Andre Kostitsyn?!?

[BenchBrawl]

Kostitsyn was not a bad pick considering his talent. It just didn't work out but he was worth a shot.

 

[BJCOLLINS]

pandemic, scouts evaluating via video. It will be interesting in 5 years to see how the 1st Does that make AK the Slafkovsky in this comparison?

Last year’s draft was probably the hardest draft for scouting, ever. Kids lost a year with the pandemic, scouts evaluating via video. It will be interesting in 5 years to see how the 1st round pans out. Beck maybe better than anyone, who knows, let’s hope.

The 03 draft was disgusting. I couldn’t believe the audacity of that pick. Most pundits had 5 players I thought we should pick when our name was called. Didn’t have Andrei anywhere near our pick.

As a side note I joined HFBOARDS to complain, lol.
Cheers

Does that make AK the Slafkovsky in this comparison?

See above

 

[BLONG7]

I feel like the habs never recovered from that botched pick.

It was a decent pick, but soooooooooo many more left on the board, it ended up being bad, real bad.

 

[bopeep]

It was a decent pick, but soooooooooo many more left on the board, it ended up being bad, real bad.

And then to select Cory Urquhart early 2nd

 

[LaP]

Yep, Getzlaf and Kopitar help their team win the cup, but not Price or Kostisyn

Price went to the scf with a pretty bad team in front of him. It's one of the lowest (if not the lowest) regulars season position (18th) to ever reach the scf.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Price > Kopitar 10 times out of 10.

 

[Team_Spirit]

Nah Fischer/Giroux is worse

At least Andrei had a few 20g seasons.

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

It was a stupid selection. Getzlaf was clearly the guy to select. Just like Kopitar over Price but that's another "chicane" for another day.

My take at the time was Getzlaf, followed by Carter and followed by Perry. When I knew it was A Kost, I said to myself wft?

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

As I said, lack of control of the off-ice side.

I don't think Carter or Getzlaf would have been involved with the russian gangster. But the Kost bro did.
Kovalev tryed to end this, the ru gangster didn't like it and Kovy was escorted by a secret police car when leaving the Bell center for a while. There has been more shit that year that never went to the medias but I had my informations. We only knew the tip of the iceberg.

 

[BLONG7]

Andrei had a lot better raw skills than Slafkovsky.

His stickhandling and shots were better.

Curious, at 18 yrs old? I can't really remember Akost when he broke in, and at what age?

 

[salbutera]

People say Kostitsyn had elite skills...

Besides his shot, what else did he have?

Complete lack of mental skills

I don't blame them for taking Kostitsyn. He was a highly rated talent with health concerns, however the Habs' medical staff gave the green light to take him. He was a gamble, but it wasn't like they went off the board to take him. In the top 16, there were also guys like Zherdev, Nillson, Jessiman and Steve Bernier who went so weren't the only team who ended up with a mediocre player.

I think the more disappointing thing was the Habs took 2 centres from the Q in that 2nd round which likely meant they would've spent a lot of time scouting the Q. Despite that, they passed on Bergeron for a guy who couldn't even be a regular in the AHL.

Habs drafted 4-players from the Mtl Rocket… I knew they were f*cked

 

[BLNY]

I seem to recall Gainey saying something about a home run swing, but that's not to suggest AK was an off the board pick. He was highly regarded, just like an early reply states. His talent was considered top end. The epilepsy scared teams. It didn't scare the Habs.

The skill was there, but the drive wasn't.

 

[the valiant effort]

Remember a few years back when TSN or the NHL Network or an outlet like that did a re-draft and had Brent Burns at #1? Lmao

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

I wanted Parise but was ok with Carter as well.

I quickly warmed to AK because he was such a mystery and the reported upside was huge. Unfortunately it didn't take too long to realize that the upside was limited due to some very apparent hockey IQ deficiencies and a tendency to disappear for stretches.

 

[Tetragrammaton]

My take at the time was Getzlaf, followed by Carter and followed by Perry. When I knew it was A Kost, I said to myself wft?

same here

 

[cphabs]

I feel like the habs never recovered from that botched pick.

There were many beforehand, but yep it hurt.

 

[Natey]

Yeah, but the tool box! Every time I heard him speak he sounded like the prototypical dumb jock. Like Moose from the Archie comics back in the day. There is no excuse after players like Gretzky, Lemieux, etc ... super smart players with skill. You aren't going anywhere without a hockey IQ.

Man, our drafting has been so bad for 30 years. With just a few more better draft picks ... like no Kostitsy, no Fisher, no Leblanc ... like if we just drafted the player or two after all those picks, we would have had a great team.

But seeing the 2003 draft in retrospect, it seems that the person paid to predict prospects development curve SUCKED!

So did Spezza and he was very good for many years

 

[Steve Shutt]

Who was our Eastern European Scout back then?
We drafted Plekanec (2001 3.71), Halak (2003 9.271), and Streit (2004 9.262) in a three year span. That scout earned his paycheque

 

[ReHabs]

I didn't like Andrei Kostitsyn. Frustrating, useless player. Never reliable, low compete, low drive, no IQ. Was tough — kinda — and useless, almost always. Good shot he was not capable of firing. Good size he never used unless he felt personally aggrieved (in which case he took a pen.). Some people say a concussion he got derailed his career - I won't hold it against him but I don't think it explains Andrei's low hockey IQ.

He wasn't so much of a bust as much of a let-down. Dude simply didn't get better 40-50pts with his size and skill was just brutal.

Perezhogin was similar but I felt he hardly got a shot. His brother Sergei Kostitsyn seemed skilled but softer, much softer. I remember less about Sergei, maybe I'm wrong.

 

[barbu]

Yeah, but the tool box! Every time I heard him speak he sounded like the prototypical dumb jock. Like Moose from the Archie comics back in the day. There is no excuse after players like Gretzky, Lemieux, etc ... super smart players with skill. You aren't going anywhere without a hockey IQ.

Man, our drafting has been so bad for 30 years. With just a few more better draft picks ... like no Kostitsy, no Fisher, no Leblanc ... like if we just drafted the player or two after all those picks, we would have had a great team.

But seeing the 2003 draft in retrospect, it seems that the person paid to predict prospects development curve SUCKED!

I wonder what it would be like if we redid all the drafts since 1988 by selecting the player that was drafted right after the habs pick in the first round.

Edit: from casual observation it would only have made a difference in the 2008-2018 period when Timmins struck out in every draft.

 

[Treb]

I don't think Carter or Getzlaf would have been involved with the russian gangster. But the Kost bro did.
Kovalev tryed to end this, the ru gangster didn't like it and Kovy was escorted by a secret police car when leaving the Bell center for a while. There has been more shit that year that never went to the medias but I had my informations. We only knew the tip of the iceberg.

Plenty of players did dumb off-ice stuff in the 2000s/early 2010s, that was my point.

Maybe Carter parties too hard in Montreal and bust? Who knows.

 

[ZUKI]

Price > Kopitar 10 times out of 10.

i agree. Kopitar doesn't stop the puck when in the net

 

[ZUKI]

I don't think Carter or Getzlaf would have been involved with the russian gangster. But the Kost bro did.
Kovalev tryed to end this, the ru gangster didn't like it and Kovy was escorted by a secret police car when leaving the Bell center for a while. There has been more shit that year that never went to the medias but I had my informations. We only knew the tip of the iceberg.

the Habs organization did a lot to stop the fire that year. A lot of players were on the party, some got addiction, etc...The infamous night that Demers described as the worst event in Habs history was a lot worse then what we have read in the newspapers

 

[MasterD]

the Habs organization did a lot to stop the fire that year. A lot of players were on the party, some got addiction, etc...The infamous night that Demers described as the worst event in Habs history was a lot worse then what we have read in the newspapers

I’ve heard many rumours about it, some more believable than others… I’m curious what you think it was.

Either way, doesn’t change anything

 

[Genghis Keon]

It's funny because, pre draft, Grant told us that Getzlaf was on Timmins' short list and this board was not happy. The general consensus was that if you can't score a point per game in your draft year, you don't have top line upside. People didn't want another Turner Stevenson or Jason Ward.