Your Pick For #5...

[seventeen]

I suspect they'll take the lesser risk option and pick Leonard. It might depend on how his interview went. Difficult to pass up on a game changer and let Washington have him.

[Willie Dog]

Jun 9, 2023 14:03:22 GMT -5 seventeen said:

I suspect they'll take the lesser risk option and pick Leonard. It might depend on how his interview went. Difficult to pass up on a game changer and let Washington have him.

Ya and Ovechkin finds a way to get him out of his contract early and he starts with the Capitals next season...

[PTH]

I don't follow the draft-eligible prospects nearly enough to have a clue, but right now I'd be surprised at Michkov. Just too much risk and uncertainty.

Smith, Leonard and Reinbacher all seem more likely.

I don't love the idea of Dvorsky, but he's also by far the youngest guy out there, so he has the most runway to develop.

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

Jun 9, 2023 14:38:46 GMT -5 PTH said:

I don't follow the draft-eligible prospects nearly enough to have a clue, but right now I'd be surprised at Michkov. Just too much risk and uncertainty.

Smith, Leonard and Reinbacher all seem more likely.

I don't love the idea of Dvorsky, but he's also by far the youngest guy out there, so he has the most runway to develop.

In order. Bedard Michkov Fantilli Smith Carlson. Realistically we don’t get to make this decision. It will be made for us. Bedard and Fantilli will be gone. Maybe Matvei is the biggest risk with the biggest upside. Any of the big 5 is an upgrade for us.

[Boston_Habs]

Screw the interviews! It’s a talent league and other than giving these guys personality tests, I’m not sure we are any better at assessing character than talent.

I’d way rather draft the guy with elite talent without an interview than draft a far less talented player that you can run through the wonderlic test.

To be clear, I have no view on Michkov as a talent other than the consensus view that he’s elite. I also don’t assign no value to the personality stuff but every situation is different.

My fear with this management is they may be too focused on the “process” and evaluating all the “data”. That’s all necessary but don’t overthink it too much.

[folatre]

I would imagine if Smith is there, Montreal takes him. Hughes coached the kid in Bantam.

If San Jose takes Smith, that is when things could get interesting. The other day, Hughes certainly did not seem enthralled with the idea of taking a Russian. So in this scenario, does Montreal see a lot of differentiation between Leonard, Reinbacher, or whoever? And if not, trading down with the Capitals or Red Wings would make some sense.

For me the smart decision would be to just take Michkov.

[Skilly]

Jun 10, 2023 7:44:57 GMT -5 Boston_Habs said:

Screw the interviews! It’s a talent league and other than giving these guys personality tests, I’m not sure we are any better at assessing character than talent.

I’d way rather draft the guy with elite talent without an interview than draft a far less talented player that you can run through the wonderlic test.

To be clear, I have no view on Michkov as a talent other than the consensus view that he’s elite. I also don’t assign no value to the personality stuff but every situation is different.

My fear with this management is they may be too focused on the “process” and evaluating all the “data”. That’s all necessary but don’t overthink it too much.

They selected Slaf based on an interview. In fact, they reached out to ask him one more question before the draft (not sure of timeframe) and that sealed their selection

So interviews are important to this bunch. Do I agree with it? No. I don’t.

[habsorbed]

I have no problems with using an interview to identify a loose screw but not to determine the best player. I've interviewed many candidtes for jobs and often you can get fooled because they put on a good performance or just nail the questions (prep or fluke), only to learn they ain't what you thought. On the other hand, sometimes they answer a relatively simple question in a most bizarre fashion and you realize the guy/gal is "odd" and not a good fit. I had one guy at the end of the interview when answering the standard "Do you have any questions for us?" with "Will i be expected to work overtime?". I thought to myself "When I was in your chair, the question I asked the interviewer was 'Which boot would you like me to lick first'". Suffice it to say we moved on to the next candidate quite quickly.

All this is to say, i can see some concern with not being able to interview Mich to eliminate the 'loose screw' possibility. But to pick someone because they impressed you in a 20 minute interview makes no sense.

But one doesn't have to read between the lines of Hughes' comments to see Mich ain't our pick. And I'm good with that. If Mich was that much better than the others then sure maybe take a flyer. But i don't see him head and shoulders ahead of the rest and way too many risks. Whoever we pick is going to have a chance at being an impact player so take one you know will actually suit up for you (and will stick around when the game goes into overtime )

[Boston_Habs]

I don’t want to downplay character and the importance of taking measure of the person, but these are also 18-year old kids who still have a lot of growing up to do. I probably would have said some weird stuff if you put me through the paces at 18 but I also agree that these kids are coached up to give the answers they want to hear.

I think the better angle is to ask around to coaches, teammates, anyone who has spent time with or seen how the kid interacts with people, accepts feedback, willing to learn, etc but again it comes back to maturity and understanding these are kids.

All to say go with the player you think has the most talent and upside. If the Habs honestly have doubts about Michkov’s game OR they believe a guy like Leonard is massively undervalued, then fine. Don’t pick him. But if they otherwise agree with the consensus that Michkov is probably the 2nd most talented player in the draft but they pass because they can’t interview him…I find that astonishing and more than a bit arrogant. This management team has been entrusted to build a contender and to do that we need elite players.

A #1 pick and the #5 pick in back to back years… they can’t f^ck these up.

[habsorbed]

Jun 10, 2023 12:41:44 GMT -5 Boston_Habs said:

I don’t want to downplay character and the importance of taking measure of the person, but these are also 18-year old kids who still have a lot of growing up to do. I probably would have said some weird stuff if you put me through the paces at 18 but I also agree that these kids are coached up to give the answers they want to hear.

I think the better angle is to ask around to coaches, teammates, anyone who has spent time with or seen how the kid interacts with people, accepts feedback, willing to learn, etc but again it comes back to maturity and understanding these are kids.

All to say go with the player you think has the most talent and upside. If the Habs honestly have doubts about Michkov’s game OR they believe a guy like Leonard is massively undervalued, then fine. Don’t pick him. But if they otherwise agree with the consensus that Michkov is probably the 2nd most talented player in the draft but they pass because they can’t interview him…I find that astonishing and more than a bit arrogant. This management team has been entrusted to build a contender and to do that we need elite players.

A #1 pick and the #5 pick in back to back years… they can’t f^ck these up.

If you really want to learn about a person's character you ask to see their cell phone and have a look at their text messages. But as you say, given we're dealing with teenagers, I suspect every player's messages would be cringe worthy.

[IamCanadiens]

Jun 10, 2023 7:44:57 GMT -5 Boston_Habs said:

Screw the interviews! It’s a talent league and other than giving these guys personality tests, I’m not sure we are any better at assessing character than talent.

I’d way rather draft the guy with elite talent without an interview than draft a far less talented player that you can run through the wonderlic test.

To be clear, I have no view on Michkov as a talent other than the consensus view that he’s elite. I also don’t assign no value to the personality stuff but every situation is different.

My fear with this management is they may be too focused on the “process” and evaluating all the “data”. That’s all necessary but don’t overthink it too much.

2 words: Jonathan Drouin

[seventeen]

Jun 10, 2023 7:44:57 GMT -5 Boston_Habs said:

Screw the interviews! It’s a talent league and other than giving these guys personality tests, I’m not sure we are any better at assessing character than talent.

I’d way rather draft the guy with elite talent without an interview than draft a far less talented player that you can run through the wonderlic test.

To be clear, I have no view on Michkov as a talent other than the consensus view that he’s elite. I also don’t assign no value to the personality stuff but every situation is different.

My fear with this management is they may be too focused on the “process” and evaluating all the “data”. That’s all necessary but don’t overthink it too much.

There's too much 'smoke' regarding this pick. In one possibility, I think the Habs decided a while ago that Michkov carries too much risk for their liking and so they're looking at all the alternatives (Leonard, Reinbacher). To muddy things up, there are so many varying opinions on players in that second tier. Some guys have Reinbacher in the top 5 (!). So the question in this scenario is what do the Habs consider more important, RHD or a power winger? You'd think RHD, but they may like Leonard a bit more than Reinbacher from a skill standpoint

The other possibility is that they like Michkov, but think they can finagle everyone to trade down a pick or 2 and still get him, while adding an asset. There does seem to be a real reluctance (from what the bloggers say) to draft Michkov that high, so maybe someone really high on Reinbacher might trade up to draft him at 5. The scuttlebutt says Arizona is really high on Reinbacher and if so, he ain't dropping below 6. That means Philly is our only partner, because Washington at 8 will surely pick him. (See all the moving parts here?). So if Habs trade the 5th to Philly, so they can take Reinbacher, then Arizona is left with Leonard or Michkov and Habs will get one of those guys. So far so good. What does Philly have that the habs would want? If we could snatch Joel Farabee from them, I'd love that. It might involve adding something on our side (Ylonen). Other than that I don't see much that we would want, or more importantly, that Danny Briere would part with. Unfortunately, Philly no longer has a twit in the GM chair. Tyson Foerster would be an interesting pickup but I'm not sure Briere would part with him. If they want Reinbacher bad enough.... they'd give up guys who aren't essential to them. The end result would be we draft Michkov or Leonard and get another non centre forward with some good upside. I've seen Farabee make some great plays, but he had a bad year last year, as did so many Flyers. A receding tide grounds all ships.

To your point about interviews, I concur. A guy might just say one thing the team takes the wrong way and suddenly he's persona non grata, while being a hell of a pick. It's more important to gauge how they think about life in general. I'd be asking them if they take their Costco shopping carts back to the loading bay or if they just leave it next to their car (if they use a shopping cart, chuckle). That tells me more about someone than what kind of animal you'd be. I've yet to hear the right answer, because the most dangerous animal on earth is man. But do they even want that kind of answer? Maybe they're looking for the most nurturing animal. I might reply a Cuckoo bird just because I'm a contrarian type. Now there's a devious creature if there was one...probably draws a lot of penalties.

[seventeen]

Jun 10, 2023 12:41:44 GMT -5 Boston_Habs said:

I don’t want to downplay character and the importance of taking measure of the person, but these are also 18-year old kids who still have a lot of growing up to do. I probably would have said some weird stuff if you put me through the paces at 18 but I also agree that these kids are coached up to give the answers they want to hear.

I wonder how Brad Marchand would have done in one of those interviews? Or would McDavid have put everyone to sleep? PK would have thrown everyone for a loop. How about the kids who have English as a second language? Are they able to express themselves properly.

So many issues....but I'm sure those smart psychologists have it all figure out.

[Willie Dog]

Jun 10, 2023 11:23:00 GMT -5 habsorbed said:

I have no problems with using an interview to identify a loose screw but not to determine the best player. I've interviewed many candidtes for jobs and often you can get fooled because they put on a good performance or just nail the questions (prep or fluke), only to learn they ain't what you thought. On the other hand, sometimes they answer a relatively simple question in a most bizarre fashion and you realize the guy/gal is "odd" and not a good fit. I had one guy at the end of the interview when answering the standard "Do you have any questions for us?" with "Will i be expected to work overtime?". I thought to myself "When I was in your chair, the question I asked the interviewer was 'Which boot would you like me to lick first'". Suffice it to say we moved on to the next candidate quite quickly.

All this is to say, i can see some concern with not being able to interview Mich to eliminate the 'loose screw' possibility. But to pick someone because they impressed you in a 20 minute interview makes no sense.

But one doesn't have to read between the lines of Hughes' comments to see Mich ain't our pick. And I'm good with that. If Mich was that much better than the others then sure maybe take a flyer. But i don't see him head and shoulders ahead of the rest and way too many risks. Whoever we pick is going to have a chance at being an impact player so take one you know will actually suit up for you (and will stick around when the game goes into overtime )

I know a number of people who have moved up in organization that are friggin clueless but knew all the right terminology and buzz word to get the job above other more capable people... interviews should a small part of the decision process.

[habsorbed]

Also, aren't the scouts watching and talking to these kids throughout the year and getting to know them. And can't management interview the kids anytime they want to? Can't they have a virtual interview with Mich? i don't care if Putin is listenign in

[Willie Dog]

Jun 10, 2023 16:20:19 GMT -5 habsorbed said:

Also, aren't the scouts watching and talking to these kids throughout the year and getting to know them. And can't management interview the kids anytime they want to? Can't they have a virtual interview with Mich? i don't care if Putin is listenign in

Bobrov's father works for the same team Michov is on, do they need to interview him?

[jkr]

Jun 10, 2023 16:48:36 GMT -5 Willie Dog said:

Jun 10, 2023 16:20:19 GMT -5 habsorbed said:

Also, aren't the scouts watching and talking to these kids throughout the year and getting to know them. And can't management interview the kids anytime they want to? Can't they have a virtual interview with Mich? i don't care if Putin is listenign in

Bobrov's father works for the same team Michov is on, do they need to interview him?

I had heard this too. You're right, that connection should be enough to get the info they need

If he truly is as good as advertised then they must pick him & worry about the logistics later. As Boston said, they cant screw these picks up.

[Skilly]

Jun 10, 2023 12:53:30 GMT -5 habsorbed said:

Jun 10, 2023 12:41:44 GMT -5 Boston_Habs said:

I don’t want to downplay character and the importance of taking measure of the person, but these are also 18-year old kids who still have a lot of growing up to do. I probably would have said some weird stuff if you put me through the paces at 18 but I also agree that these kids are coached up to give the answers they want to hear.

I think the better angle is to ask around to coaches, teammates, anyone who has spent time with or seen how the kid interacts with people, accepts feedback, willing to learn, etc but again it comes back to maturity and understanding these are kids.

All to say go with the player you think has the most talent and upside. If the Habs honestly have doubts about Michkov’s game OR they believe a guy like Leonard is massively undervalued, then fine. Don’t pick him. But if they otherwise agree with the consensus that Michkov is probably the 2nd most talented player in the draft but they pass because they can’t interview him…I find that astonishing and more than a bit arrogant. This management team has been entrusted to build a contender and to do that we need elite players.

A #1 pick and the #5 pick in back to back years… they can’t f^ck these up.

If you really want to learn about a person's character you ask to see their cell phone and have a look at their text messages. But as you say, given we're dealing with teenagers, I suspect every player's messages would be cringe worthy.

You all make it seem the Habs are asking psychological based questions. Maybe they are to some degree, I'd bet they have some, but the question that blew them away enough to draft Slafkovsky was "What's your favourite moment in hockey?" Yes, that was the big difference in draft Slafkovsky over Wright. Now the question is also ambiguous ... as it could be what was your fav moment or what is you fav moment ... and while we do not know Wright's answer or if they even called Wright to ask him, we do know Slaf's answer .."being on the ice late in the game when down by one goal or up by one goal" ...

... the fun part would be going back to see when he was in those situations, and how he actually performed.

[Skilly]

Jun 10, 2023 14:33:13 GMT -5 seventeen said:

Jun 10, 2023 7:44:57 GMT -5 Boston_Habs said:

Screw the interviews! It’s a talent league and other than giving these guys personality tests, I’m not sure we are any better at assessing character than talent.

I’d way rather draft the guy with elite talent without an interview than draft a far less talented player that you can run through the wonderlic test.

To be clear, I have no view on Michkov as a talent other than the consensus view that he’s elite. I also don’t assign no value to the personality stuff but every situation is different.

My fear with this management is they may be too focused on the “process” and evaluating all the “data”. That’s all necessary but don’t overthink it too much.

There's too much 'smoke' regarding this pick. In one possibility, I think the Habs decided a while ago that Michkov carries too much risk for their liking and so they're looking at all the alternatives (Leonard, Reinbacher). To muddy things up, there are so many varying opinions on players in that second tier. Some guys have Reinbacher in the top 5 (!). So the question in this scenario is what do the Habs consider more important, RHD or a power winger? You'd think RHD, but they may like Leonard a bit more than Reinbacher from a skill standpoint

The other possibility is that they like Michkov, but think they can finagle everyone to trade down a pick or 2 and still get him, while adding an asset. There does seem to be a real reluctance (from what the bloggers say) to draft Michkov that high, so maybe someone really high on Reinbacher might trade up to draft him at 5. The scuttlebutt says Arizona is really high on Reinbacher and if so, he ain't dropping below 6. That means Philly is our only partner, because Washington at 8 will surely pick him. (See all the moving parts here?). So if Habs trade the 5th to Philly, so they can take Reinbacher, then Arizona is left with Leonard or Michkov and Habs will get one of those guys. So far so good. What does Philly have that the habs would want? If we could snatch Joel Farabee from them, I'd love that. It might involve adding something on our side (Ylonen). Other than that I don't see much that we would want, or more importantly, that Danny Briere would part with. Unfortunately, Philly no longer has a twit in the GM chair. Tyson Foerster would be an interesting pickup but I'm not sure Briere would part with him. If they want Reinbacher bad enough.... they'd give up guys who aren't essential to them. The end result would be we draft Michkov or Leonard and get another non centre forward with some good upside. I've seen Farabee make some great plays, but he had a bad year last year, as did so many Flyers. A receding tide grounds all ships.

To your point about interviews, I concur. A guy might just say one thing the team takes the wrong way and suddenly he's persona non grata, while being a hell of a pick. It's more important to gauge how they think about life in general. I'd be asking them if they take their Costco shopping carts back to the loading bay or if they just leave it next to their car (if they use a shopping cart, chuckle). That tells me more about someone than what kind of animal you'd be. I've yet to hear the right answer, because the most dangerous animal on earth is man. But do they even want that kind of answer? Maybe they're looking for the most nurturing animal. I might reply a Cuckoo bird just because I'm a contrarian type. Now there's a devious creature if there was one...probably draws a lot of penalties.

What does Philly have that we want??

How about the guy they are currently trying to trade .... Carter Hart.

[folatre]

Until there is clarity on the 2018 incident in terms of who if anyone gets charged by London police as well as the eventuality that Bettman could conceivably suspend even guys who are not indicted, I doubt anyone would give the Flyers anything significant for Hart.

The scenario seventeen is talking about is an interesting one. However, I think it is far more likely if the Habs trade down it is because some club like Washington or Detroit is salivating over grabbing a potential franchise cornerstone superstar in Michkov. And anyway, if the Habs like Michkov and he is there it would be crazy risky to trade down and assume he is still there. For instance, a floundering franchise like Arizona with no home can certainly wait three years for a superstar.

[jkr]

I haD heard Hart was available. I didnt realize it was because of the 2018 scandal.

I didnt know names had been released

[Skilly]

Two things that have dropped by the wayside in recent 2 weeks:

1). We have listed the top 5 as Bedard, Fantilli, Michkov, Carlsson and Smith ... and we see talk of dropping down to perhaps select Leonard, Reinbacher, Dvorsky. Have we given up on Zach Benson?? Wasn't long ago he was in the top 5 convo. Haven't seen anyone mention him in a while.

2) there hasn't been enough chatter on that #31 pick. I was looking at some of the first round mock drafts. Boy oh boy, the first round this year has one commonality. There is a plethora of smallish players. More than half of the top 32 are under 6 feet tall. But there is a 6'4" Russian and 6'4" Slovak at the bottom of the first round. What's the scuttlebutt on them?

[Skilly]

Jun 11, 2023 10:17:46 GMT -5 folatre said:

Until there is clarity on the 2018 incident in terms of who if anyone gets charged by London police as well as the eventuality that Bettman could conceivably suspend even guys who are not indicted, I doubt anyone would give the Flyers anything significant for Hart.

The scenario seventeen is talking about is an interesting one. However, I think it is far more likely if the Habs trade down it is because some club like Washington or Detroit is salivating over grabbing a potential franchise cornerstone superstar in Michkov. And anyway, if the Habs like Michkov and he is there it would be crazy risky to trade down and assume he is still there. For instance, a floundering franchise like Arizona with no home can certainly wait three years for a superstar.

So if Cale Makar became available you wouldn't do it?

Obviously, the league will make all team aware of players named. The league knows who the players are. The owners and GMs obviously also know the potential punishment coming.

[Skilly]

Jun 11, 2023 11:10:26 GMT -5 jkr said:

I haD heard Hart was available. I didnt realize it was because of the 2018 scandal.

I didnt know names had been released

The names have not been released yet. The supposed independent report that the league had done has been finalized.

Victor Mete and Jordan Kyrou confirmed that they did not attend the gala and were not in London at the time of the incident.

The following players have come out either via personal statement or with their agency to say that they were not involved with the allegations: Jake Bean, Kale Clague, Max Comtois, Dillon Dube, Dante Fabbro, Cal Foote, Jonah Gadjovich, Carter Hart, Brett Howden, Cale Makar, Colton Point, Taylor Raddysh, Sam Steel, Tyler Steenbergen Robert Thomas and Conor Timmins.

The following players have stated that they have fully cooperated with the investigation but declined to comment further: Boris Katchouk, Drake Batherson and Michael McLeod.

Alex Formenton is the lone player that has not made any comments to date.

Credit: Bryan Murphy - SportingNews

[habsorbed]

One can probably surmise when a player says they are cooperating or not saying anything that they were involved. But i would not be accepting at face value a player simply claiming they were not involved. That is a standard response from many guilty suspects who are eventually found guilty.

Having said that, i have no doubt the GMs know who was in the room - NHL is a small community.

[folatre]

I'm not saying Hart is guilty of anything. And I'm not saying do or don't trade for him. All I am suggesting is that Briere is probably fielding a lot of low ball offers from rival GMs under the premise of "hey the risk discount is a thing until it isn't."

Frankly if I were Briere I would not trade Hart. Or at the very least I would not do it until the league closes the cases.

[folatre]

Jun 11, 2023 11:20:54 GMT -5 Skilly said:

Two things that have dropped by the wayside in recent 2 weeks:

1). We have listed the top 5 as Bedard, Fantilli, Michkov, Carlsson and Smith ... and we see talk of dropping down to perhaps select Leonard, Reinbacher, Dvorsky. Have we given up on Zach Benson?? Wasn't long ago he was in the top 5 convo. Haven't seen anyone mention him in a while.

2) there hasn't been enough chatter on that #31 pick. I was looking at some of the first round mock drafts. Boy oh boy, the first round this year has one commonality. There is a plethora of smallish players. More than half of the top 32 are under 6 feet tall. But there is a 6'4" Russian and 6'4" Slovak at the bottom of the first round. What's the scuttlebutt on them?

For sure, Daniil But sounds like a nice longish term project. Honzek seems to be most frequently projected in the mid or late teens of the first round, so he may not be realistic with the Panthers pick.

Another big kid I like because of his skill and high ceiling is Quentin Musty. I hope he falls, though most scouts appear to see him going no later than the mid-20s.

[Skilly]

Jun 11, 2023 15:25:44 GMT -5 folatre said:

I'm not saying Hart is guilty of anything. And I'm not saying do or don't trade for him. All I am suggesting is that Briere is probably fielding a lot of low ball offers from rival GMs under the premise of "hey the risk discount is a thing until it isn't."

Frankly if I were Briere I would not trade Hart. Or at the very least I would not do it until the league closes the cases.

I don't get that logic though.

I can only assume that the league and the GMs know who the 5 players are. So there'd be no risk. If Hart is involved, he is untradeable, and all GMs know he is involved.

The only way there is any risk, is if the GMs don't know. And if that's the case, the Briere doesn't know and he has Hart on the block for pure hockey reasons.

And I really don't think the League would hold this information from the GMs, nor allow any team to trade a player that was involved.

[folatre]

I hear you, skilly. It could well be GMs know who is in the clear and who is still under the scope. If that is the case, then Briere should be receiving a lot of very good offers for Hart because the kid is super talented, 25 years old this summer, and has generally been solid on terrible editions of the Flyers.

Did Hart ask for a trade? I just find it odd that a big market team would not want to keep a 25 year old goalie since top tier goalies that stay healthy can play at an extremely high level into their mid-30s. If I were a Flyers fan, I would be like wt*, are we planning on a seven or eight year rebuild?

Switching the subject slightly to the Sens, they must be sweating. Not only did they already lose Formenton (he is evidently the central person of interst in the investigation), if Batherson gets suspended, Ottawa will be facing an uphill climb to make the playoffs.

[seventeen]

Jun 10, 2023 21:07:29 GMT -5 Skilly said:

What does Philly have that we want??

How about the guy they are currently trying to trade .... Carter Hart.

Philly has 3 assets I see that a) are not part of a core who Briere would want to keep, at least IMO, and b) would add something to the team or be part of a deal.

Those three assets are the #7 pic, Joel Farabee and Tyson Foerster. Farabee had a so-so year last year as did many Flyers but some games I have watched him play, he made some very high skill plays and he skates really well. He is listed at 6', 180 lbs, so not big, but not small either. Hw's 23.

Foerster is more of a gamble. At 21, he is 6'2", 194 lbs. I know less about him (yoohoo, Mr. NWT?.....) than I do Farabee, but he had 80 points in his draft year for the Barrie Colts where he was 17/18 years old. The Colts were a mediocre team that year and traded off many of their better players at the deadline. Foerster had 36 goals in 62 games that season and then Covid hit and the OHL shut down the following year. The next two years, with the Lehigh Phantoms of the AHL were ok for a 19/20 year old (12-8-20). It was hard to judge his development as the AHL shut down too for a time and it's possible the Covid disruption hurt his development. Last season, as a 20/21 year old with the Phantoms, he put up 20-20-48 in 66 games. For his peer group that's not bad. The Phantoms were much like Laval, a marginal team. He was called up to the Flyers and played in 8 games, putting up 3-4-7. His PIM average a little under one minute a game, so he's not Arber Xhekaj, but he's not a Lady Byng candidate either.

So that was my reasoning, as I ran several possibilities for the Habs. I really think they're passing on Michkov. I wouldn't, but my reputation and job aren't on the line, either.