Prospect Info: Draft 2025 Habs you're on the clock

[ChesterNimitz]

I really don t get the excitement around Aitcheson. He is quite big tough with a big shot but also one of the oldest players of this draft so that gives him a bit of an edge in all those dimensions. I am Not overly impressed with puck moving abilities or with the defensive IQ from what I Read / highlights.

Your concerns are accurate. His strength and shot allow him to shine playing against teens. His lack of mobility makes him look like a career AHLer. We have to stop our penchant for drafting players who we hope develop NHL level skating.

If however, Hensler( who already has high NHL level skating ability) is available and we don’t take him, we should really start to question the insight of our scouting staff. In fact, Hensler is one of the very few players that I would be in favour of moving up for.

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

If we didn't have Laine, we probably would wondering who we would take at 10 or 11th position.

 

[Zilo44]

If we didn't have Laine, we probably would wondering who we would take at 10 or 11th position.

Playoff experience for the youth >> 6 slots in the tens

 

[WeThreeKings]

Playoff experience for the youth >> 6 slots in the tens

Sometimes this isn't true..but in this draft, it's especially true.

 

[RationalExpectations]

Your concerns are accurate. His strength and shot allow him to shine playing against teens. His lack of mobility makes him look like a career AHLer. We have to stop our penchant for drafting players who we hope develop NHL level skating.

If however, Hensler( who already has high NHL level skating ability) is available and we don’t take him, we should really start to question the insight of our scouting staff. In fact, Hensler is one of the very few players that I would be in favour of moving up for.

I think we have the same read on that : Hensler seems like a superior player to me too and I would not mind him at all with one of the firsts.

 

[Runner77]

And as has been reported earlier:

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

Playoff experience for the youth >> 6 slots in the tens

The playoff experience is overated. It lasted 5 games.

 

[Zilo44]

The playoff experience is overated. It lasted 5 games.

Nope it lasted 30 something games if you take into account playing meaningful hockey until game 82.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

I think we have the same read on that : Hensler seems like a superior player to me too and I would not mind him at all with one of the firsts.

Regrettably, unless we move up, Hensler won’t be there at 16 OA. This kid already has size and NHL speed. Why in heaven’s name would anyone be fixated on a player(s) who have size but lack NHL speed?

 

[Scriptor]

Can we package our 2nd round picks and the earliest third rounder for #22, ranking where might be able to select Fiddler?

That way, we could perhaps select a higher risk, high reward C prospect like Ryabkin and both Hensler and Fiddler at RD?

16th OA = Hensler
17th OA = Ryabkin
22nd OA = Fiddler

 

[Redux91]

The playoff experience is overated. It lasted 5 games.

So so so wrong

You're just one of those 'need to draft top 10 every year' people, basically just want to be the sabers

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

Nope it lasted 30 something games if you take into account playing meaningful hockey until game 82.

They were so tired and injured they didn't played for their country in the Worlds tournament. No Suzuki for Canada, no Caufield and Hutson for USA. But Crosby, McKinnon and Danault were there. This Habs team have a long long way before they can be considered Cup Contenders I have to say. They still need help from the draft or someone from a trade or a good ufa signing. The day of the draft remember that we could had the 10th pick instead of the 16th. If you say 10th or 16th is about the same, I don't know what to say bro.

 

[Nico Cauzuki]

The playoff experience is overated. It lasted 5 games.

 

[Shutdown]

They were so tired and injured they didn't played for their country in the Worlds tournament. No Suzuki for Canada, no Caufield and Hutson for USA. But Crosby, McKinnon and Danault were there. This Habs team have a long long way before they can be considered Cup Contenders I have to say. They still need help from the draft or someone from a trade or a good ufa signing. The day of the draft remember that we could had the 10th pick instead of the 16th. If you say 10th or 16th is about the same, I don't know what to say bro.

yeah they should have taken it easy to play in the revered world hockey championships

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

So so so wrong

You're just one of those 'need to draft top 10 every year' people, basically just want to be the sabers

Who helped that team to make the PO and who played well into that short PO time?
Kapanen, Slaf, Demidov and Beck?
Or
Evans, Dvorak, Anderson and Gallagher?

We are talking about young players getting good experience there. We already knew how good Hutson, CC and Suzuki are. We expected the young players to improve and gain experience from a PO run and the run before that. Good. But good to a certain degree we overate that experience. We were wipe out fast in 5 games vs a team who was wipe out in 4 games by a team who was wipe out in 4 games.

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

yeah they should have taken it easy to play in the revered world hockey championships

Suzuki could had the opportunity to play along with Crosby, McKinnon and Danault but he wasn't there. Caufield and Hutson with the US team but they were not there.

 

[WeThreeKings]

The playoff experience is overated. It lasted 5 games.

It's not at all.. even Demidov has remarked to Gritsyuk the lessons he learned from the Capitals series. It was vital.

We literally got to play meaningful hockey all year, got the playoff experience, got Demidov more NHL games and the only difference is instead of being able to draft Radim Mrtka we can draft Carter Bear. The top end of the draft is not 10 deep, it's literally 6-7 players deep. They were not gonna draft in that range.

Can we package our 2nd round picks and the earliest third rounder for #22, ranking where might be able to select Fiddler?

That way, we could perhaps select a higher risk, high reward C prospect like Ryabkin and both Hensler and Fiddler at RD?

16th OA = Hensler
17th OA = Ryabkin
22nd OA = Fiddler

You'd probably have to trade both 2nds to get into the early 20s considering where our 2nds sit. You might find a team that would do it for the Pit 2nd and two of our 3rds.

 

[Michoulicious]

Big, mobile RHDs... Gorton/Bobrov liked to pick those in the mid 1st when they were with the NYR and it served them well (Schneider, Miller...)

Blake Fiddler fits the bill.

Is he physical enough? I like that he was a captain with the National U18 team.

I think him or Hensler gets picked by the Habs.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Big, mobile RHDs... Gorton/Bobrov liked to pick those in the mid 1st when they were with the NYR and it served them well (Schneider, Miller...)

Blake Fiddler fits the bill.

Is he physical enough? I like that he was a captain with the National U18 team.

I think him or Hensler gets picked by the Habs.

Hopefully Fiddler.. He's got more room to hit his upside where Hensler has been shrinking his upside every year.

 

[DemidovSZN]

https://www.tvasports.ca/2025/06/02/sans-surprise-le-ch-a-suivi-de-pres-carter-bear?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwKqnklleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHorWajxYRBSB086oJtF1iN9elayTkXG0sYm9ckEj4RtYmvZ95GayyVLWmzPi_aem_w8TSQScYiKT5ZMe1_I391A

 

[RationalExpectations]

Regrettably, unless we move up, Hensler won’t be there at 16 OA. This kid already has size and NHL speed. Why in heaven’s name would anyone be fixated on a player(s) who have size but lack NHL speed?

Let us see where he ends up. Drafting is skewed towards players with a lot of points so maybe he will get to 16 because of his low production this year

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

The playoff experience is overated. It lasted 5 games.

I strongly disagree.

Those 5 games will be absolutely huge the next time this group makes the playoffs. Much like AHLers get called up to the NHL so that they can get a feel for what they need to work on to get to the next level, the playoffs do the same thing for NHLers who have never experienced the next level after an NHL regular season. The playoffs also serve as a lesson why certain styles of play that younger players might be clinging to from their junior days do not translate in to success in the NHL. Sometimes they need to experience it instead of being told it and will adjust their game accordingly in future seasons. That already happens to some degree at every level after turning pro but this is the final level and the level where every move is most magnified and scrutinized.

The expectation never was that they would need to win a round, it was that they would gain experience that is impossible to teach as you can't just promote your NHL players to the playoffs in order to get that. If they didn't already understand the importance of sleep, training and diet it would be driven home by playoff hockey and should pound home the need for them to make as many gains as possibly during the off season.

 

[Scriptor]

Regrettably, unless we move up, Hensler won’t be there at 16 OA.

Maybe, maybe not. Some mock drafts have him ranked precisely at 16th.

I'd rather move up for Lakovic than Hensler, if we're going that way. There's more risk involved with Lakovic, but his upside is that of a game-breaking talent. We could also fall back on Fiddler if we don't land Hensler. Fiddler, anyhow, may well end up being more valuable than Hensler at the NHL level.

Big, mobile RHDs... Gorton/Bobrov liked to pick those in the mid 1st when they were with the NYR and it served them well (Schneider, Miller...)

Blake Fiddler fits the bill.

Is he physical enough? I like that he was a captain with the National U18 team.

I think him or Hensler gets picked by the Habs.

Maybe both?

 

[Scriptor]

I strongly disagree.

Those 5 games will be absolutely huge the next time this group makes the playoffs. Much like AHLers get called up to the NHL so that they can get a feel for what they need to work on to get to the next level, the playoffs do the same thing for NHLers who have never experienced the next level after an NHL regular season. The playoffs also serve as a lesson why certain styles of play that younger players might be clinging to from their junior days do not translate in to success in the NHL. Sometimes they need to experience it instead of being told it and will adjust their game accordingly in future seasons. That already happens to some degree at every level after turning pro but this is the final level and the level where every move is most magnified and scrutinized.

The expectation never was that they would need to win a round, it was that they would gain experience that is impossible to teach as you can't just promote your NHL players to the playoffs in order to get that. If they didn't already understand the importance of sleep, training and diet it would be driven home by playoff hockey and should pound home the need for them to make as many gains as possibly during the off season.

Plus, it's been shown that learning what losing is generally helps build a winner.

Dynasty teams often experience bitter losses before winning and starting their dynasties.

 

[Michoulicious]

Maybe, maybe not. Some mock drafts have him ranked precisely at 16th.

I'd rather move up for Lakovic than Hensler, if we're going that way. There's more risk involved with Lakovic, but his upside is that of a game-breaking talent. We could also fall back on Fiddler if we don't land Hensler. Fiddler, anyhow, may well end up being more valuable than Hensler at the NHL level.

Maybe both?

I doubt we keep both picks.