HF Habs: 2024 NHL Draft Thread

[G0bias]

Obviously, I have no clue what their preference is, but they could use any of Dickinson/Levshunov/Silayev and at least one of them is guaranteed to be available to them. Of course they might just like one more than the others and don't want to risk anything. That being said, I doubt we'd even trade up as we would just draft whichever of Demidov/Lindstrom is available to us.

Levshunov fills a positional need for the Ducks, but if Chicago takes him I really don't know what they'd be looking at. And if they're comfortable enough taking whichever of Silayev/Dickinson is left.

If Hugo has the chance to secure the first forward on their board and there's considerable separation between their second, a trade up is a no-brainer even if its an overpayment.

 

[McGees]

The thing is though, we don't need Miro Heiskanen who's to me, the 3rd, 4th or 5th best D in the league. We need one that gets close to that, Guhle will.

Unless Matheson keeps cock blocking him on PP1 and playing 30 min/ game.

 

[McGees]

I already forget where I heard it or read it?
Was a 2am on my phone type thing lol.
But Hawks GM Davidson was being asked about getting to see Demidov live at that event being held and obviously it is impossible to tell for sure...but for some reason I didn't get the impression that he was 'their guy' from the interview.

Just a hunch.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

I think it is premature to see the Habs as a top defensive team. I like Guhle but he has never even played a fully healthy season yet. Struble Harris Xhekaj are likely rather bottom pair Dmen on a good team. Engstrom has top 4 potential but no idea if he ll realize it. Barron is a question mark, I don t think he is as bad as many think but nothing makes me think he is a sure top 4. Mailloux Hutson have played one game in the NHL, Reinbacher not even one. Pick BPA, if Buium is the next Hughes, you don t pass on him because you have a bunch of potential Savard / Zadorov on your team (and I really like those two players as 5Ds)

So let's say the habs draft Buium, and he goes back to college for another year. Hutson, Mailloux, and Reinbacher spends all of next season in the ahl, and the habs use the same dmen as they did last season. The habs finish bottom 5 again, and the best player available when the habs pick (according to public lists) is a defenseman. Should the habs draft that defenseman even though the need is for a forward?

 

[Scintillating10]

Interesting tidbit on Basu/Godin

They were talking about the combine and Godin was saying, we don't know enough yet to say oh well they prefer Iginla to Sennecke for example.

Basu misheard Godin as if he said they prefer Iginla to Sennecke and Basu jumped on it and seemed to indicate that the sense he got was it was the other way around and that the small man skill in the big frame is something this front office and scouting staff is very high on.

They also mentioned how important Lindstroms health was to them.

Basu pushed back against the notion Demidov won't be there at 5, too.

Really feels like Demidov-Lindstrom-Sennecke is the order where we are sitting today.

Is Lindstrom at combine?

 

[jaffy27]

I get the feeling they go Sennecke over Lindstrom at 5

Very unlikely

Is Lindstrom at combine?

Yes

 

[jaffy27]

I just can't see the Hawks passing on Demidov...impossible...no matter how good Dickinson is..

Demidov is thr best passer of this draft just before Catton.. He is a lefty and Bedard is a deadly right hand scorer.

..and Bedard is alone up front right now

Those 2 could be the most dynamic duo in the NHL soon

Think they’ll prioritize #1 D over #1 Winger

 

[RationalExpectations]

So let's say the habs draft Buium, and he goes back to college for another year. Hutson, Mailloux, and Reinbacher spends all of next season in the ahl, and the habs use the same dmen as they did last season. The habs finish bottom 5 again, and the best player available when the habs pick (according to public lists) is a defenseman. Should the habs draft that defenseman even though the need is for a forward?

Assuming they finish bottom 5 again yes and then you trade one of the Ds once you are sure of which you want to keep, like COL did with Byram, NSH with Jones. That being said if they finish bottom 5 again it means they are betting on the wrong core : Suzuki D +8, CC D+6, Dach D+6, Newhook D+6, Guhle D+5, Barron D+5, Slaf D+3, Harris D+7 Savard veteran bottom pair on a winning team, Matheson veteran top 4D, Montembault NHL caliber goalie, i.e. the problem would be deeper than just another Dman.

 

[Scintillating10]

I already forget where I heard it or read it?
Was a 2am on my phone type thing lol.
But Hawks GM Davidson was being asked about getting to see Demidov live at that event being held and obviously it is impossible to tell for sure...but for some reason I didn't get the impression that he was 'their guy' from the interview.

Just a hunch.

Next year's draft being weak on defense may affect who Chicago takes at 2. They need help in multiple places.

 

[salbutera]

So let's say the habs draft Buium, and he goes back to college for another year. Hutson, Mailloux, and Reinbacher spends all of next season in the ahl, and the habs use the same dmen as they did last season. The habs finish bottom 5 again, and the best player available when the habs pick (according to public lists) is a defenseman. Should the habs draft that defenseman even though the need is for a forward?

It would be utterly shocking IMO if Hutson sees time in AHL for anything but injury recovery / conditioning stint

 

[Habs Halifax]

So let's say the habs draft Buium, and he goes back to college for another year. Hutson, Mailloux, and Reinbacher spends all of next season in the ahl, and the habs use the same dmen as they did last season. The habs finish bottom 5 again, and the best player available when the habs pick (according to public lists) is a defenseman. Should the habs draft that defenseman even though the need is for a forward?

The dilemma is trying to figure out how many top pairing D and how many top line forwards their are in this draft. I see a lot of talk on the D as BPA but there is likely only 1 or 2 top paring guys. With the forwards, it's the same thing. There is likely only 1 or 2 top line talent. At the end of the day, there is a fair amount of probability that if we take a D, we are taking a top 4D vs a top 6F.

From these 6 guys, Who is Top Pairing, Who is Top 4D, and Who Disappoints?
Silayev
Levshunov
Dickinson
Parekh
Buium
Yakemchuk

From these 7 guys, Who is 1st line, Who is Top 6F, and Who Disappoints?
Demidov
Lindstrom
Iginla
Catton
Helenius
Eiserman
Sennecke

My guess is only Dickinson becomes top pairing and the others are top 4D. Demidov and Iginla are top line talent. The others are either top 4D/Top 6F or busts/disappointments. Yes, that's it, only 3 are hits at the top of the line-up. Include Celebrini and that's 4 hits. Look at the 2018 draft for example.. How many hits or top of the line-up players are there? 4-6? Could there be 6 hits in this top 14? Possible yes but it's not 6+.

Dahlin is like Celebrini. Take them out because we don't have a shot at drafting them. Then we got 3 hits on D... Hughes, Bouchard, Dobson. Forward hits are Svechnikov & Tkachuk. My gut tells me this draft will be similar in terms of how many top line talents their are. I'm going to say 4-6 range. Will their be 4 hits on D? I'll bet against that.

 

[TheBuriedHab]

Very unlikely

I don't think so.

Pronman just came out with a list that had Sennecke 3 spots ahead of Lindstrom and he's probably getting a whiff of how NHL scouts are thinking right now.

 

[Habs Halifax]

It would be utterly shocking IMO if Hutson sees time in AHL for anything but injury recovery / conditioning stint

Would not be shocking for me. He's got to learn how to play D against men. His offensive skill is not in question but his strength against NHL forwards along the boards and in front of the net is. There is no doubt in my mind he needs time to adjust and learn how to survive in that area.

Are we going to let him learn on the job? Possible but that depends on what he shows in camp and in preseason. 2 NHL games at the end of the season don't mean much.

 

[Mrb1p]

I didn't mean to make it seem like you were saying he'll become a top 5 dman in the league. I just don't see a lot of things that Guhle does at Heiskanen's level or trending in that direction. In fact, I'm struggling to find one thing a single thing let alone a lot of things lol. Maybe speed but I still think Heiskanen is and will remain the better skater.

Let's do another one.

(A): 16 points in 19 games in the WHL playoffs as someone who turned 20 halfway through the season
(B): 26 points in 27 games in the NHL playoffs as someone who turned 20 before the season started

Well age is definitely a factor, but not as much of a factor as the fact that Heiskanen is significantly more creative offensively.

So you think Guhle will be close to leading this team to the finals with 26 points in 27 games like Heiskanen did at 20 years old? If Guhle even becomes a top 10 dman in the league I'll eat crow forever, but again, if he becomes a Lindholm type there is nothing wrong with that. I don't think he's someone that you really want on the PP either so your 5v5 stats don't really say much to me. Esa Lindell had 8 less EV points than Heiskanen this season. Doesn't mean that he's only marginally worse offensively.

Everybody that gets 50% secondary assists will have great production.

I think people are using total production to explain a reasoning, I don't think people actually evaluate Guhle as not creative. Guhle will go as far as Marty will permit, which is probably not very far since he's seen less PP time than Xhekaj.

Also, the difference between Lindholm and Heiskanen is not big and I'd be glad if he falls somewhere in there. Lindholm is good enough to be a 1D on a good team, as he proved from 14 to 18.

 

[le_sean]

That s my point. You don t know what you have. In the list I sent you, maybe only Reinbacher and Guhle will be top 4 Dmen, Buium / Dickinson make it more likely that you have 3 of them.

Don t draft Buium because you have Harris. Same thing as don t draft Tkachuk because you need centers, who needs Sergachev if you can have a dynamic winger ? Remember 2021 : Habs are set for years at center with KK Suzuki Poehling Danault…

Only Guhle and Reinbacher are Top 4? You’re underrating our defence. Hutson was at that Adam Fox and Cale Makar level in the NCAA. Mailloux was an all-star in the AHL as a rookie.

 

[Mrb1p]

Unless Matheson keeps cock blocking him on PP1 and playing 30 min/ game.

Yeah, if I'm honest I don't actually expect any of this to happen just because management is a hockey management, which is inherently stupid.

 

[Habs Icing]

That s my point. You don t know what you have. In the list I sent you, maybe only Reinbacher and Guhle will be top 4 Dmen, Buium / Dickinson make it more likely that you have 3 of them.

Don t draft Buium because you have Harris. Same thing as don t draft Tkachuk because you need centers, who needs Sergachev if you can have a dynamic winger ? Remember 2021 : Habs are set for years at center with KK Suzuki Poehling Danault…

You said we have Guhle and Reinbacher as top pair d-men. So all you need are 2nd and 3rd pair d-men. On the left side for those two pairs we have Matheson, Hutson, Struble, Harris, Engstrom, and Xhekaj. On the right side we Kovacevic (3rd pair), Barron, Mailloux and Konyushkov. David Savard for the time being.

Now do that exercise for the top two lines. 1st line: Suz, Slaf and maybe Caufield. I was a big fan of CC but I'm starting to think he'd be better suited for the 2nd line. On that 2nd line we have Dach and maybe Newhook and Roy. That's it!

Now tell me again we need d-men.

 

[Shutdown]

Is this guy orbiting space? Who ever had any doubt that Dickinson’s game is more complete than Parekh’s?

Who even had Parekh so closely ranked with Dickinson that there needed to be a judgment call made about which of these two players ranked ahead of the other?

https://x.com/i/web/status/1797719483043160335

they were 6 and 7 on McKenzie's May ranking, so that's one consensus that had them closely ranked.

 

[Habs Halifax]

That s my point. You don t know what you have. In the list I sent you, maybe only Reinbacher and Guhle will be top 4 Dmen, Buium / Dickinson make it more likely that you have 3 of them.

Don t draft Buium because you have Harris. Same thing as don t draft Tkachuk because you need centers, who needs Sergachev if you can have a dynamic winger ? Remember 2021 : Habs are set for years at center with KK Suzuki Poehling Danault…

You only draft the D if you think you are actually getting the BPA and not reaching. Just because there are 6 D to choose from, it don't mean they will all be top pairing studs.

I'm OK with taking a top 6F with a shot at top line forward vs a top 4D with a shot at top pairing. The goal here is to take the guy we feel will develop the most and be the best. If you take a player you like and help them develop into what you think they can be, success.

Dickinson, Demidov, Iggy, Lindstrom are my BPA's after Celebrini. Others have more D in that mix? Sure, can't blame them too much but lets stop for a second and consider how many top paring D and top line forwards are there in this draft? It's not 6+

 

[Mrb1p]

Every day that passes I'm starting to think we need to stop overthinking and just pick Catton.

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

Every day that passes I'm starting to think we need to stop overthinking and just pick Catton.

He's definitely in the mix, especially if he does really well at the interviews. He may very well be the pick.

 

[morhilane]

Sennecke over Lindstrom? Yikes

Not what was said, but Lindstrom's ranking will depend on what his medical data will say. Something we aren't privy to unless there is a leak.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Sennecke over Lindstrom? Yikes

Only if Lindstrom's medicals are bad.

Right now it looks like the sense is Demidov-Lindstrom-Sennecke in that order.

I just can't see the Hawks passing on Demidov...impossible...no matter how good Dickinson is..

Demidov is thr best passer of this draft just before Catton.. He is a lefty and Bedard is a deadly right hand scorer.

..and Bedard is alone up front right now

Those 2 could be the most dynamic duo in the NHL soon

I can see it but it's not Dickinson, it's Levshunov.

- Russian factor is there, it's not a big factor but it's there.
- Demidov is a smaller winger with not great skating, this isn't the best combination with their already smaller forward group.
- Demidov has played in the MHL two years in a row, not a lot of viewings against high level competition
- They have live viewings of Levshunov, they don't have live viewings of Demidov.
- They have a big hole on right defense and for a #1 defenseman and we know teams value defenseman over wingers 95% of the time.
- Blackhawks are in a multi-year rebuild and if you forecast the next draft, it's barren on defense but full of skilled forwards and skilled forwards with size.

That s my point. You don t know what you have. In the list I sent you, maybe only Reinbacher and Guhle will be top 4 Dmen, Buium / Dickinson make it more likely that you have 3 of them.

Don t draft Buium because you have Harris. Same thing as don t draft Tkachuk because you need centers, who needs Sergachev if you can have a dynamic winger ? Remember 2021 : Habs are set for years at center with KK Suzuki Poehling Danault…

What if the internal evaluation of Hutson, Engstrom and Xhekaj are higher than yours?

What if the internal evaluation of Buium and Dickinson are lower than yours?

You don't draft Buium because you already like what you have on the left side and you aren't as bullish on him. I'm not that bullish on Buium and a bunch of other teams obvious aren't either, otherwise he'd be viewed a lot higher on the NHL affiliated lists than he is.

Levshunov fills a positional need for the Ducks, but if Chicago takes him I really don't know what they'd be looking at. And if they're comfortable enough taking whichever of Silayev/Dickinson is left.

If Hugo has the chance to secure the first forward on their board and there's considerable separation between their second, a trade up is a no-brainer even if its an overpayment.

Ducks will be looking at Levshunov/Silayev/Dickinson they need a big, rangy, defensive oriented defenseman to help insulate Mintyukov and Zellweger. They already have MacTavish, Terry, Carlsson, Zegras and Gauthier up front.

Assuming they finish bottom 5 again yes and then you trade one of the Ds once you are sure of which you want to keep, like COL did with Byram, NSH with Jones. That being said if they finish bottom 5 again it means they are betting on the wrong core : Suzuki D +8, CC D+6, Dach D+6, Newhook D+6, Guhle D+5, Barron D+5, Slaf D+3, Harris D+7 Savard veteran bottom pair on a winning team, Matheson veteran top 4D, Montembault NHL caliber goalie, i.e. the problem would be deeper than just another Dman.

So two examples of a defenseman for forward trade in the last, what, 10 years?

This is a fallacy that it's so easy to find a match if you have too many defenseman to flip them for a forward.

I don't think so.

Pronman just came out with a list that had Sennecke 3 spots ahead of Lindstrom and he's probably getting a whiff of how NHL scouts are thinking right now.

That was his own personal list, it's his mock draft that is influenced by what he is hearing. That being said, the noise around Sennecke is legit and Pronman described him as having loud tools, which he does.

 

[salbutera]

Would not be shocking for me. He's got to learn how to play D against men. His offensive skill is not in question but his strength against NHL forwards along the boards and in front of the net is. There is no doubt in my mind he needs time to adjust and learn how to survive in that area.

Are we going to let him learn on the job? Possible but that depends on what he shows in camp and in preseason. 2 NHL games at the end of the season don't mean much.

HuGo & MSL know what they have in Hutson and it won’t be a classic Dman.

I suspect we will start seeing Hughes & MSLs positionless concepts to start being firmly implemented & taking hold starting in pre-season.

Hutson will play 4th fwd / rover and not see lead protection situations - PK, late periods / game

 

[Habs Halifax]

HuGo & MSL know what they have in Hutson and it won’t be a classic Dman.

I suspect we will start seeing Hughes & MSLs positionless concepts to start being firmly implemented & taking hold starting in pre-season.

Hutson will play 4th fwd / rover and not see lead protection situations - PK, late periods / game

I am curious to see where Hutson starts next season. I'm sure he gets good usage in pre season games and we go from there. I'm also sure Hutson knows his challenges on the D side of things. Personally, I would not be in a rush to insert him. We all see the offensive side he can bring but he needs to work on the D side. Do we allow him to learn on the job? Possible. If not Hutson, I am not sure who plays with Savard.

Matheson / Guhle
???? / Savard
Xhekaj / Mailloux

If Dickinson is on the board when we pick, I'd probably seriously take him because I feel he is the best out of that D group. If Dickinson is off the board, Iggy is my guy.

* Dickinson / Guhle would be a great top pairing IMO.
* Hutson / Reinbacher would be a great 2nd pairing
* Xhekaj / Mailloux would be a great 3rd pairing.

If we were to draft Dickinson, we could package Matheson with one of our 1st and other adds to get a top 6F.