Draft 2022

[PTH]

Guys, Slovakia isn't all that poor.

Who else has been?
It's a lovely country.

If I had a legit reason to I'd move there in an instant.

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

Aug 28, 2022 9:31:06 GMT -5 Skilly said:

Aug 27, 2022 13:29:23 GMT -5 seventeen said:

I'm with you, folatre. When someone makes as impassioned a speech as Bobrov did about Slafkovsky, my BS meter is on, full blast. Bobrov is, as you point out, a well spoken guy and he made a number of points about Slafkovsky, but ignored the fact Slaf's scoring in the Finnish regular season wasn't very impressive. When he was hired on, I did the same research you did about the Rangers drafting and wasn;t impressed. They got better in Gorton's final years, (Miller and Schneider), but those were North American kids. Hmmmmm. Also, I liked what I saw of Chytil in the playoffs, so I think he has more to show, but Kravtsov and Andersson were clear misses and you can't blow picks that high. Kakko is still not a finished product and may yet become a player, but it sure looks like most of Gorton's hits were North American and the misses were European.

Now, extrapolating from that, it's not necessarily so that Slafkovsky will be a bust. Bobrov was not the only scout impressed by Slafkovsky and the fact the consensus at the end was flipping a coin variety suggests it's not just Bobrov blowing smoke. If we end up regretting the choice, it will probably be because we didn't pick Cooley or Nemec, and not Wright. But I'm not disillusioned. I don't mind the pick. Just our luck not to have the overall #1 in a year like 2023. Anyway, in my mind, the jury is still out on Bobrov. Mesar is a pick that may tell us something about that.

As a further observation, I don't think Hughes has any prior connection to Bobrov and that's good.

I know the video is edited. But concerning to me is they were seemingly conscious to NOT include anyones positive comments on Wright or negative points on Slafkovsky

Wright put up great numbers in both regular seasons and playoffs. He made people around him better with smarts and setting. I remember that Gretzky was considered great as a junior but too small and too slow to translate his stats into the NHL. Wright is not Gretzky but he uses smarts and understanding of the game. He is a 200 foot player who sees the game and anticipates what to do and where to be.
If you need to make a video to back up your decision making process you Lack confidence in your decision.

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

Aug 29, 2022 11:01:02 GMT -5 Skilly said:

Aug 29, 2022 9:56:13 GMT -5 Willie Dog said:

The trades could have been consummated at the draft right before the habs picked, the 2 trades didn't happen instantaneously... they knew they had Dach so they took Slaf... if they couldn't get Dach, maybe they take Wright... who knows, we're all just guessing aren't we...

Absolutely we are all guessing

I know Hughes stated they were working on the Dach trade 48 hours prior. But there was no way Hughes knew before picking Slaf that they had Dach sealed up

For instance, let’s say after picking Slaf, Wright continued to slide down the draft board (or Cooley or Nemec or someone they had rated high) and NYI thought they could get him at 13, and wanted him. We don’t get Dach. Not for the 13th pick anyway.

All I am saying is that there is no way Hughes knew he had Dach when he drafted Slaf. But it is possible he had an agreement with Chicago to get him if a bunch of things went one way on draft day. But that still means NYI (or Chicago) could have changed their mind after the Slaf pick

I keep hearing nonsense about we need more scouts in the QMJHL. Looking at the very preliminary first round draft projections, there isn't a single player from Quebec in the first round; top 32. Quebec needs to do a better job of developing players and that will take years. Richard, Beliveau, Lafleur, Lapointe, Geffrion, Lemaire are ancient history.

[folatre]

I would argue Montreal needs more and better scouts everywhere. After all, it is competitive advantage outside the purview of the league's hard salary cap.

Regarding the Q, I think it is a little early to say if this will be down year. However, if anything, the QMJHL has rebounded significantly in terms of producing higher end prospects compared to the preceding decade. In 2020, five kids went in the first round (Lafreniere, Mercer, Lapierre, Barron, and Bourque); in 2021 there were four (Bolduc, Bourgault, L'Heureux, and Dean); and this summer Gaucher and Lamoureaux were first rounders.

[NWTHabsFan]

The next draft will definitely be way stronger out west than in Quebec, but Ethan Gauthier is well worthy of a first round pick after a great Hlinka Gretzky tournament. He will be easy to scout for the Habs as he will play alongside Joshua Roy. It is not for the first round talent where the Habs scouting the Q heavily will pay dividends, it is in the middle rounds if they can unearth a gem with one of their three fourth round or two fifth round picks due to extensive knowledge of the league. That way they won’t have to wait until the seventh round to pick their annual 20 year old double overager to keep the media and raving politicians happy.

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

Sept 15, 2022 10:54:00 GMT -5 NWTHabsFan said:

The next draft will definitely be way stronger out west than in Quebec, but Ethan Gauthier is well worthy of a first round pick after a great Hlinka Gretzky tournament. He will be easy to scout for the Habs as he will play alongside Joshua Roy. It is not for the first round talent where the Habs scouting the Q heavily will pay dividends, it is in the middle rounds if they can unearth a gem with one of their three fourth round or two fifth round picks due to extensive knowledge of the league. That way they won’t have to wait until the seventh round to pick their annual 20 year old double overager to keep the media and raving politicians happy.

At the game last night, LA vs Kracken. Disappointed that Wright didn't play, Must be more to the Wright drop in status. He may be taking a page out if the Drouin playbook? We have our work cut out for us if we want to end the year behind the Kings.