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

[Kudo Shinichi]

Smith's points this season
Real fun player

 

[TheYardMachine]

If we are looking to pick someone else than Michkov/Smith at 5 i hope we trade down to 8-10 because that would be a waste

 

[Noble]

As much as I want Michkov (have him at #2) I think SJ takes him, which might not be the end of the word because I can't shake the feeling that we'd galaxy brain the pick if Michkov is the guy available at 5 and we end up taking a much lesser prospect.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Cole is nice but I don't see him being a top5-10 player offensively, hope I'm wrong though.

He’s already paced for a top ten finish in goals. He’s going to be an elite scorer for years to come.

 

[ReHabs]

He’s already paced for a top ten finish in goals. He’s going to be an elite scorer for years to come.

Now imagine Will Smith feeding him

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

He’s already paced for a top ten finish in goals. He’s going to be an elite scorer for years to come.

Hey, we all love Cole but you might be a little over exuberant with anointing him as an elite NHL scorer. He certainly looks like he could do it be we have never watched him do it over the grind of an entire season. It was a sexy trend to combine the end of last season with the start of this season but there was a huge rest break in between.

He is also a tiny winger who is not a difference maker over the entire 200 feet so we can't use goals scored as a high watermark to which players of all sizes and play styles are equally measured against. He is a fantastic player but if he is your best player then you won't be seriously contending for any Cups. I was going ape s**t when we drafted him as I couldn't believe that we actually got him so I have always been a huge fan but I am also aware that he has weaknesses that will always be there. I consider him a luxury item more than I consider him the centerpiece of the rebuild but that is of little relevance because he is inarguably an important part of the core.

 

[MTL-rules]

Hey, we all love Cole but you might be a little over exuberant with anointing him as an elite NHL scorer. He certainly looks like he could do it be we have never watched him do it over the grind of an entire season. It was a sexy trend to combine the end of last season with the start of this season but there was a huge rest break in between.

He is also a tiny winger who is not a difference maker over the entire 200 feet so we can't use goals scored as a high watermark to which players of all sizes and play styles are equally measured against. He is a fantastic player but if he is your best player then you won't be seriously contending for any Cups. I was going ape s**t when we drafted him as I couldn't believe that we actually got him so I have always been a huge fan but I am also aware that he has weaknesses that will always be there. I consider him a luxury item more than I consider him the centerpiece of the rebuild but that is of little relevance because he is inarguably an important part of the core.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Well played....

Brad Richards won the Conn Smythe on this championship team though so I survive on a technicality.

 

[Adam Michaels]

When I use the term I refer to BPA at the moment of the pick.

This is exactly what I'm referring to, BPA at the moment of the pick. There are a number of players you can take at the moment of your pick, so BPA isn't a specific name. Habs are picking 5th this year. There are like 3-4 guys they can take there. My question is who is the BPA among them? Some will have their preference and the player they think they should select. Someone else will prefer another player. Another person would want someone else.

So when someone says "they should take the BPA," they're just using a term that doesn't have any real specific meaning.

You brought up KK in 2018. Before that draft, there were people who wanted KK because he was their BPA at 3rd. Others wanted Tkachuk. Others wanted Zadina. Others wanted Hughes. Before the 2018 draft, people were saying "take the BPA, take the BPA", but there were like 3-4 guys everyone was naming. It's 5 years later, and we can see that Tkachuk and Hughes would have been BPA at 3rd OA. But at the moment of the pick, there was no clear BPA.

I disagree. I think the difference here is that while there's no objective BPA, your team has their BPA.

I think what fans mean when they say "pick BPA", is "pick the best player available, according to you and your scouts, without worrying about other things" (politics, position, team needs etc.).

Teams do have their draft lists, obviously.

But I again go back to my initial point, simply saying "they should pick BPA" when there could be 3-4 guys you can take at your selection isn't exactly BPA. Habs can have any combination of Carlsson, Smith, Michkov, Leonard, Moore, Benson & Reinbacher available to them at 5th depending on who is taken in the Top 4.

A lot of people will say Michkov is BPA out of all of them if he's on the board. But there will be others who would prefer Carlsson if he's there at 5th. Others Smith and so on and so forth.

So it's not a question of BPA because whoever they pick will be a cornerstone for the team and franchise. They're going to take one and will leave another handful of players on the table. There will be fans who will be happy with whoever they took, while others disappointed, and others upset. So BPA really is a pointless term.

Now imagine Will Smith feeding him

I want Will Smith to slap whoever he feeds for goals or whoever feeds him as part of his celebration.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Hey, we all love Cole but you might be a little over exuberant with anointing him as an elite NHL scorer. He certainly looks like he could do it be we have never watched him do it over the grind of an entire season. It was a sexy trend to combine the end of last season with the start of this season but there was a huge rest break in between.

If it was from out of nowhere… sure. But he was an elite scorer in junior breaking all kinds of records. The track record is there. He’s going to be a perpetual top ten goal scorer in this league.

The only question is health.

He is also a tiny winger who is not a difference maker over the entire 200 feet so we can't use goals scored as a high watermark to which players of all sizes and play styles are equally measured against. He is a fantastic player but if he is your best player then you won't be seriously contending for any Cups.

He paced for 47 goals over his last 82. He’s just getting started. We don’t know yet how good he’ll be.

Right now? Sure if he’s your best player you won’t win a cup. If he’s scoring more than that? Maybe. As always it depends on the supporting cast.

Mike Bossy was the best player on those Islander teams. He was a pure sniper.

I was going ape s**t when we drafted him as I couldn't believe that we actually got him so I have always been a huge fan but I am also aware that he has weaknesses that will always be there. I consider him a luxury item more than I consider him the centerpiece of the rebuild but that is of little relevance because he is inarguably an important part of the core.

The limitations will always be there. To me though it’s really just a question of health. We’ve already seen what he ca do in the playoffs. He was great in the limited ice we gave him.

He’s a gamer. He’s not going to shy away from anything. The only question is if he can stay healthy. He’s a huge building block.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Now imagine Will Smith feeding him

I’ve really warmed up to Smith. Killer second half, seems like a great pick. So excited for whoever we get. Five great players in the draft and we’ll get one of them.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Not sure what else the team was supposed to do. They finished 8-10 points higher than the other four teams. That's pretty hard to make up. With all of the injuries they used numerous AHL guys who never should have gotten a sniff of the NHL. They played the shit out of Wideman, Hoffman and Drouin and the other useless vets when they were available.

And the Habs finished 3-7 in their last 10 and were getting thumped on the regular. It's not like they made some late season push that pushed them out of the running, or they lost out on 3rd or 4th overall by a point or two. The Habs got six points out of 20 for the last 10 games. For context, the Teams from 8th worst (Wash) to worst (Ana): Wash (6) Phi (7) Arz (4) Mon (6) SJ (7) Chi (5) CBJ (6) Ana (2). Everybody at the bottom of the standings was bad.

And for further context, let's say the Habs brought Antti Niemi out of retirement for the last 10 games and the Habs went 0-10-0. They STILL would have finished 5th from the bottom.

Just be happy they managed to out-tank the clearly tanking Coyotes and kept the 5th spot.

We also had tons of injuries , without them who knows, might be picking 7th 8th 9th, not good.

This was a good tank season , the only one who really stepped up and won a couple games we shouldnt have is Montembayot and he's at the age where its actually nice to see him progress and get better.

Its not like a guy like Jake Allen was out there ruining our tank year at least

 

[Garnet76]

I'm sick of the Michkov talk and while I'd love for us to get him, I also know that there must be an absolute fear for him to take a massive KHL deal in 3 years rather than go entry level in the NHL.

By then, it's safe to say he'll be a top 2 or 3 KHL player and getting 10M a year for another 2 or 3 years isn't far fetched. As much as I want the guy, if I think there's a possibility he's not coming here before 2028, I might pass and go for the next best on my list.

I'd need to be 95% sure he's here in 3 years or I'm not taking him, can't really blame a GM that has this POV

10M rubles is less than 125k US
Michkov could hit 3-4M with bonuses on his entry level contract in the NHL. If you draft him hopefully you can get the entry level deal signed immediately which would kick in after his KHL deal. He stated his dream is to play in the NHL.

 

[Redux91]

Well played....

Brad Richards won the Conn Smythe on this championship team though so I survive on a technicality.

26 playoff points vs 24, yeah he really walked away with it lol
Marty also won the Art Ross that year to boot

 

[Kennerback]

I’ve really warmed up to Smith. Killer second half, seems like a great pick. So excited for whoever we get. Five great players in the draft and we’ll get one of them.

It’s a good sign for me when looking at tape is not a chore. I always want to see what Smith will pull out of his hat next.

 

[Omar]

Next year we might make the playoffs. I wouldn't be thinking about next year's draft. Reinbacher might be BPA at #5, we'll see what management thinks. We only need a true #1 RD we have all the pieces on defense. Mailloux might or might not be that guy.

Hughes expects this to be a 3 year process. Nobody should be planning to make the playoffs next year.

This is exactly what I'm referring to, BPA at the moment of the pick. There are a number of players you can take at the moment of your pick, so BPA isn't a specific name. Habs are picking 5th this year. There are like 3-4 guys they can take there. My question is who is the BPA among them? Some will have their preference and the player they think they should select. Someone else will prefer another player. Another person would want someone else.

So when someone says "they should take the BPA," they're just using a term that doesn't have any real specific meaning.

You brought up KK in 2018. Before that draft, there were people who wanted KK because he was their BPA at 3rd. Others wanted Tkachuk. Others wanted Zadina. Others wanted Hughes. Before the 2018 draft, people were saying "take the BPA, take the BPA", but there were like 3-4 guys everyone was naming. It's 5 years later, and we can see that Tkachuk and Hughes would have been BPA at 3rd OA. But at the moment of the pick, there was no clear BPA.



Teams do have their draft lists, obviously.

But I again go back to my initial point, simply saying "they should pick BPA" when there could be 3-4 guys you can take at your selection isn't exactly BPA. Habs can have any combination of Carlsson, Smith, Michkov, Leonard, Moore, Benson & Reinbacher available to them at 5th depending on who is taken in the Top 4.

A lot of people will say Michkov is BPA out of all of them if he's on the board. But there will be others who would prefer Carlsson if he's there at 5th. Others Smith and so on and so forth.

So it's not a question of BPA because whoever they pick will be a cornerstone for the team and franchise. They're going to take one and will leave another handful of players on the table. There will be fans who will be happy with whoever they took, while others disappointed, and others upset. So BPA really is a pointless term.



I want Will Smith to slap whoever he feeds for goals or whoever feeds him as part of his celebration.

BPA at the moment of your pick? Teams do work over years to develop their list. BPA is BPA. They go up and choose the next guy on their list. It is a name.

 

[Sterling Archer]

Outside of Brian Burke trading up so he could draft both Sedin twins, does anyone know when a team in the top 5 moved up or down?

Why does anyone think that in such a deep draft year that any team in the top 5 will move their pick? They won’t. It’s that simple. It seldom never happens and this is not the year to be moving down the draft if you’re in the top 5.

 

[Deleted member 257557]

View attachment 710749

Maybe they really mess up and draft a short-stop. Also global warming.

 

[salbutera]

Outside of Brian Burke trading up so he could draft both Sedin twins, does anyone know when a team in the top 5 moved up or down?

Why does anyone think that in such a deep draft year that any team in the top 5 will move their pick? They won’t. It’s that simple. It seldom never happens and this is not the year to be moving down the draft if you’re in the top 5.

- MAF / Horton pick trade in 2003 (Fla gave up
1OA + 3rd rounder for 3OA + Mikhaïl Samuelson + 2nd rounder)

 

[Adam Michaels]

BPA at the moment of your pick? Teams do work over years to develop their list. BPA is BPA. They go up and choose the next guy on their list. It is a name.

That's not what I'm talking about.

 

[Sterling Archer]

- MAF / Horton pick trade in 2003 (Fla gave up
1OA + 3rd rounder for 3OA + Mikhaïl Samuelson + 2nd rounder)

So 20 years ago. Exceedingly rare.

 

[Adam Michaels]

Curious if he gets drafted by a CHL team in the Import draft. Imagine him playing in Sherbrooke or somewhere else in the Q next year where Montreal could monitor his development closely

He can't play anywhere other than the KHL. He's under contract there until 2026. So even if a CHL team drafts him in the import draft, he wouldn't be able to come here to play.

Only way he becomes available is if he buys his contract out in Russia, which is something players can do there. But he still has another 3 years so that would be a hell of a contract to buy out. And I believe there are rules and regulations NHL teams need to respect so it's not like they can pay him back the money he loses.

 

[salbutera]

So 20 years ago. Exceedingly rare.

Only one I can recall off the top of my head, maybe posters here recall others

 

[sandviper]

IF Michkov is available at our pick, and assuming HuGo are ok waiting, they should have no worries about picking him. This is Montreal, big market, lot of history. I’m like 100% certain he’d come here if drafted.

If it were Columbus (before us) or Arizona (after us), if I were them, I would be a little more nervous as he may be more noncommittal though I do think he still would come given it’s the NHL.

Basically, the worries of him extending his KHL contract I think is a non-issue if he’s picked by a big market club.

 

[MON4NHLTOR4MLB]

IF Michkov is available at our pick, and assuming HuGo are ok waiting, they should have no worries about picking him. This is Montreal, big market, lot of history. I’m like 100% certain he’d come here if drafted.

If it were Columbus (before us) or Arizona (after us), if I were them, I would be a little more nervous as he may be more noncommittal though I do think he still would come given it’s the NHL.

Basically, the worries of him extending his KHL contract I think is a non-issue if he’s picked by a big market club.

Exactly. Russians love Montreal and playing for such history would definitely attract Michkov with so many legends having played here like Markov, Kovalev etc. plus it’s Canada, which he’d probably actually prefer right now. Big market, be an instant star and knows they’re not going to be bottom feeders forever like the other teams. Also, gets to play for St. Louis, homerun no brainer pick imo only question is stupid Molson