top 30 prospects

[montreal]

The Montreal Canadiens continue to boast very impressive depth from their farm system with the main areas of strength coming from between the pipes and some excellent forward prospects. However the team still continues to lag behind with their defensive depth, although it might not be as bad as some think depending on how some of the defensemen develop over time....




www.habsworld.net/article.php?id=939

[seventeen]

Thanks Dan. Nice to get a full recap of progression and how you see them ranked in the organization. You've seen these guys much, much more than I have. It seems that newer, more recently drafted players often get rated higher than other old players, who perhaps have shown some warts, while the newer guys are still glowing with freshness. Can't argue with Latendresse being rated that high, though Price might be optimistic. He had a good camp, where adrenaline could have been freely flowing. In any case, many of these players are pegged where I'd have them, which shows we see many of the same things. How right we are will be determined by time and isn't that important anyway, as long as enough prospects become good NHL players. Thanks for the write-up.

[montreal]

seventeen said:

Thanks Dan. Nice to get a full recap of progression and how you see them ranked in the organization. You've seen these guys much, much more than I have. It seems that newer, more recently drafted players often get rated higher than other old players, who perhaps have shown some warts, while the newer guys are still glowing with freshness. Can't argue with Latendresse being rated that high, though Price might be optimistic. He had a good camp, where adrenaline could have been freely flowing. In any case, many of these players are pegged where I'd have them, which shows we see many of the same things. How right we are will be determined by time and isn't that important anyway, as long as enough prospects become good NHL players. Thanks for the write-up.

Well it's all just opinions, but I fully agree that newer guys tend to get overhyped. Just look at Kostitsyn. I have been a big fan of Latendresse's since his rookie year. To me the fact that he improved his skating, mobility and foot speed is outstanding. Not saying he still doesn't have work to do, but he's already made impressive strides in those areas. I have had a good deal of contact with the people at ISS in the past and there was a time when they were so high on him (before his shoulder surgery I believe) In fact the head scout is a Hab fan and we discussed how getting Latendresse would be the kind of prospect they need to get. (but we also thought that Boris Valabik would be a nice pick before the '04 draft took place! ;D) At the time of the '04 draft, ISS had Latendresse going 3rd overall but then the way he started this year, most seemed to lose interest in him fast since he struggled to get it going and didn't seem to want to test out his repaired shoulder. (it was our team doctors that worked on him)

So I must say I am a big fan of his and what he can bring to this team, something we haven't had in a long long time.

Price it's funny cause I've already taken some heat for having him so low. To be honest I had a hard time putting him over Danis, who I am a huge fan of. I followed Danis at Brown, and Hamilton last year and just can't get enough of this guy. He's not the most skilled goalie but he's so freaking smart and he's like a robot in nets. Very good tech goalie but his size is a bit of a concern. I personally like him better then what I've seen from Price (who is struggling at the moment) but with Danis his upside is limited as he's already 24, so I'm assuming what we see is what we get in general terms. I figured another year in Hamilton would be great for him, hoping he could get even better. Guess we'll see what his NHL stint will do for him.

Price though I must be catching on the wrong games. I thought he was good at the prospects game but wasn't overly impressed at the U-18's. He did look much better towards the end of the tourny though. This year I only saw some clips of preseason (where I thought he looked good) but in the two games I've seen so far for Tri City, ouch! He struggled in the first game of the season, looked good early on but after the first goal he seemed to fight the puck more. The next game I saw was against a very good Everett team where he played much better but still wasn't dominate imo. I must say though his team is freaking brutal. They couldn't do a damn thing against Everett, the offense was a joke aside from the PP which did move the puck around well, and the defense was an even bigger joke. I'm surprised that team has won any games but again I might have just caught them on two bad nights. I plan on seeing them more often for sure.


As for other guys, I've been very disappointed in Milroy last year. Urquhart would have to be the biggest disappointment. Lambert, Ferland, Korpikari, Korneev and Michaud as well. I was happy to see Archer pick it up, I hope to see him have a big year this season. Although Ferland and Korpikari suffered injuries that cost them a chunk of time. Korneev and Linhart I'm wondering if we will even sign these guys this sumer, if not we lose their rights.

In talking about the new guys, I also must say I was very very impressed with the draft we had. I was jumping out of my chair when I saw we had Price-Latendresse, what a combo right there. Mikus and Paquet are really hard to gauge at this point since I've only seen Mikus once and haven't seen Paquet yet and won't until next month. Mikus comes highly rated from both ISS and Younguns.com I personally don't see what they are so high on, but it was only one game and he is playing in a mens league, doing well stats wise. Paquet I hope to get a better read on throughout the year. He's off to a good start but we'll see. He's a true freshman so he's young and has many years to develop. Kostitsyn I have seen a few times in London and wow I am very impressed. If only his brother would work so hard! Not only that but he throws his body around a bit and will go into high traffic areas, taking a hit to make a play. I thought he was ok at the wjc's, but in the 3 games I've seen at London, we got ourselves a very nice late round pick. D'Agostini I am also impressed with. Not big but he sure is fast and seems to understand the game well. Gets a lot of ice time in all situations, although I've only seen him once this year so far, I was impressed with his play. Aubin I am not so sure of, he's putting up points and has good offensive skills, I like his vision and hands but he's a bit too soft imo. He reminds me a bit of Urquhart just not as soft and a better skater/more speed. The skill is there but he's also an '86 which means this could be his last year of juniors. I want to see what he does in the AHL but he's having a geat year so far putting up impressive numbers on a team that is lacking offensive firepower. he plays a lot as well.

What impresses me about our prospects in our goalies and forwards. I am very high on Heino-Lindberg and Halak is a good young goalie as well. That is four quality prospects right there, plus Michaud (who I have been down on for years) seems to be playing well in Hamilton so far and Lacasse (who had a bad year last season) is playing in a lot more games then I expected since Drakkar has a very good young goalie in Dupont.

The defense is the concern for sure. But with our core being mostly '84's we'll start to see what we got. Hainsey will continue to be the mystery man. But O'Byrne I'm expecting to have a big year although we likely won't see him for some time yet as I assume he won't be signed till next summer ('07) Korpikari is another guy I like a lot, but his upside seems limited. I've seen him play a few games for Karpat and he's looked good, strong on the puck, skates well, solid in his own end, but I have no idea what sort of plans management has for him. Emelin seems to be working his way up the charts as well, since he plays a physical style of defense that would be fun to see. He's still very young so we'll see what happens with him. The problem with Russians is if they get too good, you run the risk of losing them since they can make triple or more from what they would be making in Hamilton. Which is why I don't think we will see Korneev, since he makes 350K playing for one of the richest teams in the RSL and would get around 50K in Hamilton. But you never know since it's not always about money. I know one writer that spoke to him a few years back and he said to me I bet you never see him come over, he said that Korneev never said he didn't want to come over, just that he got the impression that Korneev felt he wouldn't make it. Perhaps the new rules would change his mind?

After that our defense is in trouble. Cote I like for depth and Archer could be a decent depth guy as well. Benoit I assume will be signed, especially with the loss of Flood and Shasby. Gleed is another defensive denfesemen that will need to be signed this summer coming up. I like him a lot, but his offensive upside seems limited at best. He is very smart, plays phsyical and skates well. Linhart I just don't get to see ever and have no freaking clue what management will do with him. I know he needs to be signed this summer coming up as well, but who knows if he would come over or not.

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

Good reads, Dan. Thanks for taking the time.

I must confess that I've been a Michaud fan since soon after he was signed. I'm glad that with Danis' promotion (who BTW I hope stays with the Habs even once Huet is game-ready) he has a chance to prove his worth in Hamilton.

[Bob]

Thanks Dan, your analysis is always on target... something that Cory Urquhart isn't. What a disappointment to fall out of the top 30.

[seventeen]

We're definitely strong in the goalie and forward area. I had my fingers crossed that Jack Johnson would fall to #5. Not to be. As a result we're stronger in goal. Not that our situation is bad. There are teams (Chicago) with a surfeit of defense prospects and a weakness in goal prospects. I think they're an excellent partner for us to do business with. There are probably others as well who may need a good forward and have depth on d.

I totally agree with your take on Halak and Heino-Lindberg. I only saw Halak at the WJC and in the one game I watched he was so-so. I think both will make the NHL before Michaud. I have not liked Michaud since his own WJC appearance.

Ah.....opinion, opinions.

[montreal]

I always enjoy a prospect discussion, lots of fun, so I'm just glad that others enjoy reading about them.



As for Michaud I wasn't a big fan of him during his junior days, and ECHL days. I was at his first AHL start and for whatever reasons he seems to play better in the AHL then ECHL. I watched him a lot this past season and he wasn't brutal but just couldn't stop letting in some tough goals. To me he has to find a way to win the game, not just keep his team in it. With the depth of goalies we have, he's got his work cut out for him. I am surprised to see him getting the nod over Halak, who I thought would be there with JDD and Michaud as the backup in Long Beach, but it appears it will be Halak as a backup, although I assume he will be rotated in regularly if he does well.

It's great that Michaud has gotten off to a good start in Hamilton but the goaltending still scares me. JDD look really bad at the few times I saw him. From what I understand he did better in the ECHL. Michaud-JDD is a scary combo, but hopefully they pick it up this year. I just can't wait for Danis to get back cause I was expecting a big year from him. I really hope that his stint in the NHL doesn't hurt him (sounds funny) but not playing much at all, if he has a few bad games who knows how it would effect his confidence.

To me what is really interesting is how the future will unfold for the three, Price, Danis and Heino. Halak could also make it very interesting and you never know what Michaud and Lacasse will do. Price would very likely stay in the WHL for his 2 years, then I assume he'll head to the AHL, but if he plays great that could change. I personally would like to see him brought along slowly cause it appears he is our future goalie at this point. Danis I would expect to go back to Hamilton as soon as Huet is 100% ready to play in the NHL (perhaps a few games with Hamilton would be in order for Huet) Then next year the team would have to make a choice with Huet, Danis, Michaud all be FA's and Lacasse having to be signed. Leaving Theo, Halak as our only goalies under contract. Lots of options there, I assume Huet would be the back but I'm really not all the familar with Huet. I would assume Danis in Hamilton with one of Halak-Michaud. Lacasse if he is to be signed, he could stay in the Q or the ECHL.

Then there's Heino-Lindberg. He's off to a great start in the SEL although he plays for one of the top teams, his numbers are impressive. I really liked what I saw from him at the development camp but he did struggle at the wjcj's. He put up outstanding numbers last year when the league had several NHLers in it, although from what I'm told he and the team had a real tough time in something like the playoffs where the top teir-2 teams play the bottom SEL teams. Management has till june '07 to sign him, so they could easily leave him in the SEL for another year and perhaps then bring him over, perhaps moving Danis into Huet's spot, leaving Halak, Michaud, Heino, Price, Lacasse to battle for the 2 AHL spots. (assuming they are all still with us after next season) If they don't sign Heino in '07 then we lose his rights.

Lacasse imo is hanging out at the bottom of the group but his play this year has been improved from last season disappointment, when he lost the starting job to a very good young goalie in Dupont ('06). I have heard rumors that Lacasse is being showcased to trade him, since they are a young team that will struggle to make the playoffs and Dupont needs to be the starter. Hopefully with a new team he can continue to play well and earn a contract. But he's really got his work cut out for him, as he's got a lot of guys in front of him.

Halak imo his future is tougher to try and predict, we'll have to see what kind of ice time he gets in Long Beach and how he responds. Assuming Danis is sent down at some point this season, it will get interesting to see who plays where. With JDD on the team it could hurt someone since I can't see them sending him down since the Oilers likely wouldn't be too happy, unless perhaps they discussed this before the season started, since they knew Huet would be out for some time. I liked what I saw from Halak at Lewiston who weren't really that good of a team defensively. Halak is a guy that I could see taking over the #3 spot (behind Price, Danis) but at this point I am more impressed with Heino then Halak, it should also be interesting to see how it pans out for these two.

The main thing is Price and Danis, who imo are the two most skilled goalies. Danis imo could be very good in NHL but at this point it's only a theory, we'll just have to wait and see what happens. Price I am starting to get a bit concerned with, but we'll have to see what happens. With his size and quick movement (plus execellent stickhandling and from what I'm told attitude & character) he could perhaps be a very good goalie one day, but it's still so early in his career imo it's just too hard to say at this point.

[montreal]

bob said:

Thanks Dan, your analysis is always on target... something that Cory Urquhart isn't. What a disappointment to fall out of the top 30.

Thanks, Urquhart I must say I was all for us drafting (although I thought we would be more of a 3rd rounder) he was great in the playoffs during his draft year, but didn't really step it up the next season, although his line made up for most of PEI's scoring attack. Last year was a tough one for him, I did expect him to play better but it never really happened. I saw somewhere around 20 games and he didn't look bad either but he clearly didn't stick out too much. The top rookie was easily Rosa who should have been rookie of the year (I believe he came in 2nd) Urquhart was even benched for one game during the playoffs, although his coach never said why he wasn't playing. When some injuries (I think it was the flu) hit, Urquhart was put back in the lineup. Lambert seemed to have a much easier time then Urquhart as he could use his strength to create more room for himself, plus he's got more speed and better skating.

I would expect Urquhart to put up much better numbers this year, and he is still young as he just turned 21. But if he doesn't progress a good bit this year he's in trouble. Since guys like Chipchura, Greg Stewart and Mathieu Aubin could be in Hamilton next year, with hopefully Grabovsky as well.

[NWTHabsFan]

bob said:

Thanks Dan, your analysis is always on target... something that Cory Urquhart isn't. What a disappointment to fall out of the top 30.

A top 40 pick in a deep, deep draft who fails to make out top 30 prospect list.

Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmmmm.