HF Habs: Draft 2018: What are your immediate draft class feelings?

[WeThreeKings]

Add WTK and some few as well...

I questioned his hockey sense to play defence at the NHL level, don't see how offensive production dispels that? He always had great offensive tools and physical tools. It's the brain I had a problem with.

 

[Habs76]

Thing is K'Andre isn't that bad of a defender. He has a pretty good stick and is relatively physical, and usually keeps the puck and player infront of him. No he's not great, maybe not even good, but he's a helluva lot better than say Bode Wilde.

 

[Mrb1p]

K'Andre Miller seem like the big miss from the first round.

Alexeyev has slowed down recently.

Them fighting words bro, Ill find you.

 

[Mrb1p]

Thing is K'Andre isn't that bad of a defender. He has a pretty good stick and is relatively physical, and usually keeps the puck and player infront of him. No he's not great, maybe not even good, but he's a helluva lot better than say Bode Wilde.

Wilde has been fine in the OHL so far, and has been fine before, last year was a fluke.

 

[Mrb1p]

Don't worry K'Andre Miller is a guaranteed bust, according to draft guru Mrb1p.

Dime a dozen player, he might make it but he's not gonna amount to anything, sue me.

 

[Andrei79]

Wow he is having a solid start for Wisconsin, I wasnt really following him anymore but Im glad he is doing so well, Rangers have a good one here...

I had a lot of reservations at first. Reservations that slowly dissipated down the stretch where he looked better every game. I like when defenders at that level don't just rely on puck rushing abilities as its a skill that very rarely translates to the next level. He was able to tone down that part while finding passing lanea instead. He went from ND to one of ny favorites, basically. But, I'm still not sure what his potential is or if he's even an NHL player. I definitely do that pick again if I'm the rangers with 3 1sts.

 

[montreal]

sorry if there's some confusion, I wanted to keep the Kotka thread about him, the 2019 draft thread about those players, but i didn't think of moving them to this thread until a little bit ago.

So if you want to talk about lasts years draft this is the place to do it. This way you can talk about Hab or non hab picks.


I've been impressed with Hallander, going to be interesting to see who ends up having made the better pick between the teammates us or the Pens. Tied for the team lead in points with our former draft pick Collberg.

I remember liking Perunovich as his team won a National Championship, off to a big start so far.

Another guy I've been impressed with is Emilio Pettersen from Norway, 8 pts in 4 games although vs really weak teams. Still very impressive start for the Freshman.

 

[Goldenhands]

I questioned his hockey sense to play defence at the NHL level, don't see how offensive production dispels that? He always had great offensive tools and physical tools. It's the brain I had a problem with.

You called him toolsy if I recall correctly... About his defensive game, his gap control is sick as well as his stick work, he is one of the best D prospects at breaking plays in the neutral zone and one of the toughest defenders to face to gain the offensive zone, he has good reads and good positioning in his own zone, he also get rid of the pressure really well to make the safe play using his body, reach and smarts unlike a guy like M.Samuelsson who struggles when it comes to him too fast... K'andre will make some mistakes here and there like any prospects but its more related to a lack of focuss than a lack of hockey IQ or fundamental flaw, what is way easier to work on and correct... He is also a former foward moved to D not so long ago, so you cant ask him to be perfect or mistake free defensively at that stage of his carreer and he is still trying to figure how good he can be offensively, you will see him try some offensive stuff that doesnt amount to anything but thats all part of the learning process to me... All that being said, he is a beautiful project that coaches will enjoy working with since the potential is huge and the hockey IQ is quite there, to think he was a foward like 3-4 yrs ago is also really impressive... Also at the draft he was described as a pure defensive defenseman by some, so I fail to understand your main argument that he might not be smart enough in his own zone to become a good NHLer, he is a pretty surefire prospect to me, its only a matter of how good he will be, top pairing or second pairing, that is the question...

I will add that he is a formidable skater with great athletic attributes and a physical beast. There is alot to like about this kid...

 

[badfish]

sorry if there's some confusion, I wanted to keep the Kotka thread about him, the 2019 draft thread about those players, but i didn't think of moving them to this thread until a little bit ago.

So if you want to talk about lasts years draft this is the place to do it. This way you can talk about Hab or non hab picks.


I've been impressed with Hallander, going to be interesting to see who ends up having made the better pick between the teammates us or the Pens. Tied for the team lead in points with our former draft pick Collberg.

I remember liking Perunovich as his team won a National Championship, off to a big start so far.

Another guy I've been impressed with is Emilio Pettersen from Norway, 8 pts in 4 games although vs really weak teams. Still very impressive start for the Freshman.

I am far from a good evaluator of prospects but there has been three players I watched before they were drafted that i thought would be surefire NHLers. PK Subban, Scott Perunovich, and Cam Dineen who was a Arizona pick.

 

[Habs76]

Wilde has been fine in the OHL so far, and has been fine before, last year was a fluke.

His point production has been fine, as it was last year. Like Miller, the jury's still out as to whether or not he can get his defensive game up to snuff. As far as I'm concerned though, if that's your goal, the NCAA is a far better option.

 

[montreal]

I am far from a good evaluator of prospects but there has been three players I watched before they were drafted that i thought would be surefire NHLers. PK Subban, Scott Perunovich, and Cam Dineen who was a Arizona pick.

I got a ton of heat when I started ranking Subban over McDonagh for my top 20 when he was still in juniors. People said how can he be higher if he was drafted after him a year or so later, I said when I look at Subban he's got that mix of such impressive skill and physical tools (strength, speed, skating) for someone his age at the time. I thought with his lower body strength and skill he was going to be at beast although I did say to someone on HF that asked me if he would be as good or better then Doughty and I said no I don't think he'll be at that level so I guess I wasn't as high on him as I should have been.

Perunovich though with him being undersized that was a bold pick that high, but he was a big part in his team winning it all so might turn out to be a really good one. Anyone could have picked him up in the 7th round in '17 but guess being that small and in the USHL teams didn't pay enough attention to him.

Is that Kevin Dineen's kid by any chance?

 

[Legend123]

watched Gorniak's game from Saturday night, his stay on the 2nd line was short lived as he was back on the 3rd line although the lines were a mess as there were a ton of penalties. He almost had his first goal, would have been a tap in but the puck bounced on him as the last second. He got a little bit of time on the PP and PK but really getting concerned over that lack of production. Last 7 games, 0 pts -2 4 pims and while he's a Freshman and not getting a ton of TOI on a young team, they are one of the higher scoring teams in the NCAA so far. I like his game as he's all motor, fast, hard working, physical, seems to have some hands as he's had a few chances in all the games i've seen but just can't get anything. 1 pt in 8 games is troubling for a 4th round pick that was pass over last year's draft.

We should have drafted Petterson.

 

[Et le But]

We should have drafted Petterson.

Wasn't a high school gym rat!

 

[Andrei79]

We should have drafted Petterson.

There were some good gambles picked around him: Wylie, Almeida, Stastney, Jenkins, Sharangovich, Kral, Zhuravlyov and even later with Kovalenko and Pettersen.

We'll see though, but I can't say either Gorniak or Houde have me excited.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

You called him toolsy if I recall correctly

Some people remember the oddest things

Unless.. are you K'Andre?

 

[yianik]

Tomorrow starts the 4 Nations tournament for Olofsson, looks like his line will be, Elvenes-Olofsson-Bemström.

I had wanted Elvenes. Anyone know how he is doing ?

 

[FrankMTL]

wow that Denver - SCSU game was sick, both Poehling and Stapley with perhaps their best game of the season. Poehling showed off some impressive stickhandling, he created so many chances tonight but DU has an impressive undrafted FA goalie. In addition to his 2 points, he won the face-off that led to the game winner.

Stapley scored a beauty on a breakaway, nice move and then tapped it in as the goalie bit on hook line and sinker. In addition to his 2 pts, he made a nice pass behind the net to his winger that was wide open all alone in the slot but he couldn't put it home. Stapley needs to get stronger, fill out his frame, work on his defensive game but he can dish the puck and has good offensive instincts out there.

Fun game overall, so much back and forth, although not shocking with two of the top teams in the NCAA. SCSU the #2 team in the nation, so much scoring depth and Denver has the highest scoring Freshman class in the NCAA so far, both have solid goalies as well despite the 7 goals in total as it could have been double that with all the chances.

What did you think of Emilio Pettersen (Calgary draft pick) and Nolan Walker (Undrafted) Montreal? Thanks!

 

[montreal]

What did you think of Emilio Pettersen (Calgary draft pick) and Nolan Walker (Undrafted) Montreal? Thanks!

Pettersen has been great so far, very impressed, I commented on him a few posts up. Walker seems to have found a home on the top line with Poehling, looks good.

 

[le_sean]

I’m loving how bad Wahlstrom is. f***ing Stapley is better LOL.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

I’m loving how bad Wahlstrom is. ****ing Stapley is better LOL.

Didn't WTK have him top-5?

 

[Habs Icing]

Stapley may end up being another 7th Round steal by Habs after Evans and Primeau.

And I can remember a few posters - who shall remain nameless - whining about the pick. A 7th round pick.

 

[Goldenhands]

I’m loving how bad Wahlstrom is. ****ing Stapley is better LOL.

One thing that stood out to me when I started to watch the NTDP was Wahlstrom's total lack of physicality and some floating in his game.. The kid is highly skilled but doesnt like to be hit and doesnt go in the dirty areas much, kinda reminds me of Pacioretty a bit since he also is a high volume shooter more than a pure sniper like Zadina... His puck skills are much better than Patch though...

 

[WinterLion]

Didn't WTK have him top-5?

He was very high on him, but so were many people. Wally is a goal scored... he will get hot. He is a good prospect.

 

[Harry Kakalovich]

Just went through the last few Habs draft prospects quickly

The 2018 CHL guys are all around the same points - Fonstad, Hillis, and Houde are all about even - McShane has a few less in a few less games

Ylonen and Olofsson both seem to be doing ok. Romanov is playing a bunch. Jordan Harris seems encouraging - he is playing regularly in the NCAA as an 18 year old on defense. Brett Stapley has some points for Denver, and Gorniak is playing in the lineup in Wisconsin.

I guess the guys that look the most encouraging are the 2nd rounders and Harris and Stapley but it will be interesting to follow the CHL guys through the season.

Interestingly from some of the earlier drafts the players are coming more into focus - for instance from the 2015 draft only Juulsen and Vejdemo are still prospects of any significance whatsoever, and the 2016 draft seems largely to revolve around Sergachev and Mete (not to totally throw Pezzetta and Bitten under the bus just yet, but...).

We'll see how these drafts round into form - getting 2 NHLers from a draft seems to be pretty good, and the Habs did that in 2012 with Galchenyuk and Hudon. They were unable to do that in any year from 2008-2011, using the 100 NHL games mark as a criterion. 2013 they will were able to hit on a few NHLers again, but the jury is still very much in question surrounding the 2014 draft. Will be fun to watch how it all develops!

 

[Kraken Jokes]

Looking at my list, made just before the draft, I would've taken:

3 - Kotkaniemi
35 - Addison
38 - A. Thomas
56 - Nordgren
66 - McShane*
71 - Zhuravlyov**
97 - Mascherin

*I was quite high on McShane and very surprised we got him at 97. Though he doesn't exactly look like a steal thus far.
**Zhuravlyov was my dark horse homerun pick. He's had a rough start to the 2018-2019 season... 0 points.