HF Habs: Out of Town Thread: 2024-2025 season

[waitin425]

One does not need to smear a teenager to justify picking another teenager with the 5OA?

What if the reason the Habs picks Slafkovsky, Reinbacher, and Demidov was because they preferred them to alternatives available at that time? Could that be something? Or did Slafkovsky conspire to be picked by the Habs, Reinbacher commit skullduggery to induce his draft order, and Demidov straight up hypnotise teams pickding 2-4 in order to ensure his landing on the Habs?

Did Lane Hutson threaten other teams with a sit-out in order to secure his spot to the Habs?

I'm just asking questions... maybe in some years we'll know the "REAL" reason... much to think about...


By dimwit liars who have zero evidence, yes.

Players don't choose where they're drafted. That's why it's a draft. That's why the worst team picks the best prospect. You think any teenager wants to play in Winnipeg or Buffalo instead of New York or Florida? You think Adam Fantilli wanted to play in Columbus instead of Anaheim?

Maybe we will, maybe we won't. At the end of the day, it no longer matters. Michkov is an immensely talented prospect. But, he is not our prospect.

I like the build of our team, but again, only time will tell if we made all the right calls over the past 3 drafts.

 

[nhlfan9191]

No it hasn't. Nothing has been reported.

Nobody has proven or justified or provided evidence of "Michkov made sure to end up in Philly". Praising Philly for their ability to deal with KHL or Russian players is a completely different topic. This is something the Habs have to improve too, because Russian players are undervalued in the NHL. But it has nothing to do with Michkov's so-called "preferences" -- Michkov could've been picked by Arizona and he would've had no way to prevent it. Just like Tom Brady was drafted by the Expos.

Sure -- the Habs preferred Reinbacher and therefore picked him. No mystery, no geopolitics, no psychoanalysis necessary.

Maybe other teams would have preferred Reinbacher at 5OA as well, but we'll never know because it was the Habs who picked Reinbacher over Michkov. That's what happened.

I think Arizona not taking Michkov even as trade bait is pretty telling of what was happening with him. He was treating draft interviews like he was a UFA. Teams were seeing something they didn’t like and we weren’t the only team seeing it.

 

[ReHabs]

Maybe we will, maybe we won't. At the end of the day, it no longer matters. Michkov is an immensely talented prospect. But, he is not our prospect.

I like the build of our team, but again, only time will tell if we made all the right calls over the past 3 drafts.

Agreed. However, I'm always going to push back on the smears against the character of otherwise innocent teenagers. The things said about Michkov and his family, while he was grieving his father's death no less, was beneath contempt.

I think Arizona not taking Michkov even as trade bait is pretty telling of what was happening with him. He was treating draft interviews like he was a UFA. Teams were seeing something they didn’t like and we weren’t the only team seeing it.

Arizona had Cooley and Keller in their organization, Michkov was not a fit for them whatsoever. I don't think we need to speculate on or fabricate things like "he was treating draft interviews like he was a UFA". My feeling is... what's the point?

Why can't we accept that the Habs preferred Reinbacher? Are we meant to be so down on our own prospect that the only reason we can think he was picked was because the other guy was a piece of shit? Does Reinbacher not have virtues and values of his own? It doesn't add up.

 

[Cubebrick]

No it hasn't. Nothing has been reported.

Yes, reported by Friedman on his own podcast more than once.

Now you can choose to refute his claims all you want, I don't know what to tell you...

And anyway, quite frankly, I don't even mind Michkov wanting to go to a specific team. Like Friedman said, Philly has a skill when it comes to dealing with Russians. I don't think it's far-fetched to believe that it could've swayed in their favor as the environment could provide a sense of safety for the kid that leaves his home country under the current tense climate. And I have a lot more respect for a player who chooses where he wants to go prior to the draft than act like the Gauthiers and McGroartys of this World and screw their team over and put everyone in a shitty situation.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

So what? I presume he met with a lot of teams. Doesn't mean anything. He could have told them he wouldn't sign with them.

 

[Zam Boni]

European players don't dream about winning the cup growing up because games aren't accessible. No five year old German is watching the NHL at 3AM. They care about national team and money. Edmonton gave money. Tons of it.

I think Mcdavid walks if they miss playoffs this year.

Naah, don't know about German kids but among Swedes, NHL and Stanley Cup is #1 without a doubt. SEL and the national team is a stepping stone on the way, best on best tournaments such as Olympics or World Cup matters but I believe most kids recognize that a SC is the biggest challange and trophy in hockey.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

No point watching the Oilers game. the fix is in. Allow a goal where there WAS goalie interference and disallow an Oiler goal where there wasn't.

They won in OT. Both teams Ds are terrible, though.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

You think he met with us for fun?

It would be easy for management to say he didn’t want to play here if that was the case.

I mean he met with Arizona just to tell them he didn't want to play there, which is why they went with another Russian. I mean, come on, he wasn't even the 1st Russian drafted! Lol

Arizona was really open about that post-draft, too.

 

[morhilane]

I was and am a big Michkov fan but holy smokes that's awful. I can't image Torts will be happy.

Torts said they wanted Michkov to cheat all the team, which is a very un-Torts like thing, so looks like Torts's hands are tied when it comes to Michkov.

 

[ReHabs]

Yes, reported by Friedman on his own podcast more than once.

Now you can choose to refute his claims all you want, I don't know what to tell you...

And anyway, quite frankly, I don't even mind Michkov wanting to go to a specific team. Like Friedman said, Philly has a skill when it comes to dealing with Russians. I don't think it's far-fetched to believe that it could've swayed in their favor as the environment could provide a sense of safety for the kid that leaves his home country under the current tense climate. And I have a lot more respect for a player who chooses where he wants to go prior to the draft than act like the Gauthiers and McGroartys of this World and screw their team over and put everyone in a shitty situation.

What was reported?

You guys keep making wild assertions. Provide the evidence.

I mean he met with Arizona just to tell them he didn't want to play there, which is why they went with another Russian. I mean, come on, he wasn't even the 1st Russian drafted! Lol

Arizona was really open about that post-draft, too.

Arizona being a dump organization might’ve had something to do with it

If we had good media here it would be a simple question from them: did you feel Michkov wouldn’t want to be drafted by Montreal?

It would put the topic to bed.

Poor Reinbacher… now Habs fanboys have come up with wild excuses for picking Reinbacher, like he was always second choice and second best even at 5OA if not for external circumstances. Sad.

 

[sandviper]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1846330903166939617

Hard to watch. I was holding them back at the 10 second mark.

 

[austin316]

breaking news, sometimes the Habs miss on their first round pick

not saying that's what happened here, but, what the point of all this obsession discussion at this point?

When you’re rebuilding you unfortunately don’t have the luxury to swing and miss on 5th overall picks.

 

[River Meadow]

2 goals for Michkov.

What a fail drafting Reinbacher has been. Good thing we got a fringe depth defenseman at 5th overall since he shoots right.

Sir, I will have you know... right handed D don't just grow on trees, you have to draft them.

If that means you miss out on a superstar forward, then so be it.

Im sure Michkov would rather play in the shithole of Philadelphia over Montreal

lmao

Michkov dream was to play in the great city of Philly

Maybe he's a fan of diversity

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

The trolls are anyone who insists the Habs picked the wrong player without any way of knowing what any of the players in that draft will become.

Honestly I love Michkov and I wanted him so bad but if we win a cup in the next decade and rein is a top 4 D it doesn't matter , until we win a cup tho all of us will say *Told you so* to our organisation that passed on an absolute freak of a forward that we all wanted

 

[Team_Spirit]

Just noticed that Stamkos has 0 point in 3 games. Sheesh, wonder if he misses Kucherov.

Call it Huberdeauitis, every player traded out of FLA will regress

 

[LaP]

When you’re rebuilding you unfortunately don’t have the luxury to swing and miss on 5th overall picks.

If we want to be 100% honest 5th overall picks are not top 3 picks or top 2 picks. The reality is the success rate drop significantly after the top 2 and after that it drops more every picks. Obviously you want to draft as high as possible but asking a team to never fail on top 5 picks is unrealistic.

It's not rare for successful tank to have one whoopsie on the way to success. Pens drafted Staal 2nd overall instead of Toews who was drafted 3rd. What's important is to not miss on almost all picks like MB did and even more important to not trade away your successful picks for nothing like MB did.

 

[LaP]

Just noticed that Stamkos has 0 point in 3 games. Sheesh, wonder if he misses Kucherov.

He already showed sign of regression last year. Yes he did 40 goals and 81 points but he was -21 playing for a winning team which means most of his production was PP and he did poorly at 5v5. I like the guy but there was a lot of Kucherov in that PP production. Still a good player but i hope Nashville was not expecting a prime Stamkos cause it's likely not hapenning. Called it last summer that people were overrating Nashville. It's an old team with lot of new faces. They'll eventually claw back into playoffs but i don't see them going far.

 

[salbutera]

Just noticed that Stamkos has 0 point in 3 games. Sheesh, wonder if he misses Kucherov.

It’s 3GP into a season…. better early bench mark is US Thanksgiving

The trolls are anyone who insists the Habs picked the wrong player without any way of knowing what any of the players in that draft will become.

These hot takes remind me of 2006 post Canes Cup win that Eric Staal was the BPA in now legendary 2003 draft…

 

[Whitesnake]

And you and I know nothing about why they made that pick. They interviewed him. Bobrov Sr probably knew both Demidov and Michkov. There was a reason they passed on him. And they did not pass on him because of the 3 year contract unless he said he would not leave early if the Hbs drafted him.

Yet Philly didn't pass on him. 'Cause somehow Philly was so much more a place to play hockey rather than us? lol. At worst, the kid didn't have the greatest mindset because he was a kid. Yet, if you have a solid base, vets, and coaching....should you really be afraid of players like that? How many players in history couldn't work anywhere they went? What's the percentage of that?

Frankly, this is a business of results. Actually, all businesses are. You can have the greatest argumentation against. You can have the most solid case against, if there are no results or lack thereof, you will pay the price.

Right now, Bobrov and Cie has their first bad needs vs BPA pick. The same way Timmins had with JK. The only thing right now helping Bobrov is that contrary to Timmins, he doesn't seem to have that mentality as his go to stratregy. Demidov and Hage will be coming hopefully shortly and that will upgrade the team big time. Let's hope so. I just wish our team will always go BPA.

 

[HuGort]

One does not need to smear a teenager to justify picking another teenager with the 5OA?

What if the reason the Habs picks Slafkovsky, Reinbacher, and Demidov was because they preferred them to alternatives available at that time? Could that be something? Or did Slafkovsky conspire to be picked by the Habs, Reinbacher commit skullduggery to induce his draft order, and Demidov straight up hypnotise teams pickding 2-4 in order to ensure his landing on the Habs?

Did Lane Hutson threaten other teams with a sit-out in order to secure his spot to the Habs?

I'm just asking questions... maybe in some years we'll know the "REAL" reason... much to think about...


By dimwit liars who have zero evidence, yes.

Players don't choose where they're drafted. That's why it's a draft. That's why the worst team picks the best prospect. You think any teenager wants to play in Winnipeg or Buffalo instead of New York or Florida? You think Adam Fantilli wanted to play in Columbus instead of Anaheim?

Passing on Michkov is going to be one of darkest days in Canadiens history. Him and Demidov been legendary together. But if he didn't want to play in Montreal I would took Leonard. He's good goal scorer with decent size.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Yet Philly didn't pass on him. 'Cause somehow Philly was so much more a place to play hockey rather than us? lol. At worst, the kid didn't have the greatest mindset because he was a kid. Yet, if you have a solid base, vets, and coaching....should you really be afraid of players like that? How many players in history couldn't work anywhere they went? What's the percentage of that?

Frankly, this is a business of results. Actually, all businesses are. You can have the greatest argumentation against. You can have the most solid case against, if there are no results or lack thereof, you will pay the price.

Right now, Bobrov and Cie has their first bad needs vs BPA pick. The same way Timmins had with JK. The only thing right now helping Bobrov is that contrary to Timmins, he doesn't seem to have that mentality as his go to stratregy. Demidov and Hage will be coming hopefully shortly and that will upgrade the team big time. Let's hope so. I just wish our team will always go BPA.

If Rein becomes a top 4 D on the team playing 20 + its not that big of a deal , alot of good teams get picks wrong , it stings because we all wanted him but its tough to be all up in arms about it right now , give it some time , we can be pissed about it in 5 years if our contending window fails

 

[LaP]

Honestly I love Michkov and I wanted him so bad but if we win a cup in the next decade and rein is a top 4 D it doesn't matter , until we win a cup tho all of us will say *Told you so* to our organisation that passed on an absolute freak of a forward that we all wanted

But why act that way?

I was one of the guy the most against drafting JK. On draft day when we drafted him i was that woman. I immediatly called it a bad pick and argued with the guys for a couple of days. But when the season started i moved on. I gave JK the chance to prove me wrong. Not one season. Not two. But all his time in Montreal i gave him the chance to prove me wrong and supported him. I had already made my point about him being a bad pick on draft day there was not reason to keep shitting on him until i was proven right. I even defended him and argued we should match when the OS was made. Not once did i cheer for any other guys drafted behind because they were not playing for my team. It's ok to disagree with a pick or a trade. But the constant hot takes are insufferable imo. Get your point across once and then move one and wait to be proven right. 19 years old Michkov versus 19 years old Reinbacher is not being proven right. Also 5 games of Kovacevic is not being proven right either.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

When you’re rebuilding you unfortunately don’t have the luxury to swing and miss on 5th overall picks.

If your rebuild fails because of one missed pick (can't even call Rein a bust yet ) than your rebuild was going nowhere in the first place.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

But why act that way?

I was one of the guy the most against drafting JK. On draft day when we drafted him i was that woman. I immediatly called it a bad pick and argued with the guys for a couple of days. But when the season started i moved on. I gave JK the chance to prove me wrong. Not one season. Not two. But all his time in Montreal i gave him the chance to prove me wrong and supported him. I had already made my point about him being a bad pick on draft day there was not reason to keep shitting on him until i was proven right. I even defended him and argued we should match when the OS was made. Not once did i cheer for any other guys drafted behind because they were not playing for my team. It's ok to disagree with a pick or a trade. But the constant hot takes are insufferable imo. Get your point across once and then move one and wait to be proven right. 19 years old Michkov versus 19 years old Reinbacher is not being proven right. Also 5 games of Kovacevic is not being proven right either.

Because for 20 years we've had absolute idiot managers , I'd rather have given the team to a random HF poster than Gainey and Bergy lol. So yeah we are used to saying *I told you so* , nothing new with this organisation.


That said , this might be the only big mistake that Hughes has done so far , the sky is not falling or anything yet. We actual have some decent management in charge. They can afford a mistake , still gonna say I told you so if Rein ends up meh.


I just have I told you so PTSD

 

[Montrealcowboys]

Yeah there was also Leonard, but he wasn't the BPA to anyone, although they considered him.

Arizona wanted Reinbacher.
Philly wanted Reinbacher if they traded Gauthier to us for 5th OA (glad we didn't cause he probably doesn't sign here, either)
Nashville was trading up for Reinbacher.
Pronman had mentioned it specifically on the final podcast before the draft, that the noise surrounding the draft was that Montreal would see a lot of action for pick 5 and it wouldn't be to move up to acquire Michkov.

Reinbacher was the guy going 5. Now, will he be the right selection at that spot in hindsight? We won't know for awhile.. but let's just call a spade a spade, Reinbacher was drafted where the NHL and scouting staffs saw him going and wanted to take him if they could get there.

Daniel Briere stated they wanted Michkov.