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

[Hannibal]

Jesus, Button…

 

[McGuires Corndog]

Button is the only person in the world who thinks this.

Button is the hot take king.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Button is the hot take king.

ASP banked a couple pucks off in people's asses during the Canada game and now he's Sergei Zubov.

Just an awful take.

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

ASP banked a couple pucks off in people's asses during the Canada game and now he's Sergei Zubov.

Just an awful take.

He's a solid option in the top 15, but top 5 is laughable.

 

[WeThreeKings]

He's a solid option in the top 15, but top 5 is laughable.

I have him at 19 and I know that's probably too low but I just think the ceiling offensively and defensively is lower than people think.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

If you mean that

Gallagher ( injury prone )
Armia ( injury prone )
Edmunson ( injury prone )
Savard ( injury prone )
Allen ( injury prone )
Hoffman ( just prone )
Guhle ( injury prone )
Slafkovsky ( injury prone, rookie )
Caufield ( injury prone , major surgery )
Xhekaj ( major surgery )
Dach ( injury prone, major surgery, concussions )
Montembault ( Swiss cheese )
Barron ( rookie )

Are all going to magically have career years than yes, we should have a top 15 pick.

Yeah, we aren't making the playoffs next year, but our pick could very well be between 10th and 15th.

 

[DAChampion]

Mitchkov is coming to the NHL in three years.
Connor McDavid will be a UFA in three years.

I think that Slafkovsky - McDavid - Mitchkov would be an adequate first line for the Habs.

 

[LaP]

Mitchkov is coming to the NHL in three years.
Connor McDavid will be a UFA in three years.

I think that Slafkovsky - McDavid - Mitchkov would be an adequate first line for the Habs.

LaP-McJesus-DAChampion would be an adequate first line providing the depth behind it is quality.

 

[DAChampion]

LaP-McJesus-DAChampion would be an adequate first line providing the depth behind it is quality.

Plus the two of us can get paid as that's about when Gallagher's contract is running out.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

I'd be more worried about the west having a slew of horrible teams.

Here are the teams I think that will finish lower than us:

Coyotes
Blackhawks
Ducks
Sharks
Blue Jackets
Flyers

Here are the teams I think we will be around the same tier with:

Penguins (They're getting old and on the brink of rebuild)
Capitals (Ditto)
Flames (Not impressed with their team at all, but could rebound)
Blues
Canucks

I could probably add a few more in this last tier as well.

Canucks had a strong second half. They could leap into the playoffs or at minimum be at the bubble next year.

I think the Leafs might trade Matthews or Marner, which might mean something for our draft. I tried to start this discussion before, but now more convinced than ever that it's possible.

These are all Matthews scenarios because I don't think Marner's trade makes sense for a rebuilding team like Matthews does. Historically, franchise players like Matthews, go for at least 1 prime prospect, 1 top 5 draft pick + at least 1st, plus some active players going the other way - I didn't include the active player part there because this could make a 3 team trade etc. so there are too many variables (one of the variables is that the Habs could be in there in some ways).
First, my reflex was to look at Arizona with Cooley/6th/12th - I still think it's the biggest possibility.
But Colombus and Sharks could also be in the mix for different reasons. Colombus just need a 1st C and they are rebooted; they are not your typical rebuild team, why wait 3-4 years for one of the draftees to arrive for Gaudreau/Laine. Jiricek, 3rd and Kings 1st. Sharks with a Bystedt/4th/Devils 1st. Sharks with Matthews are not a terrible team.

If the Leafs pick ahead of us, I think it's more likely we'll face the Michkov decision, as Leafs would be likely to pick centers to replace Matthews and Tavares.

Why would the Leafs do this? It's a quick fix to a lot of their issues.

Trade with Arizona
Tavares - Trade with 12th overall for a C (PLD?) - Marner
Knies - Cooley - Willy

+ 7-10m in cap space they can spend elsewhere in the lineup, and an off-ramp for Tavares cap hit via that entry-level salary used in the top 6.

Toronto picks Dvorsky/Benson with pick 6.

It makes sense for Arizona too
Keller - Matthews - Schmatlz
Crouse - Hayton - Guenther

They have tons of prospects, at all positions coming their way + a lot of draft assets in the rest of the 2023 draft.

Trade with Colombus
Toronto picks one of Carlsson/Fantilli
Tavares - Trade with 20ishth overall for a C - Marner
Knies - Carlsson/Fantilli - Willy

+ 7-10m in cap space they can spend elsewhere in the lineup, and an off-ramp for Tavares cap hit via that entry-level salary used in the top 6.

+ Jiricek replacing one of their bad D.

It makes sense for Colombus
Gaudreau - Matthews - Marchenko/Foudy
Johnson - Roslovic - Laine

They have tons of D prospects to trade Jiricek away.

I don't think we have the assets to play on Matthews unless Suz/Caufield/Guhle are on the table, it doesn't make sense for us. We don't have a prime prospect that would fit what the Leafs could need (1 C or a 1 D). Like Chicago and Anaheim, we need time over everything else.

Leafs are gonna typically re-up everything and lose Matthews for nothing, imo.

 

[BLONG7]

If you mean that

Gallagher ( injury prone )
Armia ( injury prone )
Edmunson ( injury prone )
Savard ( injury prone )
Allen ( injury prone )
Hoffman ( just prone )
Guhle ( injury prone )
Slafkovsky ( injury prone, rookie )
Caufield ( injury prone , major surgery )
Xhekaj ( major surgery )
Dach ( injury prone, major surgery, concussions )
Montembault ( Swiss cheese )
Barron ( rookie )

Are all going to magically have career years than yes, we should have a top 15 pick.

Do you think we will have another 700 man games lost for the 3rd year in a row?
Some terrible bad luck on that list so..................

 

[SwiftyHab]

Great video scouting. I definetly want him

 

[Bombshell11]

I really don't see the reason behind the hype
He made a few Crosby goals.... woopie doo

 

[SwiftyHab]

I really don't see the reason behind the hype
He made a few Crosby goals.... woopie doo

Blasphemy! @Bombshell11 is a witch!

 

[Kennerback]

ASP at 5
Sale at 7
Reinbacher at 24

Not scared of bucking the trend.lol

 

[Gillings]

Mitchkov is coming to the NHL in three years.
Connor McDavid will be a UFA in three years.

I think that Slafkovsky - McDavid - Mitchkov would be an adequate first line for the Habs.

Love the idea of SLAF next to a guy like McDavid. Which reminds me of how bad we need a #1c because Ideally. Suzuki is a 1W or 2C IMO.

Do you think we will have another 700 man games lost for the 3rd year in a row?
Some terrible bad luck on that list so..................

I just think that the likelihood of us miraculously having career years for those players mentioned is way lower than them having another bad year where the next year most are gone. But we will see.. contract years etc.

 

[26Mats]

That's what I'm afraid of. At 5th overall everyone knows there's no one remotely close to Michkov's talent level. That statement makes it seem like he's laying the foundation of his explanation/excuse of why he'll pass on him.

"Well we think Benson and Michkov both have similar ceilings, but we loved Benson's drive and motor and that's why he was our guy at 5th."

The Hughes statement about Michkov losing a tiebreaker at this point was in response to how the Russian factor would factor in to their decision, not in response to assessing his talent level.

So that he didn't say "Michkov would have to be much more talented than another player for us to pick him" was a positive for me, as someone who is literally praying every day for Michkov.

I suspect Michkov is going to San Jose or anaheim, but we'll see...

 

[Bombshell11]

MATVEI MICHKOV​

I don’t think San Jose Sharks GM Mike Grier minds the wait for Michkov to come over from Russia, as long as it’s by the commonly-believed 2026-27 arrival date.

Grier said as much in his post-Draft lottery availability, specifically about Michkov’s KHL contract: “We’ll take in all the information and consider all the options. The good, the bad, and the pluses and minuses of all the players that will be options for us. It’s something that we’ll definitely discuss, but it’s not anything that’s going to take anyone off the table.”

 

[Leon Lucius Black]

It is pretty wild how shitty the Coyotes have been, yet they've barely had any top 5 picks.

They have missed the playoffs 10 out of 11 years, with the only year they "made" the playoffs being the COVID season. Their highest picks during that period are: Strome (3), Hayton (5) and Cooley (3).

 

[Kennerback]

The Hughes statement about Michkov losing a tiebreaker at this point was in response to how the Russian factor would factor in to their decision, not in response to assessing his talent level.

So that he didn't say "Michkov would have to be much more talented than another player for us to pick him" was a positive for me, as someone who is literally praying every day for Michkov.

I suspect Michkov is going to San Jose or anaheim, but we'll see...

I don't see him going to Anaheim. I think he could be picked up by SJ. If not, it will be Caps or Wings at 8 or 9OA with an outside chance Arizona picks him up at 6OA. They drafted a Russian last summer.

 

[Bombshell11]

It is pretty wild how shitty the Coyotes have been, yet they've barely had any top 5 picks.

They have missed the playoffs 10 out of 11 years, with the only year they "made" the playoffs being the COVID season. Their highest picks during that period are: Strome (3), Hayton (5) and Cooley (3).

It would make sense for Michkov to go to Arizona, maybe they'll trade for the 3rd spot, then SJS gets Smith and we Carlsson.

The possibilities are infinite!

Lets go!

 

[lamp9post]

Great video scouting. I definetly want him

Interesting to see how high Slaf is ranked on the three advanced stats metrics starting at 8:44.

 

[26Mats]

I don't see him going to Anaheim. I think he could be picked up by SJ. If not, it will be Caps or Wings at 8 or 9OA with an outside chance Arizona picks him up at 6OA. They drafted a Russian last summer.

I don't care where he goes after us.

Before us, the only places with more than a 1% chance are San Jose and Anaheim.

But until we hear news to the contrary, my assumption is he's going to San Jose.

 

[BergevinBurner]

The Hughes statement about Michkov losing a tiebreaker at this point was in response to how the Russian factor would factor in to their decision, not in response to assessing his talent level.

So that he didn't say "Michkov would have to be much more talented than another player for us to pick him" was a positive for me, as someone who is literally praying every day for Michkov.

I suspect Michkov is going to San Jose or anaheim, but we'll see...

The main issue I have is that logically if Smith/Carlsson/Fantilli/Bedard are all of the board then that means there would be no need for a tie breaker because after that the talent gap is too wide.

It'd be like if we won the lottery, but then management made the same statement regarding Bedard. Saying that if they feel someone else is equal in talent he might not be picked due to a tie breaker. Everyone knows he's the clear cut #1 talent, so there's no need to make that statement.

 

[Kennerback]

The main issue I have is that logically if Smith/Carlsson/Fantilli/Bedard are all of the board then that means there would be no need for a tie breaker because after that the talent gap is too wide.

It'd be like if we won the lottery, but then management made the same statement regarding Bedard. Saying that if they feel someone else is equal in talent he might not be picked due to a tie breaker. Everyone knows he's the clear cut #1 talent, so there's no need to make that statement.

The way I see it is the argument that Michkov might interest Montreal is based on interpreting cryptic comments from Hughes or someone else. Whereas "all" the scoops claiming to have inside information from someone from the team suggest they're not picking him. As a comparison last season, it was not "all" Slafkovsky or Wright.

I would discount the rumours if they were varied, but everything is going a single way. Where there's smoke there's fire.