Silayev, Lindstrom, Catton, Iginla, Parekh, Eiserman

[Miller Time]

Players who play small and are unable to break a check.
They are basically neutralized when the going gets tough.
Desharnais was a perfect example. Driven to the ice on face offs and pinned to the boards along the wall.
Small becomes a huge disadvantage when the bigger players are just as mobile and twice as strong.

Fair and imo reasonable description...

Lots of 6'+ players that could apply to, so might not meet @26Mats definition

 

[Laboeuf]

I think we are in good shape with any of these 4.

I think the top -5-6 players in mock drafts won’t change. No surprises like the 2018 draft.

Celebrini is #1
Leshunov looks to be a lock at #2

3-5
Demidov Lindstrom Silayev

Possible Sennecke and Iginla.

Highly doubt both Anaheim and Columbus will pass on Silayev. I don’t know how good he’ll be but for his size and reach, he is one of the best skaters in the draft. Go to YouTube to watch shift by shift. His edge work is pretty good. I say his strength is actually skating. 2-3 years down the road if this guy adds muscle he’ll be a top 2 for sure. I don’t know about the Hedman comparisons but I think he could top Devon Toews with size. Maybe a Jay Bowmeester type.

Since we are deep on defence, my preference would be Demidov, Lindstrom, Iginla, Sennecke and Silayev in that order. But we probably will end up with one of those guys I mentioned.

Not sure if Montreal wants to move 26th pick and something good for the Buffalo or New Jersey to take Eiserman. It would take a lot. My guess is Beck or Xhekaj will need to be included. Maybe Joshua Roy, or 1st round pick next year. I think we could move Florida’s first next year.

Either way if we can cone out the draft with Demidov/Lindstrom and Sennecke/Eiserman/Iginla I would be very happy.

Lines:

Slafkovsky Suzuki Caufield

Demidov/Lindstrom/Iginla Dach Sennecke Eiserman

Roy Beck Newhook

Tuch Kapanen Xhekaj

 

[Habs Halifax]

Nonsense, Hutson hasn’t even cemented himself on the roster yet. You can afford to have more than 2 small guys.

It might be possible "to afford" that strategy and you might do well. Playoffs and 2 rounds but once you get deeper, it gets tougher. I'm not against smaller types but you have to be careful with it. Regular season and playoff pretender vs legit cup contender.

For every smaller type you have like Caufield and Hutson, that requires the others to be very physically strong to create the better balance. Match-up game is a big deal in the playoffs.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Players who play small and are unable to break a check.
They are basically neutralized when the going gets tough.
Desharnais was a perfect example. Driven to the ice on face offs and pinned to the boards along the wall.
Small becomes a huge disadvantage when the bigger players are just as mobile and twice as strong.

Agreed. Bigger players who skate well have longer reach and can easily nullify smaller players who are average on the weight/strength scale. The smaller players in the NHL who have survived are very stubborn and driven types. They have to be and usually, the smaller players have very good skating (if they make it).

Said it 100 or more times. It's not just about height. Height helps with reach but weight/strength and being tough is what you want to add to the roster. If everyone on our roster was Suzuki height and weight, we would be fine. 5'-11" and 205 lbs.

Those who look up playoff contenders and see how many guys are under 6'-0", I would ask you to do the same thing with the weight. How many are under 200 lbs and what's the overall skating level from your group? Is the general theme to have 75% or more above 200 lbs and with great skating? If you have that with some skill mixed in, you can battle in the playoffs.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Players who play small and are unable to break a check.
They are basically neutralized when the going gets tough.
Desharnais was a perfect example. Driven to the ice on face offs and pinned to the boards along the wall.
Small becomes a huge disadvantage when the bigger players are just as mobile and twice as strong.

Desharnais was never elite at anything.

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

Desharnais was never elite at anything.

He had good hockey IQ and made possible Paccio scored between 30 to 39 goals.
For the rest, he was terrible and weak. He was the B plan, no, the C plan, no, the D plan when all the other centers were not able to feed Paccio at the time. Desharnais is what happen when Habs can't draft Carter or Getzlaf or Bergeron or Zejak or Henrique or Kopitar.

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

I rewatched the highlights of Catton yesterday and I wasn't impressed. Yes he have some skills and I understand partly why many posters want him but he lacks a lot of things and I don't see him as a dominant player in the nhl in 5 years. His skating is good, almost excellent, his passing and hockey IQ is great too but his shooting is not Caufield level. He's well under Caufield's level in many ways. His skating looks excellent when I can see his opponetns D are clearly not nhl level. They don't look very mobile. He will need to have more power in his legs and reach a speed similar to Gaborik if he want to succeed. If his skating plateau the same as I saw, he will be only a perimeter player making 50 pts a year, taking precious time on the top 6 forwards. He reminded me Drouin to be honest.

 

[Sorinth]

Players who play small and are unable to break a check.
They are basically neutralized when the going gets tough.
Desharnais was a perfect example. Driven to the ice on face offs and pinned to the boards along the wall.
Small becomes a huge disadvantage when the bigger players are just as mobile and twice as strong.

Obviously size gives players an advantage but the saying it's not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog is still very much true. I can recall a play in DD's first or second year where he battled Chara along the boards and came away with the puck and created a scoring chance. Or if that's too far back, there was a Suzuki goal this year where Caufield pushes around a much bigger defender to get the puck and feed Suzuki for the goal.

There are guys who are 6'5 and play small and are unable to break a check, and there are guys like Gallagher who is small but plays bigger. Desharnais in his early years did battle and won puck battles, but stopped doing it after his big contract and the lack of accountibility Therrien had with him.

If you're actually serious about defining a small player as not his height/weight but instead how much fight he has then we arguably don't have a single "small" player in our top-6 because Caufield can and does fight through a checks.

 

[ZUKI]

I assume they had dinner with him at the Combine for a reason other than that no one else was available.

well, i was sure that the Habs didn't like that player from a read.n Today i just read the opposite so i guess you're right . My bad

Desharnais was never elite at anything.

he was elite at making Gallagher a 30 goals scorer

 

[Habs Halifax]

Desharnais was never elite at anything.

You're wrong... DD was elite at convincing Therrien to play him #1C.

 

[JoelWarlord]

he was elite at making Gallagher a 30 goals scorer

Gallagher only really played with Desharnais in 13-14, and he scored 31G playing with Tomas Plekanec's corpse in 17-18.

 

[Sterling Archer]

So, which D is Montreal drafting at no. 5 when Lindstrom and Demidov are gone?

Silayev
Parekh
Dickinson
Buium
Yakemchuk - edit*

 

[The Last Red]

So, which D is Montreal drafting at no. 5 when Lindstrom and Demidov are gone?

Silayev
Parekh
Dickinson
Buium

One of the last two.

 

[Sterling Archer]

One of the last two.

I think they'd lean into the RHD like Parekh. But really no bad options there IMO.

 

[1909]

So, which D is Montreal drafting at no. 5 when Lindstrom and Demidov are gone?

Silayev
Parekh
Dickinson
Buium
Yakemchuk - edit*

Safest: Dickinson

But IF they go for a forward: Iginla

 

[Miller Time]

So, which D is Montreal drafting at no. 5 when Lindstrom and Demidov are gone?

Silayev
Parekh
Dickinson
Buium
Yakemchuk - edit*

Catton

 

[Sterling Archer]

Catton

He’s too small to play D.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

well, i was sure that the Habs didn't like that player from a read.n Today i just read the opposite so i guess you're right . My bad


he was elite at making Gallagher a 30 goals scorer

Nope, he literally had nothing to do with gally being a 30g scorer.

 

[Miller Time]

He’s too small to play D.

Towers over Hutson

Maybe they can swap

 

[Captain Mountain]

well, i was sure that the Habs didn't like that player from a read.n Today i just read the opposite so i guess you're right . My bad


he was elite at making Gallagher a 30 goals scorer

Gallagher only hit 30 goals after Desharnais left the team (and then the NHL).

 

[ZUKI]

Gallagher only really played with Desharnais in 13-14, and he scored 31G playing with Tomas Plekanec's corpse in 17-18.

you are right , i had Danault in my mind when i answered.

Now should we talk about Maxpac ?

 

[ZUKI]

Nope, he literally had nothing to do with gally being a 30g scorer.

i know, i was wrong . My bad

 

[Habssince89]

If both Demidov/Lindstrom are gone, Hughes probably moves down but stays in the top 10

 

[Laboeuf]

The last major draft pick swap was Detroit trading #23, #48, #138 to move up to #15.

Detroit got Sebastian Cossa
Dallas got Wyatt Johnston

To move up from #26 to #15 will cost us in addition to #26, will be #57 and #70 or #78.


Basically move up 10 spots will be 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

 

[26Mats]

The last major draft pick swap was Detroit trading #23, #48, #138 to move up to #15.

Detroit got Sebastian Cossa
Dallas got Wyatt Johnston

To move up from #26 to #15 will cost us in addition to #26, will be #57 and #70 or #78.


Basically move up 10 spots will be 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

In 2022 Sharks traded 11th for a late 1st and two 2nds.