Draft day: move up, move down or stand pat?

[habs88]

Personally I want Drouin so I would see if I could somehow swing our (hopefully late 1st) a 2nd (ours) and a 3rd for him... That still gives us 4 picks in top 90... And Drouin...
However, I am probably alone in that.

No your not alone all year I've been Raving about drouin he has so much talent and could very well be the best player in this draft

 

[Mathradio]

Which pick in Rounds 2 and 3 would you move down in order to get a 4th-rounder or a 5th-rounder?

 

[CHwest]

If a player that is coveted is available they'll make a play, if not they won't. I think top 5 is a pipe dream, GM's don't make that trade anymore, they'd probably be fired on the spot.

 

[Blind Gardien]

Always go in with a default "stand pat" expectation. Who knows what happens on the floor. That's a TBD and a chance to earn some extra GMing stripes, but you can't plan for it.

 

[CHarlie]

Kind of a rhetorical question..............but worth discussion.

 

[Teufelsdreck]

Practically speaking, the only way to move up 15 or more positions in the draft would be to trade with one of the obviously weak teams before the season or in its earliest stages. Example: Kessel for a pick that became Seguin at #2. At that, the Bruins got extremely lucky. Did anyone really anticipate that the Leafs would finish 29th overall? It's reasonably certain that Burke wouldn't have made that trade after the Leafs' final standing was firmed up.

 

[Habtchum*]

It all depends of how good or bad the habs gonna perform in the coming Playoffs.

If they are doing well, they gonna stay pat. If they lose badly in the 1st round, then, watch out !

 

[Runner77]

MB is going to stand pat

Agreed. I wish he'd move some of our midgets for picks, but doubt it will happen. We're the only team in the NHL that values them as much. Hopefully, our draft produces otherwise.

 

[Mathradio]

We could pick at #23... but that would require several division winners to be beaten the daylights out of them in the first two rounds.

 

[WakeUpNHL]

Agreed. I wish he'd move some of our midgets for picks, but doubt it will happen. We're the only team in the NHL that values them as much. Hopefully, our draft produces otherwise.

I'd be happy if we could move Desharnais and one of our 3rd rounders for a 5th rounder from some team that would be willing.

 

[Bullsmith]

My own pick would be - Stand Pat Unless Timmins begs to move up and draft a player he loves or argues to move down because he doesn't the players at the top of his list as much as other teams do.

In other words, I don't think the draft strategy should be based on where the team's picking based on how they did last year. It should be based on the draft strategy created by the amateur scouts.

 

[Mathradio]

Now that we won the division, will that change anything to how you would do things on draft day?

I don't want the Habs to move up in the 1st round anymore.

 

[Freaky Habs Fan]

If we had the 15th pick, maybe I'd move up, but at where we'll pick, I don't think we should do anything.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

If there's a guy that people in the organization like and think they can contribute something big to the club in the future, I don't see why it'd hurt to move up a bit. Not a HUGE amount, but a few picks wouldn't hurt. We have a lot to work with. Otherwise, just stand pat.

 

[WakeUpNHL]

I think MB may trade the Habs 1st and 2nd rounder to move up in the first round and grab a player that they really covet, much like what was done to draft Tinordi.

The luxury of having 3 picks in the 25th to 36th spot, and a total of 6 picks in the first three rounds, allows the flexabilty of swapping 2 later picks for 1 earlier pick. Timmins will be rubbing his hands in glee i'm sure.

 

[Mathradio]

We can pick anywhere from #23 to #30. #23-26 depending on which divisional winners get canned in the first and second rounds, and #27-30 if we get to ECF or better. Moving up from even #23, let alone #30, isn't worth giving up more than one top-90 pick IMO.

However, picking at #23 requires not just us to be eliminated in the first two rounds, but also the Ducks, the Hawks and the Pens. If we manage to be eliminated in the first two rounds, it's likely we pick #24-26.

 

[Teufelsdreck]

There are too many variables, depending on availability and the ineeds of opposing GMs. Bergevin can't force anyone to trade down or to accept players and/or draft picks. I'd say acquiring a pick in the first 5 is unrealistic.

 

[JayKing]

Trade down if we're 25-30.

 

[Teufelsdreck]

Trade down if we're 25-30.

That depends on who might be available when the Habs' turn in the draft is getting close. I doubt the Habs would be able to trade their 25-30 pick for someone in the top 5-10. I think the best they could do is trade Calgary's or Nashville's second rounder + other assets to get a pick in the 20-30 range. Pacioretty was available at #22. The Habs traded up from their #27 pick to draft Tinordi in the low 20s. Beauilieu was a #19 pick (I'm not sure about that). So, I wouldn't automatically dismiss picks in the late first round in the rich 2013 draft.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Making the Right Decisions

It is probable that Montreal will be drafting three times between numbers 26 to 36 in the upcoming draft. This should give the team an opportunity to choose three of the following players.

Ryan Hartman, Shea Theodore, Jacob De La Rose, Kerby Rychel, Anthony Mantha, Jason Dickinson, John Hayden, JT Compher, Nicolas Petan, Samuel Morin, Michael McCarron, Andre Burakowsky, William Carrier, Ian McCoshen, Steven Santini, Madison Bowey, Dillon Heatherington Oliver Bjorkstrand; Laurent Dauphin and Tristan Jarry

If I'm wrong, and one or more of these players is chosen earlier, then there are a number of other very talented players that will be available. This is an incredibly deep draft that has strong prospects available for at least two rounds. Just reading the names and understanding their potential should make every fan very happy that the team's management didn't panic and squander these valuable assets at the trade deadline in a vain attempt to acquire the flavour of the day (toughness, defensive depth, etc.) as advocated by so many impatient fans.

Assuming that the team will not want to incur the cost of trading up in the first round, they should identify those 3 or 4 players that should be available between 26 to 36 that have, in their scouts' opinion, the greatest potential and, if necessary, use one, or both, of their 3rd round picks to be in a position to grab these identified players. To me, if they can draft 3 of Dickinson, Morin, Burakowsky, Hayden or Compher, the team will have had their best draft since 1984. And please, no unwarranted clamoring for the hometown heroes. We can ill afford another reach like Leblanc.

 

[nyhabsfan]

While we have certainly elevated our overall talent pull after the 2012 draft according to the draft pundits, we still have a lot of dead end prospects that won't see the NHL.

IMO we still have a need for overall depth:

large physical wingers
Goalie prospect (we are dangerously low)
One more large nasty physical Dman a la Tinordi

We can get rid of players that just won't make it and continue to strengthen the pipeline.

So unless Timmins and his staff see a potential home run... Stand pat and given Timmins more bullets to fire...6 in the chamber is great ...

 

[Mathradio]

Would you accept to move down in the 2nd or the 3rd round so we could get an extra 4th-rounder or 5th-rounder? (That is, assuming the Habs don't trade away all five picks in the 2nd and 3rd rounds)

 

[Mike Mike Caron]

Stand pat and just eat all the left overs.

 

[JustAHabFan]

If we trade our 1st, Calgary 2nd, and Nashville 2nd, can we get to about 10th? I really like the Habs to get either Nurse or Zadorov, and I think one of them will be available at 10th.

 

[Mathradio]

Would you pick Hagg if it fell to us at #25?