Draft Thread 2006

[MAK]

drafting players is this the best way to have cheap talent on our team.

think how much a 1st goalie cost... buffalo sure are laughing right now. sowill we in a few years with price.

drafting is still a toss up like you say PTG, but I still think it's the best to do.

[The-Habby2919]

Id be very very pissed if BG traded Plekanec,......hes been our hardest worker and best faceoff guy all year and he didnt disappear in the playoffs. Give him another year or two to find the scoring touch that he had in Hamilton and were set for the 2nd line center position after the free-agent we get this summers contract is up.

:hlogo:

[kaos]

Id be very very pissed if BG traded Plekanec,......hes been our hardest worker and best faceoff guy all year and he didnt disappear in the playoffs. Give him another year or two to find the scoring touch that he had in Hamilton and were set for the 2nd line center position after the free-agent we get this summers contract is up.

:hlogo:

I'm all for keeping Plekanec as well. Except under one condition. You can get Brad Richards. But thats not going to happen, so Plekanec will fit in nicely next year

[InsaneHABSfan]

I'm all for keeping Plekanec as well. Except under one condition. You can get Brad Richards. But thats not going to happen, so Plekanec will fit in nicely next year

kaos, when I read your comments I find you have a voice of reason. No way Tampa is going to lose Richards while the cap is going up. Also there are other spare parts that Tampa can get rid of in order to keep Brad. (Dingman, Kabina, Grahame are GroupIII UFA)

There will be much movement this year in UFA and trades as teams retool and I expect Montreal to do their part as well. Not expecting a major move by BG, however I do see some small moves to help offensively.

[CerebusClone]

My guess is that we would have a better chance to trade for Lecavalier (and btw I don't think Tampa Bay would give him to us) than Richards. Until Lecavalier plays up to his potential, if he ever does, Brad Richards is without a doubt their best forward, and go-to guy. Rumors had it that they were trying to shop Martin St-Louis before the trade deadline so they could give that kind of money to Richards instead.

[InsaneHABSfan]

My guess is that we would have a better chance to trade for Lecavalier (and btw I don't think Tampa Bay would give him to us) than Richards. Until Lecavalier plays up to his potential, if he ever does, Brad Richards is without a doubt their best forward, and go-to guy. Rumors had it that they were trying to shop Martin St-Louis before the trade deadline so they could give that kind of money to Richards instead.

WoW, could you imagine St. Louis on a line with Koivu and Higgins? It would be fun to watch and probably effective offensively. As I drift back into dreamland....

[RobRock]

I dunno about drafts. I say trade for proven young players with the pics because the draft is pretty much a toss up. If you want results now trade for proven players, if you want to wait 5 years then the players contract is up and you can't pay him because of the CBA draft a blue chipper.

That's where your scouting staff and your cocahing staff come into the picture. Part of the reason why Andre Savard stepped into the AGM job was the fact that he has a great eye for scouting junior players. With the selection of Plekanec, Higgins, Latendresse, Perezhogin, and Komisarek in recent years, it's been less of a crap shoot than it was in the days of Lindsay Vallis, Terry Ryan, Brent Bilodeau etc. The coaching in Hamilton has been better in recent years as well, so that means that younger prospects are being taught the game better, and in return, are motivated to learn more by the fact that they are having better success at the AHL level. Higgins, Plekanec and Komisarek all played together in Hamilton for a couple of years, and we are seeing the return on that investment in time and training. If Latendresse spends a season or more there, it wouldn't be the end of the world either, but that's a different story. And remember, draft picks don't cost you anything, but the lack of them costs you a helluva lot. It's why RFAs don't get offer sheets. Five picks in five years is just too high a price to pay.

[InsaneHABSfan]

Lets assume Montreal keeps the current core of young talent and goes into the draft looking for "D".

Out of:

Sanguinetti RD

Williams LD

Weber LD

Strait LD

Wishart LD

How many have seen any of them play?

Sanguinetti sounds like a decent offensive defenseman with 1/2 decent size at 6'1". Nigel Williams is interesting too as he is big at 6' 4" which would help out along the boards. (You cannot teach Big) Young guys are starting to make the rosters early due to Salary cap and lack of Great Defenseman available.

I would love to see Montreal take Sanguinetti as long as the Best Player Available was not excessively more valueable then him. Montreal needs "D". The draft really is a big crap shoot unless you have good scouting and a sure thing like Crosby.

[RobRock]

Hockey News has a defenseman from Michigan named Mark Mitera ranked 20th in their Draft Preview. He's listed as 6' 3", 202 lbs. The story on him is that he's not real flashy, but good in his own zone and reliable, but doesn't really stand out from the rest of the field. He's 32nd on the ISS list, and 20th on the CSB list.

The knock against Sanguinetti is that he's not a physical player. If you're looking for points from the blueline, then take him, but he could become a liability in his own end, especially in the new NHL.

I don't know if this means anything, but HN have Weber ranked 58th and Strait 61st. That's a pretty big difference in opinion, from mid-first rounder to late second or early third rounder.