Who does Montreal Pick?

[blny]

There's a lot of talk today that Winnipeg isn't 'sold' on Laine. They may prefer Puljujarvi. Both Finns are outstanding. No doubt Laine is the sniper, but Pu can score on his own and create.

[Willie Dog]

Jun 23, 2016 0:36:49 GMT -5 seventeen said:

Jun 22, 2016 17:43:34 GMT -5 PTH said:

Habs could sign Lucic for the left wing and they'd have two pretty good lines with Pleks centering Lucy and Laine. Not to mention that we keep our 9th pick and the chance to draft another centreman or defenceman. Makes sense, except for the fact P.K. is an icon in Montreal.

I would think Laine would be with Patches and Galchy and Gally wwould be with Pleks and Lucic.

[franko]

Jun 23, 2016 13:19:01 GMT -5 Willie Dog said:

I would think Laine would be with Patches and Galchy and Gally wwould be with Pleks and Lucic.

heard that Lucy was ticked at Boston for not grabbing Gally . . . they have a relationship from days past.

[seventeen]

Jun 23, 2016 13:19:01 GMT -5 Willie Dog said:

Jun 23, 2016 0:36:49 GMT -5 seventeen said:

I would think Laine would be with Patches and Galchy and Gally wwould be with Pleks and Lucic.

You don't put a first year kid ahead of Gallagher until he proves he's better. He may be a better scorer right now than Gallagher, but team dynamics take a hit if you reward Laine prematurely. No need to worry about it anyway, we're not getting Laine.

[NWTHabsFan]

Well, we are one day away from finding out who the Habs will pick with their top ten pick, the first since nabbing Galchenyuk third overall. The top end of the 2016 draft is pretty good and the top 12 or so players are all pretty solid prospects, so the Habs should walk away with a player who should almost automatically become their top prospect overall. Who might that be?

There is a consensus top three defenders in this draft, as the top end of the draft is really dominated by high profile forwards for the most part. Olli Juolevi (London, OHL), Mikhail Sergachev (Windsor, OHL) and Jacob Chychrun (Sarnia, OHL) have been jockeying back and forth all season in the rankings. There is a good chance one (maybe even two) might be available when the Habs pick at ninth. Given Bergevin’s love of defensive depth and the relative lack of top end defensive prospects, this might not be a bad thing. However, all things being equal, we have to assume that the Habs will still adopt a BPA (best player available) approach with this key pick and there are no guarantees that an available defender will be ranked higher than an available forward on the Habs draft list. That being said, Sergachev is likely the most raw of the three, but likely has the highest upside. He is also a left handed shot, something the Habs lack everywhere in the organization. Chychrun has been dropping in most ranking through the year, and I am always leery of grabbing a player who has not developed at the same pace as his peers unless the scouts are really sold on his projected outcome. Juolevi is almost likely gone before the Habs take the podium.

What about forwards then? There are a few very different forwards that will have been heavily scouted by Timmins and company.

Clayton Keller (USANDTP) is a small but highly skilled centreman who plays in the USHL for the US development program. He is the most dynamic of the forwards that are likely available to the Habs, although his stock has been rising and he may go just before the Habs pick. He looked really exciting with the US U-18 team that won gold recently, and he has what looks like game breaking skill. The main concern is that he is undersized, and that is likely why he is still in the conversation at the 9th spot. Will the Habs take a flyer on another smaller forward, but whose skill is hard to ignore?

Logan Brown (Windsor, OHL) is the physical opposite of Keller, as he stands at 6’6” although he is not what can be described as an overly physical player. He is a dual citizen who opted to play for the US at the U18’s, and his stock has been rising all year too. A big talented centre is a rare beast, and especially on a team that is seen as smaller than average. He moves quite well for his size and definitely can put up points. I see him as a more talented and likely more agile McCarron at the same age.

Tyson Jost (Penticton, BCHL) is a centreman who played in the Junior A ranks in BC. He put up huge numbers, but there is always the caveat that it is in a much weaker league. He has done well at best on best tournaments like the World Junior A Challenge, the U17’s, the Ivan Hlinka U18 summer tourney and most recently as Canada’s captain at the U18’s. In fact he set a team scoring record, beating one held by Connor McDavid of all folks. He is seen as a really solid two way player with great leadership pedigree.

Will it be one of the above, or someone entirely different? Will the Habs keep the pick or swing a big draft floor deal for immediate help? Tune into Sportsnet tomorrow night and enjoy your favourite cold bevvy from the fridge as we will all find out together.

Fun times…and then on Saturday the Habs have some great picks at 39 and 45 (from Minny via Buffalo in the Gorges deal) that should be really solid prospects with potential as well. Five picks in the top 100.

[Willie Dog]

Jun 23, 2016 15:55:47 GMT -5 NWTHabsFan said:

Well, we are one day away from finding out who the Habs will pick with their top ten pick, the first since nabbing Galchenyuk third overall. The top end of the 2016 draft is pretty good and the top 12 or so players are all pretty solid prospects, so the Habs should walk away with a player who should almost automatically become their top prospect overall. Who might that be?

There is a consensus top three defenders in this draft, as the top end of the draft is really dominated by high profile forwards for the most part. Olli Juolevi (London, OHL), Mikhail Sergachev (Windsor, OHL) and Jacob Chychrun (Sarnia, OHL) have been jockeying back and forth all season in the rankings. There is a good chance one (maybe even two) might be available when the Habs pick at ninth. Given Bergevin’s love of defensive depth and the relative lack of top end defensive prospects, this might not be a bad thing. However, all things being equal, we have to assume that the Habs will still adopt a BPA (best player available) approach with this key pick and there are no guarantees that an available defender will be ranked higher than an available forward on the Habs draft list. That being said, Sergachev is likely the most raw of the three, but likely has the highest upside. He is also a left handed shot, something the Habs lack everywhere in the organization. Chychrun has been dropping in most ranking through the year, and I am always leery of grabbing a player who has not developed at the same pace as his peers unless the scouts are really sold on his projected outcome. Juolevi is almost likely gone before the Habs take the podium.

What about forwards then? There are a few very different forwards that will have been heavily scouted by Timmins and company.

Clayton Keller (USANDTP) is a small but highly skilled centreman who plays in the USHL for the US development program. He is the most dynamic of the forwards that are likely available to the Habs, although his stock has been rising and he may go just before the Habs pick. He looked really exciting with the US U-18 team that won gold recently, and he has what looks like game breaking skill. The main concern is that he is undersized, and that is likely why he is still in the conversation at the 9th spot. Will the Habs take a flyer on another smaller forward, but whose skill is hard to ignore?

Logan Brown (Windsor, OHL) is the physical opposite of Keller, as he stands at 6’6” although he is not what can be described as an overly physical player. He is a dual citizen who opted to play for the US at the U18’s, and his stock has been rising all year too. A big talented centre is a rare beast, and especially on a team that is seen as smaller than average. He moves quite well for his size and definitely can put up points. I see him as a more talented and likely more agile McCarron at the same age.

Tyson Jost (Penticton, BCHL) is a centreman who played in the Junior A ranks in BC. He put up huge numbers, but there is always the caveat that it is in a much weaker league. He has done well at best on best tournaments like the World Junior A Challenge, the U17’s, the Ivan Hlinka U18 summer tourney and most recently as Canada’s captain at the U18’s. In fact he set a team scoring record, beating one held by Connor McDavid of all folks. He is seen as a really solid two way player with great leadership pedigree.

Will it be one of the above, or someone entirely different? Will the Habs keep the pick or swing a big draft floor deal for immediate help? Tune into Sportsnet tomorrow night and enjoy your favourite cold bevvy from the fridge as we will all find out together.

Fun times…and then on Saturday the Habs have some great picks at 39 and 45 (from Minny via Buffalo in the Gorges deal) that should be really solid prospects with potential as well. Five picks in the top 100.

I can see them picking Brown, which I am fine with because a bunch of other guys available at 9 are going the college route so that is 4 years lost imo. The thought of having Galchy-Brown-McCarron as our 3 centres would be mean we are not a small team anymore.

[seventeen]

And I would cry if we keep our pick, have a chance at Keller and pass on him. I just love his dynamism, his vision and the fact he just piles up points, everywhere he plays. He has that speed that is essential to succeed today. Maybe I'm devaluing Brown, but I love what I read about Keller and the highlights I've seen. I looked at Kieffer Bellows' highlights and he always seemed to be getting set up by a Keller pass. I forgot the highlights were about Bellows. My two picks are Keller and Sergachev. If Nylander is our choice, I'd be ok with that if Keller is gone.

PS. I think Bergevin is going to move heaven and earth (I sure wish those were two of our bottom 6) in order to move up and choose Dubois. It will be really interesting after Edmonton's pick if Dubois is still available.

[Anardil1]

Since we have known that the Habs were slotted at the 9th pick, I've been on the Jost bandwagon. I just love his 200 foot game. He's proven that he can produce when he's playing against his peers, thus dispelling the fears that he produced mainly because of playing in a lower level. Yes, there are other players available that will produce more than him, but I see a Jonathan Toews style player in Jost.

Now after saying all that, I'm torn now, because the more I've read and heard about other prospects, some have grown on me substantially. To be honest, it will be easier to mention who I would be disappointed in:

-Mike McLeod. IMHO, I see a prospect with the ceiling of becoming Lars Eller 2.0.

-Jakob Chychrun. I am extremely leery of a prospect who had an exciting 16 y/o season, only to have a disappointing draft year. I tend to put prospects on a downward trend on my No Draft list. Also, the Habs used a 1st round pick, way back when, on a prospect who had a great pre draft season, but couldn't put up a solid draft season. His name? Lindsay Vallis.

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

We are making a bigger thing about the draft than it really is. We were the worst team in the league in the most recent half of the season. We still have the same incompetent failures as well our brain trust. We still have the same players. The teams that finished below us will pick ahead of us and three of them will add excellent prospects. We get back Price after a year of inactivity and expect him to resume his Vezina form the way PK resumed his Vezina form. Our farm teams haven't made their playoffs since Leblanc was a star in Pee Wee on the West Island. Boudreaux would have had a bigger impact on the team than adding Juulsen to St. John's. We have lots of journeymen, some bad contracts and several above average players. Mathews would make a difference. I won't give up but my expectations are in check!

[blny]

I'm not worried about the college route. If they do go, there's no rule that says they can't leave. Max didn't complete his degree. neither did Komisarek, and they were both at one of the best programs.

[duster]

I don't think Bergevin has the cojones to go for Dubois at 4th overall and I don't see PK traded. I'm hoping for either Keller or Sergachev. That said, I suspect it will be Logan Brown or someone no one expects like Dante Fabbro.

[NWTHabsFan]

Berg rocking purple pants. That may be the most exciting Habs news tonight (oh yeah, and maybe some kid picked 9th if they don't trade it).

[NWTHabsFan]

Jun 24, 2016 15:49:57 GMT -5 duster said:

That said, I suspect it will be Logan Brown or someone no one expects like Dante Fabbro.

...or Jake Bean...just to keep us guessing.

[CentreHice]

TSN690 reporting that Bergevin said:

--no offer for Subban.

--feels good about making a trade this evening.


So much speculation...

[Gogie]

Hey guys, I'm stuck in an airplane on the tarmac in Calgary waiting for a gate and hoping to make a tight connection for my flight to Toronto. Looks like we'll be sitting here awhile so if you guys can keep me up to date on the draft it would sure help in relieving my boredom on the plane.