Confirmed with Link: Canadiens Will Pick 5th (Hughes Presser in OP) NO POLITICS

[Kennerback]

I accepted Rejean Houle's era because I was younger and didn't endure 3-4 decades of misery yet. I don't have it in me anymore. They can't f*** this one up. It would be unforgivable. Épouvantable.

When Habs stray away from BPA they’ve made big mistakes. For example, losing out on Simon Gagné because of what looked like a serious case of nepotism in the draft war room. My feeling is they should stay away of 5OA if they can’t help themselves to make a non-hockey related decision.

 

[rickthegoon]

Just imagine Michkov developing under MSL. That’s it. That’s the post.

Except he won't. His most important development years will be behind the iron curtain.
Only possible reaction from the team that picks him is to cross fingers and hope for the best .
You have zero control how he develops.

 

[yianik]

I'm no scout so I rely on what I read, and maybe have some of my own thoughts on my limited viewing of a player, but it's 95% on what those in the know have to say.

If Michkov is such a real talent and clearly top 5, we have to take this guy, unless there is some real thing that happens, such as he gets drafted to the front in the next month.

HUGO said we not only want to win, we want to do it with high skill and exciting hockey. Gorton told his staff, talent over character. Breath of fresh air. Finally. Talent is number 1. That's talk, they better walk the walk.

Reading the Boards I dont see the same fear level as we have, and of course Cap fans are excited as hell to welcome Michkov, suggesting they trade up with us. So we get a 2nd liner ceiling at 8 plus some sweetner that will amount to nothing, and they get a shot at a franchise player.

 

[Skip Bayless]

Ok CBJ taking Carlsson...So Now Sharks pick Smith I think.

Meh...that was a tap in.

 

[Sterling Archer]

Except he won't. His most important development years will be behind the iron curtain.
Only possible reaction from the team that picks him is to cross fingers and hope for the best .
You have zero control how he develops.

Like Dach?

 

[McGees]

Meh...that was a tap in.

Goal isn’t reason - Davidson pretty much spells it out.

 

[rickthegoon]

Like Dach?

I'm guessing what rabbit hole you're trying to pull me in ?
I like comparing apples to apples, not apples to curvy ducks

 

[Skip Bayless]

Goal isn’t reason - Davidson pretty much spells it out.

Yeah that's what I was thinking. Davidson is picking Carlsson because he and Fantilli are the most likely to develop as C in the NHL.

Although Smith has higher offensive upside, he will have to show his 200 ft. game for the first time in his life in the NCAA and Michkov is a winger.

 

[sansabri]

Except he won't. His most important development years will be behind the iron curtain.
Only possible reaction from the team that picks him is to cross fingers and hope for the best .
You have zero control how he develops.

is Michkov going to travel back to pre-1991

 

[sampollock]

Montreal Hockey Now journalist Marco D'Amico revealed

According to a source in the organization, these two attackers would have greatly attracted the eye of the leaders and the CH would seriously consider acquiring one of these two players with their choice of 5th overall:

“I spoke to a few privileged members of the Montreal Canadiens who spoke with great enthusiasm about Ryan Leonard and Will Smith during the U-18s,” said the source, who asked to remain anonymous.

“They were waiting to see if Leonard was going to take his game up a notch, and he did. He's a player to watch, who's on Montreal's radar, should Smith leave early. »

 

[Habricot]

I think you have a valid reason to hold this opinion.

Let me ask you, if the Habs do pass on Michkov and let’s just say Detroit drafts him. Michkov comes over to NA once his KHL contract is up, and proceeds to be a Kaprizov level player (40-50g / 90-100pt). Do you still feel the Habs made the right decision with all their inside info?

I’d never forgive them for passing that opportunity. This would be my moment in their tenure where I’d start to really second guess their decisions, I can pin point the exact moment I started to feel that way about Bergy too (Subban bridge deal).

It all depends on who they select.

 

[salbutera]

Yeah that's what I was thinking. Davidson is picking Carlsson because he and Fantilli are the most likely to develop as C in the NHL.

Although Smith has higher offensive upside, he will have to show his 200 ft. game for the first time in his life in the NCAA and Michkov is a winger.

Also - Davidson & Jaarmo I’m sure enjoy gainful employment and need to justify the spend on Gaudreau’s UFA splash & Laine acquisition.

Hence they need to get both a legit potential top line C vs who they’ve been playing with - Roslovic & Johnson

Montreal Hockey Now journalist Marco D'Amico revealed

According to a source in the organization, these two attackers would have greatly attracted the eye of the leaders and the CH would seriously consider acquiring one of these two players with their choice of 5th overall:

“I spoke to a few privileged members of the Montreal Canadiens who spoke with great enthusiasm about Ryan Leonard and Will Smith during the U-18s,” said the source, who asked to remain anonymous.

“They were waiting to see if Leonard was going to take his game up a notch, and he did. He's a player to watch, who's on Montreal's radar, should Smith leave early. »

Both also happened to be coached by Hughes in Jr Eagles program

 

[Skip Bayless]

Montreal Hockey Now journalist Marco D'Amico revealed

According to a source in the organization, these two attackers would have greatly attracted the eye of the leaders and the CH would seriously consider acquiring one of these two players with their choice of 5th overall:

“I spoke to a few privileged members of the Montreal Canadiens who spoke with great enthusiasm about Ryan Leonard and Will Smith during the U-18s,” said the source, who asked to remain anonymous.

“They were waiting to see if Leonard was going to take his game up a notch, and he did. He's a player to watch, who's on Montreal's radar, should Smith leave early. »

This would confirm they're not picking Michkov if he falls. At least as of right now.

 

[Sterling Archer]

I'm guessing what rabbit hole you're trying to pull me in ?
I like comparing apples to apples, not apples to curvy ducks

What rabbit hole? Dach was developed for 3 years in Chicago with Habs having no control over his development which was awful. Even his teammates said as much.

Michkov would he playing without any input from the Habs, but he’d be playing for the top team in the KHL and presumably given top line minutes to help them compete.

So not exactly the same, but I’d rather have a player develop in a lower league and get quality playing time then what happened with Dach, and MSL still turned him around.

That being said, I’d have zero issue with Michkov playing all 3 years before coming to the Habs. He’d still be 21 and have his entire career ahead of him. Better KHL than juniors, AHL or college IMO.

 

[dcyhabs]

I’ll be a fan of the Habs whatever they do. I accepted every brain dead Réjean Houle trade… As a fan I want the best out of bad situations. It reminds me of Quebec getting a bundle for Lindros which led to their Cup in Colorado.

Do we accept what they do? We don’t have much say in what the GM does. Lots of Bergevin’s deals ended up surprising me after a fee years. Houle’s deals were transparently bad deals that he seemed to think were even.

As long as people show up for games and the TV money is good the team can do as it likes. I always thought it was an advantage because Montrealers would never have paid to see Harold Ballard teams, and there were unsold seats some years. Toronto has no hope in this regard, the franchise will make money if they ice a bantam team.

Gorton and Hughes obviously put more thought and effort in than any GM since early Savard, other than hiring Bobrov, possibly, but they are going to neec some luck to make the work pay off. In hockey, as in backgammon or Star Trek, you can do everything right and still lose.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

For me, there are three players I would be ecstatic about: Bedard, Michkov and Carlsson. The rest leaves me indifferent, including Fantilli.

Chicago will take Bedard, and Carlsson will never make it past Columbus. That leaves Michkov.

Fantilli dominated the NCAA as a rookie 17-18 years old and IMO has a higher potential, more high-end skills.

Watched a bit of Hutson, Fantili and Farrell this year.

Also, I really like his personality. Think he will be a good room player wherever he goes.

 

[Kennerback]

It all depends on who they select.

Who could they select? They know they’re not taking BPA. The guy they pick projects to be a much inferior player. As soon as Michkov steps in the NHL, it’ll rubber stamp they didn’t get close to BPA.

The upside: it isn’t a black eye to their scouting staff. They know what they’re doing…An ancillary benefit is perhaps they believe being a team that shies away from Russians like the Flyers might give them a better chance to win the Cup. Something like that.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

This would confirm they're not picking Michkov if he falls. At least as of right now.

It doesn't confirm anything. For all we know, Habs might expect Michkov to be off the board.

 

[Vachon23]

The thing is,

Fantilli and Carlsson and Smith are adding to the reasons to pass on Michkov.

When we are talking about lesser prospects, the reason become less and less to pass on him.

Don't get me wrong, I would take Michkov but I can understand why Hugo would pass

The dream scenario is if Anaheim takes Carlsson, and Columbus somehow prefers Smith to Fantilli.

Then San Jose picks Fantilli and we have Michkov on our hands.

If that happen, you do whatever you can to trade up for Fantilli

 

[MrNasty]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Keep watching boring games with no star on the team. f*** this mentality.

Kovalev in 2008 was the most exciting player in Montreal since Guy Lafleur. That year was magical. We need more of that.

Winning playoff series is meaningless if the team ain't memorable and isn't a perennial contender.

f*** your kind of mentality. We weren't a perrenial contender back then either. I do remember Kovalev costing us a critical playoff game because he faked an injury though. Kovalev was good but he wasn't a superstar. - for comparison because you picked 2008...Ribeiro had one less point than him...

 

[dcyhabs]

is Michkov going to travel back to pre-1991

It’s sort of a lead curtain now. Not so strong but still sort of toxic.

I trust Hughes and Gorton for a lot of things, but based on Gorton and Bobrov’s track record I hope Hughes has other advisors. If they pass on Michkov either they had better get someone really good or some massive issue with MM. If the choice is Smith or other it will be less clear cut. Smith has great stats but you would already be in, what, a third tier of players? I see less risk if they take another player and Hughes should know the guy. As an ex-agent he should be cold blooded enough to avoid if it is the right call.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Except he won't. His most important development years will be behind the iron curtain.
Only possible reaction from the team that picks him is to cross fingers and hope for the best .
You have zero control how he develops.

That sure didn't work out for Kaprisov

Oh wait

 

[Skip Bayless]

It doesn't confirm anything. For all we know, Habs might expect Michkov to be off the board.

There's a higher probability that they know what they'd do if Michkov was still available than guessing that a team before them would pick Michkov.

For all we know, one of the teams before you makes a trade and your whole prediction of how the draft will go goes to shit.

 

[Sterling Archer]

At the 5 pick, Michkov is THE BEST PLAYER AVAILABLE. for all who always bemoan picking for need, stretching etc. it’s that simple.

 

[sheed36]

Michkov is who I want the Habs to pick @ 5 if he's still there but I'm convinced they'll pass on him and we'll then be fed a huge pile of BS by Hughes and the scouts as to why they passed on him.

I'd rather if SJ took him @ 4, which would be disappointing, but far less disappointing than if he were still there @ 5 and the Habs just passed on him for someone who isn't likely as talented as what Michkov is. Even though Hughes said he wanted to pick the most talented and BPA when they pick and that looks like Michkov to me if there @ 5.