Prospect Info: Filip Mesar

[Twisted Sinister]

Good thing they didn't draft Kulich like everyone was screaming at them to do...

 

[salbutera]

I'm definitely not asking the habs to bat 1000, only saying that Mesar was a bad pick at the Time and hindsight's got nothing to do with it. He simply didn't have an argument to go ahead of a number of players.

That we picked Hutson is, of course, awesome. But the team should ask themselves why they passed on Hutson for clearly lesser players.

Then why did every other NHL team also pick “lesser players” (passing on Hutson, many multiple times)?

 

[NotProkofievian]

Then why did every other NHL team also pick “lesser players” (passing on Hutson, many multiple times)?

Probably for similar reasons we did.

Why did we rank Mesar of all players ahead of Hutson? I didn't. What was the argument?

 

[salbutera]

Probably for similar reasons we did.

Why did we rank Mesar of all players ahead of Hutson? I didn't. What was the argument?

#1 - NHL wide belief Hutson’s size would relegate him to a PP specialist, therefore not a regular 20TOI+ top-4D.

Hutson was ranked 40OA on Bobby Mac’s final list, which has been the gold standard for decades now, as it’s a survey of scouts, Slaf 1OA, Mesar 30OA (went 26OA), Beck 33OA (exact spot he was selected)

 

[Natey]

The injuries are starting to become very worrying, but this kid still has a lot of talent. Why do we write every player off immediately? I'll never understand the reasoning someone needs to hate a prospect so badly.

 

[DAChampion]

Why do we write every player off immediately?

A lot of posters are unhappy that the Habs don't have Jiri Kulich in their system.

Personally I'm not sure if the outcome of not having Kulich is worth ranting about.

 

[DAChampion]

Literally the only player in laval that has the talent to jump into a top 6 role next year

Now that Dach is out the habs will do well to give him a shot.

There's a lot of room for Mesar on the Habs if he picks up his game.

Dach, Newhook, Laine may all be gone long term. If expect 1 or 2 of them will.
On the bottom six, Evans, Dvorak, Armia, Gallagher, Anderson might all be gone within two years.

That is six or seven players out, with only three (Demidov, Beck, Kappanen) a lock to come in. Add Hage in two years I guess.

Never mind the inevitable injuries.

There is no shortage of opportunity for any forward prospect to demonstrate that they deserve a spot on this team.

Mesar needs to pick up the pace.

As do Roy, Kidney, Farrell, etc.

 

[zzoo]

Good thing they didn't draft Kulich like everyone was screaming at them to do...

May I know why we shouldn't have drafted Kulich ? Ya, I remember that a lot of us here wanted Kulich back then. My mind was on Hutson. At that time, I was upset that we didn't take Hutson in the first and early 2nd round.

 

[NotProkofievian]

#1 - NHL wide belief Hutson’s size would relegate him to a PP specialist, therefore not a regular 20TOI+ top-4D.

Hutson was ranked 40OA on Bobby Mac’s final list, which has been the gold standard for decades now, as it’s a survey of scouts, Slaf 1OA, Mesar 30OA (went 26OA), Beck 33OA (exact spot he was selected)

Right, size. It's not clear to me what Mesar was ever going to do in the NHL, and he's also small.

 

[DAChampion]

Right, size. It's not clear to me what Mesar was ever going to do in the NHL, and he's also small.

Hutson grew after the draft, which is extremely rare at that age. At the draft he was 5'7, that's a height at which nobody becomes an effective NHL damn.

Mesar is 5'9 which is not an uncommon height for offensive wingers.

 

[JIMVINNY]

Literally the only player in laval that has the talent to jump into a top 6 role next year

Now that Dach is out the habs will do well to give him a shot.

There are at LEAST half a dozen forwards I'd give NHL time to before Mesar. Dude should be be in the ECHL.

 

[Bombshell11]

There are at LEAST half a dozen forwards I'd give NHL time to before Mesar. Dude should be be in the ECHL.

Give me 1 guy

 

[JIMVINNY]

Give me 1 guy

Easy. Barre-Boulet, Dauphin, Roy, Davidson, Farrell, Xhekaj. Mesar and his 1 point over his last 11 games shouldn't see another minute of AHL time. Dude is a total bust. He hasn't shown anything to deserve AHL top 6 minutes, never mind NHL top 6.

 

[DAChampion]

Easy. Barre-Boulet, Dauphin, Roy, Davidson, Farrell, Xhekaj. Mesar and his 1 point over his last 11 games shouldn't see another minute of AHL time. Dude is a total bust. He hasn't shown anything to deserve AHL top 6 minutes, never mind NHL top 6.

What's the purpose of trolling like this?

Barre-Boulet is a 27 year old professional AHLer. At Mesar's age was an overeager in the Q. He gets his points by being on the top lines and PP units. Similarly with Dauphin.

They deserve brief call ups in the sense that it may be a good managerial move to occasionally reward AHL vets with brief call ups. There's an argument for that, sure.

I do think that Roy and Davidson are the most likely and most reasonable call ups.

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

What's the purpose of trolling like this?

Barre-Boulet is a 27 year old professional AHLer. At Mesar's age was an overeager in the Q. He gets his points by being on the top lines and PP units. Similarly with Dauphin.

They deserve brief call ups in the sense that it may be a good managerial move to occasionally reward AHL vets with brief call ups. There's an argument for that, sure.

I do think that Roy and Davidson are the most likely and most reasonable call ups.

Farrell, if he plays like he is currently, and Xhekaj if he keeps improving are ahead of Mesar. That could change if Mesar can stay healthy and put up some points. And, yes, next up should be Roy and Davidson.

 

[Bombshell11]

Easy. Barre-Boulet, Dauphin, Roy, Davidson, Farrell, Xhekaj. Mesar and his 1 point over his last 11 games shouldn't see another minute of AHL time. Dude is a total bust. He hasn't shown anything to deserve AHL top 6 minutes, never mind NHL top 6.

ok

 

[NotProkofievian]

Hutson grew after the draft, which is extremely rare at that age. At the draft he was 5'7, that's a height at which nobody becomes an effective NHL damn.

Mesar is 5'9 which is not an uncommon height for offensive wingers.

What is relatively uncommon is small offensive wingers with a low NHLe going on to Be anything.

 

[bleuetbio]

Again, we wait to much to trade a prospect. This guy worths probably nothing now.

 

[JIMVINNY]

What's the purpose of trolling like this?

Barre-Boulet is a 27 year old professional AHLer. At Mesar's age was an overeager in the Q. He gets his points by being on the top lines and PP units. Similarly with Dauphin.

They deserve brief call ups in the sense that it may be a good managerial move to occasionally reward AHL vets with brief call ups. There's an argument for that, sure.

I do think that Roy and Davidson are the most likely and most reasonable call ups.

It's not trolling. The point is that if we need to call someone up to fill in, Barre-Boulet and Dauphin have both demonstrated that they're capable of playing 8-10 minutes at the NHL level. They won't ever be full time NHL'ers, but at least we know they're capable of playing up. Mesar has been so bad at the AHL level, how could you possibly justify even giving him a shot? He's shown nothing that would suggest he could even fill in.

 

[HuGort]

seems like it could be another wasted pick

I'll go to my grave and never understand this pick. With so much talent available? Can you imagine Kulich now, with Habs looking for offensive center. Had 12 goals in half a season. or Chesley as right D depth. Minton has bottom six center?

Mesar is small, soft and a winger? It's last piece we need. The only thing I can use to justify it Mesar is Slaf best friend. There is no other reason. Had to be

 

[WeThreeKings]

Again, we wait to much to trade a prospect. This guy worths probably nothing now.

Because rebuilding teams don't just trade away prospects the second there is an issue and actually wait to see them develop. It's also super super uncommon for a team in the infancy of it's rebuild to go out there and start trading their top drafted prospects away.

I'll go to my grave and never understand this pick. With so much talent available? Can you imagine Kulich now, with Habs looking for offensive center. Had 12 goals in half a season. or Chesley as right D depth. Minton has bottom six center?

Mesar is small, soft and a winger? It's last piece we need. The only thing I can use to justify it Mesar is Slaf best friend. There is no other reason. Had to be

It's an easy pick to understand. It's late 1st round. He's a dynamic skater with high end playmaking ability and an ability to transition the puck with smarts and great hands. They were hoping he would develop more of an inside game and he hasn't. Now he's ran into injury troubles in his first AHL season making the transition a bit harder for him.

Kulich isn't a center, so I don't see how that matters at all. Kulich, at best, is what Heineman is now. So it's hardly anything we need to spill milk over.

At the time we drafted Mesar, our pool was pretty light on players who had top 6 upside. They did what everyone on this board has asked them to do for 2 decades now, and that's swing of offensive potential with late first round picks. Just because this particular one doesn't seem to be working out (most late first round picks DON'T become top 6 players), doesn't mean it wasn't the right thing to do. Mesar has a ton of talent, but the case with most later picked offensive talents, they have warts, and things they need to improve on to actually be a top 6 in the NHL.

 

[WinterLion]

He just turned 21. This is his first pro season. Definitely not looking good right now, but it is not impossible for him to turn it around. I just hope the work ethic is there to get through this. That will be the most important factor. The skill is there.

 

[badfish]

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from being on this site for over 20 years, it’s that fixating on individual draft misses will drive you crazy - exception being when you’re picking at the very top, where every selection carries extra weight. Instead, it makes more sense to view draft picks as a portfolio. Just like in investing, not every pick will pay off, but what matters is the overall success rate.

Take Bergevin’s tenure, for example. The issue wasn’t just a few misses; it was that the draft consistently failed to produce impact players, leaving the team without a steady influx of young talent. In contrast, the current management team appears to be building a much healthier draft portfolio. Slafkovský and Hutson are already contributing (and look like top of lineup players for the future) Beck has a real shot, and while Mesar might not pan out, that’s the nature of drafting. You don’t need every pick to hit—you just need enough of them to contribute to a strong talent pipeline.

 

[WeThreeKings]

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from being on this site for over 20 years, it’s that fixating on individual draft misses will drive you crazy - exception being when you’re picking at the very top, where every selection carries extra weight. Instead, it makes more sense to view draft picks as a portfolio. Just like in investing, not every pick will pay off, but what matters is the overall success rate.

Take Bergevin’s tenure, for example. The issue wasn’t just a few misses; it was that the draft consistently failed to produce impact players, leaving the team without a steady influx of young talent. In contrast, the current management team appears to be building a much healthier draft portfolio. Slafkovský and Hutson are already contributing (and look like top of lineup players for the future) Beck has a real shot, and while Mesar might not pan out, that’s the nature of drafting. You don’t need every pick to hit—you just need enough of them to contribute to a strong talent pipeline.

Great post.

Even with JUST Slafkovsky and Hutson, the 2022 draft is a resounding success.

Beck looks likely to hit as a quality bottom 6 NHLer.

On top of that, Davidson has a real shot to contribute as a bottom 6 winger with some jam and pop in his shot.
Engstrom looks like he has a path to a 4-7 on defense.
Rohrer has done very well in the NLA and could also be a middle to bottom 6 winger.

It was a very good draft and Mesar was a completely acceptable swing to take with a late 20s pick in that draft. Nobody ever hits on all their picks in a class and even the best scouting teams often draft busts ahead of superstars.

Obsessing over the one pick that is off track compared to the 3 that are, in the first two rounds, is just getting worked up for the sake of getting worked up and doesn't sit in the realm of realism, either.

 

[26Mats]

Great post.

Even with JUST Slafkovsky and Hutson, the 2022 draft is a resounding success.

Beck looks likely to hit as a quality bottom 6 NHLer.

On top of that, Davidson has a real shot to contribute as a bottom 6 winger with some jam and pop in his shot.
Engstrom looks like he has a path to a 4-7 on defense.
Rohrer has done very well in the NLA and could also be a middle to bottom 6 winger.

It was a very good draft and Mesar was a completely acceptable swing to take with a late 20s pick in that draft. Nobody ever hits on all their picks in a class and even the best scouting teams often draft busts ahead of superstars.

Obsessing over the one pick that is off track compared to the 3 that are, in the first two rounds, is just getting worked up for the sake of getting worked up and doesn't sit in the realm of realism, either.

Agree with this.

We all can have our ot peeves about a certain pick, however irrational and uncalled for. Mine is Cole Hutson. I don't scout enough to know if he'll be close to his brother at the NHL level. But if he is, we of all teams should have known to go get another 2nd round pick and draft him..Rumor is Washington offered a 2nd for Evan's. At the end of the day, what's better than Lane Hutson playing 25 minutes a night for the next 15 years? A Hutson brother on the ice 50 minutes a night! And if it didn't workout having both of them, he'd be a great asset to try and get that hard to get top six center...