These aren't really comparable situations, and this kind of cherry picking goes both ways. Remember how well Zadina turned out for Detroit, who was able to snag a consensus BPA (who most on this board wanted to take at 3) at 6th overall? There just isn't really any comparison between KK and Leonard or Reinbacher or Benson as prospects, and there's even less similarity between Smith and Tkachuk (if anything Leonard is the closest thing to a "Tkachuk" pick where you're valuing pro traits over flash and numbers). That doesn't mean I think they're all guaranteed to be better either, I just don't think there's any real similarities between the situations. We may as well compare Drouin and E. Lindholm or any other random two prospects to support whatever point either of us feel like making.
Reinbacher is not a "mediocrity" pick. I have no idea where this idea that he has a low ceiling is coming from. We just watched Jeff Petry and Shea Weber play as top pair defencemen for the better part of a decade and neither player is what anyone would call "dynamic", yet when drafting for the future we're writing off anyone that isn't just doing dipsy doodles in the CHL? You are asserting a "tier" drop that isn't actually there and getting upset about "mediocrity" based on a flawed premise. Smith is a very good prospect and I will be absolutely thrilled to have him, but he is not some rock solid slam dunk that is a clear tier above Reinbacher, Benson, or possibly even Leonard in my opinion. FWIW I would personally have Smith 2nd behind Reinbacher if Bedard, Fantilli, Carlsson, Michkov end up being the first 4 picks, I really like him a lot I just don't see him as a tier above personally.
I don't get this line of argument with Reinbacher specifically, because the numbers are there with him! It's not even like Reinbacher is one of those "you have to trust the scouts" guys, even if you're just stat watching and haven't watched a second of his tape, he put up 22P in 46 games playing 1st pair minutes in a legitimate pro league as a draft eligible defenceman with size (in the same league where Josi had 8P in his draft year).
I think it's all a moot point anyway. I am extremely doubtful that the Habs would pass on Smith if he's available and that's fine. Michkov we'll see, but I don't think we'll have any way of knowing where they sit on him before the draft actually happens and they would not be passing on him for on-ice reasons anyway so I'm just not going to bother getting wound up about it.
