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

[Runner77]

I love Brobov for all eternity if he makes that happen.

But I still see Michkov going top 4. So doubt he becomes a factor - unless he can convince HuGo to trade up for him.

Why would HuGo trade up to land Michkov when there are so many rumblings that they’d rather not have to make that decision? Obviously, it’s pre-draft talk and we need to exercise caution but there are mainstream sources suggesting the Habs may not want to deal with the hot potato that is Michkov, should he fall to their drafting slot.

Just seems to me they’ll happily take Smith if the Sharks go with Michkov and leave it at that. If the Habs had to pay to move up, best to expend assets on trying to land Fantilli or Carlsson, who are perceived as far less risky propositions than Michkov.

 

[sheed36]

I hope whichever GM as a set of balls big enough to take a chance on Michkov gets rewarded greatly with him turning into a top 5 NHL player in 4-5 years.

I highly doubt the Habs take him 5th if he's still there but I'll be rooting for this kid on whichever team takes him and really hoping that he becomes an elite NHL superstar and for the Habs front office to regret it every ****ing day after for passing on him for a less talented player.

 

[26Mats]

Why would HuGo trade up to land Michkov when there are so many rumblings that they’d rather not have to make that decision? Obviously, it’s pre-draft talk and we need to exercise caution but there are mainstream sources suggesting the Habs may not want to deal with the hot potato that is Michkov, should he fall to their drafting slot.

Just seems to me they’ll happily take Smith if the Sharks go with Michkov and leave it that. If the Habs had to pay to move up, best to expend assets on trying to land Fantilli or Carlsson, who are perceived as far less risky propositions than Michkov.

Yeah, I was only talking about the scenario where Michkov is not only not on their do not draft list but a serious target...

Based on the reports, at this point I have no idea whether Michkov is on their do not draft list. I just take it from the horses mouth, as Kent Hughes said the day after the draft lottery they still have to do their deep dive on Michkov, but they'd take him if he's better than the other players, at this point in their investigation...

I think it would be much easier to trade up for Michkov than Carlsson or Fantilli. Carlsson or Fantilli I would think would cost Caufield, Dach, or Slaf+. Michkov might cost something like 5th overall, Beck and Florida's 1st. But this is all speculation. I'd be up for trading up for either. Just don't see it happening. Columbus has said they won't draft Michkov, i.e. they're taking a center, so that opens up a door to trade up for Michkov.

 

[Runner77]

I hope whichever GM as a set of balls big enough to take a chance on Michkov gets rewarded greatly with him turning into a top 5 NHL player in 4-5 years.

I highly doubt the Habs take him 5th if he's still there but I'll be rooting for this kid on whichever team takes him and really hoping that he becomes an elite NHL superstar and for the Habs front a crapshoot office to regret it every ****ing day after for passing on him for a less talented player.

They can’t regret anything so long as they properly conduct their due diligence and risk assessments. The rest is a crapshoot — I’m not going to blame them if they choose to pass on Michkov, as I’ll assume that a lot of pre-draft work went into the decision and they’ll have compelling reasons. The Russian co-heading their drafting department will only help add credence and substance to their decision-making.

If they pass and Michkov defies the high level intel gathered about him, more power to him.

 

[Runner77]

Yeah, I was only talking about the scenario where Michkov is not only not on their do not draft list but a serious target...

Based on the reports, at this point I have no idea whether Michkov is on their do not draft list. I just take it from the horses mouth, as Kent Hughes said the day after the draft lottery they still have to do their deep dive on Michkov, but they'd take him if he's better than the other players, at this point in their investigation...

I think it would be much easier to trade up for Michkov than Carlsson or Fantilli. Carlsson or Fantilli I would think would cost Caufield, Dach, or Slaf+. Michkov might cost something like 5th overall, Beck and Florida's 1st. But this is all speculation. I'd be up for trading up for either. Just don't see it happening. Columbus has said they won't draft Michkov, i.e. they're taking a center, so that opens up a door to trade up for Michkov.

Whatever we’ve been seeing so far from a multitude of sources, has the Habs only moving to avoid being stuck with Michkov landing to them. I don’t think I’ve seen one pundit say that they were so enticed by him that they should or were considering moving up for him. But, who really knows.

 

[sheed36]

They can’t regret anything so long as they properly conduct their due diligence and risk assessments. The rest is a crapshoot — I’m not going to blame them if they choose to pass on Michkov, as I’ll assume that a lot of pre-draft work went into the decision and they’ll have compelling reasons. The Russian co-heading their drafting department will only help add credence and substance to their decision-making.

If they pass and Michkov defies the high level intel gathered about him, more power to him.

While all that is true I'll still blame them just because they passed on him for non hockey related reasons.

I'm just sick of the Habs leading scorer having 60-70 points every damn season. We're all starving for an elite offensive superstar over here b'y.

 

[sampollock]

Whatever we’ve been seeing so far from a multitude of sources, has the Habs only moving to avoid being stuck with Michkov landing to them. I don’t think I’ve seen one pundit say that they were so enticed by him that they should or were considering moving up for him. But, who really knows.

Bet Kent moves up
And grabs Smith or Carlson

Who drafts the Seattle goalie?

 

[Runner77]

While all that is true I'll still blame them just because they passed on him for non hockey related reasons.

I'm just sick of the Habs leading scorer having 60-70 points every damn season. We're all starving for an elite offensive superstar over here b'y.

You want better than a Russian holding the highest position in your drafting dept., to arrive at a decision?

How would you feel if we landed Smith at the 5th slot?

 

[Belial]

Bet Kent moves up
And grabs Smith or Carlson

Who drafts the Seattle goalie?

Why would they move up? I'm sure they'll be fine with whoever is available at 5.

 

[sheed36]

Whatever we’ve been seeing so far from a multitude of sources, has the Habs only moving to avoid being stuck with Michkov landing to them. I don’t think I’ve seen one pundit say that they were so enticed by him that they should or were considering moving up for him. But, who really knows.

They also have the choice to move down maybe 1-4 spots (I don't want the Habs to drop any lower than 9th) if that happens and if a team there wants to move up to take him but we've discussed this before.

They'll still get one of Leonard, Benson, Dvorksy, Reinbacher, or anyone else they'd like instead of one of these guys plus gain another decent asset in the move down trade..

 

[WinterLion]

Whatever we’ve been seeing so far from a multitude of sources, has the Habs only moving to avoid being stuck with Michkov landing to them. I don’t think I’ve seen one pundit say that they were so enticed by him that they should or were considering moving up for him. But, who really knows.

If Michkov is still there at 5 then a few GM's have already decided not to take him even though he is BPA.

 

[sheed36]

You want better than a Russian holding the highest position in your drafting dept., to arrive at a decision?

How would you feel if we landed Smith at the 5th slot?

I've said a few times before that I want whichever player is left between Carlsson, Michkov, or Smith @ 5 and I'll be ok with it.

I also quite like Leonard's game and if Michkov is a do not draft @ 5 for the Habs and they won't trade down I wouldn't be mad with Leonard @ 5.

 

[SlafySZN]

Plot twist: Michkov is not as good as people remember him to be

Don’t kill me, i’m kidding

 

[Runner77]

If Michkov is still there at 5 then a few GM's have already decided not to take him even though he is BPA.

By process of elimination, stands to reason.

In this particular instance, it’s the added risk teams perceive that skew the BPA tab.

It’s a typical approach by teams holding high picks to prefer to limit their risk and go for what looks like the surer thing — a player within the top 5 who can easily be monitored and developed under team control.

 

[The Great Weal]

Plot twist: Michkov is not as good as people remember him to be

Don’t kill me, i’m kidding

Maybe not, but still confident he's clearly the 2nd best player in this draft as of now

 

[Runner77]

I've said a few times before that I want whichever player is left between Carlsson, Michkov, or Smith @ 5 and I'll be ok with it.

I also quite like Leonard's game and if Michkov is a do not draft @ 5 for the Habs and they won't trade down I wouldn't be mad with Leonard @ 5.

I don’t know if that top 5 remains intact after BobbyMac’s final list but we’ve been seeing Smith not be as strongly favored on the forum as a solid top 5, with Leonard being championed in his place, by several in here.

I thought there was a tier drop off after the top 5 that had included Smith for several weeks and now we have Leonard in there and no mention of that tier drop off any longer.

 

[yianik]

He said Michkov would lose a tiebreaker due to the Russia factor so basically what was suggested about passing on him if we feel other players are on his level.

I have 0 problem with that. If I'm remembering it wrong fine. If not then not fine.

 

[Twisted Sinister]

I don’t know if that top 5 remains intact after BobbyMac’s final list but we’ve been seeing Smith not be as strongly favored on the forum as a solid top 5, with Leonard being championed in his place, by several in here.

I thought there was a tier drop off after the top 5 that had included Smith for several weeks and now we have Leonard in there and no mention of that tier drop off any longer.

I like Leonard in the 6-10 range, but I feel that he is the least skilled of the 3 guys that played on that line. His production seems to bear that out.

Now, the advantage is that he plays with jam, but top-end talent is much more difficult to acquire than jam, and 5'11" guys that play with jam don't always translate.

 

[WG]

Fantilli has 2 locked, might Carlsson fall?

All we need is one big brain move from another GM between Picks 3 and 4 to have one of Michkov and Carlsson available to us

I've seen draft mocks sending Smith to CBJ; understanding that teams aren't telling random bloggers and columnists their draft plans, but I assume folks are matching CBJ to Smith based on something.

Maybe best case is 3. Smith, 4. Michkov, and then 5 is no doubt Carlsson.

 

[WG]

Reinbacher at 5 would be so disappointing. Trade down. You can get him at 8-10.

I see plenty of mocks sending Reinbacher to AZ at 6, premise being they want a D and a F with their two high picks, and they'd rather ensure Reinbacher then pick from a group of similar forwards at 12.

Best guess if the team trades out of 5 to 7-10, they will end up with Dvorsky, or some other next-tier forward.

 

[Belial]

I like Leonard in the 6-10 range, but I feel that he is the least skilled of the 3 guys that played on that line. His production seems to bear that out.

Now, the advantage is that he plays with jam, but top-end talent is much more difficult to acquire than jam, and 5'11" guys that play with jam don't always translate.

He was the guy that was often driving that line though.

Winning battles along the boards and forechecking like crazy, intercepting plays in the neutral zone, saving goals while backchecking...

Going hard to the net creating space for his teammates and so on.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Playing the role of fake Habs GM, I can have a rough idea who I like, but I trust my amateur scouting team more than I do my opinion alone.

Yes I see Smith having the higher upside, but teams have blown it in the past picking the wrong player on a same line. If they tell me that the only reason Smith is putting up so many points is because of Leonard, Ill follow my handpicked scouts.

No thanks, scouts are notoriously bad imo, they strikeout more than they find gold. I’ll trust my own eyes over theres, I’m not stuck in a Time Machine that stopped working back in the 90’s.

Michkov would have been a sure #1 if Bedard wasnt there.
so if hes available at 5 , nobody is at his caliber.

I’m really surprised that our brass, supposedly forward thinkers, have Michkov on a DND list. For some reason I believe it. That’s unfortunate, let’s move into the two spot and then all the second guessing can go away. We need to get Fantilli somehow.

I'm going to be honest. If the Canadiens stay at 5, the top 4 goes as we expect, and they pick someone like Dvorsky over Michkov, I think I'm done with this team for a while.

I'm really tired of this type of risk-averse decision-making that continues to make the team mid and deprives us of high-end talent.

I think where there is smoke, there is fire. I don’t think we take him even if he falls in our lap.

Part of me gets it, but at the same time, this kid is a 1OA talent. If we take Dvorsky ot Reinbacher I will be fairly disappointed. More so than last year.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Why would HuGo trade up to land Michkov when there are so many rumblings that they’d rather not have to make that decision? Obviously, it’s pre-draft talk and we need to exercise caution but there are mainstream sources suggesting the Habs may not want to deal with the hot potato that is Michkov, should he fall to their drafting slot.

Just seems to me they’ll happily take Smith if the Sharks go with Michkov and leave it that. If the Habs had to pay to move up, best to expend assets on trying to land Fantilli or Carlsson, who are perceived as far less risky propositions than Michkov.

There is no chance we move up and select Michkov, zero.

Yeah, I was only talking about the scenario where Michkov is not only not on their do not draft list but a serious target...

Based on the reports, at this point I have no idea whether Michkov is on their do not draft list. I just take it from the horses mouth, as Kent Hughes said the day after the draft lottery they still have to do their deep dive on Michkov, but they'd take him if he's better than the other players, at this point in their investigation...

I think it would be much easier to trade up for Michkov than Carlsson or Fantilli. Carlsson or Fantilli I would think would cost Caufield, Dach, or Slaf+. Michkov might cost something like 5th overall, Beck and Florida's 1st. But this is all speculation. I'd be up for trading up for either. Just don't see it happening. Columbus has said they won't draft Michkov, i.e. they're taking a center, so that opens up a door to trade up for Michkov.

Hopefully you’re never in charge of Habs trades at the draft.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

They can’t regret anything so long as they properly conduct their due diligence and risk assessments. The rest is a crapshoot — I’m not going to blame them if they choose to pass on Michkov, as I’ll assume that a lot of pre-draft work went into the decision and they’ll have compelling reasons. The Russian co-heading their drafting department will only help add credence and substance to their decision-making.

If they pass and Michkov defies the high level intel gathered about him, more power to him.

If Michkov is at the draft. I think you need to reconsider if you have him on your DND list.

 

[WG]

I respect your replies... but i'm not speaking as a fan. Im just too old for that.. i love players as a fan of the team, but in a hard Cap era, everything needs to be considered.
So many teams make this mistake, only to find themselves handcuffed, often signed by desperate GMs..

Now, if the market can't return equal asset value for CC, then i can see the AAV inch up to 6.5/yr x 8. beyond that id sign him to a 4 year bridge at 4m like Dach.

So we're going to give Caufield roughly the same AAV as Gallagher. I think you're going to have to sharpen your pencil a little more here.