Alrighty then, who do we pick 84th and 95th?

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

I have no clue. Must go read up. Ideas?

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

With extreme trepidation, my nature being as meek as it is, I timidly venture the following players as possible Habs' selections in the third round:

Victor Oreskovich RW
Geoff Paukowich LW
Jan Steber RW/LW
Sergei Shirokov LW
Emil Axelsson D
Dane Byers LW

[blaise]

One would have to be extremely prescient to make a single accurate guess from this point on. I'll be content if the Habs land one or two players who eventually make the NHL. My greatest hope is that they find someone who turns into a capable defenseman.

I look forward to the 2005 draft with greater anticipation.

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

Blaise said:

I look forward to the 2005 draft with greater anticipation.

Never squander present opportunities by looking too far ahead. The future is now.

[montreal]

Kevin Poter, Julien Sprunger, Mike Lundin, Tlyer Haskins, Karsums, Cabana, Lascek, Yemelin

[blaise]

M. said:

Never squander present opportunities by looking too far ahead. The future is now.

Who says squander? I was saying the third round and subsequent picks are wild guesses. And if never squandering present opportunities by looking too far ahead is axiomatic, then trading for Kovalev fit the bill. I for one would have experienced a bitter taste if the Habs had fallen to the Bruins because Gainey had looked too far ahead.

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

montreal said:

Kevin Poter, Julien Sprunger, Mike Lundin, Tlyer Haskins, Karsums, Cabana, Lascek, Yemelin

Er, ah, back to the drawing board...

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

Blaise said:

Who says squander? I was saying the third round and subsequent picks are wild guesses.

I'm certain that André Savard, Trevor Timmins, Pierre Dorion et al disagree with that viewpoint.

Wild guesses are what you and I are paid to make. Well, at least what I am willing to make.

[blaise]

M. said:

I'm certain that André Savard, Trevor Timmins, Pierre Dorion et al disagree with that viewpoint.

Wild guesses are what you and I are paid to make. Well, at least what I am willing to make.

I could no more identify the best available pick at #84 than I could play Chopin in the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier. I'll leave it to the aforementioned. ;D

[montreal]

montreal said:

Yemelin

Yea

[Goldthorpe]

84: Alexei Yemelin

From the Sports Forecaster:

Appeared for the gold-medal-winning Russian squad at the 2004 World under-18 tournament in Minsk, but went pointless with 10 penalty minutes in six games. Isn't big but loves to get his nose dirty. Moves the puck well and possesses some offensive upside. Must add more discipline to his game, as well as try to stay out of the penalty box. Started the 2003-04 campaign very slowly in Russia's Division 1, but came on in the second half of the season. May need more weight in order to play his physical game in North America. Is considered a long-term project.

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

montreal said:

Yemelin

Yea

Nice call.

[blny]

centralscouting.nhl.com/amplayprofs.nsf/0/0b20a1b88efd0f0385256cee005968ac?OpenDocument

The scoop on Yemelin from Central Scouting. I believe, if I read it right, that his final ranking going into the draft was 28th among Euro skaters. He's 6'0" and 187 lbs, and had 180 PIMs iin 50 some games. Can you say chippy? Could he be a Dany Markov type?

[Goldthorpe]

Montreal traded 95th to LA?

OMG we just got Bonk.

[blny]

Did we deal the 95th pick to LA? NHL.com has LA taking the pick. I seem to recall seeing it being Montreal's from SJ about five mins ago. I assume we got it in the Hackett deal. Anyone know the scoop?

[Douper]

We traded the 3rd to LA with Garon for Bonk and Huet.

[blny]

Say what? Bonk who?

EDIT: Just seeing this on The Score now. Ottawa got a third rounder for Bonk from LA, and we get Bonk and Huet for Garon and our third. This is a big surprise to me. huet isn't a bad goalie. To get him for a third essentially is a pretty good move. I'm not sure what to think about getting Bonk. Will he go to the LW on the second line? Can he be motivated? He has the tools, but really lacks the motivation. This trade overall surprises (I know I've said that already). Gainey was really coy about any trades this weekend. I can't think this was a last minute thing. He had to be working on this for a bit.

[montreal]

Douper said:

We traded the 3rd to LA with Garon for Bonk and Huet.

BOOOOOOOO. That's the worst trade I've seen from us since Traverse. Bonk at 3.5M is soft and coming off a 12 season, scored 25 goals once. Huet sucks, imo but is very cheap at 425K, he's older then Theodore. What a joke

[Skilly]

I venture to guess that Mark Tobin would be a good pick-up for the Habs.

He is of the same mold as Ryder ..... big, chippy, hard-working. Played some time on the same line as Sydney Crosby. Plus he is from Newfoundland. Montreal seems to drafts Newfs more than any other team in the past 10 years.

EDIT: Ahhh crap Tampa Bay already picked him! Tampa has a couple of Newfs in their farm system now too.

[iceberg]

bob as stated that he will look for a goalie in the draft. i think that a newf could very will be our next pick. we have the second pick in the fourth round and i think that jason churchill could very will be it. he was rated pretty high in a lot of mock drafts and was expected to go in the second or third rnd by many. i believe he has the tools, and especially the size to be worth the pick. this kid didn't play a lot of high caliber hockey until this year, and played on a poor team then, but he will get much better with a little more experience and better coaching.

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

I was hoping to get Blake Wheeler with the 95th pick but he was picked up by Phoneyx.

[seventeen]

Goldthorpe said:

84: Alexei Yemelin

From the Sports Forecaster:

Appeared for the gold-medal-winning Russian squad at the 2004 World under-18 tournament in Minsk, but went pointless with 10 penalty minutes in six games. Isn't big but loves to get his nose dirty. Moves the puck well and possesses some offensive upside. Must add more discipline to his game, as well as try to stay out of the penalty box. Started the 2003-04 campaign very slowly in Russia's Division 1, but came on in the second half of the season. May need more weight in order to play his physical game in North America. Is considered a long-term project.

so guess who gets picked at #84?

That should make your day a little better, Dan.

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

"Reggie" Yemelin.

[blaise]

Gainey was able to wheel-and-deal with third round draft picks, thanks to the third rounder Savard picked up in the Hackett trade. This left the Habs with one more: Yemelin. Incidentally, I have a feeling this is a phonetic rather than alphabetic version of the Kyrillic, and some might render it as something like Emilin? I'll check with my Russian friends when I get a chance.