HF Habs: 2025 NHL Draft: Part II

[Quatre Vingt Treize]

If we assume Malcolm Spence hits... wouldn't you love to see him out there crushing people and scoring goals ?

I have Spence with our pick. If we get a center with Flames pick

 

[le_sean]

Still not convinced by him. Not a playstyle comparison but to me he’s like Kris Russell. Russell was a fantastic WHL defenceman for Medicine Hat. You’d swear he was a budding star the way he influenced both sides of the ice. But he didn’t have any outstanding trait that could turn him into a star in the NHL. Still a solid player with a solid career, but limited upside. I’m not sure what Aitcheson offers at the next level other than physicality.

I like the player, I think he could be an NHLer, but I feel his true upside is limited.

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

Still not convinced by him. Not a playstyle comparison but to me he’s like Kris Russell. Russell was a fantastic WHL defenceman for Medicine Hat. You’d swear he was a budding star the way he influenced both sides of the ice. But he didn’t have any outstanding trait that could turn him into a star in the NHL. Still a solid player with a solid career, but limited upside. I’m not sure what Aitcheson offers at the next level other than physicality.

I like the player, I think he could be an NHLer, but I feel his true upside is limited.

He did improve a whole lot from last season, he added a new offensive dimension he never had at any level before. So the gamble with him would be that the development curve can still go way up for a few years. Injuries would be the fear IMO, he's not a giant and he could very well break down playing the style he does, a la Dalton Thrower. He fights a lot.

 

[Benstheman]

If we don't trade our 2 picks for an actual 2C and can't trade up in the top 8, I want grit and size with the 2 picks.

 

[le_sean]

He did improve a whole lot from last season, he added a new offensive dimension he never had at any level before. So the gamble with him would be that the development curve can still go way up for a few years. Injuries would be the fear IMO, he's not a giant and he could very well break down playing the style he does, a la Dalton Thrower. He fights a lot.

Yeah Thrower is a good comparison. He’s a gamer, there’s no doubt about that. If he keeps improving, you have captain material.

 

[montreal]

Simon Wang Turnover 2:57
O'Brien 2 on 1 5:31
O'Brien Assist 5:51
O'Brien Pass 9:25
Simon Wang Shot 10:50

 

[HuGo Burner Acc]

I would like to see the picks they keep go towards drafting safe third liners that have decent size and play a good two way game. Don't try for the homeruns

 

[montreal]

Screens Goalie on Goal 0:09
Assist 0:46
Assist 1:35
West Takes FO 2:03
Assist 2:29

 

[Team_Spirit]

Big game big goal

 

[JeffreyLFC]

I have PTSD with Dalton Thrower. I will personally not want us to waste a valuable pick on Aitcheson. Pass for me.

 

[Team_Spirit]

I have PTSD with Dalton Thrower. I will personally not want us to waste a valuable pick on Aitcheson. Pass for me.

Everytime someone dislike my Kash pick he scores another goal. Keep it coming fellas!

Colts W game 7 & advance.

 

[Jabba11]

Remembering we got Guhle and Caufield around 16, plus Hage 21, really looking forward to seeing what HuGo can do with our two 1sts.

I hope he can trade them both for a young 2C

 

[montreal]

Eklund Assist 0:05
Frondell Assist/Eklund Assist 0:27

Eklund had 2 assists, +1, 13:58 TOI. He's now got 2 goals, 7 pts in 15 playoff games.

Frondell had 1 assist, 1:58 TOI (they moved him to spare forward now) he has 3 goals, 7 points in 15 games, that breaks the record for most U-18 pts in Allsvenskan playoff, Eklund had the record last year with 6 (he's 7 months older)

 

[Quatre Vingt Treize]

Misa missing the U18 because of back injury will this affect his draft status?

 

[TomKosto]

Misa missing the U18 because of back injury will this affect his draft status?

Doubt it, one of the few with a really high celling offensively.

 

[Playmaker09]

Where are the U18 games being streamed? I can't find them anywhere

 

[Quatre Vingt Treize]

Cole Reschny has 74 points in his last 37 games. If you include his 25 points through 10 playoff games. Looking pretty good for the Habs at 16.

 

[Team_Spirit]

 

[WinterLion]

I would love that pick! I think there is still room for improvement with him...

 

[montreal]

Intro on Mrtka 1st :12 seconds
Cullen Potter Nice Rush/Pass 1:32
LJ Mooney Assist 2:32
Vit Zahejsky Chance 5:11
Will Horcoff Big Hit 5:21
Mrtka Goes End to End Goal 6:24
Mrtka Nice Backcheck 6:51
Will Horcoff Rings One Off Post 9:33
Vit Zahejsky Chance 9:55
Vit Zahejsky SH Goal 10:16
Cullen Potter Disallowed Goal 12:07
LJ Mooney Pass 12:54
LJ Mooney Great Shift Leads to Goal 13:10
Blake Fiddler Goal 13:30
Will Horcoff Scores on Nice Shot 13:54

 

[Garbageyuk]

Cole Reschny has 74 points in his last 37 games. If you include his 25 points through 10 playoff games. Looking pretty good for the Habs at 16.

Probably going top 10 at this point with the playoffs he’s had. Button had him 10th before the playoffs. Other scouts are probably going to follow suit.

 

[Quatre Vingt Treize]

Probably going top 10 at this point with the playoffs he’s had. Button had him 10th before the playoffs. Other scouts are probably going to follow suit.

Hope Reschny there at 16. Plays with a lot of character. Good money player

 

[Garbageyuk]

Hope Reschny there at 16. Plays with a lot of character. Good money player

I like him too, but I’d go:

Bear/Mrtka
Lakovic/Hensler
Reschny/Kindel

The top tier is probably gone by the time we pick, but if we could get 2 out of the remaining 4, I’d be ecstatic. Preference to Lakovic and Hensler due to size and projection.

If they could trade into the top 10 and grab one of Desnoyers, McQueen, or O’Brien, that would be amazing, but it seems to be pretty hard to trade for a top 10 pick lately. Teams just don’t want to do it.

 

[Quatre Vingt Treize]

I like him too, but I’d go:

Bear/Mrtka
Lakovic/Hensler
Reschny/Kindel

The top tier is probably gone by the time we pick, but if we could get 2 out of the remaining 4, I’d be ecstatic. Preference to Lakovic and Hensler due to size projection.

If they could trade into the top 10 and grab one of Desnoyers, McQueen, or O’Brien, that would be amazing, but it seems to be pretty hard to trade for a top 10 pick lately. Teams just don’t want to do it.

Bear injury scares me too much. Unless he slides to our second first. Mrtka I think is overrated but will be solid player in NHL. I could take Mrtka at 16 though. He has size and is right D.

At 17 be Reschny for me. Hensler I am not that high on and Lakovic all I see is size. Spence could be good here also. Aitchison I like also, has hard shot and hits hard.

I would package our second with Jackets second and try get Wild pick at 21. Mrtka, Reschny, Spence would make a great draft.

 

[Garbageyuk]

Bear injury scares me too much. Unless he slides to our second first. Mrtka I think is overrated but will be solid player in NHL. I could take Mrtka at 16 though. He has size and is right D.

At 17 be Reschny for me. Hensler I am not that high on and Lakovic all I see is size. Spence could be good here also. Aitchison I like also, has hard shot and hits hard.

I would package our second with Jackets second and try get Wild pick at 21. Mrtka, Reschny, Spence would make a great draft.

I’m not too concerned about Bear’s injury. Achilles injuries generally heal quite well, especially for young guys. If it was his back or knee(s), I’d be more concerned.

I wouldn’t call Mrtka overrated at all. He’s rated high because he’s a huge, mobile RHD that is good everywhere, and is starting to show high-end offensive upside on top of all that. That is always going to be appealing to teams. I think he’s a rare high floor, high ceiling type of prospect, and he’s a RHD to boot, with no skating concerns. You have to take the swing if you get the chance. I doubt we do, tbh. I think he goes top 10.

I like Reschny, like I said, but I would really hate to take anymore smallish forwards. We have more than enough of them to the point that it’s already a problem, as we are seeing this series against WSH. Also, I don’t think his upside is crazy high, most likely a 2nd liner, or a low-end 1st liner, if all goes well. He’s a player who is kind of lacking in the way of tools - he mostly gets by on smarts. Again, we have more than enough of those types, and you can’t have too many of those type of guys on the roster. There needs to be a balance, and you need the toolsy type of players to complement them.

I really like Hensler. Another big, mobile RHD with smarts and I think a lot of runway to develop more offense. He’s got the best of both worlds - tools, and smarts. I think he’s got the potential to be a Ryan McDonagh type of do-it-all top-pairing D, a solid #2D like McDonagh. Floor-wise, he’s a safe pick too, imo. Good chance he’s at least a solid top-4 D, even if his offense never really pans out. He had a solid year in NCAA.

I’m not too high on Spence - underwhelming numbers for an older player in this draft class. And he seems like a guy getting by more so on work ethic, intensity, and size, rather than so much skill and talent. That’s all well and good, and should serve him well in terms of his NHL chances, but to me that screams future bottom-sixer. One of those type of players that’s fine to end up with, but you don’t want to be looking for that in the first round, especially higher. Late first round would be fine though, but underwhelming.

I honestly wouldn’t mind Aitcheson either, but he just seems kind of underwhelming to me. I don’t see much in the way of high-end upside, although he’s probably a safer pick. I’m also kind of wary of guys who focus more on the defensive side of things in juniors - seems like it doesn’t translate very often. Upside is likely a #3 or #4 type of guy with limited offense at the NHL level, something like a Romanov. Would be fine to get that from a mid first rounder, but again, not sure I’d be specifically looking for that in the 16-20 range.

Lastly, Lakovic is very enticing, imo. A big winger with high-end skill, fantastic skating, and can play both a finesse game or a rough and physical style. Great puck protection skills and reach, great hands, great shot. Great in transition. Seems like he could have even more offensive potential than he’s shown if he keeps improving. I see a lot of parallels between him and Beckett Sennecke from last year, except Lakovic is a lot stronger, and is much more willing to mix it up and get physical, and isn’t a perimeter player like Sennecke. He’s also a lot more engaged defensively and off the puck. On the other hand though, he’s probably not quite as skilled as Sennecke in terms of puck skills and offensive creativity.

Pretty excited about this draft, especially since we’re going to have two picks in the middle of the 1st round. There’s going to be some great prospects available. It’s going to be very interesting to see which way Hughes and co ends up going with these picks, and exactly who will be available by the time we pick.