HF Habs: The official 2023-2024 tank thread

[Habs]

That's why all year I have been less gung ho than most about tanking. I have no confidence they won't screw it up. Can you imagine having three horrible seasons where we somewhat tank but they just get mild guys. Maybe we should have kept Lekhomen and the rest of the boys. lol

Passed on some pretty big talent last year for Reinbacher, lets pray they know what they did because the kids we passed over are still very highly regarded on every list, compared to the Bach

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

Passed on some pretty big talent last year for Reinbacher, lets pray they know what they did because the kids we passed over are still very highly regarded on every list, compared to the Bach

None of them are anything special.

 

[Nicko999]

None of them are anything special.

It's not like Benson is in the NHL or something!
Or Michkov being almost PPG in the KHL at 18/19.
Or Ryan Leonard having Kelleresque numbers.

 

[Miller Time]

Passed on some pretty big talent last year for Reinbacher, lets pray they know what they did because the kids we passed over are still very highly regarded on every list, compared to the Bach

Remember where Scherbak, Juulsen, McCarron, Poehling et. Sat on our Habs board prospect lists heading into their respective D2 seasons?

Not so sure that high regard on pundit lists are a particularly good reference point for anything but sport talk radio/podcasts.

On ice, I'm not sure anyone in the top 10 except Simashev had a D1 season that suggests they were picked too high or too low... Maybe Dvorsky exceeding expectations in his move to NA ice?

 

[Shutdown]

now I am less stressed, because after last year's draft I'm not sure they would know what to do with a top 5 pick anyways. At least at 7-10 they are probably smart enough to take BPA and not draft by position, one can only hope

That's why all year I have been less gung ho than most about tanking. I have no confidence they won't screw it up. Can you imagine having three horrible seasons where we somewhat tank but they just get mild guys. Maybe we should have kept Lekhomen and the rest of the boys. lol

have you guys forgotten about Slafkovsky already? not giving Reinbacher an inch is insane behaviour

 

[Habs]

None of them are anything special.

Leonard and Michkov are above the Bach for me,

Remember where Scherbak, Juulsen, McCarron, Poehling et. Sat on our Habs board prospect lists heading into their respective D2 seasons?

Not so sure that high regard on pundit lists are a particularly good reference point for anything but sport talk radio/podcasts.

On ice, I'm not sure anyone in the top 10 except Simashev had a D1 season that suggests they were picked too high or too low... Maybe Dvorsky exceeding expectations in his move to NA ice?

I just like the drive Leonard has , he was my pick above Michkov for how I would have rebuilt a team. Would have saved a blueline pick for this year

have you guys forgotten about Slafkovsky already? not giving Reinbacher an inch is insane behaviour

Slaf was worth the risk, his ceiling was high compared to Reinbacher. He was never projected as a #1 dman from what I read

 

[Redux91]

Leonard and Michkov are above the Bach for me,



I just like the drive Leonard has , he was my pick above Michkov for how I would have rebuilt a team. Would have saved a blueline pick for this year



Slaf was worth the risk, his ceiling was high compared to Reinbacher. He was never projected as a #1 dman from what I read

Personally, I obviously wished they went Michkov/Leonard last year and one of these special D this year

I feel like they did it backwards for sure
But alas this is where we stand
We have to hope the F they draft this can at least rival the talent/drive of Michkov/Leonard

I agree with your sentiment entirely, but I don't feel like they messed up, just feels like they overlooked the D in this draft
In their defense: it's impossible to predict 11 months from their decision that we would even BE in range for 'all the D this year'
You don't 'plan' to be 7th overall despite what we all think and the tanks we root for lol

 

[Andrei79]

It's not like Benson is in the NHL or something!
Or Michkov being almost PPG in the KHL at 18/19.
Or Ryan Leonard having Kelleresque numbers.

Everyone on Leonard's line has kelleresque numbers. He's fourth on his team in points.

 

[Habs]

Personally, I obviously wished they went Michkov/Leonard last year and one of these special D this year

I feel like they did it backwards for sure
But alas this is where we stand
We have to hope the F they draft this can at least rival the talent/drive of Michkov/Leonard

I agree with your sentiment entirely, but I don't feel like they messed up, just feels like they overlooked the D in this draft
In their defense: it's impossible to predict 11 months from their decision that we would even BE in range for 'all the D this year'
You don't 'plan' to be 7th overall despite what we all think and the tanks we root for lol

Ok maybe it's the lack of forward thinking that I'm a tad worried about rather than the pick. Knowing we would be bottom 5-10 this year, and understanding the depth of this draft on the blueline, this would have made it silly to take a player like Reinbacher with that high of a pick in my estimation. He was never labelled as a franchise , cornerstone dman, so I would have waited till this year and banked on getting the same or better player at the table this time around. it's not that I think he sucks, it just doesn't seem like good asset management and thinking ahead.

 

[Habsfan2992]

Personally, I obviously wished they went Michkov/Leonard last year and one of these special D this year

I feel like they did it backwards for sure
But alas this is where we stand
We have to hope the F they draft this can at least rival the talent/drive of Michkov/Leonard

I agree with your sentiment entirely, but I don't feel like they messed up, just feels like they overlooked the D in this draft
In their defense: it's impossible to predict 11 months from their decision that we would even BE in range for 'all the D this year'
You don't 'plan' to be 7th overall despite what we all think and the tanks we root for lol

Are they not allowed to trade still? I mean if Mtl felt they should of picked Michkov couldn't they circle back and swap? I thought Philly wanted our guy? Just curious I font know.

 

[Runner77]

Ok maybe it's the lack of forward thinking that I'm a tad worried about rather than the pick. Knowing we would be bottom 5-10 this year, and understanding the depth of this draft on the blueline, this would have made it silly to take a player like Reinbacher with that high of a pick in my estimation. He was never labelled as a franchise , cornerstone dman, so I would have waited till this year and banked on getting the same or better player at the table this time around. it's not that I think he sucks, it just doesn't seem like good asset management and thinking ahead.

I never understood how a defensive defenceman gets taken with such an early pick but what’s done is done. Maybe they’re seeing something particular in the player and would thus prefer to reserve judgment as we’ll get a better read on his potential with greater hands on development by Habs coaching, as soon as next season.

 

[Andrei79]

I never understood how a defensive defenceman gets taken with such an early pick but what’s done is done. Maybe they’re seeing something particular in the player and would thus prefer to reserve judgment as we’ll get a better read on his potential with greater hands on development by Habs coaching, as soon as next season.

They didn't draft him with the expectation of a defensive defenseman. He had historic offensive numbers in Kloten last year and he's excellent in transition due to both his breakout passes and skating. He's just not an offensive dynamo, but neither were Suter or McDonagh and Id have drafted both at 5 without thinking twice.

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

Ok maybe it's the lack of forward thinking that I'm a tad worried about rather than the pick. Knowing we would be bottom 5-10 this year, and understanding the depth of this draft on the blueline, this would have made it silly to take a player like Reinbacher with that high of a pick in my estimation. He was never labelled as a franchise , cornerstone dman, so I would have waited till this year and banked on getting the same or better player at the table this time around. it's not that I think he sucks, it just doesn't seem like good asset management and thinking ahead.

They took Reinbacher because they see more in him than a defensive defenseman. There is no way to know what he is yet since Kloten was crap. If he is another Piterangelo it was a good pick.

 

[Habs]

They took Reinbacher because they see more in him than a defensive defenseman. There is no way to know what he is yet since Kloten was crap. If he is another Piterangelo it was a good pick.

I haven't heard anyone compare him to that calibre of player, news to me. Obviously that would be a game changer

I never understood how a defensive defenceman gets taken with such an early pick but what’s done is done. Maybe they’re seeing something particular in the player and would thus prefer to reserve judgment as we’ll get a better read on his potential with greater hands on development by Habs coaching, as soon as next season.

by all accounts he's a defensive dman, so the comparison to HOF dmen is new to me

 

[sandviper]

I haven't heard anyone compare him to that calibre of player, news to me. Obviously that would be a game changer



by all accounts he's a defensive dman, so the comparison to HOF dmen is new to me

Actually there was a lot of discussion and comparisons to Pietrangelo. I mean, if he even gets 80% there, that’d be great. I don’t see him as a defensive dman in any case but more of a Guhle style of defender who can manage both ends of the ice.

I’ll also just say it… Michkov will never be a star. He’ll be good, but he won’t be a Kuch or a Breadman.

 

[Habs]

Actually there was a lot of discussion and comparisons to Pietrangelo. I mean, if he even gets 80% there, that’d be great. I don’t see him as a defensive dman in any case but more of a Guhle style of defender who can manage both ends of the ice.

I’ll also just say it… Michkov will never be a star. He’ll be good, but he won’t be a Kuch or a Breadman.

how do you know Michkov won't be a Bure though? He has all the tools, his highlights look amazing.

 

[Runner77]

They didn't draft him with the expectation of a defensive defenseman. He had historic offensive numbers in Kloten last year and he's excellent in transition due to both his breakout passes and skating. He's just not an offensive dynamo, but neither were Suter or McDonagh and Id have drafted both at 5 without thinking twice.

I don’t know if it was a mix of position scarcity and need, but it just looked to me that they wanted a top 4 pick to nab one of the centers and when they couldn’t get that, they settled on Reinbacher cause those outside the top 4 seemed uncertain and/or there wasn’t enough to separate them.

I would have preferred if they had traded the pick but maybe the offers were not palatable.

I’ll wait and see, maybe they got it right. Too early to know.

 

[Draft]

Ok maybe it's the lack of forward thinking that I'm a tad worried about rather than the pick. Knowing we would be bottom 5-10 this year, and understanding the depth of this draft on the blueline, this would have made it silly to take a player like Reinbacher with that high of a pick in my estimation. He was never labelled as a franchise , cornerstone dman, so I would have waited till this year and banked on getting the same or better player at the table this time around. it's not that I think he sucks, it just doesn't seem like good asset management and thinking ahead.

I'm not sure how many more times it needs to be said how unwise it would be to make a first round pick based on who may or may not be available, how the players may or may not have developed, and where you may or may not pick in a year. This is not gaming the system, this isn't a clever strategy to maximize drafting efficiency that only posters on this board are wise enough to consider trying. The team is not taking a worse player (in either year) because they think they might maybe could possibly get a good one at the position they want a year from now.

Lack of critical thinking, not lack of forward thinking.

 

[Andrei79]

I don’t know if it was a mix of position scarcity and need, but it just looked to me that they wanted a top 4 pick to nab one of the centers and when they couldn’t get that, they settled on Reinbacher cause those outside the top 4 seemed uncertain and/or there wasn’t enough to separate them.

I would have preferred if they had traded the pick but maybe the offers were not palatable.

I’ll wait and see, maybe they got it right. Too early to know.

I think you're right on them wanting one of the top 4 centers and seeing a separation after. What I'm not sure is how they viewed Reinbacher. It's entirely possible they saw him as the clear 5 with another drop off afterwards. Every rumor seems to indicate multiple teams were looking to move up to draft him. I know some aren't fans of his, but I like his upside quite a bit. His team was in disarray but last year he had everything that teams value in a defenseman: reliable in all situations, quick breakout passes, excellent skating, size (he's even grown since his draft year) and he seems humble as well. He looked very good internationally too. He's a profile that always gets drafted high. I remember wanting to steer clear of Ryan Suter as he seemed boring way back and that was a great lesson learned.

Passing Leonard (who I liked quite a bit) and Michkov(who was my choice) definitely took balls though.

 

[Seb]

I'm sensing a Coyotes win tonight

 

[Andrei79]

how do you know Michkov won't be a Bure though? He has all the tools, his highlights look amazing.

Michkov's hockey IQ was incredible for his age. Reminded me of Kucherov. But he has no where near Bures speed. He's not even close.

 

[KevSkillz4]

I don't care so much where Habs will draft this year. I think we are lucky to have a top 10 pick this year. Kirby Dach in the line-up for all season, we don't talk about a top 10 pick. Dach change the forward group and have big impact in this team. He having a big impact on Juraj Slafkovsky this year, without playing.

So everyone should be happy about having a another top 10 pick.

 

[Habs]

Michkov's hockey IQ was incredible for his age. Reminded me of Kucherov. But he has no where near Bures speed. He's not even close.

that speed was unreal, but Michkov's shot, dekes is more of what I was referring to and hockey sense.

 

[KevSkillz4]

1-0 Arizona!!

 

[McGees]

If Michkov turns out great, we will never hear the end of it...
What I ask is that if Michkov isn't a superstar, I hope I see a lot more crow being eaten than the Slaf haters have shown.
6 teams chose not to take him (only Chicago had an excuse).