Who would you have drafted? 2023

[dcyhabs]

first off, to all the haters that sent hate mail to david R. WHO THE F do you think you are.
If you are disappointed the habs did not pick your guy or ANY of your guys well TOOOOOOOOO BADDDDDDDDDD. A blind man can see what the habs plan was. Habs decided NOT to take Mich, so then what? clearly habs wanted Smith with David R as 2nd choice. For the first time in what 50 years NO TRADES! up or down. WOW. Now the habs had to choose between to NEEDS. Yes a 35 goal type player at 5th pick or whats even MORE RARE a top right handed big mobile dman ( and boy they dont grow on trees) It was also getting clear the Yotes were going to pick David R at 6th so pick me NOW or loose me forever. Since WHEN does deep draft never include dmen. I remember when the habs picked C Price, and the same hate mail again ( what a goalie! NOBODY PICKS A GOALIE at 5th, they can't score goals ) Remember all that shiiiit? So hear we go again with the haters. 3-4 years from now we will ALL KNOW who picked well and who picked the BUSTS. If YOU think you know better well I have some gold mine stock from north Korea since you know better and can tell the future.

It’s not so much that you don’t want to pick a D or a G early because you don’t value the position. It’s harder to get those picks right because the most relevant data in hockey is scoring. Forwards bust too, but generally you have more reliable information on them. Better odds.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

I have no idea. Never watched a minute of Leonard, redenbacher, michkov etc.

The same could be said of the multitude of fans who are critical of the team's choices.

One player who seems to have engendered no response was Quentin Miller taken 128th. Now I will be the first to acknowledge I have little insight into goalies and their potential. Fortunately, in my organization, I have a horde of general mangers, coaches and scouts who can advise me in this regards. I see goalies being somewhat akin to catchers in baseball. The late, great Casey Stengel once said that catcher is the most important position in baseball. Why? Because if you don't have a good catcher, Casey said, the ball will always end up at the backstop. In hockey, if you don't have a good goalie, the puck seems to always end up in the end. As for the young Miller, I saw him for the first and only time during the recent Memorial Cup. After watching Miller play one game, I posted the following comment:

( Miller) Has looked solid making a number of difficult saves.

Miller made an impression on me (for what its worth) and I'm delighted that he "fell" to us.

 

[Andrei79]

Bump. If you wanna bitch about the draft, post the rest of your picks.

"Tell us you have no life without telling us you have no life"

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

The moment San Jose picked Smith, leaving Michkov on the table, I said, "Do it! Swing for the fences!". And then the moment Carey Price lost his ability to read a simple name, I felt the rebuild foundation start to crumble. Two years of shit and what do we have to show for it?

But the reality is we have no idea what we have to show for it. Not yet. 95% of us wanted Michkov. Do we know something management doesn't? It's possible. But it's also possible they know something we don't. Nuthin' we can do now but sit back and watch the show...

I didn't want a Russian but if they had taken Michkov I would have accepted that the risk was worth it. I expected them to take Leonard.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

I didn't want a Russian but if they had taken Michkov I would have accepted that the risk was worth it. I expected them to take Leonard.

So did I. It will be quite amusing if Moore, the best skater in this draft, turns out to be a superior player to both of his Team U.S. teammates: Smith and Leonard.

 

[OldCraig71]

I just read that Michkov is hoping to join the Flyers for training camp in 2024, if true that would be a big win for them and a big mistake by the teams that passed on him.

 

[Frank Drebin]

I just read that Michkov is hoping to join the Flyers for training camp in 2024, if true that would be a big win for them and a big mistake by the teams that passed on him.

Do you think the Habs passed on michkov because they didn't like the timeline? I'm convinced they simply didn't like the player

 

[NORiculous]

Michkov

 

[dcyhabs]

So did I. It will be quite amusing if Moore, the best skater in this draft, turns out to be a superior player to both of his Team U.S. teammates: Smith and Leonard.

On the US team it’s one big line and Moore. Moore may be better.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Do you think the Habs passed on michkov because they didn't like the timeline? I'm convinced they simply didn't like the player

They passed because they viewed him as a talented, undersized player who lacks elite skating. They saw a player whose game they project will not translate well in the NHL. They weren't the only team who had those doubts.

 

[Habs 4 Life]

Gotta be Michkov, can't wait to see how he turns out in a few seasons

 

[Doublechin]

5. Leonard
69. Fowler
101. Minnetian
110. Mania
128. Ratzlaff
133. Levis
144. Oscarson

From here on, outta ideas

 

[Treb]

5.) Matvei Michkov
69.) Jacob Fowler
101.) Ethan Miedeman
110.) Bogdan Konyushkov
128.) Matthew Mania
133.) Cam Allen
144.) Timur Mukhanov
165.) Mazden Leslie
197.) Jordan Tourigny

 

[DamianHabs]

Tell us who you would have drafted so you can say atoadaso in a few years time.

5.) Matvei Michkov
69.) Alex Ciernik
101.) Rodwin Dionicio
110.) Cam Squires
128.) Matthew Mania
133.) Ryan Conmy
144.) Rasmus Ekström
165.) Mazden Leslie
197.) Aiden Fink

The Habs made a good decision. Will Michkov prove to be more valuable in five years? Perhaps but first pair dmen who can skate really well and drive the play are gold. The Habs overpaid Subban because they thought they had one. Teams pay a fortune for these kinds of players.

Let’s let this kid develop.

 

[OldCraig71]

Do you think the Habs passed on michkov because they didn't like the timeline? I'm convinced they simply didn't like the player

I think that some of the motivation was political and not just for the Habs but they might have been duped by Michkov and his agent as well. He might have wanted to go to several destinations and Montreal might not have been one of them. I saw the rumor yesterday that he might join the Flyers as early as next season but earlier reports suggested the 26-27 season as a timeline.

 

[OldCraig71]

The Habs made a good decision. Will Michkov prove to be more valuable in five years? Perhaps but first pair dmen who can skate really well and drive the play are gold. The Habs overpaid Subban because they thought they had one. Teams pay a fortune for these kinds of players.

Let’s let this kid develop.

If he turns into a 90-100 point player it becomes a big fail to pass on him at 5 and it's even tougher to predict how a defenseman will develop and how long it will take.

 

[montreal]

Do you think the Habs passed on michkov because they didn't like the timeline? I'm convinced they simply didn't like the player

I think they looked at him and Caufield and said can a team win a cup with these 2 in their top 6. Or it's at least how i looked at it, I said before the draft some were overrating him (though I didn't see his KHL games, I did see several MHL when he was 15 and several VHL this year)

In the little i saw of Reinbacher at the WJC's, I wasn't too impressed so for me I went into the draft expecting to be disappointed as the only player I wanted was Smith and I thought he would be gone by 3rd OA. I would have gone with Leonard over Reinbacher unless his offensive game is much better and he's more like a Seider. If he's a Seider like D then great for us but I need to see a lot more and of course his games are f***ing hard to find (full games)

 

[BJCOLLINS]

Bedard

 

[Belial]

Bedard

I don't think that's a valid pick.

 

[BJCOLLINS]

I don't think that's a valid pick.

lol, I know.
so my desired picks were Bedard, Fantilli, Carlson, Smith, Michkov (who was BPA IMHO) or trade down. Philly was right there with #7 & #22, we could’ve had Leonard 7 & Bonk 22 if HuGo wanted a RHD.

I‘m gonna support Reinbacher and hope he becomes the best D in the draft. Cheers.

 

[malton]

#5 - Michkov
#69 - Brzustewicz
#101 - Ratzlaff
#110 - Khazheyev
#128 - Cameron Allen
#133 - Mania
#144 - Cole Brown
#165 - Chadwick
#197 - Jarventie

 

[26Mats]

I'll say it: I like Reinbacher, but man it would have been good to have seen Michkov in today's development camp scrimmage.

 

[SnapVirus]

I'll say it: I like Reinbacher, but man it would have been good to have seen Michkov in today's development camp scrimmage.

Yup. I was unimpressed today by Reinbacher's performance. But still, he is the youngest player at camp. See what 1 year did to Mailloux/Hutson.

 

[eklund the clown]

Do you think the Habs passed on michkov because they didn't like the timeline? I'm convinced they simply didn't like the player

I would say both

 

[Toene]

Almost a week and I'm back to being bummed after days of convincing myself it wasnt that bad. Sure, Reinbacher is probably going to be a really good piece. It still was an atrocious decision to pass on Michkov.

A franchise as rich and influential as the Montreal Canadiens can't pay some people in Russia to take a look at the kid? Philly clears their arena and its events just to interview him, but somehow, we just throw the towel in advance because... because what? Because the prospect we pick is going to be fine so no need to put an actual effort into looking in the best Russian prospect since Ovechkin who could realistically drop to us? Reinbacher was a loser pick. Not in the sense that he isnt a terrific prospect, but because it shows a mentality of being afraid to take a gamble. I'm not only bummed about missing out on Michkov, but also because the draft weekend showed us that the Habs still have the same old issue as an organization. They're prudent, tentative. They play it safe.