HF Habs: 2025 NHL Draft: Part II

[le_sean]

I think we walk away with Bear and Nesbitt if we use both picks

Let’s hope Bear falls

 

[BenchBrawl]

Bear is great but he won't make it to 16th. I'm trying to be realistic.

Pittsburgh would be a fool to pass on him with two picks.

 

[koivalev]

Let’s hope Bear falls

I think there's a pretty good chance.

Schaefer, Misa, Frondell, Martone, Martin, Hagens, Desnoyers, Mrtka, Smith, McQueen, Aitcheson, O'Brien, Eklund are all pretty much guaranteed gone before we pick. Then it's a matter of someone reaching for a RD (I have Detroit taking Hensler), and Vancouver taking Cootes since they're rumoured to like him.

I think there's a very good chance he's available.

 

[BenchBrawl]

A team with 2 picks in front of us was the worse scenario to get Carter Bear. Now they can gamble themselves, just like we could.

If you are Pittsburgh, are you taking him? I am.

Same is true if Utah drops down to snag both Penguins picks. They'll take their D and then why not Bear?

Yeah maybe they take McQueen or whatever, but McQueen's skating is ackward af, Bear just looks like a pro ready to go and score in the NHL right away, no fear of the slot, great shot, strong skating etc.

 

[DemidovSZN]

I think we walk away with Bear and Nesbitt if we use both picks

That's realistic choices.

My predictions are:

If one of Bear/Lakovic is available, they'll pick one of them and then pick Hensler.

If neither are available they'll take Nesbitt and Hensler.

They could also go Bear/Lakovic and then Nesbitt.

 

[koivalev]

A team with 2 picks in front of us was the worse scenario to get Carter Bear. Now they can gamble themselves, just like we could.

If you are Pittsburgh, are you taking him? I am.

Same is true if Utah drops down to snag both Penguins picks. They'll take their D and then why not Bear?

Yeah maybe they take McQueen or whatever, but McQueen's skating is ackward af, Bear just looks like a pro ready to go and score in the NHL right away, no fear of the slot, great shot, strong skating etc.

Pittsburgh is a team that is in a pre-rebuild state at the moment, they can afford to take swings at project picks with sky-high upside (McQueen, Smith). I think that's more likely than them taking Bear.

 

[DemidovSZN]

Bear is great but he won't make it to 16th. I'm trying to be realistic.

Pittsburgh would be a fool to pass on him with two picks.

Pittsburgh are rumored to want one of Aitcheson/Smith and they apparently showed a lot of interest in Lakovic or McQueen (if he is still available at 11).

 

[BenchBrawl]

Pittsburgh is a team that is in a pre-rebuild state at the moment, they can afford to take swings at project picks with sky-high upside (McQueen, Smith). I think that's more likely than them taking Bear.

Are their upside even higher than Bear's? It's not clear to me at all that it is.

Presumably Bear could explode into a 80 pts 40 goals scorer at some point, with luck.

I guess McQueen could become Joe Thornton but that's a f***ing long shot.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Pittsburgh are rumored to want one of Aitcheson/Smith and they apparently showed a lot of interest in Lakovic or McQueen (if he is still available at 11).

Fair enough.

 

[DemidovSZN]

Fair enough.

We'll see soon enough. Not a long wait anymore!

I'll pinch myself if Bear is still available, like I did for Demidov.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

Just listened to Grant McCagg on TSN.
He said the rumor going around is Utah likes Aitcheson and would be willing to trade down.
Pittsburgh likes Martone and would trade 11 and 12 to Utah to draft him.

Or something like that.

According to PuckPedia calculator, pick 4 is worth picks 11 and 16.
Maybe Pitt could trade down from 12 before making that trade.
Just sayin'...

Way easier for Utah, to offer a slight bit more than for Pittsburgh to do another trade with another team.

 

[koivalev]

Are their upside even higher than Bear's? It's not clear to me at all that it is.

Presumably Bear could explode into a 80 pts 40 goals scorer at some point, with luck.

I guess McQueen could become Joe Thornton but that's a f***ing long shot.

I think their upside is probably higher simply because the kind of players they could turn into are much harder to acquire if all goes well.

 

[sampollock]

maybe pitt tries to move up

 

[BenchBrawl]

As far as Hensler is concerned, yeah he already looks like a pro, RHD, but damn man, burning a 5th overall and a 16th overall to fulfill your top two spot at RHD (maybe), it's costly if none of them turn out to be legit #1D or #3D. I know harder to trade for RHD in the window but to what extent?

I guess this is goodbye to Mailloux if we pick up that guy. My problem is he's far away, he won't even be in his prime in our window. When you compete for the cup you want 28-33 years old defensemen core. See 2021.

Better pick a forward with flashy potential then trade him later for RHD.

That said, I do love Hensler.

 

[yianik]

Bear is great but he won't make it to 16th. I'm trying to be realistic.

Pittsburgh would be a fool to pass on him with two picks.

DUBAS

 

[Michoulicious]

As far as Hensler is concerned, yeah he already looks like a pro, RHD, but damn man, burning a 5th overall and a 16th overall to fulfill your top two spot at RHD (maybe), it's costly if none of them turn out to be legit #1D or #3D. I know harder to trade for RHD in the window but to what extent?

I guess this is goodbye to Mailloux if we pick up that guy. My problem is he's far away, he won't even be in his prime in our window. When you compete for the cup you want 28-33 years old defensemen core. See 2021.

Better pick a forward with flashy potential then trade him later for RHD.

That said, I do love Hensler.

Hensler is meh-er of meh-er picks.

Guy is tall, mobile, right handed but has basically no offensive upside. 2nd pair D is the probable outcome.

At least it's at #16-17 and not at #5 OA like Reinbacher.

 

[Deus ex machina]

Way easier for Utah, to offer a slight bit more than for Pittsburgh to do another trade with another team.

Yes, it probably is. Utah could just give pick 46 back instead, but Pitt would probably prefer 41.
Or maybe Utah only agrees to 4 for 11 and 12 straight up.
Or Pitt could offer pick 11 and a player.

Lots of possibilities.
I was just pointing out one of them.

 

[sampollock]

DUBAS

 

[Shred]

Here is a list of draft eligible players signed to Quartexx, it's an impressive list which bodes well for us:

Caleb Desnoyers
Porter Martone
Kashawn Aitcheson
Cameron Reid
Jack Nesbitt
Jack Murtagh
Jack Ivankovic
Bill Zonnon
Henry Brzustewicz
William Moore

Jacks full of Kings, I’ll let you figure out who the Kings are

 

[jaffy27]

But seriously he had us taking Eiserman last year I think we're safe.

Craig’s List: Tij Iginla, Cole Eiserman rise in final ranking | TSN

The rise of Kelowna Rockets star Tij Iginla this season has been remarkable in the eyes of TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button.

www.tsn.ca

Eiserman was picked just ahead of Hage, I’d say that’s a pretty close assessment

 

[Whitesnake]

In honor of Jesperi Kotkaniemi, go see some vids about the prospect I have 93 in my top 100. I saw a few games of Matous Kucharcik....and my god does that skating looks like the old JK.

 

[Quatre Vingt Treize]

it would be the smartest thing to do. we should be using all our draft capital this year to target 1 of these Cs:
1- Desnoyers
2- Hagens

otherwise id be doing everything to use it to acquire a ready 2C - outside of RHD (top 13) remaining prospects are 4+ years away from anything significant. it is underwhelming.

On Desnoyers I agree. He's 6'2 will play 210lbs. Can play in all situations. Misa, Hagens, none of the others can. He's a Barkov type player. Desnoyers and Suzuki down the middle Habs are set at center next 10 years

 

[Whitesnake]

 

[BenchBrawl]

McQueen too skates like a Bambi. His legs look ackward when he skates.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

A team with 2 picks in front of us was the worse scenario to get Carter Bear. Now they can gamble themselves, just like we could.

If you are Pittsburgh, are you taking him? I am.

Same is true if Utah drops down to snag both Penguins picks. They'll take their D and then why not Bear?

Yeah maybe they take McQueen or whatever, but McQueen's skating is ackward af, Bear just looks like a pro ready to go and score in the NHL right away, no fear of the slot, great shot, strong skating etc.

Pens are very likely to go 1D & 1F. Apparently, they like Aitcheson a lot. Their prospect cupboard sucks at all positions. I don't see them taking 2 forwards at all.

We'll see what forward they take. It could still be Bear, but if Eklund falls to them, maybe he falls to Montreal.

Detroit apparently likes Hensler.

That would leave Columbus & Vancouver. Columbus already has a ton of young forwards, so I think they would prefer to move that pick for immediate help. Idk, but if they do pick, I suspect they take a D since they're light on prospects on backend.

Vancouver might take Cootes.