DON

But RDS has nothing else to bitch about, so will never end, sort of like Coach's Corner.

Worst case scenario, they can do the opposite of what they did with Markov and move Beaulieu from d to a winger. But he should be fine and a top 4 d-man in a few years. Bournival is likely a bottom 6 guy who may develop to a 2nd line guy way down the road, but he can really skate, works hard, good wrist shot and seems to have good vision, just lacking the top 6 skill at present. Tinordi just needs more skating work (as all big young guys do) and add some strength, but he is impressive as is. Ellis should be an all-round better version of Gorges, but i think Gormley is a cut above him for sure.

Is that the poor bastards name; a sucker born every day eh.

McKeens has him in final ranking at 91st, which is end 3rd round, but who knows maybe Habs already have group selected in that range to pick from? Can be many reasons they have "ignored" a specific player they have seen play often?

Yes, but i was considering McDonaugh/Pacioretty/Subban/Weber are all proven NHLers (Weber will be solid 3rd pairing/PP guy in a couple more years), and we are assuming Gallagher et all "should" do well; but still to be proven (is Gallagher a Cory Locke/Nigel Dawes type?, Is Beaulieu a David Fischer?, can Tinordi stay injury free (my biggest worry for tall players)?

I think all 4 Hab guys, pretty much played as expected. Bournival can really skate and hard worker, Ellis and Tinordi look to be fine defensive d-men in the making and Beaulieu has the tools to be an all-star down the road but..

You got your fav at #3 and he should be a good one, got to wait and see if Columbus/OIl/Timmins like him just as much?

Would love to see Gill offered a dual player/d-coach role with Bulldogs!

NJ Devils wiil for sure forgo their 1st pick as it will be either 29th or 30th and if need to give up one 1st round pick (for Kovalchuk contract penalty) 29th or 30th would be it. Therefore Habs will be picking 32nd-50th-etc. Not likely a big diff; but, 32nd instead of 33rd is bit of a bonus for sure. Eeven if Samuelsson is gone, should be a very similar type/skilled player to be available at 32nd and only a bit worse at 50th/63rd, so should be a sweet haul for 1st time sine 2007, whether trade up, down or not at all..

Timmins aint scared to trade up or down on draft day, so i wouldnt rule out any prospect, he may see Gaunce as undervaled and if still available at 20 he may try and swing a deal?

I have been critical of Beaulieu's defensive play, but i would still bank he will be NHL ready in 2013-14, a season in AHL will give him a wake up call and the kid has tons of talent and can frggin skate and handle puck just super.

Gaunce and Samuelsson will go mid-late 1st round, 20th -25th i bet. Samuelsson to Canucks at 26th would seem a natural fit and unlikely to still be around at 32nd.

A player like this is missing in the farm system, another Ryan White type, who may, but unlikely, have a bit more offense than White, worth a 49th pick for sure.

Yes, i should of re-read what I wrote before posting and there are signs that Bergevin is doing his best and trying to change things up a bit.for better on-ice product.

Yah you could be bang on bout Forsberg and Grigo..,? but he is just top swede and just noting that Habs havent drafted a top swede in a long time.

You seem to forget the Archambault/Lefebvre/Masse/Dumont etc who are all long shots and none are paying off, and as i see it all 30 teams are having same success with players from Quebec without wasting late picks. And many french players are invited to Hab camps/ATOs but 99% just cant cut it, even at the AHL level. But i imagine Bergevin will announce very very shortly that Quebec scout #s will be beefed up for sure, which i see as a waste of time (but it is just Molson $$ so he can do as he sees fit, but is just for PR and nothing more) and really should beef up USA and European scouting, as they seem to be producing more NHL calibre prospects. I always pull for more Canadians on the Candiens, but could really care less if come from Mexico or China, if they can play. To single out your want for more home gorwn Francophones, as i have said before, seems right in-step with Don Cherry ranting about home-grown anglophones for Leafs and i do not appreciate his views at all. Last year i was totally hoping Gauthier would sell the farm to move up in draft to nab Sean Couturier, in small part becasue he would of been a PR home run as a big skilled french centre, in the mold of #4; But primarily because he was a super prospect and i thought he was just what the Habs are missing. But all you have to do is look at prospect ranking for past few years and see QMJHL is just not producing that many quality players, so why is it so important to scout harder in that area, just dosent seem logical? I had hoped team success on the ice would be #1 priority for new management, but seems to be coming in second.

thanks, bout what i thought, maybe bout time for a Forsberg?

If say, take McKeen's latest list as gospel and draft goes exact as per, the Habs would have one sweet haul with Forberg at #3, Samuelsson at #32, Lukas Sutter at #50, Mike Winther at #63 and Tomas Hyka at #93. 3 centres and 2 wingers would certainly help stock the farm some.

With all the success of USA hockey, seems a very smart move. Why do Habs not seem to have good luck in Scandinavia? lack of scouts there? Who was last top 9 Swede for Habs? It wasnt Naslund was it? Although it seems that long, i may be missing/forgetting 1, but if look at this draft there must be a couple dozen Nordic kids. Or is it just random luck to be missing out due to low number of actual picks the Habs have had? (e.g. no trading of any upcoming expendable UFAs for picks at deadline?)

Couple cheap shots, no big deal, refs should of tossed both cross checks to neck with major penalties, but seem to have no gumption to do. They are learning well from Bettman's NHL referee puppets. Not sure who St.John is, you must mean St. John's Newfoundland or Saint John N.B.? (can ignore smart ass remark, but it was an Atlantic team who won) I think Hurberdeau and Semin might be a good match and funny to see duke it out. Ellis and Beaulieu both need AHL time, but how developed they will be come fall of 2013 is hard to guess. Ellis is looking like a very good 4th round pick for sure. I think Subban and Beaulieu are very comparable and both will be All-Stars down the road. i think every Habs d-prospect has a better shot than Subban. Who must scare the shit out of all Hab forwards standing anywhere near the net, seeing eye-high slap shots coming in from point. But whichever way you cut it, the depth on defense is a bonus (but came at expense of depth up front); but, like they say, can never have too many good d-men and Price must be encouraged to see them coming.

I know Nygren may be swedish version of Marc Andre Bergeron, but Mike Green sucks as a d-man also and gets bye, as did Ray Bourque (most overated d-men ever, great 4th forward as Green is, but no Larry Robinson or Rob Blake or a leader that is for darn sure) I kind of thought that Subban swap was kind of a joke (to me anyways, no offense) and all i would say is Subban is not 100% untradeable but friggin close and it would take the #1 pick + stuff to pry him away from me, or some other sweet deal, e.g. Nash maybe.

Who knows how Nygren pans out? He supposedly has a wicked shot, as does Weber/Diaz (and Subban's is just scary wild, he needs to cut out the John Daly wind-up, useless and just for showboating) Ellis/Pateryn/Dietz are all defensive d-men and i wouldnt expect big offensive #s from any of them to speak of. Didier is way too far from NHL to tell much yet? With Murray and Subban (he aint going anywhere) paired up once Markov is no longer top pair with Yemelin, Or we may luck out and Timmins is high on Dumba and takes him, so you will get your 2 top RH shots (which i still see as sort of irrelevant)

But will have Dietz/Sullivan/Pateryn/Didier/Ellis/Nygren, in a few years to shoot right; but i still think not a big deal and is just a minor consideration.

That elite d-man will be Ryan Murray (once Yakupov and Galchenyuk go 1-2) And i think the RH vs LH shot is not a big deal at all for guys who can handle the puck well, for ones like Spacek, Gill, Gorges or Yemelin it is harder for them. But for top skilled d-men there are as many pros as cons playing the off wing, same as LH-RH wingers playing their off-wing.

Ellis play seems to be similar to Gorges and Price will love having he, Pateryn and Tinordi in front of him in a couple years. Does Bournival's play seem similar to Leblanc's? Not quite as skilled, but better skater, both seem to use wrist shot very well.