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HF Habs: 2025 NHL Draft: Part II

JadedRandom said:
Agree to disagree on Cootes vs. Martin.

I think Cootes has quite a bit more upside than Martin; more skills, higher-end skating, slightly better reads whilst playing with admittedly less edge and intensity.

And I personally have Reschny 22th in my draft ranking, so there are quite a few other players that I would personally take before Reschny if we were to indeed draft at 16.

Here would be my list for reference's sake. Many egregious mistakes there on this ranking, but it is mine and I stand by it.

1- Schaefer17- Reid
2- Misa18- Cootes
3- Hagens19- Hensler
4- Martone20- Martin
5- Frondell21- Kindel
6- Desnoyers22- Reschny
7- Smith23- Spence
8- Eklund24- Potter
9- O'Brien25- Fiddler
10- Mrtka26- Nesbitt
11- Schmidt27- Zonnon
12- Lakovic28- McKinney
13- McQueen29- Gastrin
14- Aitcheson30- Ravensbergen
15- Carbonneau31- Murtagh
16- Bear32- Nobert
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W not that strong a league. Doubt Cootes is anymore than 3rd line center.
 
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Scintillating10 said:
McQueen injured again. I have him as do not draft. Learned our lesson with Dach. Great size and skill but soft and injury prone. Not worth spending a good first pick on. Too many red flags for Chronic injuries
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If he falls to 10, I want Hughes to trade up for McQueen.

Teams might be reluctant to draft him after the Lindstrom fiasco, but as much as a was WAY AGAINST drafting Lindstrom in the top 10 last year, I am all in for McQueen around #10 OA.

First, spondylosis and herniated discs are way different and have a different prognosis. I think the odds of McQueen being 100% next year are very high and those of recurrence, very low.

Also, last year the top 10 was stacked and you still had talents like Dickinson, Buium, etc. around there.

There won't be that this year.
 
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Michoulicious said:
If he falls to 10, I want Hughes to trade up for McQueen.

Teams might be reluctant to draft him after the Lindstrom fiasco, but as much as a was WAY AGAINST drafting Lindstrom in the top 10 last year, I am all in for McQueen around #10 OA.

First, spondylosis and herniated discs are way different and have a different prognosis. I think the odds of McQueen being 100% next year are very high and those of recurrence, very low.

Also, last year the top 10 was stacked and you still had talents like Dickinson, Buium, etc. around there.

There won't be that this year.
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If we keep both our draft picks and one of McQueen or Bear slides to us because of injuries, I definitely take a chance on them.
 
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Its still pretty soon but for now McQueen (slider) and OBrien (would need a move up) are probably the two center with 2nd line upside that we could have a shot too. McQueen so much back problem makes him a risky pick in the top 10 but when the need is here and you have a 6"5 righthanded center a la Staal with some speed and skills, it must be the pick.
 
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JadedRandom said:
D might be a bigger need than F, but the options that would be available at #16, where Calgary's pick would currently be, that would also be BPA for that pick are IMO guys like Kashawn Aitcheson and Cameron Reid, both lefties.

And we have a LOT of lefties already.

Adam Engstrom looks like he could be a good NHLer one day, Guhle and Hutson are pretty entrenched as our LDs of the future 5-6 years.

We are far less deep on the right side. Reinbacher looks like an awesome defenseman when he can actually play, but his injury has put some serious doubt in my mind about whether or not he could be a long-term option there for us.

And Mailloux has fallen off a cliff development-wise after a massive turnaround in his rookie AHL season. If this trend continues, Mailloux might end up an NHL tweener on D; not strong enough offensively for a top offensive spot, physical and good for some amount of puck-possession but also not strong enough defensively to hold-up a long-time spot in a bottom-of-the-lineup role as a defenseman.

Not all is lost yet on our RDs, and they may yet make something of themselves.

But yeah, organizationally-speaking RD would be the biggest need. But in my opinion we're not yet at that point of our rebuild where we can overdraft a position at the expense of BPA.

Which brings me to the next part of my point and the simple fact that I plainly don't think ANY of the RDs of this draft after Radim Mrtka, who will go top-12 barring a lucky fall for us, have the same kind of upside as Aitcheson and Reid, who are both lefties.

Ergo, at the 16th spot or so it might be that the best we could hope for would be a Lynden Lakovic, Justin Carbonneau, or Braeden Cootes type of forward unless we double-down on upside and LD.

Lakovic I'd be very happy about, he has tons of potential as a possible top-6 option with size.

Braeden Cootes I am higher on than most others, and I'd be happy with too. He's IMO more skilled than people give him credit for, and has definitely elevated his play in the playoffs for Seattle.

Carbonneau I'd be okay with too, he shows some flashes of greatness at times. But is inconsistent and plays like a rover most of the time, which is not my preferred type of offensive game.

Aitcheson and Reid would be great picks though, even if they don't fit our needs at all.

Both have clear top-4 upside, and I like the raw skills of Reid though I think Aitcheson's ruggedness and ability to neuter rushes would be nice to have too.

That's bout it I guess.
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which is why we need to draft Mrtka and/or (possibly) Hensler. We need to keep targeting RHD depth....
 
WeThreeKings said:
Hensler isn't that great. If you're reaching on a RD who should go in the 20s, it should be Fiddler.
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Theres no "reach" with a mid teen pick.. Hensler is apart of the USNTD program -- which has PROVEN to be the greatest junior program in the world.

Will he be a 1RHD? Probably not, but drafting a solid RHD2 from the US is just smart drafting.
 
themilosh said:
Theres no "reach" with a mid teen pick.. Hensler is apart of the USNTD program -- which has PROVEN to be the greatest junior program in the world.

Will he be a 1RHD? Probably not, but drafting a solid RHD2 from the US is just smart drafting.
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He was but he's been in Wisconsin. Three years ago was a projected top 5 pick, last year there were questions whether he'd be a top 10 pick and now it's whether he goes in the top 20.

Offensive skills haven't scaled and his defensive ability isn't strong. Couple that with suspect decision making and you might only get a 3rd pair guy.

Buyer beware
 
I can see bear falling outside the top 12. He was just outside the top 10 and suffered a serious injury. He's exactly what you need to win in the NHL and would pick him at Calgary's spot.

I hope Fiddler is available at the Pens 2nd round spot. I feel like a future top 4 d-man will fall to us and we will draft him.
 
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