anardil]

People held their nose when Leonard was mentioned last year in connection with the Habs.

Not me. I liked him at 5, since like you, I knew that Michkov was a ND.

 

[Scriptor]

If they have Helenius/Iginla/Sennecke on a similar tier, the versatility Helenius brings will be highly valued as he can play both center and wing. On another side, the other 2 have the size advantage. Its going to be an interesting draft.

Helenius, at 5'11", 181lbs, plays with an edge and initiates contact in pay zones. He's a gamer. Don't let numbers on paper fool you.

 

[Habs]

in a recent Chelios interview, he really likes Cayden Lindstrom at 2 over the Russian.

 

[Scriptor]

Not mocks, Twitter pundits and Hab fans.

We’re in a good place this draft compared to last year where Hughes was unable to land a top 4 pick. We’ll likely come out with one of Demidov/ Lindstrom/ Iginla this time around.

It will be impossible not to see one of Demidov/Lindstrom/Iginla available at #5 OA with Celebrini the #1 OA pick.

There just needs ONE D to go as the #2, #3, or #4 OA pick. The quality of Ds at this year's draft practically ensures that.

in a recent Chelios interview, he really likes Cayden Lindstrom at 2 over the Russian.

Well, if Chelios said as much...

Demidov just not Chelios' big boy type of player.

 

[Runner77]

Helenius, at 5'11", 181lbs, plays with an edge and initiates contact in pay zones. He's a gamer. Don't let numbers on paper fool you.

Listening to Processus, the weekly podcast on prospects involving Snake Boisvert and Matthias Brunet, his knock against Helenius is how he shows up one game and disappears the next. I don’t know if the criticism is warranted, maybe someone who has watched him closely can confirm.

 

[The Last Red]

I think you might be missing the point. Suzuki is 5'11 212 and has already had playoff success, leading a team in scoring that made it to the Finals at 21 years old and tying for the lead in scoring on a team that made the 2nd round at 20 years old.

It seems to be a little nonsensical to put someone with his physical stature and playoff history in a category of "you don't win in the playoffs with too many guys like that" because he's an inch shorter (or half an inch shorter with rounding) than an arbitrary cutoff point.

No, I’m positive I’m not missing the point. I like Nick but to assume that every skilled sub 6 foot forward will be as successful as him in the NHL is foolish. The odds of a bigger player being an effective playoff performer are higher than a Nick body clone being an effective top 6 forward in the playoffs. And all things being equal, I’ll go with the bigger player usually.

 

[Habs]

It will be impossible not to see one of Demidov/Lindstrom/Iginla available at #5 OA with Celebrini the #1 OA pick.

There just needs ONE D to go as the #2, #3, or #4 OA pick. The quality of Ds at this year's draft practically ensures that.


Well, if Chelios said as much...

Demidov just not Chelios' big boy type of player.

I just found it interesting, I think Chelios likes a certain type of player to go along with Bedard, a bigger guy. It makes sense

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I just found it interesting, I think Chelios likes a certain type of player to go along with Bedard, a bigger guy. It makes sense

I think Lidstrom makes more sense there if they went with a forward. They need some protection for Bedard.

But I’d go D if I were Chicago.

 

[Habs]

I think Lidstrom makes more sense there if they went with a forward. They need some protection for Bedard.

But I’d go D if I were Chicago.

honestly I probably would as well, the D is pretty sus. Goals are nice, but losing 6-5 all the time isn't going to last long in Chicago. But Chelios is probably thinking of covering Bedard with some size/skill

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Listening to Processus, the weekly podcast on prospects involving Snake Boisvert and Matthias Brunet, his knock against Helenius is how he shows up one game and disappears the next. I don’t know if the criticism is warranted, maybe someone who has watched him closely can confirm.

Definitely not warranted from what I have seen....these guys are both clowns, especially Brunet and they are not watching him live. Helenius is a high motor player who initiates contact and plays in the dirty areas. I am no expert on Helenius but I have heard enough idiotic stuff from Boisvert to know exactly why he was only a part time scout on the fringe of the vocation. I have spoke to enough OHL scouts who do a similar job as he did and some of them are surprisingly clueless as they are on the very bottom rung of the scouting ladder and their only hope for advancement is nepotism.

The scouting community at the CHL level is rife with old school thinkers who just don't understand what they are watching and are constantly trying to stuff complex observations into their dated tropes so that they can parrot their findings back and forth to each other lol......it really is embarrassing. Listening to Boisvert, I definitely see some of this although I don't hate the guy as he is being as honest as he can be an does arrive at his own conclusions.

I would love for these two to approach Helenius' coaches with their narrative......

 

[Gravity]

Catton>Iginla and Lindstrom. They want BPA and a forward so......

 

[skidcells]

There’s certainly more and more noise that Demidov + Bedard is a team construction problem. Curious to see what Chicago ends up doing. If they see this as an issue the answer imho is to draft Levshunov not drafting Lindstrom.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

I just found it interesting, I think Chelios likes a certain type of player to go along with Bedard, a bigger guy. It makes sense

Anyone watching the intensity of battle that is the Boston/Florida series wants a larger, heavier player.

 

[morhilane]

honestly I probably would as well, the D is pretty sus. Goals are nice, but losing 6-5 all the time isn't going to last long in Chicago. But Chelios is probably thinking of covering Bedard with some size/skill

Chicago has the 20 oa too, they can get both a top D at #2 and a 6' plus size winger in the 15-20 range (one of MBN, Hemming, Hage, etc).

 

[Habs7631]

Chicago are gonna be bad for a while and will have plenty of opportunities to draft/trade for bigger players. They’re not in a position to be worried about fit/size and playoffs.

Anaheim has reasons to skip on Demidov but not Chicago.

They would be stupid to pass on an offensive talent like Demidov, but I won’t complain if they do.

 

[Garbageyuk]

There’s certainly more and more noise that Demidov + Bedard is a team construction problem. Curious to see what Chicago ends up doing. If they see this as an issue the answer imho is to draft Levshunov not drafting Lindstrom.

Noise from where/who?