HF Habs: 2025 NHL Draft: Part II

[TheBuriedHab]

1. Counter-point: Do his teammates suck that much, or did they barely do much because Prokhorov hogged the puck the whole time? I ask because the HockeyProspect quotes suggest he has next to zero feel for offensive hockey; Jerome Berube tracked some games where he had 5 or 6 pass attempts in a full game. Even 4th liners average far more.

2. I checked and I think eliteprospects has a glitch with his stat sheet, as a deeper look shows he had 11 goals and 1 assist in 8 games.

On paper, this is a true unicorn prospect. I can't give a real analysis because I haven't watched his games, but I get very nervous when a player keeps having such low assist totals wherever he plays.

No idea as far as the U-17 stuff goes. On elite prospects they show one category as U-17 and the other one is U-17 finals.

Same here I have only watched whatever full games are on youtube so I can't give much comment. Honestly if he were to become a Josh Anderson type that has better hands infront of the net and actually parks his ass there instead of doing flybys, that's quite a useful player in my opinion and those guys are still hard to get.

 

[L4br3cqu3]

Prokorov in the 2nd would be great... but there are like 7 guys I want!! I love those 2nds... going to be some very fun choices!

Hahaha same, love having so many picks, shame it's not that great of a draft, and I wonder if Hughes will use them to draft or to trade for something (like a 2nd line center), but there are some interesting big forwards in this draft, and I think we can afford to get at least one or 2 to expand our F depth (which is lacking, in my opinion, we saw that in the end of the season where we didn't have a lot of recall options)

I'd be a happy man if we'd end with one or two of Vansaghi, Prokhorov, Nestrasil, Horcoff, West, Gard, Czata... in the 2nd. No superstars there, but I don't expect a lot of stars in this draft anyway.

 

[crosbyshow]

Snake Boisvert's list.

Not a mock draft but his own top 20

1- Scheaffer
2- Misa
3- Desnoyers
4- Frondell
5- O'Brien

6- Martin
7- Bear
8- Hagens
9- Martone
10- KINDEL

11- Eklund
12- Cooper Simpson
13- Carbonneau
14- Mcqueen
15- Reid

16- Reschny
17- Zharovsky
18- Smith
19- Mrka
20- Murtagh

 

[dcyhabs]

Yeah I expected him to be available early 2nd, where I thought he'd get picked, he was big-time raw, but potential was there. But yeah they absolutely botched his development, still remember when Sylvain Lefebvre implied McCarron should stop focusing on scoring/producing cause that's not what's asked of him for the NHL. McCarron was having a nice progression before that in the AHL.

They pushed McCarron and Tinordi to fight goons and got them concussed while neglecting their play.

As a group they couldn't cope with anyone having more than the fourth line talent that they (Bergevin, Therrien, Lefebvre) had and pushed the good players into crappy roles. They got a lot out of some high effort low talent players at the NHL level, but third liners in the AHL aren't going much further. Sticking top prospects in the roles they will play in the NHL in lower leagues just stunts their development. Pretty much everyone in the NHL was top line/top pairing most of their career.

They still shouldn't have taken McCarron, but it was a pretty weak draft.

 

[Kennerback]

But McCarron clearly was not worth a shot at 25. The habs botched his development, but no other team was going to pick him that high because he wasn’t that good at hockey.

It seems some scouts view a finished product Power Forwards as guys that beat Ds by the size and strength and not their skating, skating is secondary. So they try to do things with big guys that can't skate like Jessiman and McCarron and try to do something with them.

Real Power Forward generally have decent skating without necessarily flying out there. It what scares me with a player like Martone. He doesn't have a high top speed, Tkachuk doesn't have either. But Tkachuck doesn't have that fugly knocked kneed style. At some point you have no choice to take Martone, but mid-top 10 would scare me.

 

[Hins77]

Snake Boisvert's list.

Not a mock draft but his own top 20

1- Scheaffer
2- Misa
3- Desnoyers
4- Frondell
5- O'Brien

6- Martin
7- Bear
8- Hagens
9- Martone
10- KINDEL

11- Eklund
12- Cooper Simpson
13- Carbonneau
14- Mcqueen
15- Reid

16- Reschny
17- Zharovsky
18- Smith
19- Mrka
20- Murtagh

Cooper simpson...I personnally like to listen his processus podcast. But I have the impression, every year, he wants to find the next Jeff skinner... last year it was Trevor connelly, and he is not trending that well now.

And lets recall, Jeff skinner got 90 pts in the OHL his draft year. 33 pts in 20 games in playoff. I mean , did he really find a jowel?. A player with Skinner pedigree this year is top 10 on every list.

In 2010. Teams were bulding around UFA and there was not a sort of "tanking" like we see today. I have the impression that department scouting around the NHL wasnt really important that much as we can see now

 

[Anardil]

They were going to take Buium had Demidov not been there. The interest was very real.

Your main point about the smoke screens though is correct. Them not meeting with Reschny means nothing. How people get duped into this stuff every year is hilarious. Gorton and Hughes didn't go to Dan Milstein's combine where everyone went to see Demidov. None of this stuff matters.

Not sure about that. If you believe the rumours, if Demidov was gone, there was a deal with Anaheim:

Pick #5 + Mialloux for Zegras + 2nd.

 

[le_sean]

Not sure about that. If you believe the rumours, if Demidov was gone, there was a deal with Anaheim:

Pick #5 + Mialloux for Zegras + 2nd.

That would have been worse than the Sergachev trade.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Samuel Boisvert - Stats, Contract, Salary & More

Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Samuel Boisvert, 2005-10-26 Mirabel, QC, CAN Canada. Most recently in the NCAA with Univ. of Connecticut. Complete player biography and stats.

www.eliteprospects.com

Matthew Gard - Stats, Contract, Salary & More

Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Matthew Gard, 2007-04-07 Winnipeg, MB, CAN Canada. Most recently in the WHL with Red Deer Rebels. Complete player biography and stats.

www.eliteprospects.com

Asanali Sarkenov - Stats, Contract, Salary & More

Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Asanali Sarkenov, 2006-07-22 Astana, KAZ Kazakhstan. Most recently in the WHL with Spokane Chiefs. Complete player biography and stats.

www.eliteprospects.com

7 goals in his last 10 games, which accounts for most of his goals. Might be a player that starts next year off really well.

Mason West - Stats, Contract, Salary & More

Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Mason West, 2007-08-03 Edina, MN, USA USA. Most recently in the USHL with Fargo Force. Complete player biography and stats.

www.eliteprospects.com

This guy sounds like a real wild card. He wants to go back and be QB, but if he can't be one going forward he's for sure going to stick with hockey.

Big body and got some skill, so taking him with a 2nd might be the only way.

Max Psenicka - Stats, Contract, Salary & More

Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Max Psenicka, 2007-01-18 Praha, CZE Czechia. Most recently in the WHL with Portland Winterhawks. Complete player biography and stats.

www.eliteprospects.com

Might be an option for a 2nd, or early 3rd, but doubt he makes it there, but a choice to get another RHD in the system.

Eduard Bondar - Stats, Contract, Salary & More

Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Eduard Bondar, 2007-01-31 Nevinnomyssk, RUS Russia. Most recently in the QMJHL with Val-d'Or Foreurs. Complete player biography and stats.

www.eliteprospects.com

Anyone in the Q watch him play ?

Karl Sterner - Stats, Contract, Salary & More

Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Karl Sterner, 2006-03-29 Trollhättan, SWE Sweden. Most recently in the HockeyAllsvenskan with Södertälje SK. Complete player biography and stats.

www.eliteprospects.com

Might be worth a 6th round pick, or later and see if he plays in the SHL at some point ?

Harry Nansi - Stats, Contract, Salary & More

Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Harry Nansi, 2007-09-10 Brossard, QC, CAN Canada. Most recently in the OHL with Owen Sound Attack. Complete player biography and stats.

www.eliteprospects.com

Probably one of the youngest players in the draft.

 

[McGees]

Not sure about that. If you believe the rumours, if Demidov was gone, there was a deal with Anaheim:

Pick #5 + Mialloux for Zegras + 2nd.

I think it was for the later pick - that would have been horrific and set Habs back years.

 

[sheed36]

Not sure about that. If you believe the rumours, if Demidov was gone, there was a deal with Anaheim:

Pick #5 + Mialloux for Zegras + 2nd.

What I read was it was for the 21st pick if Hage wasn't still there which makes way more sense to me. There's no way the Habs were trading that #5 pick in a Zegras trade IMO.

 

[WeThreeKings]

If anyone in the organization offered 5 for Zegras, they'd be fired on the spot and blackballed from the league.

 

[le_sean]

If anyone in the organization offered 5 for Zegras, they'd be fired on the spot and blackballed from the league.

We’d have Buium and Zegras probably, if we are to believe reports. Still way better off with Demidov and Hage

 

[Leto]

What I read was it was for the 21st pick if Hage wasn't still there which makes way more sense to me. There's no way the Habs were trading that #5 pick in a Zegras trade IMO.

“Montreal was working on a deal for Zegras. They were trading for him and they were offering one player, I believe a young defenseman, and they were offering a first-round pick and it wasn’t the number five pick. It was the pick that eventually drafted Michael Hage(21st overall pick). That pick was in the deal to Anaheim. Where I think that changed was when Anaheim took (Beckett) Sennecke, Montreal realized Demidov was getting to them.”


“I talked about this with Eric Engels on Tuesday and one of the things that Engels talks about covering the Canadiens all the time is that Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton, they’re very careful about redundancy. They don’t like redundancy. And I think they felt if they were going to draft Demidov, then that was going to lead to redundancy if they traded for Zegras.”

See this 32Thoughts Episode around 11:00. If Habs land was toxic after not selecting Michkov, boy this board would be a wasteland if we traded the pick with Demidov on the board.​

 

[le_sean]

Also funny to insinuate that Zegras and Demidov are similar and therefore redundant to have both. One is a play-driving winger and the other is a faux centre trying to get on Tik Tok

 

[Goldenhands]

It'd be cool to draft a Québécois, but I dont want it to be a reach, it has to be organic and BPA. Could Zonnon be available with our earliest 2nd? Or it's a pipe dream? I see him projected late 1st, early 2nd, maybe he could fall to us.

Zonnon is someone I have a grand total of 1 viewed game since the camera angles in Rouyn-Noranda are terrible lol, impossible to scout a player at all and I lacked time to watch more, but I know some guys like him alot, could be a potential trade up late 1st with all the picks we have.

Personally I like Hage's teammate Will Horcoff, he is a project, but a nice one I think.

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

It'd be cool to draft a Québécois, but I dont want it to be a reach, it has to be organic and BPA. Could Zonnon be available with our earliest 2nd? Or it's a pipe dream? I see him projected late 1st, early 2nd, maybe he could fall to us.

He would have made for an excellent pick IMO. Sadly, he'll go #35 at the absolute latest and even that would surprise me a little. The very late first is quite likely.

 

[TheBuriedHab]

Not sure about that. If you believe the rumours, if Demidov was gone, there was a deal with Anaheim:

Pick #5 + Mialloux for Zegras + 2nd.

That wasn't the rumor. It was 21 + Mailloux for Zegras + mid round pick.

 

[morhilane]

It'd be cool to draft a Québécois, but I dont want it to be a reach, it has to be organic and BPA. Could Zonnon be available with our earliest 2nd? Or it's a pipe dream? I see him projected late 1st, early 2nd, maybe he could fall to us.

I expect Zonnon to be gone by ~25. The Habs should just take him with #17 if they like him that much really.

 

[dcyhabs]

It seems some scouts view a finished product Power Forwards as guys that beat Ds by the size and strength and not their skating, skating is secondary. So they try to do things with big guys that can't skate like Jessiman and McCarron and try to do something with them.

Real Power Forward generally have decent skating without necessarily flying out there. It what scares me with a player like Martone. He doesn't have a high top speed, Tkachuk doesn't have either. But Tkachuck doesn't have that fugly knocked kneed style. At some point you have no choice to take Martone, but mid-top 10 would scare me.

It's like a lot of other draft choices, you can point to a couple of guys over the year who massively improved and succeeded in spite of major flaws in their draft year. Thing is no one knows the one in a thousand guy who will improve vs the 999 who will go nowhere. Getzlaf caused many bad picks, so did Chara.

If 10% of players with major flaws fixed them it might be logical to take some in the early rounds. It's rare enough that you have to have a really good feeling or just take the guy third round or later when your chances are low whatever you do.

 

[Anardil]

That wasn't the rumor. It was 21 + Mailloux for Zegras + mid round pick.

Ok. makes more sense. I misremenbered the rumour. It's still a trade I would have hated. I think that Montreal would eat Zegras alive.

 

[WeThreeKings]

We’d have Buium and Zegras probably, if we are to believe reports. Still way better off with Demidov and Hage

I'd be off the Hugo bandwagon if that were to transpire, woof.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

I will give my honest opinion about Aitcheson.
I am scared to draft him because of his poor skating and that he is all over the ice, not a steady reliable defenseman defensively. All these talks about physicality, big shots, compete and big hits, does not move me at all. Similar to Carbonneau, I do not care how skilled, how good your shot is and how you look good against junior aged player that will never translate to the NHL or even AHL. Their game are amazing against non pro player but they will hit a wall against faster, more organized and just overall better talent. He reminds me Dion Phaneuf or Duncan Siemens and like most fans I loved their profile. Good canadian boy that deliver crushing hits and can provide offense. They were loved by fans for their big hits and their physicality but in the NHL as soon as players were faster and the game processed faster they became liability. I am well aware Phaneuf had a pretty decent career overall but people see the big shots, hits but they forget all the times he was lost defensively. I personally would rather get a boring, reliable defenseman that can cover his gap, skate very well and execute at decent pace like a Guhle or Reinbacher or Cernak for instance. At least that's why I am not convinced about Aitcheson who seem like a very good kid though.

 

[montreal]

 

[HabsMD97]

Been a fan of Cootes from the get go and the more I think about it, he'd be the perfect 2C on this team. Went back to look at some scouting reports of Matthew Poitras and they are extremely similar players except Cootes does everything Poitras does but better. To me Poitras is guaranteed to be a 3C which tells me Cootes will be a 2C.