Trade Habs Trade for LA's Davis Drewiske

[Machine of Loving Grace]

I'd say Diaz is still two weeks off.

[JCPetit]

I'd say Diaz is still two weeks off.

So, he will play two weeks and after that, if everybody is healthy, he will be in the press box. He is our seventh defenseman.

[hankhab]

I understand the logic of keeping their picks and prospects, and this probably isn't "the year, " but there's no guarantee we're going to be this healthy in upcoming years. If we just get Drewiske and a 13th forward, that's not an acceptable deadline for a division leader / number two team in the conference.

Actually, it is acceptable. There is no rule that says you have to start firing picks and prospects away on trade deadline day just because its the deadline. If there are no decent pickups at a reasonable price, then leave it. Especially if it is felt Bourque and Diaz are going to return for playoffs.

[PMAC]

TSN talking about how little value 2nd round picks have. But just for fun, here are the Habs 5th round picks of the past four years:

2013: traded for Drewiske

2012: Hudon

2011: Dietz

2010: Gallagher

2009: Dumont

Low end picks are worth more in the hands of Timmins. He doesn't seem to be as good with upper level picks excepting this year. Was Kosty the first a case of GM interference?

[Machine of Loving Grace]

Low end picks are worth more in the hands of Timmins. He doesn't seem to be as good with upper level picks excepting this year. Was Kosty the first a case of GM interference?

There are some bad circumstances involved in some picks but Timmins is all around good. He just hasn't hit a home run aside from Price (Galchenyuk pending).

He gets a lot of criticism for his high picks in the first five years but if we could high picks as first and second round, we're looking at:

2003

10th Overall: Andrei Kostitsyn

40th Overall: Cory Urquhart

61st Overall: Maxim Lapierre

Kostitsyn never lived up to potential but Lapierre developed into a strong third line winger. Cory busted.

2004

18th Overall: Kyle Chipchura

Chipchura was the fourth ranked North American player in the draft. He was always an average skater then took an injury to make him a mediocre skater. Could have been a third line center with skill. Even the only pick far better closely chosen was Travis Zajac. I wouldn't call Wolski's career much better. He started hot and fizzled out. Chipchura still plays in the NHL.

2005

5th Overall: Carey Price

45th Overall: Guillaume Latendresse

Price was a home run pick. One of the best goalies in the league. Latendresse didn't develop the way we wanted to but he wasn't a bad pick. He's playing well in Ottawa and still only 25.

2006

20th Overall: David Fischer

49th Overall: Ben Maxwell

53rd Overall: Mathieu Carle

This was Timmins bad year and the year people who inexplicably don't like him always go back to. "Could have had Giroux, could have had Lucic". The only nugget of gold we dug out from the entire draft was Ryan White.

2007

12th Overall: Ryan McDonaugh

22nd Overall: Max Pacioretty

43rd Overall: P.K. Subban

Probably Timmins golden year. Made up for the painful 2006. McDonaugh is a stud in New York. Pacioretty is a stud in Montreal and Subban is quite close to the "home run" attribute. He's almost franchise elite and if he develops from this season he'll have the title. It's actually kind of funny looking at the blueliners teams drafted to allow Montreal to get Subban.

2008

56th Overall: Danny Kristo

No first rounder. Kristo is already looking to have potential as a solid second round pick.

2009

18th Overall: Louis Leblanc

Very good pick for reasons I know I've talked about here before. Leblanc has had a set back year which means everyone is tossing him in trade proposals or calling him a bust. Yawn. I still think he'll be a solid third liner for the Canadiens, possibly as soon as next season.

2010

22nd Overall: Jarred Tinordi

No second round pick again. This is probably why we stockpiled the second rounders this season. We've seen a spell of Tinordi and he looks to be something we were desperately missing in our organization. Some say you only go by BPA but honestly that might have been Kuznetsov who if he comes to North America he'll rip up the NHL. We didn't need a forward, we needed a big strong blueliner. Tinordi was a good choice.

2011

17th Overall: Nathan Beaulieu

Again, missing a second rounder. Beaulieu was the fifth ranked North American skater and he fell to 18th Overall. Honestly by the end of it all I believe Larsson and Hamilton will be the only guys comparable or better than Beaulieu. I don't see why Jonas Brodin, Duncan Siemens, Ryan Murphy and Jamie Oleksiak were considered better blueliner choices. Oh well. Their loss. Excellent pick again.

2012 was just last year so I won't go over Galchenyuk, Collberg and Thrower. Long story short, I think Timmins is the best head scout in the NHL and the proof is in the details. High end picks he's found Andrei Kostitsyn, Carey Price, Gui Latendresse, Ryan McDonaugh, Max Pacioretty, P.K. Subban, Jarred Tinordi and Nathan Beaulieu. His "bust picks" were Cory Urqhart, Kyle Chipchura (due to injury), David Fischer, Ben Maxwell and Mathieu Carle. Lapierre was neither boom or bust. Kristo, Leblanc, Tinordi and Beaulieu are all too early to decide but two of the four seem guaranteed so far. He isn't bad with the high picks. He is just better known for his low picks. If I have any criticism for Timmins, it's not taking a chance on a large bodied player in the higher rounds more often. He'll take a tall and strong but never a big and nasty. It's one of the few elements missing in our system.