2023 NHL Entry Draft

[GHT120]

3 minutes ago, Commandant said:

 

He was apparently found drowned in a lake. 

 

So no, not natural. 

 

Whether its homicide or not is the question. 

 

Since it wasn't falling from not a skyscraper window, we know it wasn't Putin.

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

19 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

 

Since it wasn't falling from not a skyscraper window, we know it wasn't Putin.

 

I thought those were all suicides?    LOL

[tomh009]

3 hours ago, Commandant said:

He was apparently found drowned in a lake.

Was there a tall building next to the lake?

 

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

Looks like Florida will move ahead of both Pittsburgh and the Islanders tonight. Hopefully they don't win a couple rounds in the playoffs so the pick is no worse than 18.  Pittsburgh has just been awful lately and the Islanders are having trouble scoring without Barzal. 

[Prime Minister Koivu]

16 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

Looks like Florida will move ahead of both Pittsburgh and the Islanders tonight. Hopefully they don't win a couple rounds in the playoffs so the pick is no worse than 18.  Pittsburgh has just been awful lately and the Islanders are having trouble scoring without Barzal. 

Yeah they are going to make it 💩 but like you said hopefully they bounce early. 
 

I’m disappointed in Pittsburg! Those bastards had the playoffs in their hand then just fell apart. 

[Sir_Boagalott]

It looks like Nashville is ruining everything and I wish they were lower in the standings.  At this point it looks like 11th pick is guaranteed to go to either Buffalo, Detroit or Ottawa.  I don't want either of them getting Bedard - that would be terrible.

 

At the draft, the Habs will either daft at 1st or 5th, plus its possible that 1 team passes them in rank.  If they ending picking @ 6th I'd consider drafting Dvorsky.  I'm honestly surprised at this draft because almost everyone says how deep this draft is.  However, out the top 20 player they are all fairly small for their size.  There isn't 1 thats 6'3"+, 215 lbs+.  Fantilli and Carlsson have height but they lack weight i.e. muscle.  There is 1 guy around 17th that is fairly big, but other than that its Dvorsky.  He's a Slovak so they could try having a line of them.  

 

 

[hab29RETIRED]

7 hours ago, Sir_Boagalott said:

It looks like Nashville is ruining everything and I wish they were lower in the standings.  At this point it looks like 11th pick is guaranteed to go to either Buffalo, Detroit or Ottawa.  I don't want either of them getting Bedard - that would be terrible.

 

At the draft, the Habs will either daft at 1st or 5th, plus its possible that 1 team passes them in rank.  If they ending picking @ 6th I'd consider drafting Dvorsky.  I'm honestly surprised at this draft because almost everyone says how deep this draft is.  However, out the top 20 player they are all fairly small for their size.  There isn't 1 thats 6'3"+, 215 lbs+.  Fantilli and Carlsson have height but they lack weight i.e. muscle.  There is 1 guy around 17th that is fairly big, but other than that its Dvorsky.  He's a Slovak so they could try having a line of them.  

 

 

Crosby is 5’11”, barely 200lb. McDavid 6’1”, under 200 lb. Just saying.

I’ll take elite skill over 6’3”, 215lb anytime and every time.

[tomh009]

1 hour ago, hab29RETIRED said:

Crosby is 5’11”, barely 200lb. McDavid 6’1”, under 200 lb. Just saying.

I’ll take elite skill over 6’3”, 215lb anytime and every time.

Agreed. The Habs did the drafting-big-guys thing in the past and how well did that work out?

[DON]

1 hour ago, tomh009 said:

Agreed. The Habs did the drafting-big-guys thing in the past and how well did that work out?

Yup, and who had a better season in his d+1 year, 6'3" Slafkovsky, or Hobey Baker finalist 5'10" Cooley (57pts in 37gms)?

[Commandant]

They are also 17 and 18 years old.... its every draft that the prospects lack muscle.  They are not fully mature yet.  

 

The weight they are today and what they will be at 23-24 is not the same. 

 

 

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

3 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said:

Crosby is 5’11”, barely 200lb. McDavid 6’1”, under 200 lb. Just saying.

I’ll take elite skill over 6’3”, 215lb anytime and every time.

 

Agreed and sometimes size can deceiving. A guy like Crosby is not tall but he has excellent lower body strength which gives him great balance and makes him hard to deal with. That is something that a player can work on and build up.  Also as Commandant pointed out these guys are 17,18 and will fill out.  Size is great IF you also have the skill. 

[huzer]

11 hours ago, Sir_Boagalott said:

At the draft, the Habs will either daft at 1st or 5th, plus its possible that 1 team passes them in rank.

There are two drawings. It's possible for the Habs to drop back two spots.

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

13 minutes ago, huzer said:

There are two drawings. It's possible for the Habs to drop back two spots.

 

Correct, as pointed out before.  If the Habs finish 5th from the bottom, they could draft 1, 2, 5, 6 or 7.  

[Prime Minister Koivu]

Problem is that Arizona has kept pace with our crappyness 

 

We need an Arizona win or three to feel comfortable 

[dlbalr]

15 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

Problem is that Arizona has kept pace with our crappyness 

 

We need an Arizona win or three to feel comfortable 

 

Arizona lost 8-1 to Seattle last game.  They play them in two of their remaining four games so that's not good.  Anaheim and Vancouver are their other opponents.

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

23 minutes ago, dlbalr said:

 

Arizona lost 8-1 to Seattle last game.  They play them in two of their remaining four games so that's not good.  Anaheim and Vancouver are their other opponents.

 

Seattle is 1 win from clinching a playoff berth and they can't really move up so that last game with Arizona might be meaningless for them. We need 1 more Arizona win as I think the Habs will sneak one more game. 

[DON]

This still seems like a smart pick at 5..or 6, 7 or 8.

 

 

[Sir_Boagalott]

 

16 hours ago, tomh009 said:

Agreed. The Habs did the drafting-big-guys thing in the past and how well did that work out?

 

They've drafted way more 5'10" 180lbs C that never worked out than big guys. 

 

15 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said:

Crosby is 5’11”, barely 200lb. McDavid 6’1”, under 200 lb. Just saying.

I’ll take elite skill over 6’3”, 215lb anytime and every time.

 

Yes, 2 of the best players in the NHL are average weight for their height. 

 

If you take 20 lbs off them do people think they would be equally as good as they are?  How about remain uninjured and play in the same amount of games?   Theoretically, if McDavid was 180 lbs then in last years 1st round in game 7 in the 1st min of game he would not have been able to run right over the Kings dman and send him flying on his back.  That hit set the tempo for that entire game and there was no way the Oilers were losing after he did that.  

 

12 hours ago, Commandant said:

They are also 17 and 18 years old.... its every draft that the prospects lack muscle.  They are not fully mature yet.  

 

The weight they are today and what they will be at 23-24 is not the same.

 

That is true and I know that and that is irrelevant to my point.  With the exception of Carlsson, Dvorksy and they guy around 17th if you add 15 lbs to them all they will still be small or on the low end of average weight for their height. 

 

There seems to be a big lack of players that just average weight for their height in this draft.

 

 

 

[DON]

8 hours ago, Sir_Boagalott said:

There seems to be a big lack of players that just average weight for their height in this draft.

Size eh.

Bedard, Michkov, Benson, Cristall all small'ish'.

Oliver Moore is another small"ish" one, but he is pretty fast. A Byron with lots of skills is intriguing,

But, are mostly smaller players ranked near top of draft, not sure much different than normal or matters much?

[tomh009]

10 hours ago, Sir_Boagalott said:

They've drafted way more 5'10" 180lbs C that never worked out than big guys. 

2001: Mike Komisarek (7th, 6'4) 551 games

2002: Chris Higgins (14th, 6'0) 711 games

2003: Andrei Kostitsyn (10th, 6'0) 398 games

2004: Kyle Chipchura (18th, 6'2) 482 games

2005: (Carey Price)

2006: David Fischer (20th, 6'3) 0 games

2007: Ryan McDonagh (12th, 6'1) 849 games

2008: (no 1st-round pick)

2009: Louis Leblanc (18th, 6'0) 50 games

2010: Jarred Tinordi (22nd, 6'6) 152 games

2011: Nathan Beaulieu (17th, 6'6) 468 games

2012: Alex Galchenyuk (3rd, 6'1) 653 games

2013: Michael McCarron (25th, 6'6) 153 games

2014: Nikita Scherbak (26th, 6'1) 37 games

2015: Noah Juulsen (26th, 6'2), 68 games

2016: Mikhail Sergachev (9th, 6'1) 438 games

2017: Ryan Poehling (25th, 6'2) 134 games

2018: Jesperi Kotkaniemi (3rd, 6'2) 314 games

2019: Cole Caufield (15th, 5'7) 123 games

2020: Kaiden Guhle (16th, 6'2) 42 games

 

That's five big guys out of the 18 skaters selected first. Only one guy under 6'0, but he seems to be working out.

 

Overall, I would say that prioritizing size has a poor payback. The best picks (McDonagh, Sergachev, maybe Galchenyuk) are all in the more typical 6'0-6'1 range. Choose skill first.

 

[Prime Minister Koivu]

33 minutes ago, tomh009 said:

2001: Mike Komisarek (7th, 6'4) 551 games

2002: Chris Higgins (14th, 6'0) 711 games

2003: Andrei Kostitsyn (10th, 6'0) 398 games

2004: Kyle Chipchura (18th, 6'2) 482 games

2005: (Carey Price)

2006: David Fischer (20th, 6'3) 0 games

2007: Ryan McDonagh (12th, 6'1) 849 games

2008: (no 1st-round pick)

2009: Louis Leblanc (18th, 6'0) 50 games

2010: Jarred Tinordi (22nd, 6'6) 152 games

2011: Nathan Beaulieu (17th, 6'6) 468 games

2012: Alex Galchenyuk (3rd, 6'1) 653 games

2013: Michael McCarron (25th, 6'6) 153 games

2014: Nikita Scherbak (26th, 6'1) 37 games

2015: Noah Juulsen (26th, 6'2), 68 games

2016: Mikhail Sergachev (9th, 6'1) 438 games

2017: Ryan Poehling (25th, 6'2) 134 games

2018: Jesperi Kotkaniemi (3rd, 6'2) 314 games

2019: Cole Caufield (15th, 5'7) 123 games

2020: Kaiden Guhle (16th, 6'2) 42 games

 

That's five big guys out of the 18 skaters selected first. Only one guy under 6'0, but he seems to be working out.

 

Overall, I would say that prioritizing size has a poor payback. The best picks (McDonagh, Sergachev, maybe Galchenyuk) are all in the more typical 6'0-6'1 range. Choose skill first.

 

Agree completely but what trumps everything is a high skill player that can skate like the wind and is big. 
 

Skilled and big over skilled and small

[tomh009]

12 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

Agree completely but what trumps everything is a high skill player that can skate like the wind and is big.

Those are roughly as common as hens' teeth though!

[Prime Minister Koivu]

2 hours ago, tomh009 said:

Those are roughly as common as hens' teeth though!

While true, there are more and more of them. 
 

Slafkovsky and soon to be Hab Dubois fit that bill. Matheson isn’t overly heavy but he might fit too

[DON]

3 hours ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

Skilled and big over skilled and small

Bigger = Better 

 

Any stats on that?

Or you simply think bigger players are better?

[Prime Minister Koivu]

55 minutes ago, DON said:

Bigger = Better 

 

Any stats on that?

Or you simply think bigger players are better?

My only stat is watching big forwards push an excellent Dman like Harris around and creating space. 

 

I also watch big players hit much harder 
 

Bigger isn’t better as you frame it here but any GM would choose the bigger player if the skills and skating are the same as the smaller player.