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Habs Prospects Moving On Up


dark_faerie87

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They'll drop a bit next time with Plekanec and Perezhogin graduating by the end of the season, but this is a great group of youngsters.

Hopefully this coming draft addresses the defensemen need.

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I'd like to see the defenseman issue addressed first as well. The the left wing problem. But considering they'll probably draft around 20th, in a weak draft, they probably won't get a whole lot.

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I'd like to see the defenseman issue addressed first as well. The the left wing problem. But considering they'll probably draft around 20th, in a weak draft, they probably won't get a whole lot.

There's not really a LW problem, HF doesn't have a habs writer anymore I believe, so they don't follow the team as closely. Grabovsky is a LW, Perezhogin, both Kostitsyn's, Latendresse, Urquhart, Lapierre, Chipchura, D'Agostini, Aubin have all played LW at some point. Guys will need to be moved around if they want a spot with the team.

They had Chipchura on LW with Lapierre at center the other day and it didn't seem to be a problem. Plus Higgins should hold down one LW spot for a very long time.

As of the draft, right now we are tied for 15th overall with SJ, so unless we win every game left, I don't think we will leap frog five teams for the draft. I figured us for the 17th-18th pick, so it's still looking like we can get there but the remaining schedule is tough. I would like to see us get some defensemen at the draft but I also feel that you take the best player and go from there. Gainey can make trades over time. Nashville is a good place to start, those guys are loaded with defensemen but need scoring help.

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Things are looking good in Montreal :P

On a sidenote, Montreal, what's your projection for Emelin and O'Byrne?

They sound like some guys who can dish out quite a good hit or two. Obviously Emelin is the more known one since of his miscues and what nots.

Both of them sound like potential second pair and third pair players. I'm saying second pair because both of them have played on their team's powerplay. Not sure about this but I think both have played on the first powerplay wave.

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Things are looking good in Montreal :P

On a sidenote, Montreal, what's your projection for Emelin and O'Byrne?

They sound like some guys who can dish out quite a good hit or two. Obviously Emelin is the more known one since of his miscues and what nots.

Both of them sound like potential second pair and third pair players. I'm saying second pair because both of them have played on their team's powerplay. Not sure about this but I think both have played on the first powerplay wave.

Hard to say at this point but hopefully we see Emelin in Hamilton next year so we can see how he handles North America. I've been impressed with him in Russia but he still needs some work in his reads and reaction. I could see him being a very solid NHLer perhaps on the 2nd pairing if I had to guess. He has to learn to cut down on the pims, but he plays a very aggressive style.

O'Byrne does play on the top PP unit and PK unit (with fellow prospect Jon Gleed) he's Cornell's top defensemen imo and some consider him the teams MVP. He was much like Emelin in that he played a very aggressive physical style but he has really toned it down and cut back on the trips to the box. He plays a ton for Cornell and what I really like is how he's improved his weakest areas of his reads and reactions. He still has work to do, so we'll have to see how he handles the AHL it's a big step up from the NCAA.

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Dan, I'm sure they miss your insight over there...

Since you're gone, there is not much quality articles regarding the habs... :nono:

This "ranking" is totally foolish... They put Plek as a "prospect" (and perez... although it's debatable) and they forgot to mention the almighty Latendresse, as well as Lapierre.

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Hopefully this coming draft addresses the defensemen need.

sure we need good DMen prospects but there's no emergency. our Defense is ok for the next season or two.

I'm also confortable with our draft position. we got chipchura at the 18th sppot and higgins at the 14 or 15 spot.

for the first time in a long while I can say I have faith back in montreals scouts :king:

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Dan, I'm sure they miss your insight over there...

Since you're gone, there is not much quality articles regarding the habs... :nono:

This "ranking" is totally foolish... They put Plek as a "prospect" (and perez... although it's debatable) and they forgot to mention the almighty Latendresse, as well as Lapierre.

They mentionned Latendresse in the first paragraph; the top prospects list can't list all prospects either. At the moment, HF doesn't consider Latendresse as superior to other prospects currently playing in the NHL (Plekanec, Perezhogin), or who are very close to (Chipchura). Since Price was a top 5 pick, and is close to being a blue-chip goaltending prospect, it makes sense that he would be ahead as well. Considering how he went from 2nd best prospect in the Q behind only Crosby to being selected in the 2nd round, his up and down season this year, and his very disappointing showing at the WJC, you can't really put Latendresse at the top of list.

Don't worry, it will change soon. Ratings will be revised over the summer, and Plekanec and Perezhogin won't be considred prospects anymore. I would expect Guillaume to be either number 3 or 4 before the next training camp, depending whether they list Chipchura ahead of him or not (Price and Kostsitsyn will be the top 2).

As for Lapierre, I like him, but he's not a top prospect.

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sure we need good DMen prospects but there's no emergency. our Defense is ok for the next season or two.

I'm also confortable with our draft position. we got chipchura at the 18th sppot and higgins at the 14 or 15 spot.

for the first time in a long while I can say I have faith back in montreals scouts :king:

We should be able to get a really good player at that position. I'm hoping for either Ty Wishart (doubt he'll still be there) or Chris Stewart. If we're lucky, James Sheppard might not get drafted in the top 15 because of his ups and downs. Derek Brassard might be available, I think teams often have doubts about skill players playing in the "softer" and higher scoring Q.

Of course, we could trade up for Sanguinetti, which would be great for Montreal.

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I also am a bit reluctant to draft a quebec player in the 1st round but brassard seems the real deal...

It would be a disaster to miss on brassard and see him become an elite player especially since he's playing in our back yard with one of our brightest prospects.

don't know much about that wishart kid,,seems like he has good size

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I mentionned Wishart because we are a little short on defense, and he's the only really good defenseman that could be selected between positions 10 and 20. I don't think however he would still be available by the time Montreal picks. I think there's another Russian defenseman that's not bad, and that would normally be selected around the 20th position, but with the current situation with the Russian Federation, it's probably best to avoid Russians in the 1st round.

From what I can get, Wishart is a huge guy with good foot speed who's already very solid defensively, and who's really improving his offensive game. He apperantly has been improving consistenly since playing in the juniors, which to me is an important factor. He also has a strong shot from the point, and can develiver some bone crushing hits. From what I rwad about him, he seems to be similar to Ryan O'Byrne with more overall potential.

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CerebusClone-the defenceman you're thinking of must be Ivan Vishnevski.

Actually, I was thinking of Yuri Alexandrov.

A great pick for the second round, if somehow he was still available, would be Jesse Joensuu. It would give Saku Koivu a young Finn power forward to take under his wing.

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