HF Habs: 2025 NHL Draft: Part II

[WeThreeKings]

Would seem like a good pick with of our 3rds.

Frolov, Hood, Neueunschwander.

 

[Goldenhands]

Wow great job Simon St-Laurent, couldnt have done a better job than that at breaking down the player, spot on all points.

Waiting for @WeThreeKings @le_sean @Kennerback reactions or counter arguments. .

 

[SwiftyHab]

Do you draftaholics have some consensus picks yet?

 

[Kennerback]

Wow great job Simon St-Laurent, couldnt have done a better job than that at breaking down the player, spot on all points.

Waiting for @WeThreeKings @le_sean @Kennerback reactions or counter arguments. .

My answer is the hockey part with Lakovic is the easy part. You like him or you don't... Then comes the hard part. Is Montreal ready to go through another Logan Mailloux fiasco? Bergevin's stock cratered and it sullied the organization.

The fact Lakovic was suspended in March on for the rest of his first WHL season for something off-ice raises questions. Was it something innocuous? Worse than Mailloux or not? The NHL has de facto just barred someone for something they did at 14 years old. We're in Montreal not in Carolina.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Wow great job Simon St-Laurent, couldnt have done a better job than that at breaking down the player, spot on all points.

Waiting for @WeThreeKings @le_sean @Kennerback reactions or counter arguments. .

I've got nothing more to say on the matter. Never said he was lazy. Said he is a perimeter skill guy in a big body and I'm not interested in teaching him how to play inside or use his size to his advantage. It rarely works out that you can turn a sheep into a lion.

 

[Kennerback]

I've got nothing more to say on the matter. Never said he was lazy. Said he is a perimeter skill guy in a big body and I'm not interested in teaching him how to play inside or use his size to his advantage. It rarely works out that you can turn a sheep into a lion.

I really like Simon St-Laurent but he's being generous here. He criticized Prokhorov for passing on a pulverizing check a single time out of 10. For Lakovic zilch for not taking the body 10 times out of 10.

 

[MasterMatt25]

I don't know if we have interest, and I know he's similar to players we already have, BUT if Eklund is somehow still available at our pick, how can you pass that up

 

[Kennerback]

I've compiled a list of 10+ very recent rankings (about a month) from only people being paid to publish them (TSN, Sportsnet, The Hockey News, etc...). In this I put where is the best pick someone would pick them at in the 1st Round. The number besides each name is the worst ranking given to them.

Pick 1-2

Schaefer
Misa

Pick 3

Martone (7), Hagens (8), Frondell (13), DesNoyers (16),

Pick 4

Eklund (11)

Pick 5

O’Brien (12), McQueen (17)

Pick 6

Smith (17), Mrtka (20), Martin (29)

Pick 7

Bear (23)

Pick 8

Lakovic (30)

Pick 9

Potter (30)

Pick 11

Cootes (23), Carbonneau (not 1stR)

Pick 13

Reschny (not 1stR)

Pick 14

Hensler (27), Schmidt (not 1stR)

Pick 15

Spence (24), Kindel (27), Reid (not 1stR), Zonnon (not 1stR)

Pick 16

Nilsson (not 1stR)

Pick 17

Boumedienne (29), Nesbitt (not 1stR), Svrcek (not 1stR)

Pick 19

Ryabkin (not 1stR)

Pick 20

Fiddler (not 1stR), McKinney (not 1stR)

Pick 21

Brzustewicz (not 1stR)

Pick 22

Gastrin (not 1stR)

Pick 23

Ravensbergen (30), Ivankovic (not 1stR), Ihs Wozniak (not 1stR)

Pick 24

Moore (not 1stR), Ryker Lee (not 1stR)

Pick 25

Nestrasil (not 1stR), Limatov (not 1stR), Vansaghi (not 1stR)

Pick 26

Murtagh (not 1stR), Horcoff (not 1stR)

 

[HabsMD97]

Seems like Habs really like Mrtka, if they don't move up to draft him, I think they'll take a RHD in the first 2 rounds.

 

[Playmaker09]

I really like Simon St-Laurent but he's being generous here. He criticized Prokhorov for passing on a pulverizing check a single time out of 10. For Lakovic zilch for not taking the body 10 times out of 10.

I'm high on Lakovic and in agreement with most of what he said in this particular video, but I'm generally not a huge fan of his videos.

He tends to already have a narrative in mind, then finds clips to suit that narrative rather than let it be organic.
I could easily find you 20 clips of Cole Caufield whiffing shots to paint the picture he's a bad shooter, which is basically what he did in his McQueen video.

I still find value in consuming as much information as possible, even from Grant, but I much prefer Simon Servant's style of videos.
Just let 2-3 games of shift-by-shift video roll while you talk about the prospect and what you've seen over the year. Even if I disagree with the takes, at least I can watch the unedited tape for myself and make my own judgment.

 

[Nedved]

Seems like Habs really like Mrtka, if they don't move up to draft him, I think they'll take a RHD in the first 2 rounds.

What did they say about Mrtka?

 

[Leto]

What did they say about Mrtka?

Mrtka said MTL is the team he had the most interactions during the year.

 

[morhilane]

What did they say about Mrtka?

Habs said nothing.
Mrtka said the Habs are the team he had the most contact with during the season.

 

[HabsMD97]

I'm high on Lakovic and in agreement with most of what he said in this particular video, but I'm generally not a huge fan of his videos.

He tends to already have a narrative in mind, then finds clips to suit that narrative rather than let it be organic.
I could easily find you 20 clips of Cole Caufield whiffing shots to paint the picture he's a bad shooter, which is basically what he did in his McQueen video.

I still find value in consuming as much information as possible, even from Grant, but I much prefer Simon Servant's style of videos.
Just let 2-3 games of shift-by-shift video roll while you talk about the prospect and what you've seen over the year. Even if I disagree with the takes, at least I can watch the unedited tape for myself and make my own judgment.

he watches the prospects throughout the year so when he makes the video at the end of course he already has a preformed opinion of the player. What do you mean by narrative? Like an opinion of a player? You're watching his video for his opinion on the player, if you want a shift by shift breakdown you can pay for them through instat i believe or some other service.

 

[Redux91]

I f***ing knew it man

Get him

 

[Team_Spirit]

If the Habs want either of those guys, they'll at minimum have to get ahead of Pittsburgh

Neither have grit. Size means nothing the Habs need grit not size. Imo

 

[Team_Spirit]

No surprise tva guys said he was the darling of the combine everyone loved him.

Cemented top10 pre combine and now we are looking at 4. Crazy how the main narrative and in person talk can change perceptions so quickly.

 

[Team_Spirit]

Turns out the Canucks, Jackets, Preds and Flames are in win now mode (???) And are shopping their picks. Habs probably keep their picks now that there's too much supply.

Sharks 2 30
Hawks 3 25
Preds 5 23 26
Flyers 6 22 32
Canucks 12* 15
Jackets 14 20
Habs 16 17
Flames 18 31

Who would be your targets if Preds/Flyers?

 

[Playmaker09]

he watches the prospects throughout the year so when he makes the video at the end of course he already has a preformed opinion of the player. What do you mean by narrative? Like an opinion of a player? You're watching his video for his opinion on the player, if you want a shift by shift breakdown you can pay for them through instat i believe or some other service.

He doesn't show the good and the bad, or the inconsistencies. He only shows the good OR the bad depending on his bias for a particular player trait.
He tends to avoid telling the whole story when it doesn't suit that bias.

I'll return to the McQueen vs Lakovic example. In the McQueen video he highlights a bunch of McQueen's worst shots of the year, without mentioning at all that he has had some absolute rockets for goals as well.

In the Lakovic video, because he's high on him as a top 10 pick, he highlights all Lakovic's best shots of the year while minimizing his worst to a phantom upper body injury that he made up on the spot.

Both players have similarly high-highs and low-lows with regard to their shots, but the story and tone here is completely different. Elite Prospects, just as one example, have their shots graded equally.

It's very easy to paint whatever picture you want based on just higlights/lowlights with any particular player.
Over the year. they all have 20 flubbed shots, 20 turnovers, 20 missed coverages, 20 times they fell on their ass, 20 times they were tired at the end of their shift that you can pick apart if you wanted, and is why I don't enjoy this style of video. I say this as someone who has Lakovic well above McQueen myself, with or without the injury concerns.

 

[Deus ex machina]

Turns out the Canucks, Jackets, Preds and Flames are in win now mode (???) And are shopping their picks. Habs probably keep their picks now that there's too much supply.

Sharks 2 30
Hawks 3 25
Preds 5 23 26
Flyers 6 22 32
Canucks 12* 15
Jackets 14 20
Habs 16 17
Flames 18 31

Who would be your targets if Preds/Flyers?

12 has been traded to the Pens.

 

[Whitesnake]

I f***ing knew it man

Get him

Something tells me that discussions mostly happen when we were picking from 5 to 10......

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

12 has been traded to the Pens.

It’s still conditionally owned by the Rangers, they can decide to keep it and forfeit their unprotected 2026 1st which would be dumb IMO. Hopefully they let it go to the Pens as that’s one of our best chances to trade up

 

[Deus ex machina]

It’s still conditionally owned by the Rangers, they can decide to keep it and forfeit their unprotected 2026 1st which would be dumb IMO. Hopefully they let it go to the Pens as that’s one of our best chances to trade up

Yes, it's either the Rangers or the Pens, but it can't be the Canucks.

 

[Redux91]

Something tells me that discussions mostly happen when we were picking from 5 to 10......

We have ammo.

 

[Playmaker09]

We have ammo.

We don't need to invest that much in a partner for Hutson, he'll elevate whoeve we put him with and that pair won't have significant defensive responsibility anyway.

The Caps in 2018 had:
Orlov - Niskanen (shutdown pair)
Kempny - Carlson

Vs us
Guhle - Reinbacher
Hutson - XXXX

Honestly, Kovacevic would have been fine there. Brett Pesce and Matt Roy were both free agents last year and would have worked great as well.
The most I'd give up for a really good fit at RD would be Hage, but that's also because I don't really like Hage.