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

[larek]

Good draft, solid players. Don’t listen to people who are like “yeah so based on this one YouTube clip I watched after he was drafted, thinking he’s more of a #2.5 D man than a #1. Bad trade”. We got a bonafide future #1 and some interesting prospects here. It’s great, now we move.

Can I have some of your dope?

 

[Harry Kakalovich]

I like most of the picks. Hopefully some of the later guys make it to the show.

 

[BLNY]

I'm removing emotion from the equation. I'd have pick B- or C+ if the options where there. Picked B.

I like the Reinbacher pick. It's not just an organizational need. No one drafts the BPA and flips them for the organizational need. Reinbacher is better than ASP and Simashev. Reinbacher wouldn't have lasted beyond Arizona. Take your guy.

We'll see how Newhook fairs. This is where some steam gets lost admittedly. The odds of one of 31 or 37 being a better player - 4 years from now - is really, really, low. A risk, but a calculated one.

3 goalies. Another organizational need. Jacob Fowler is an intriguing pick. Great athlete. Needs to work on his fitness. I've read some pieces where people think he was the #2 goalie in this draft. Three might be excessive, and darts at a board, but we need at least one goalie capable of progressing through the pipeline.

Florian Xhekaj - we'll see if he's a late bloomer like his brother. Certainly comes from good stock.

Bogdan Konyushkov - He put up 25 points in 64 KHL games. I don't care that he's 20. At that age, it's really good production. Another RHD.

The rest - Like the rest of you, who really knows. Mittlestadt seems interesting.

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It seems to me that, based on the picks, management are happy with the group of forward prospects they have. I don't think that's out of line. In the end, like every other year, we won't really know for a few years.

 

[larek]

Im amazed at how toxic this board is

People complaining left and right about 4th rounders+ , seriously ?

95% of the people here have no knowledge of players taken this late in the draft

I saw some decent project , im alright with our 2023 draft and I hope Reinbacher shows well in the future

The little Russian dman is interesting got most minutes for his team in khl and was one of the best passers in league
His coach is Larionov

 

[nyhabsfan]

If you haven't read Arpon Basu's article on Reinbacher you are missing out on a very good in-depth piece. I felt a lot better about the pick and the amount of diligence that the Habs put into the pick.

I would have tried to trade down to Philly for #7 and #22, but I have a feeling they KNEW Michov was falling to them.

I'll go out on a limb and say that Reinbacher will be a better pro than Michov for the following reasons.

1. Word is that Michov met TWICE with the Flyers and in his press conference said "This is the team I wanted to go too", so sounds like a pre-madonna already. Even Arizona who could afford the risk to take him passed. So did his agent tell other teams "don't bother"?
2. His play with the puck maybe elite but his overall 200ft game may never develop any further playing in the KHL without any input from the Flyers.
3. Still a question of his "attitiude" and character as a team player.

I could be wrong and I totally get we haven't had a superstar in 30 years, but I don't think he's going to be as good as all the hype suggests.

Drafting three goalies is a head scratcher!

Hard to be too critical when their are a dozen full time scouts who do this for a living, but I can understand the frustration when we went through a terrible season and the reward seems very underwhelming.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

I struggle to find positive.

I wish I could be excited but I fully expect to see some forwards drafted from 7 to 20 to become genuine superstar in the NHL. While Reinbacher can be good I would be surprised if he is a superstar defenseman but you have to hope he become one otherwise it will be depressing as f*** looking back.

 

[larek]

Same thing happened to Hughes. He pressed D a lot this draft.

LoL way too much

 

[Mrb1p]

Yegor Yegorov fkn missed

 

[larek]

I like most of the picks. Hopefully some of the later guys make it to the show.

Let's just hope our other prospects make it before this sad draft year

 

[Captain97]

I've been High on Reinbacher for months, I like Newhook and I suggest taking florian in the 4th or 5th.

But I k ow little about pretty much everyone else we drafted so B

 

[DiglettDangles]

The general feeling I get is that we had the opportunity to go big and we decided to go home.

We had the opportunity to take a massive step forward in becoming a serious threat, improving more than our competitors in the Atlantic and even in the East. Not only did we have this opportunity, but we also knew it was likely our last chance at drafting an offensive superstar in the Suzuki era.

Instead, we blundered on 5oa, 31oa and 37oa and watched the parade pass us by yet again.
Gutless management steered by self-preservation instincts and resulting in spectacular squandering of assets (not just at 5oa).

On the positive side, Fowler is a nice pick, extremely surprised by the number of Gs taken before him.
And were we to pass on Michkov, I kind of agree that Reinbacher is the only one that sort of made sense.

Flo Xhekaj sealed the deal, that's when I knew they just gave up.

 

[larek]

I'm removing emotion from the equation. I'd have pick B- or C+ if the options where there. Picked B.

I like the Reinbacher pick. It's not just an organizational need. No one drafts the BPA and flips them for the organizational need. Reinbacher is better than ASP and Simashev. Reinbacher wouldn't have lasted beyond Arizona. Take your guy.

We'll see how Newhook fairs. This is where some steam gets lost admittedly. The odds of one of 31 or 37 being a better player - 4 years from now - is really, really, low. A risk, but a calculated one.

3 goalies. Another organizational need. Jacob Fowler is an intriguing pick. Great athlete. Needs to work on his fitness. I've read some pieces where people think he was the #2 goalie in this draft. Three might be excessive, and darts at a board, but we need at least one goalie capable of progressing through the pipeline.

Florian Xhekaj - we'll see if he's a late bloomer like his brother. Certainly comes from good stock.

Bogdan Konyushkov - He put up 25 points in 64 KHL games. I don't care that he's 20. At that age, it's really good production. Another RHD.

The rest - Like the rest of you, who really knows. Mittlestadt seems interesting.

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It seems to me that, based on the picks, management are happy with the group of forward prospects they have. I don't think that's out of line. In the end, like every other year, we won't really know for a few years.

That means we have to get more scoring
This team up to now aside from Cole is pretty
Poor at putting the puck in the net- 7th worst in the league

I struggle to find positive.

I wish I could be excited but I fully expect to see some forwards drafted from 7 to 20 to become genuine superstar in the NHL. While Reinbacher can be good I would be surprised if he is a superstar defenseman but you have to hope he become one otherwise it will be depressing as f*** looking back.

I'll bet you 100$ Mich is the better NHL player

 

[waitin425]

I'm good with the 3 goalie picks. They are so hard to project at this point. Might as well spray and pray. I have the most hope for Fowler, but love a Montreal kid being selected, and Russian prospects can be scored for with proper scouting and some hard work.

I wanted Michkov, but I am hopeful for Reinbacher. I fear this result the most. We may have lost out on a Pavel Bure or he could be a Sergei Berezin. Time will tell, but I am betting Bure level.

Newhook is a 16th playing like a 16th. He is worth the 31st and 37th. People equating 37 to Ross Colton still doesn't move the needle for me. Newhook's upside is top line. His speed is very impressive, and Hughes/Marty seem very confident they work with him. Dach like season incoming I hope. Colton has reached his upside as a decent bottom 6er so I could care less that he was had by Colorado for out 37th.

I don't know shit about any of the other guys except Middlestadt. Saw him live when he was 14. Not impressed than.

The Swedish kid intrigues me, based on his injury history limiting viewings and opportunities. Seems like the type of portfolio that is a diamond in the rough.

Bogdan the Russian kid has a good write up, but none of us have a clue about who or what he is.

Xhekaj's brother is a nice touch. I don't expect anything from him, but if he is anything like his brother in terms of late development curve and NHL style game, perhaps we will be surprised.

I have been pissed all day, but I also move on fast. Time to start rooting for these kids and cautiously supporting HuGo again.

 

[MasterMatt25]

This kinda means next year we're gonna take a lot of forwards, when it's a draft strong on defense and a couple wingers. Very weak on centres next year

 

[stanley25]

Not the biggest fan of this draft but starting to see what Kent see's in Rhino (im sticking with this nickname) and based on the history of this board when a move is hated it usually turns out well and when a move is loved it usually ends up being a bust.


Based on that premise we've had the best draft in NHL history.

 

[MeanMugging91]

Like every other draft we'll have to wait and see.

1- If Rienbacher continues on his development curve and manages to become a 2 way #1 rh defense then that's an extremely valuable piece.

2- If our 31st and 37th pick turns out to be a speedy versatile 60 point player for us then that would be a solid addition as well.

3- If one of the 3 tendies we picked manage to become a starter that would be awesome.

Lots of if's but there's a chance this draft turns out to be a game changer for us down the road. Even tho I wanted Michkov ill hold my judgment on this draft for a couple of years

 

[JeffreyLFC]

I have flashback from 2015. The Reinbacher pick is very similar to Hanifin.

Very solid defensively, fluid skater. Everybody were raving about him, safe pick.

He was drafted very high and he is a good defenseman now but the list of forwards taken after make it look very bad with hindsight: Meier, Rantanen, Barzal, Connor, Boeser, Konecny,

 

[Captain Mountain]

The general feeling I get is that we had the opportunity to go big and we decided to go home.

We had the opportunity to take a massive step forward in becoming a serious threat, improving more than our competitors in the Atlantic and even in the East. Not only did we have this opportunity, but we also knew it was likely our last chance at drafting an offensive superstar in the Suzuki era.

Instead, we blundered on 5oa, 31oa and 37oa and watched the parade pass us by yet again.
Gutless management steered by self-preservation instincts and resulting in spectacular squandering of assets (not just at 5oa).

On the positive side, Fowler is a nice pick, extremely surprised by the number of Gs taken before him.
And were we to pass on Michkov, I kind of agree that Reinbacher is the only one that sort of made sense.

Flo Xhekaj sealed the deal, that's when I knew they just gave up.

FWIW, the bolded is an awful take. For one, Montreal is likely to be awful next season too. Its not impossible that they're much better, but compared to older rebuilds, we should expect Montreal to be drafting high next season. They're probably the worst team in the East next season. For another, there was no opportunity that you described out there.

 

[habsterr]

People were saying Habs won the 2012 and 2013 NHL drafts. Way too early to judge but basing on preliminary guessing Il give it a C.

 

[Redux91]

Well since all our "A+" rated drafts never really went anywhere,
I am more than curious to see how our "D-" draft turns out lol

 

[CoopersFalls]

In hindsight, I would have traded 5th for Askarov and 15th, and took Sandin-Pellikka

 

[larek]

I'm good with the 3 goalie picks. They are so hard to project at this point. Might as well spray and pray. I have the most hope for Fowler, but love a Montreal kid being selected, and Russian prospects can be scored for with proper scouting and some hard work.

I wanted Michkov, but I am hopeful for Reinbacher. I fear this result the most. We may have lost out on a Pavel Bure or he could be a Sergei Berezin. Time will tell, but I am betting Bure level.

Newhook is a 16th playing like a 16th. He is worth the 31st and 37th. People equating 37 to Ross Colton still doesn't move the needle for me. Newhook's upside is top line. His speed is very impressive, and Hughes/Marty seem very confident they work with him. Dach like season incoming I hope. Colton has reached his upside as a decent bottom 6er so I could care less that he was had by Colorado for out 37th.

I don't know shit about any of the other guys except Middlestadt. Saw him live when he was 14. Not impressed than.

The Swedish kid intrigues me, based on his injury history limiting viewings and opportunities. Seems like the type of portfolio that is a diamond in the rough.

Bogdan the Russian kid has a good write up, but none of us have a clue about who or what he is.

Xhekaj's brother is a nice touch. I don't expect anything from him, but if he is anything like his brother in terms of late development curve and NHL style game, perhaps we will be surprised.

I have been pissed all day, but I also move on fast. Time to start rooting for these kids and cautiously supporting HuGo again.

I woke up this morning and right away shook my head!

 

[Habs13]

I like the Xhekaj pick... and... that's it.

 

[Runner77]

While we came into this draft with the highest of hopes, it now appears that the fallout may have mental health considerations.

Our scientific poll bears out the best path going forward.

 

[DiglettDangles]

FWIW, the bolded is an awful take. For one, Montreal is likely to be awful next season too. Its not impossible that they're much better, but compared to older rebuilds, we should expect Montreal to be drafting high next season. They're probably the worst team in the East next season. For another, there was no opportunity that you described out there.

Disagree - kids are growing into their role, finally losing some dead weight,and we can't possibly have as many injuries to key players like Guhle, Dach and Caufield.
I'm expecting to pick 8-14 next year.
Feel free to bookmark but that's my opinion as of today.