HF Habs: What are your initial impressions of the Habs 2023 Draft class?

[Boss Man Hughes]

I feel they will look at this draft as one of the biggest missed opportunities , like last year.

There was no missed opportunity. They added a top defenseman, a scoring line forward (Newhook) and some good goalie prospects. The only disappointment is that HuGo was unable to get another late 1st/early 2nd to replace the traded picks.

 

[ML16]

I feel they will look at this draft as one of the biggest missed opportunities , like last year.

I would last year’s only real serious missed opportunity was the Mesar pick at #26; this one I still don’t really understand. Drafting Beck soon after at #33 was a pleasant surprise, but considering the Habs could have drafted both Kulich and Beck, it’s a tough pill to swallow.

Was initially a bit disappointed about drafting Slafkovski, my third option at #1 OA behind Nemec/Cooley since I was prioritizing PMRHD/C - but after acquiring Dach via trade a few minutes later, thought it made retrospectively sense to draft the talented giant winger instead of a center.

And needless to say drafting Hutson and Engstrom in the 2nd and 3rd rounds greatly alleviated the disappointment of not landing Nemec.

As for this year, the Habs made yet another great value pick in the 3rd round, this time with Fowler.

Jury’s still out as to Newhook fitting the core and outproducing the #31 + #37 picks; can’t really say it’s a missed opportunity, rather a calculated risk.

Remains of course the #5 OA, which some can argue is a missed opportunity - implying mostly Michkov (or, maybe a few, Askarov in a trade down?).

But then again, in the grand scheme of things, picking the best available RHD instead of a winger once all the best center were off the board wasn’t unreasonable; especially since the Habs had already opted for the winger (Slafkovski) instead of the RHD (Nemec) the precious year.

 

[Habs]

Isn't Slafkovsky your type of player?

I wanted Cooley

I would last year’s only real serious missed opportunity was the Mesar pick at #26; this one I still don’t really understand. Drafting Beck soon after at #33 was a pleasant surprise, but considering the Habs could have drafted both Kulich and Beck, it’s a tough pill to swallow.

Was initially a bit disappointed about drafting Slafkovski, my third option at #1 OA behind Nemec/Cooley since I was prioritizing PMRHD/C - but after acquiring Dach via trade a few minutes later, thought it made retrospectively sense to draft the talented giant winger instead of a center.

And needless to say drafting Hutson and Engstrom in the 2nd and 3rd rounds greatly alleviated the disappointment of not landing Nemec.

As for this year, the Habs made yet another great value pick in the 3rd round, this time with Fowler.

Jury’s still out as to Newhook fitting the core and outproducing the #31 + #37 picks; can’t really say it’s a missed opportunity, rather a calculated risk.

Remains of course the #5 OA, which some can argue is a missed opportunity - implying mostly Michkov (or, maybe a few, Askarov in a trade down?).

But then again, in the grand scheme of things, picking the best available RHD instead of a winger once all the best center were off the board wasn’t unreasonable; especially since the Habs had already opted for the winger (Slafkovski) instead of the RHD (Nemec) the precious year.

Understand where you are coming from, I really wanted Leonard, I feel you can't pass on players with that energy and type of play for the rebuild. I think Reinbacher was the safe pick, not a core player you build around, maybe I'll be proven wrong. Michkov .. hearing about his off-ice stuff sort of turned me off

 

[Jaynki]

Or just maybe, they saw Michkov as being a smallish, talented forward who lacks the elite skating ability that would permit him to achieve the level of success and impact in the NHL that the prevailing consensus was so married to. Just maybe they were right.

We can bet against Michkov size and attitude (fwiw, with all the rumors and smokes).

I would certainly not bet against his offensive talent tho.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

We can bet against Michkov size and attitude (fwiw, with all the rumors and smokes).

I would certainly not bet against his offensive talent tho.

You need to be able to create time and space in the NHL to use those offensive talent. From what I observed, Michkov is at best an average skater in the now souped up NHL. I suspect I am not alone in my doubts that he has the dynamic skating that a smallish player requires to become an offensive force in the NHL where space is limited and a player has to earn every inch of ice to operate in. Michkov will play in the NHL but the talk of his being a generational talent is somewhat optimistic. Reinbacher will have a better NHL career than Michkov as will a number of other players taken both before and after him in the draft. Beware of the consensus. It’s often a trap for the unwary, the lazy and the unknowing. See players for what they are and not what others are trumpeting.

 

[rickthegoon]

2 months later and still trying to figure out why we drafted, what was it? 3~4 goalies?

 

[WeThreeKings]

2 months later and still trying to figure out why we drafted, what was it? 3~4 goalies?

Simple:

The goalies they had available at their picks were who they felt were the best players available at the slot.

They got who I thought was the 2nd best goalie in the class in round 3, which is a slam dunk.

They took a shot on a QMJHL goalie they felt was buried and hidden.

And they grabbed a guy out of Russia (best goalie development system in the world right now) who's currently tearing up the MHL.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Not going to lie, I forgot I saw Fowler at Junior A challenge where I thought he was good.

My buddy brought up a convo we had after where I said he looked good, but didn't know how much stock to put into it since seemingly none of the kids could take a decent slapshot

Harris was there, too, but nothing I remember about him.

 

[Jaynki]

You need to be able to create time and space in the NHL to use those offensive talent. From what I observed, Michkov is at best an average skater in the now souped up NHL. I suspect I am not alone in my doubts that he has the dynamic skating that a smallish player requires to become an offensive force in the NHL where space is limited and a player has to earn every inch of ice to operate in. Michkov will play in the NHL but the talk of his being a generational talent is somewhat optimistic. Reinbacher will have a better NHL career than Michkov as will a number of other players taken both before and after him in the draft. Beware of the consensus. It’s often a trap for the unwary, the lazy and the unknowing. See players for what they are and not what others are trumpeting.

Oh. I dont think Michkov is the second coming of Bedard, as evidenced by the fact that he was not even the first Russian drafted.

Also, i said before the draft that i would gladly take Reinbacher over Michkov. In fact, in May, i posted that, although a very small sample, i thought he was the most impressive 18YO at the World cup, above Fantilli and Carlsson.

You dont need to sell him to.me, i am extremely high on him and actually had him above Smith.

This being said, although i don't think Michkov is a generational talent. He was still a rare opportunity to grab such an offsnsive talent at 5. I can understand the concern but being small and a weak skater are things i have heard too often concerning Caufield. And we are hearing them with Hutson now. The things is, those three players can do things with the puck that only a select few person worlwide can do.

But yeah, in the end, for the 2023 draft give me Reinbacher ainec. Those top RD are as valuable as those 1C.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Oh. I dont think Michkov is the second coming of Bedard, as evidenced by the fact that he was not even the first Russian drafted.

Also, i said before the draft that i would gladly take Reinbacher over Michkov. In fact, in May, i posted that, although a very small sample, i thought he was the most impressive 18YO at the World cup, above Fantilli and Carlsson.

You dont need to sell him to.me, i am extremely high on him and actually had him above Smith.

This being said, although i don't think Michkov is a generational talent. He was still a rare opportunity to grab such an offsnsive talent at 5. I can understand the concern but being small and a weak skater are things i have heard too often concerning Caufield. And we are hearing them with Hutson now. The things is, those three players can do things with the puck that only a select few person worlwide can do.

But yeah, in the end, for the 2023 draft give me Reinbacher ainec. Those top RD are as valuable as those 1C.

Caufield has a level of quickness that I have yet to see Michkov display. But who knows. By the time he reaches the NHL he may gain that all important second gear. But when you are drafting 5OA there should never be a question or concerns about your pick’s skating ability. That’s a recipe for failure.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

You need to be able to create time and space in the NHL to use those offensive talent. From what I observed, Michkov is at best an average skater in the now souped up NHL. I suspect I am not alone in my doubts that he has the dynamic skating that a smallish player requires to become an offensive force in the NHL where space is limited and a player has to earn every inch of ice to operate in. Michkov will play in the NHL but the talk of his being a generational talent is somewhat optimistic. Reinbacher will have a better NHL career than Michkov as will a number of other players taken both before and after him in the draft. Beware of the consensus. It’s often a trap for the unwary, the lazy and the unknowing. See players for what they are and not what others are trumpeting.

I don’t believe dynamic skating is a necessity. Michkov is a goal scorer, there has been plenty of goal scorers without dynamic skating. It’s about finding the hollow spots in the zone coverage. I think Michkov is going to be an elite scorer.

I don’t agree with Reinbacher having a better NHL career and to say so definitively is way premature. Having said that, I like Reinbacher. I wouldn’t have picked him.

 

[dcyhabs]

I would last year’s only real serious missed opportunity was the Mesar pick at #26; this one I still don’t really understand. Drafting Beck soon after at #33 was a pleasant surprise, but considering the Habs could have drafted both Kulich and Beck, it’s a tough pill to swallow.

Was initially a bit disappointed about drafting Slafkovski, my third option at #1 OA behind Nemec/Cooley since I was prioritizing PMRHD/C - but after acquiring Dach via trade a few minutes later, thought it made retrospectively sense to draft the talented giant winger instead of a center.

And needless to say drafting Hutson and Engstrom in the 2nd and 3rd rounds greatly alleviated the disappointment of not landing Nemec.

As for this year, the Habs made yet another great value pick in the 3rd round, this time with Fowler.

Jury’s still out as to Newhook fitting the core and outproducing the #31 + #37 picks; can’t really say it’s a missed opportunity, rather a calculated risk.

Remains of course the #5 OA, which some can argue is a missed opportunity - implying mostly Michkov (or, maybe a few, Askarov in a trade down?).

But then again, in the grand scheme of things, picking the best available RHD instead of a winger once all the best center were off the board wasn’t unreasonable; especially since the Habs had already opted for the winger (Slafkovski) instead of the RHD (Nemec) the precious year.

I think Hughes is worrying about players being happy and about team composition. The team has shooters coming along, but they lack some transition and they always want speed so Mesar may have appealed more than Kulich. Some advanced stats support the position, but we'll see. Looks like he may have liked having him around to make Slaf happy, too.

I'm on record for Savoie, more as a contrarian position that looks worse and worse in hindsight, but Jiricek was the sort of obvious choice as long as his knee will recover.

Trading picks for solid players is like betting on interest rates. Normally those 2nds amount to nothing, but every now and then the other team picks up someone awesome, or a team trades an unprotected pick and then unexpectedly plummets in the standings. There will probably be 2-5 players in that range who make an impact, so maybe a 10-15% chance that one of those picks is good 5 years from now... It's a logical move, especially if the team doesn't have anyone in that range that they really want, but it's always possible that the other team comes away with 2 major stars, and fans have to realize that it's more a fluke than an error.

 

[HuGort]

So much draft hype all season long why most Hab fans voted C or D. With the '23 draft heralded as one of best drafts ever. Led by future great in Bedard. Plus, until last day of season looked like we had two lottery picks.

 

[Wayfarer13]

That Russian goaltender we drafted is having quite the preseason.

 

[Rapala]

Simple:

The goalies they had available at their picks were who they felt were the best players available at the slot.

They got who I thought was the 2nd best goalie in the class in round 3, which is a slam dunk.

They took a shot on a QMJHL goalie they felt was buried and hidden.

And they grabbed a guy out of Russia (best goalie development system in the world right now) who's currently tearing up the MHL.

I liked it and never raised an eyebrow. It's funny how some go from trumpeting our goaltending needs pre-draft to complaining when we draft them in later rounds. Three decent shots at finding a gem as opposed to one is a good strategy when it comes to tenders.

 

[Big Lurk]

in my 20+ years on this site, I've had people threaten my life by showing they found out where I lived, I had a stalker because I kept saying how terrible Lefebvre was and he didn't like it. I've been called a Nazi and a French lover or hater depending on which side the poster was on that I gave them a warning (all this was back in the day, very different HF and mod stuff has really changed for the better in terms of not having to get into it with posters like that. As on this board it was if you warned the poster and he was say bashing French players, then I was just a French loving player and vise versa.

Wow. Poor stalker. Probably died of exhaustion. Stalking 348 posters at the same time must not have been easy for him.

 

[Rapala]

I don’t believe dynamic skating is a necessity. Michkov is a goal scorer, there has been plenty of goal scorers without dynamic skating. It’s about finding the hollow spots in the zone coverage. I think Michkov is going to be an elite scorer.

I don’t agree with Reinbacher having a better NHL career and to say so definitively is way premature. Having said that, I like Reinbacher. I wouldn’t have picked him.

Do you think that a sense he hasn't really progressed since U18 compared to others played into it? The progression curve demonstrated by Reinbacher is far more evident. I do tend to agree with The Admiral that skating is far more relevant in todays game than it ever has been. Gone are the days players like Federko or Nicholls could excel in this league or at least at the levels they achieved in the past.

 

[sheed36]

I had been wondering if the Habs were gonna do another of these behind the scenes look at their draft process videos like last year but figured with all the Reinbacher pick outcry they wouldn't but they did do another video this year.

It's suppose to drop in a couple of days, August 31 @ 20:30 (ET I'd imagine), so I'll be quite looking forward to seeing that.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

I don’t believe dynamic skating is a necessity. Michkov is a goal scorer, there has been plenty of goal scorers without dynamic skating. It’s about finding the hollow spots in the zone coverage. I think Michkov is going to be an elite scorer.

I don’t agree with Reinbacher having a better NHL career and to say so definitively is way premature. Having said that, I like Reinbacher. I wouldn’t have picked him.

Two trusted draft services rated Michkov’s skating as below average. Michkov got a taste of what he will face in the NHL when Emelin almost killed him last season with an open ice check. In the NHL he will have less time and space to execute his offensive plays. And he will be playing against defencemen that are infinitely superior to an aging Emelin.

 

[DAChampion]

Two trusted draft services rated Michkov’s skating as below average. Michkov got a taste of what he will face in the NHL when Emelin almost killed him last season with an open ice check. In the NHL he will have less time and space to execute his offensive plays. And he will be playing against defencemen that are infinitely superior to an aging Emelin.

In fairness, wouldn't Emelin devastate the CHL?

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Two trusted draft services rated Michkov’s skating as below average. Michkov got a taste of what he will face in the NHL when Emelin almost killed him last season with an open ice check. In the NHL he will have less time and space to execute his offensive plays. And he will be playing against defencemen that are infinitely superior to an aging Emelin.

To be fair, there aren't any trusted "draft services" as they are all fake scouts without any scouting background or former scouts who were so egregiously incompetent that nobody would even allow them to scout for them any more.

Michkov does not appear to be a below average skater as his edges are unreal and his speed is adequate. He skates very much like Kaprizov who the same clowns were also crapping on because of his skating. They are simply overstating something because this trait is not special like other parts of Michkov's game are.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Do you think that a sense he hasn't really progressed since U18 compared to others played into it? The progression curve demonstrated by Reinbacher is far more evident. I do tend to agree with The Admiral that skating is far more relevant in todays game than it ever has been. Gone are the days players like Federko or Nicholls could excel in this league or at least at the levels they achieved in the past.

No, I think it is an easier path for sure. I think Brett Hull is still an elite scorer today. Humans and hockey, well tbh, all of sports haven’t progressed nearly as much as ppl think. Nearly all the gains have come from better equipment. Humans don’t evolve that fast.

No I do not think Michkov’s development curve has changed, the only thing that has changed is his exposure.

Often, these late risers end up being the latest hyped thing only to fizzle out once drafted. I don’t know how anyone can confidently say Reinbacher will have the better NHL career.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Two trusted draft services rated Michkov’s skating as below average. Michkov got a taste of what he will face in the NHL when Emelin almost killed him last season with an open ice check. In the NHL he will have less time and space to execute his offensive plays. And he will be playing against defencemen that are infinitely superior to an aging Emelin.

How many times has Slaf been rocked? So he got hit once in open ice, I’m struggling to find the relevance here to be honest. This is a big, who cares? If this is what scouts are basing their assessments on then they are even worse than I imagined.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

How many times has Slaf been rocked? So he got hit once in open ice, I’m struggling to find the relevance here to be honest. This is a big, who cares? If this is what scouts are basing their assessments on then they are even worse than I imagined.

There are no shortage of people here who think it was a mistake to have taken Slafkovsky 1OA. As for draft services, not all are created equal. More importantly, Michkov didn’t pass this writer’s eye test. In the videos that I watched of him since his dominating performance at the U18, Michkov failed to display a level of dynamic skating that warranted the hype and exalted expectations surrounding this player. Those skating issues greatly contributed to five teams, including us, passing on him at the recent draft. I suspect that if he can’t develop/ find that extra gear, Michkov will be regarded as having been overdrafted at 7OA.

 

[SOLR]

I think Hughes is worrying about players being happy and about team composition. The team has shooters coming along, but they lack some transition and they always want speed so Mesar may have appealed more than Kulich. Some advanced stats support the position, but we'll see. Looks like he may have liked having him around to make Slaf happy, too.

I'm on record for Savoie, more as a contrarian position that looks worse and worse in hindsight, but Jiricek was the sort of obvious choice as long as his knee will recover.

Trading picks for solid players is like betting on interest rates. Normally those 2nds amount to nothing, but every now and then the other team picks up someone awesome, or a team trades an unprotected pick and then unexpectedly plummets in the standings. There will probably be 2-5 players in that range who make an impact, so maybe a 10-15% chance that one of those picks is good 5 years from now... It's a logical move, especially if the team doesn't have anyone in that range that they really want, but it's always possible that the other team comes away with 2 major stars, and fans have to realize that it's more a fluke than an error.

How so?