habscout

As much as I would love to see both Markov and Radulov back, I predict that only one of them will return, or neither will. Radulov appears to be looking for a home run contract and I suspect another team will give him the term he's looking for. Markov's move to represent himself, along with his previous action to become a Canadian citizen a few years ago, indicates he wants to stay. Bergevin would probably prefer to only give him 1 season but I think in the end they will settle on 2 seasons. As much as the Habs desperately need a top 6 center, it's unlikely they will attract any of the big names such as Thornton, Marleau or even Bonino. They may have a chance at Sam Gagner, who seems to have the least amount of rumours about where he may end up. I also predict they will sign a lesser known higher rick player like Stephane Da Costa or Andrei Loktionov,. Both of which are bottom six players but could give the Habs the flexibility to temporarily bump them into the top 2 lines when the Habs offence is not working for a game or two. Another UFA the Habs may consider signing is Francois Beauchemin, who played relatively well on a terrible Avalanche team last season.

Yes! A good right shooting defenceman, with good mobility and passing. Sure he needs to work on his defensive game but as a longer term project that's ok. He also played on a terrible team which may have down played his defensive side. I thought Fleury would have been taken higher than the 3rd round so I'm pleased to see the Habs take him there.

Of course! Centers and defencemen are all they need to focus on this year. Probably next year too. I like this stat about Walford. At the end of the season when another experienced defenceman on his team was injured, Walford got more ice time and scored 14 points in the last 13 games!

I like Ikonen at this spot, as he has game breaking speed and shooting skills. He seems close to Saku Koivu's size when he was drafted. I'm not sure if he'll be better at center or on the wing in the pros, so time will tell there.

Woohoo ! We got another mock pick correct. Brian our first round wasn't as good as usual; 3 correct picks I think. Brook is a solid prospect, good overall, so there's a lot to like in his game, and very few weaknesses.

Damn, Comtois was just taken by Anaheim at #50. :-(

In last year's Ivan Hlinka tournament, Poehling scored a hat trick in 11 minutes ! He also scored 3 goals and 2 assists in 7 games in the last U18 tournament. So he has solid offensive ability. http://hlinkamemorial.com/eng/zapas.asp?id=Cesi-podlehli-USA-a-v-semifinale-vyzvou-Svedy-Tremi-goy-rozhodl-kapitan-Poehling-70 http://teamusa.usahockey.com/page/show/3307764-ryan-poehling

By the way, was it just me or did Morgan Frost look like the most unhappy selected player at the draft tonight? Especially that moment with his father in the stands. Either the kid grew up hating the Flyers, or he must have believed he was going to be drafted by another team. This was a kid that was rumoured to be high on the Habs list.

Here's an interview I tracked down of Poehling from last December. The Pipeline Show is a pretty good show about prospects. http://www.thepipelineshow.com/media_detail.php?show=1481932800&sn=12

Nope not at all. Poehling has much better wheels than both of them, and better offensive skills too. He needs to bulk up though as he's a bit light but he has a decent frame and it should happen.

I thought he was going to go earlier than #25. In our HW mock draft, I predicted him going #19, so I'm glad the Habs got him.

Center Ryan Poehling ! I like the pick.

Here we go. They are up next.

I hope it's not a winger. Clearly they need both centers and defencemen.

We're getting close to the Habs time to pick; #20 was just taken.