Habs Fan in Edmonton

Indeed, a very mature young man.

I agree, he will have value to a playoff team looking for a rental in the last year of his contract. That is next year.

Perhaps not the only one but one of the few. I really don't think there is much to refine. Caulfield is ready.

That's a good question. Maybe they would but I think the Habs are done dealing for now but with MB you never know.

That was a bad draft year, has to be one of the worst in history. A lot of sites were saying that Galchenyuk might have been number one if it wasn't for his knee injury and he did have a 30 goal season. Good to see you back!

The fact that the pick is top 10 protected is the one element of the deal that makes it somewhat acceptable to me. The salary cap has created a certain amount of balance in the league and it wouldn't take much bad luck for a team to fall into the bottom quarter. I wish Carolina had never tendered the offer sheet but they did. MB did a reasonable job mitigating the damage however Montreal management created this mess by keeping KK up when he should have been back home playing.

No question their drafting in the 1st round has been sub par. agree with above comment that where in the first round makes a big difference as with a late 1st round pick sometimes you have to swing for the fences. Also Romanov was a 2nd round pick, too early to say on Mailloux, Galchenyuk turned into Josh Anderson which is not bad, bad luck with Juulsen as freak injuries really derailed his development.

Yup. Caulfield will have to play his way out of a job. He and Nick developed great chemistry and let's not forget he did it in the playoffs when time and space is harder to find.

I think Cole proved a lot in the playoffs, he proved he is not scared of the spotlight and proved he can play at the NHL level.

Agreed. I am obviously more optimistic than many on what Poehling's ceiling is but he has to earn it at training camp.

Big difference between Caulfield and KK, huge difference between an 18 year old and a 20 year old who spent 2 years in college. I am sure Caulfield will have some ups and downs but I believe he is mature enough to handle it. You can see the difference between Caulfield when he was interviewed after being drafted and being interviewed now. he has matured a lot the last couple years.

That is my fear. I don't wish bad things for KK but I hope he doesn't develop into a great player. Getzlaf was such a stud in his prime, you don't find those players often.

Exactly. tanking gives you a better a chance but there are no guarantees when it comes to drafting 18 year olds. But if you are not going to make the playoffs then you might as well improve your chances.

A lot of scouting departments\analysts missed the mark in 2012. Yakupov never made it, Griffin Reinhart was supposed to be a big stud defenceman. Evaluating 18 year olds is far from an exact science. Easy to look back and say they should have done this.

Found this old scouting report on a mock draft site and he sure sounded good. I never thought of Galchenyuk as "big". Not sure about the "smarts" either. Not after setting up Nick and Cole on that 2 on 0. Strengths – Galchenyuk is a big, play-making center who can skate very well; especially for his size. He has outstanding vision, hockey sense and is a great passer. He’s always very aware of where everyone is and will be on the ice, and he uses that to his advantage. Galchenyuk uses his big body well to create space for himself in the slot and on the boards. He has a very underrated shot, exceptional release and is very accurate. He can not only produce offensively night-in night-out, but he’s also very good defensively and understands that taking care of things in his own end is as important as producing at the other end of the ice. He also has outstanding hands and can often be found stick-handling in phone booths.Weaknesses – There’s not much Galchenyuk can’t do, but one area he could improve on is his physical game. He has the body frame to be a physical player, but at this point in his career it’s just not his style. He can be an exceptional player without delivering bone crushing hits regularly, but given his size he could certainly be a little meaner.Career Projection – First line (#1) Center – Galchenyuk is smart, big, talented, and he can skate. He is good in all aspects of the game and there really isn’t much he isn’t capable of doing. Given his size, smarts and skill he projects to be a very good first line center in the NHL for a long, long time. Had he been healthy the entire season, or even half, he would be a legitimate candidate to be drafted with the 1st overall pick.Submitted by: Todd Cordell of TheHockeyGuys

Agree with your points. I have seen it many times before where an 18 year old comes to camp with no pressure and expectations, performs well and people think WOW he can help us. Year 2 there is pressure, expectations and a 19 year old is not ready to handle it. Habs should have known this. Another point about Gallagher is that his maturity level far exceeded his age.

It's easy to look back and cherry pick and say that but not one of those players was rated in the top 5 in any mock draft that I looked at.

I didn't know that. That tells you how bad a draft it was.

Bottom line is that it will take at least a couple years to see how this turns out. It really sucked to be in this situation and having to make a decision not knowing what KK's ceiling is. You don't get a top 3 pick often and the Habs messed up both times in picking Galchenyuk and not developing KK properly. I will give them a little more latitude on the Galchenyuk pick as that was a bad draft year and none of the top 4 picks turned out well. I think most agree the Drouin trade was MB's biggest mistake. At least his contract expires in 2 years when I am guessing Caulfield will get a bit of a raise.

I really think Poehling forces his way in here (I likely sound like a broken record on Poehling). I think his ceiling is higher than Evans and Paquette and he has paid his dues in the AHL realizing that an NHL job was not going to be just handed to him nor should it. I really like Evans but his concussion also worries me, 4 concussions already does not bode well for a long NHL career. I really hope I am wrong on that as he is a great kid.

Nope. The offer sheet made things a lot more complicated though. MB had to try to make the best of a bad situation because they messed up KK's development. Being eligible to get an offer sheet when you are barely 21 should never have happened.

I think Bo Horvat is terrific, would not be cheap but he can do so many things. As much as I love Gally, I would be more than happy with some sort of Gally-Horvat trade. We would be set at centre for a long time and we are deep enough at wing to do this.

That's good stuff to hear. I have had to admit I don't know much about him but am learning. Last year he was on pace for approx. 25 goals and 45 points. If he can do that in Montreal, play both ends of the ice, good on faceoffs, be a good team guy then his cap hit is certainly decent value. He will have good line mates in Montreal so perhaps the numbers will get better. My only regret here is we lost KK without knowing what his ceiling was. The Habs messed that up but it might turn out ok.

Agree 100%, people and media were enamored with him when he was 18 and that increased pressure on the Habs to keep him up which was a big mistake. Then by the time he is 20 he thinks he should play every playoff game. The Habs messed up his development and it cost them. At least with Caulfield and Suzuki we will have a much better idea what their ceiling is before they become RFA's, with KK we were just guessing.