Prospect Info: Filip Mesar

[ReHabs]

IMO at the time of the draft Kulich was way, way ahead of Mesar. Kulich was a top 20 guy, Mesar was an early 2nd rounder.

Hughes, by virtue of being the GM of the Habs, was the smartest guy in the room. You shouldn’t second guess him.

I jest.

If Mešar turns his fortunes around this year, it will go a long way in putting him back on the NHL trajectory. He might take longer but I think his upside is interesting enough. He can be an x-factor for a roster, the kind of unheralded skilled player who sneaks in and contributes points and skillful play. He has that upside.

Let’s hope KPI Nicholas know what to do to work on him.

 

[RationalExpectations]

IMO at the time of the draft Kulich was way, way ahead of Mesar. Kulich was a top 20 guy, Mesar was an early 2nd rounder.

I had both top 20, edge for Kulich was that he is a center and a sniper while Mesar is a winger and more of a playmaker. Both had top 6 potential.

 

[NotProkofievian]

I had both top 20, edge for Kulich was that he is a center and a sniper while Mesar is a winger and more of a playmaker. Both had top 6 potential.

You live and you learn I guess.

 

[ReHabs]

You live and you learn I guess.

The sooner we have the new regime's hit-rate% with prospects the sooner the discourse around the team will get settled and standardised. Not that it matters but at least we'll know what we're working with. The tanking/rebuilding is over as of this season anyway. These guys have to prove they can build and that means inserting talent into the team. Bergevin was rubbish at that.

So far the statistic is TBD or N/A but very quickly, even by mid-season, we'll know if our HuGo-era prospects are largely on track or off track.

 

[MadMslm]

1st round draft pick, dominated last year at camp, you gotta give him the benefit of the doubt.

I don’t remember him dominating anything. He had good moments and did look good, but far from dominating.

He’s probably the only disappointment of that 2022 class. Everyone else the Habs drafted ended up trending in the right direction after a year.

Hopefully he can get back on track and prove he belongs. His performance in the first two games was not an indication of that.

 

[RationalExpectations]

You live and you learn I guess.

Well the firat thing I have learnt is not to give up on a prospect after a few seasons or not to get overly excited because a prospect has a great junior career ahah

If a redraft would occur now I would definitely have Kulich higher and Mesar lower than on draft day but it does not mean I know for sure what will happen next.

 

[ReHabs]

He’s probably the only disappointment of that 2022 class. Everyone else the Habs drafted ended up trending in the right direction after a year.

There's a certain 1OA you're forgetting.

 

[RationalExpectations]

The sooner we have the new regime's hit-rate% with prospects the sooner the discourse around the team will get settled and standardised. Not that it matters but at least we'll know what we're working with. The tanking/rebuilding is over as of this season anyway. These guys have to prove they can build and that means inserting talent into the team. Bergevin was rubbish at that.

So far the statistic is TBD or N/A but very quickly, even by mid-season, we'll know if our HuGo-era prospects are largely on track or off track.

I think we must be patient. Remember the Sedin brothers ? 1.5 year is very early to draw any conclusion and everybody here knows how I feel about Slaf as 1OA

 

[ReHabs]

I think we must be patient. Remember the Sedin brothers ? 1.5 year is very early to draw any conclusion and everybody here knows how I feel about Slaf as 1OA

That's fair enough. I'm actually not so down on Mesar. Even with Slafkovsky I just didn't want him in the NHL because nothing he did indicated NHL-readiness and sure enough he wasn't NHL ready. Their futures are in their hands, nothing is set in stone. They're still teenagers.

Patience to see the results (neutral) = good.
Patience in order to defer to management (ie "things are good unless they're proven to be bad, so you're a bad fan if you don't praise the management now") = not good.

 

[MadMslm]

The sooner we have the new regime's hit-rate% with prospects the sooner the discourse around the team will get settled and standardised. Not that it matters but at least we'll know what we're working with. The tanking/rebuilding is over as of this season anyway. These guys have to prove they can build and that means inserting talent into the team. Bergevin was rubbish at that.

So far the statistic is TBD or N/A but very quickly, even by mid-season, we'll know if our HuGo-era prospects are largely on track or off track.

Criticism is definitely on the way for the Gorton/Hughes era.

I doubt this team does better than bottom 10 in the league and as proven by most teams rebuilding, the process can be extremely long and painful. Progression won’t be linear, they could show some progress before regressing the year after.

There's a certain 1OA you're forgetting.

I was this close to include him, because I knew you’d mention it.

Difference is Slafkovski played in the best league in the world, while at a level Mesar should dominate his performance was rather poor.

But yeah, I can understand the disappointment towards Slafkovsky.

 

[ReHabs]

Criticism is definitely on the way for the Gorton/Hughes era.

I doubt this team does better than bottom 10 in the league and as proven by most teams rebuilding, the process can be extremely long and painful. Progression won’t be linear, they could show some progress before regressing the year after.

The longer the process goes, the worse the odds of ever reverting to winning become. See Edmonton and Buffalo... and they both had prospects much better than the ones the Habs picked up in their tank so far.

I was this close to include him, because I knew you’d mention it.

Difference is Slafkovski played in the best league in the world, while at a level Mesar should dominate his performance was rather poor.

But yeah, I can understand the disappointment towards Slafkovsky.

Slafkovsky didn't show progress in his D+1 year, in fact he had a terrible season and a season-ending injury to boot, so he should've been named alongside Mesar as two players who struggled after the 2022 draft.

 

[SlafySZN]

Mesar.

 

[MadMslm]

The longer the process goes, the worse the odds of ever reverting to winning become. See Edmonton and Buffalo... and they both had prospects much better than the ones the Habs picked up in their tank so far.

Absolutely. It will only get harder as time goes on.

Both of those teams went with a different approach. Buffalo tried to steamroll the rebuild by signing some free agents to big contracts and Edmonton stripped any veterans presence off the team leaving their young players to fend for themselves.

Buffalo hasn’t made the playoffs in the last 12 years. Ottawa is at 6 years and counting, Detroit at 7 years, the Ducks are on a 5 years drought and most of the other meddling teams are saved by Covid’s playoff rule that save them from being higher on the list.

We’ll see how Hugo navigates that situation, but most people on this board have that “magical” thought that we will make the playoffs soon, which is not guaranteed.

Slafkovsky didn't show progress in his D+1 year, in fact he had a terrible season and a season-ending injury to boot, so he should've been named alongside Mesar as two players who struggled after the 2022 draft.

Fair enough, as I said, I can understand why some are disappointed in Slafkovsky’s season.

He had 10 points in 20 games and then his game completely fell off. It was a rough season for a 19 years old in the best league in the world.

 

[ReHabs]

We’ll see how Hugo navigates that situation, but most people on this board have that “magical” thought that we will make the playoffs soon, which is not guaranteed.

I was one arguing to a quick-rebuild because I didn't want to end up like the loser-stink teams. I was mistaken, this team is too lacking in skill to get back to even 50th percentile. It's going to be painful and made even more painful by HuGo's so far inability to acquire talent. Hopefully they get moving, and fast. If Mesar or someone manages to surprise it'll go a long way.

Fair enough, as I said, I can understand why some are disappointed in Slafkovsky’s season.

He had 10 points in 20 games and then his game completely fell off. It was a rough season for a 19 years old in the best league in the world.

Slafkovsky had 10 points in 39 games, you cannot just cut out half the games he played. He played some of the highest TOI in those later games due to injuries suffered by the Habs roster and he failed to contribute or capitalize on the opportunities. His season was extremely bad but the analysis of the badness was minimized to protect him and HuGo's ego both.

We'll see if this year will show a change of fate for both our Slovak players but to suggest he didn't have an extremely disappointing season is silly... he had the worst rookie season of a 1OA in over two decades.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

How is Busar doing lately? I see 0 positivity from this guy from habs fans around the internet or irl.

Don'T know why we struggle so much picking in the first round

 

[RationalExpectations]

The longer the process goes, the worse the odds of ever reverting to winning become. See Edmonton and Buffalo... and they both had prospects much better than the ones the Habs picked up in their tank so far.

That s why I like the Dach and Newhook trade, as well as trading Petry and Edmunson to make room for Harris / Xhekaj / Barron, the goal is to try to shorten that rebuild as much as possible.

 

[RationalExpectations]

How is Busar doing lately? I see 0 positivity from this guy from habs fans around the internet or irl.

Don'T know why we struggle so much picking in the first round

Positivity is rare when the bust ratio has been so high over the past years.
That being said, the main issue with Mesar right now is that he still plays an East West rather than a North South type of game in my opinion. The other issue is that he is too passive with Dmen not doing the transition job for him properly and him trying too hard to carry the puck (typical Euro style).

I think the year in OHL was a waste given hoe the kitcheners had been doing. He was close to a PPG so not great but not bad either but he did not adapt the way he played which will be his main challenge. I personnally wanted him to play 3 years in the AHL, evolving from 3rd line to 1st line roles and having a first NHL appearance in D+4. So I have not given up on him but he is not trending in the right direction in my opinion.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Positivity is rare when the bust ratio has been so high over the past years.
That being said, the main issue with Mesar right now is that he still plays an East West rather than a North South type of game in my opinion. The other issue is that he is too passive with Dmen not doing the transition job for him properly and him trying too hard to carry the puck (typical Euro style).

I think the year in OHL was a waste given hoe the kitcheners had been doing. He was close to a PPG so not great but not bad either but he did not adapt the way he played which will be his main challenge. I personnally wanted him to play 3 years in the AHL, evolving from 3rd line to 1st line roles and having a first NHL appearance in D+4. So I have not given up on him but he is not trending in the right direction in my opinion.

He is way too perimeter and needs to threaten seams with speed and attack the middle more often.

 

[WeThreeKings]

The expectation here is also that any team would hit on every pick they had.

If Mesar is the disappointment but Slafkovsky, Beck, Engstrom and Hutson are all key parts of our team going forward, are we still gonna be whining? That type of hit rate in a single draft would be unprecedented.

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

The sooner we have the new regime's hit-rate% with prospects the sooner the discourse around the team will get settled and standardised. Not that it matters but at least we'll know what we're working with. The tanking/rebuilding is over as of this season anyway. These guys have to prove they can build and that means inserting talent into the team. Bergevin was rubbish at that.

So far the statistic is TBD or N/A but very quickly, even by mid-season, we'll know if our HuGo-era prospects are largely on track or off track.

It will be at least 3 years before we can actually give a realistic grade of the rebuild.

 

[Hins77]

Jordan Dumais put 6 points against little red wings. Im not pro Dumais, but at least, if you are going to pick a small guy, pick the one who destroy the league. Mesar… I never understood the pick since day 1

 

[Ezpz]

The expectation here is also that any team would hit on every pick they had.

If Mesar is the disappointment but Slafkovsky, Beck, Engstrom and Hutson are all key parts of our team going forward, are we still gonna be whining? That type of hit rate in a single draft would be unprecedented.

While this is true, some were disappointed with the Mesar pick pretty immediately as they felt there were better, bigger, or smarter players who could fill the same role, as well as others if they didn't pan out (I saw many clamoring for Kulich and Lambert, as well as Beck and Hutson who we got anyways). Mesar is and always was top 6 or bust. Hoping he can be developed properly now, from what I hear Kitchener has a good coach this year.

I am not upset about taking Mesar, but I am not happy with his development and can easily look at Kulich and feel regret on behalf of the organization. This is because I want to watch the Habs win a cup, I was an infant the last time and didn't even care about hockey at that point. I think the Tampa series hurt more than watching any losing season we had. I was not a fan of Bergevin before that but knowing that a few different choices could have won us a cup irritates me. I don't want to see Hughes be another Bergevin.

I have been watching loser Habs teams my entire hockey-watching life. I saw Koivu play at least a decade without a winger, I saw Price play without a team. So I am very critical of the organization's mistakes now, particularly if we see a pattern. For me first round choices should not be safe picks but not be low upside either, I don't think Mesar is a high upside pick or a safe pick. I won't lament another team getting a star in the 6th round after we've picked some goober. Every team in the draft passed on Hornqvist at one point with every single pick they had, including Nashville.

Anyways, what else is this board for than to lament the mistakes of the organization? We can't really have a circlejerk thread about how much we love the Suzuki trade. What more can be added to that conversation? "I love the Nick Suzuki trade," "No I love it more.". The end. We also don't have any insight to what the staff is doing in terms of development except for a few choice clips they send out about working with Slaf. So what can we discuss in an entirely positive context when ninety percent of what we're discussing is speculative (particularly in the off-season where we can't even discuss games)?

 

[DAChampion]

1st round draft pick, dominated last year at camp, you gotta give him the benefit of the doubt.

Agreed.

Yeah pretty much.

The tanking/rebuilding is over as of this season anyway.

Depends on the team's health and even then on lottery luck. I can see the Habs both getting another high pick this year and accumulating additional picks at the deadline, but probably not both as the two are anti-correlated.

 

[Skip Bayless]

How is Busar doing lately? I see 0 positivity from this guy from habs fans around the internet or irl.

Don'T know why we struggle so much picking in the first round

Mesar is a very Timmins-esque pick.

No standout skills, just a young kid who played pro hockey in his country and that's jerk off material for some scouts.

I'm still gonna give him time before calling him a bust, but the vibes are not good so far. And we all know how much I value the vibes.

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

The longer the process goes, the worse the odds of ever reverting to winning become. See Edmonton and Buffalo... and they both had prospects much better than the ones the Habs picked up in their tank so far.


Slafkovsky didn't show progress in his D+1 year, in fact he had a terrible season and a season-ending injury to boot, so he should've been named alongside Mesar as two players who struggled after the 2022 draft.

Edmonton and Buffalo both had imbecile GM's. Hughes is definitely NOT an imbecile (see Monahan trade). Hughes will be able to navigate the cap. Trades have been very good. Drafting is the unknown. Hopefully they have hit on enough picks to fill out the roster.