HF Habs: 2025 NHL Draft: Part II

[Runner77]

“Told” by who? Last year at this time he was minimizing Cayden Lindstrom’s injury by relying solely on what Lindstrom’s agent had fed him.

When he was called on it, he became adversarial and failed to grasp how a player’s agent is not the best source for medical info, for obvious reasons.

Wouldn’t surprise me if “told” is Bear’s agent. D’Amico does not have access to independent sources about medical records.

 

[Nedved]

Let's not get carried away....

You have:

Schaefer
Misa
Hagens
Martone
McQueen
Frondell
Eklund

maybe
Desnoyers
Mrtka
O'Bien
Martin


After those 7 guys it's close, imo. You could make an argument for him after 7, but probably is top 16 in this draft class.

 

[MasterMatt25]

It's a case of the glass either being half-empty or half-full for the beholder.

In pessimistic terms, Zonnon's skating being the way that it is could jeopardize his NHL future and thus means he would be DND for some.

In optimistic terms, Zonnon's skating mechanics being the way that they are means that if he fixes them in any way Zonnon could potentially unlock a lot of speed/explosiveness for himself and thus be a much better player than he currently is.

You're clearly a pessimist on this issue, and you may be right.

But I just think that Zonnon's mix of compete level, hockey sense, underrated skill, and physicality make him a pretty good bet to be an NHLer one day, moreso since I did see improvement in skating this year.

And Zonnon still has tons of physical runway to develop too, given that he's about 185-190 pounds on a 6'2 frame and could end up being 205-210 as a pro.

So yeah, agree to disagree on Zonnon.



Fully agree on this, Aitcheson is a gamer and has #2-3 D upside with a relatively high floor.

If we can't get a top-flight prospect at C (those would be gone by about the 7th or 8th pick) or RD (only Mrtka, will be gone by our pick) we should go BPA with our high picks, which Aitcheson could be at #16 or #17.

But I wouldn't be opposed to us just drafting Hensler either.

Except if we're talking about players who would be perfect fits for us given the state of our prospect pool, I'd say that guys like Braeden Cootes and Brady Martin would be the picks.

Smart, gritty players with projectable frames, strong IQ, at least decent skating, good skill, and some amount of yet-untapped potential offensively. Then you add in good defensive play, good board-battle ability, and the compete level to match and you've got two excellent prospects.

The upside may not be the highest in both Cootes's and Martin's cases but they are pretty much guaranteed NHLers, with second-line C/F upside if all goes well.

I'd be very happy with any of these guys, or Lakovic, Aitcheson, Hensler, and Bear.

But I've soured quite a bit on Carbonneau having recently re-watched a lot of his games. I would currently have Carbonneau in the mid-20s instead of the the #15-16 that he occupied previously.

Right now Brady Martin and Kashawn Aitcheson might both go top 10.

 

[Scotianhab]

The only way I’d take a player with questionable skating is if his IQ is off the charts. Most prospects if their skating isint great and their IQ is medium to low, they won’t survive the NHL

 

[montreal]

Haven't watch much of his, how's his skating?

.67 PPG in the USHL isn't a lot but he had good playoffs. Its still much better than Svoboda's sub .5 PPG USHL season that got him drafted 71st but he's a pretty good skater at least.

It's solid and he's interesting for the 2nd round, he's in these vids,

 

[montreal]

In regards to Ryabkin, I do wonder what the plan will be for him next year as he currently does not have a team to play for unless he returns to the USHL. His teammate Nestrasil is headed to UMass next season, perhaps the NCAA route would also be good for Ryabkin.

 

[AHShadow]

Regarding Chychrun, I couldn’t tell you. I didn’t follow him or that draft very closely.

Aitcheson, I wouldn’t be on board with. He’s got some great qualities, and he’s a super exciting player to watch, but I just don’t see how he fits in anytime soon. We have Hutson, Guhle, Struble, and Xhekaj at LD, and that’s not even mentioning Matheson. We’d have to trade multiple guys for Aitcheson to ever have a shot. It just doesn’t make sense. If we were talking about a guy like Schaefer, sure you take him anyway, but Aitcheson isn’t that type of prospect.

And yes, if the Habs are interested in guys like Bear and Mrtka, they’ll almost certainly have to trade up to the 8-12 range to get them, likely Hensler and Lakovic as well. One of them probably slides a bit, it happens every year, but you can’t count on that.

One of them will likely fall to 16 or we can trade up to say 11/12 like Minny did last year and draft the guy we want.

I know we're logjammed at LD, but who knows what will happen in 3-4 years from now. By then I can easily see him replacing Xhekaj/Struble at the 3LD position and if needed we can do what the Stars are doing and play Hutson and Guhle on the first pair and then put Aitcheson with Reinbacher if he shows he's really good.

But ideally we would draft someone like Bear since he could slot into our top 9 in two years.

 

[Whitesnake]

Hopefully...again....Desnoyers go to somebody else than Bruins or Flyers....future Selke winner.

 

[Whitesnake]

The only way I’d take a player with questionable skating is if his IQ is off the charts. Most prospects if their skating isint great and their IQ is medium to low, they won’t survive the NHL

One guy who had some concerns about his skating at draft day...Matthew Knies. It's not about looking at players and just realizing who skates fast or not. It's for pros to determine if it's fixable. But yes, IQ is so important. With or without the puck. First and foremost. Skating comes close after.

 

[NoTeamGang]

Neutral fan here.

I've been thinking about what the Habs should do with both picks, and I honestly believe they should package both in separate deals to move up, especially if Desnoyers falls to around 10, and Carbonneau seems like he might go a couple picks before, that way the team can grab both Quebec boys.

 

[TheBuriedHab]

I really am falling in love with Vansaghi the more I watch. He might be the unicorn. I'd like to know if Michigan state plan to play him in a bigger role next year.

 

[ahmedou]

Get me a 2C.With those picks.

We can't play with just 1C.

We want Prime Habs back. For contenders. For going far in the playoffs.

 

[le_sean]

They might trade one. I find it highly unlikely they trade both. Hughes and Gorton are not impatient men.

 

[WinterLion]

So.... we should draft the two Quebec kids??

Wow what an amazing idea!!

 

[crosbyshow]

The only way I’d take a player with questionable skating is if his IQ is off the charts. Most prospects if their skating isint great and their IQ is medium to low, they won’t survive the NHL

Best example of that:

Mike Ribeiro.

The dude was 170 pounds..skinny like s..

He was so slow in Juniors....almost a turtle out there..

Everybody said at the time that he will never make it...

...but Mike had incredible IQ, great vision and unbelievable hands.

Imagine..the dude had no discipline whatsoever and look the career he had.


IQ is by far the most important asset that a player should have ...more important than skating and way more important than size...


Unfortunately fans scouts and Gm are stuck with size and skating in the sens that they don't know how evaluate IQ..


The Goat Gretz....had the best I q ever...Wayne was 170 pounds...not the fastest out there with no physical strength....and he is the goat


On the other hand a dude like Josh Anderson is so fast, so big so strong, great shot.....and....

Last season I wrote time and time again that no matter his size Catton was better than Lindstrom and Iginla because of his IQ..... and some professionnel scouts had not him in their top 10...go figure..

 

[Team_Spirit]

Carbonneau will be there

Desnoyers should be there too but it's a weak draft at the top so probably not

 

[Schooner Goon]

Hopefully...again....Desnoyers go to somebody else than Bruins or Flyers....future Selke winner.

I saw him play in person the other night in Moncton and focused on him throughout the game. I know it's only one game but he certainly didn't wow me in any way and really didn't stand out. Does not look like he's 6foot2 on the ice. Maybe it's because Rimouski has some big kids. He played both center and the wing.

In any event, he wasn't anywhere close to the stand out player that Drouin, Couturier, Lafreniere, Huberdeau were in their draft years when I saw them in person. Again, it was just one game and Moncton had a hard time getting good scoring opportunities despite outshooting Rimouski. A lot of shots from non-danger areas.

 

[crosbyshow]

Desnoyers is not there at 6th.

He would be draft by Chi at 3rd and I would not be surprise...the dude is a Winner!!!

 

[1909]

If Habs decide to keep their two picks, they will be able to draft two draft twp quility NHL caliber players, hopefully a gritty winger for their middle-six and a d-man.

I dunno know these youngsters enough to choose precisely.

 

[rien]

I really am falling in love with Vansaghi the more I watch. He might be the unicorn. I'd like to know if Michigan state plan to play him in a bigger role next year.

I see it.

 

[Lshap]

Neutral fan here.

I've been thinking about what the Habs should do with both picks, and I honestly believe they should package both in separate deals to move up, especially if Desnoyers falls to around 10, and Carbonneau seems like he might go a couple picks before, that way the team can grab both Quebec boys.

Those picks will be leveraged to get the best player(s), either through the draft or via trade. If they happen to be from Quebec, great, but where they're from carries no extra value.

 

[Habs]

So.... we should draft the two Quebec kids??

Wow what an amazing idea!!

lol , wow.gif , heart.gif , nothanks.gif

 

[AHShadow]

I know it was good for the boys to make the playoffs, but man what a bummer that we're going to be missing out on the perfect 2C in Desnoyers.



Would still consider trading a lot to move up and draft him. Just don't think we'd find a trading partner without giving up too much (and no, we should still not trade 16+17+Hage for Desnoyers).

For funsies, I asked ChatGPT to analyze all of Montreal, Nashville and Utah needs and come up with a trade proposal. It's really not that bad. Trade to Utah seems to be a tad much, but I'd be kinda ok with both tbh. Maybe remove the 2026 CGY 2nd in the first one.

 

[Goldenhands]

Every year it’s the same story in the media : next year’s draft will be better and teams are looking to trade out.

Also every year : basically no picks are traded and good players come out of the draft. Plenty of good prospects will be available at 16th and 17th. There’s even going to be good players available at the pens 2nd rounder.

Third best ranked euro: Milton Gastrin who is barely a 1st rounder in a normal draft year.

Best NTDP ranked players: William Moore and Jack Murtagh respectively ranked 29 and 30th on the NA central scouting.

So it comes down to the CHL and 2-3 guys playing in the NCAA and while thats a good year for the CHL, alot of them will be drafted higher than they should, because yeah, thats a weak DY.

 

[Maitz]

They might trade one. I find it highly unlikely they trade both. Hughes and Gorton are not impatient men.

And that's what I love, a rebuild take more than 3 years and you have to stick to the plan to get succesfully through it. Don't be impatient, keep stocking quality prospects, at some point they will have way too much and THEN you can trade for a big player. We are not there yet