Montreal's Best Sleeper Draft Picks

[CerebusClone]

We all know about Montreal's top prospects, the guys like Kostsitsyn, Latendresse, Price, Perezhogin, etc. I just want to know which "sleeper" picks, the prospects we knew very little of before they were drafted, you belive will have the biggest impact at the NHL level. I'm not including any second round pick, since they should be fairly known prospects.

Although I didn't pick him, one defenseman I'm intrigued about is Philippe Paquet. This guy has great size, and is also quite skilled; from what I could get, he's a very good skater, has a great shot, and some good passing skills as well. He didn't have a bad season as a freshman in the NCAA, and I can't wait to follow his progression during his sophomore year.

People complain a lot that Montreal isn't good at scouting-born players, but the presence of Latendresse, Aubin, Lapierre, Danis, and Paquet would indicate otherwise; these guys all have the potential to be NHL regulars.

[beliveau1]

Personally I don't consider anyone prior to the 4th round a sleeper choice...... :?-

[CerebusClone]

Personally I don't consider anyone prior to the 4th round a sleeper choice...... :?-

How many 3rd round picks out of 30 become NHL regulars? If you look at the numbers, there isn't much of a difference between the 3rd round and the subsequent ones. Past the first couple rounds it becomes a crapshoot; skilled guys that may not have what it takes for the NHL, guys with some great skills and some major weaknesses, guys that you think may progress/adapt faster than others, and niche guys that might perhaps fill a specific need on a roster (fighters, leadership guys, shooters, energy guys, defensive specialists, ...).

[shortcat1]

Personally I don't consider anyone prior to the 4th round a sleeper choice...... :?-

I agree with you. I voted for Paquet for the defensemen but the reason is that I had to. I still think that he won't have ANY impact at all like th 3rd rounders so I was 'stuck' to vote for him or Archer.

Of the goalies, I don't know why Danis' name is even there. He's not a 'pick' like the criterion states. So, the only one who may have an impact of consequence is Halak. I don't think it'll be for Montreal but he will make his way on some NHL team.

As to the forwards, at this point, it's an easy call. Kostitsyn is the one who's showing the greatest impact and the greatest potential. Then again this could very quickly change. Mikus could turn around his poor season into a much better one next year and the years after. We'll see.

:king: :hlogo: :king:

Edited May 15, 2006 by shortcat1

[huzer]

How many 3rd round picks out of 30 become NHL regulars? If you look at the numbers, there isn't much of a difference between the 3rd round and the subsequent ones. Past the first couple rounds it becomes a crapshoot...

And if you look at the Habs drafting record...how many FIRST rounders made the team? Anyway, I think the draft as a whole is a crap shoot, and I'd even go as far to say after the 1st round, maybe halfway into the 2nd. Even Perezhogin at (I think) 25 was considered a "project" by most scouts.

[CerebusClone]

Teams don't draft players in the 3rd and 4th rounds strongly believing they'll become regulars; they draft them hoping that they'll progress enough to make it, but most of them never do. As for Danis, he wasn't even considered good enough to be drafted during his NCAA career, so I doubt Montreal considered him to be money in the bank; that's why I included him.

As to the forwards, at this point, it's an easy call. Kostitsyn is the one who's showing the greatest impact and the greatest potential. Then again this could very quickly change. Mikus could turn around his poor season into a much better one next year and the years after. We'll see.

I wouldn't say it's an easy call, although I also voted for Sergei, especially considering that he might have looked better than he really is playing on a very high scoring team; we'll have a much better idea of his true potential next season.

Also, Mathieu Aubin really stepped up once the bigger names like Bourret and Picard left the team. I've never had the chance to watch him play - I don't really follow the Q that much - but I'm wondering if he has enough potential to eventually fill our void as the second line center. We'll have to see what he does at the pro level.

Then, there's Grabovsky who had a quite successful year both in Russia, and on the international stage. Another guy I'll be following next season is J.T. Wyman; I was hoping for more production during his sophomore year, but hopefully he'll emerge as a team leader next season.

[BTH]

If we have to factor in the position that they were drafted in then I chang my frmo O'Byrne to Paquet. But I agree with the notion that 3rd round picks aren't sleeper choices. I'd be pretty disappointed if a 3rd rounder never makes the NHL. I wonder how Emelin is so heavily favoured over O'Byrne? I can only guess that it's because Emelin is way more known.

I also voted for Sergei Kostitsyn and Yann Danis (closely followed by Halak). I've heard good things about Aubin and D'Agostini but I just don't know enough about them.

[revvvrob]

splitting hairs - i know -but i too don't see 3rd round picks as sleepers - i actually don't even think of 4th rounders as sleepers.

round 1 - stars/leaders

round 2 - above average

round 3 - regular

round 4 - bounce back and forth AHL/NHL

round 5 - AHL

round 6 - AHL/never sign with the team

that's a VERY rough outline - so - to me - to get an NHLer out of the 5th round or later ... THAT's a sleeper

so - i couldn't pick Emelin (but i sure am excited at the prospect of having him in a Habs jersey!!!)

nice poll - enjoyed this one!

[KoZed]

Mikus, O'Byrne and Halak for me.

None of the 3 were drafted with the realistic expectations that they would be impact NHLers, but I think all 3 are those with the best chances to surpass those expectations.

[MAK]

Mikus, O'Byrne and Halak for me.

None of the 3 were drafted with the realistic expectations that they would be impact NHLers, but I think all 3 are those with the best chances to surpass those expectations.

halak is our only real sleeper

he was chosen after heino-lindberg and he'll be hamilton's no 1 goalie..this guy's NHL stuff.

as for o'byrne at 6'5 210, he'll need to put beef around the bone ,cause he's too skinny but our only legeit prospect along emelin ( I do not count coté as a prsopect since he'll be in the nhl next year).

grabovsky's considered a 7.5C on the hockeysfuture talent chart wich bodes well for the kid. really impressed at the WC..played well against men

[montreal]

halak is our only real sleeper

he was chosen after heino-lindberg and he'll be hamilton's no 1 goalie..this guy's NHL stuff.

as for o'byrne at 6'5 210, he'll need to put beef around the bone ,cause he's too skinny but our only legeit prospect along emelin ( I do not count coté as a prsopect since he'll be in the nhl next year).

grabovsky's considered a 7.5C on the hockeysfuture talent chart wich bodes well for the kid. really impressed at the WC..played well against men

O'Byrne has bulked up a bit, he was listed at 225 this year on Cornell's site. Plus he had a breakout season, became the top D man on the team and when he was healthy he started seeing around 30 minutes a game. At one point he was considered by some media as the teams MVP but some late season injuries cost him some time in what's already a very short season since Ivy league schools play around 10 less games then the rest of the NCAA (unless they go far in the Frozen 4) He got a team award for playing injured, an ironman type of award, forget what it was called.

For me Halak has been a surprise, at one he was leading the ECHL in gaa and save %. He started off with a bang in Hamilton but we'll see if he can keep it up next year. I used to have more of a prefrence for Christopher Heino over Halak but with Heino spending most of last season on the bench and Halak doing so well, he's clearly moved ahead of him in terms of development.

Aubin was a big surprise to me, just as D'Agostini and Siarhei Kostitsyn were. I never expected them to put up the numbers they did this year. Now we have to see how the continue to develop/progress.

Grabovsky I personally have considered him a top 10 prospect after seeing him play a couple times in the RSL. He is so damn fast and can hit top speed in a couple strides, plus he's got offensive skils to go with that speed. I look forward to seeing how he can do over here.

As for sleeper or underrated guys, the NCAA is not talked about as much so two guys that stick out aside from O'Byrne (who imo is easily the best of our NCAA prospects, not even close) but Wyman is a guy that is of interest cause he's big, strong and plays somewhat of a power game. Plus he's still young and will likely get bigger (6'2 205 arleady) The problem is I havent been overly impressed with his offensive game yet, although he has shown improvement over his freshman year and he was a true freshman, with many guys now going to the USHL for a year before making the jump to the NCAA. Wyman had something like 95 pts in his final 2 seasons in the USHS at one of the top programs. Hopefully next year he produces more.

Paquet also impressed me. He clearly is still very raw but imo he was around the level of O'Byrne when he was a freshman and he was a year younger (Paquet was also a true freshman) Paquet outscored O'Byrne as a freshman by a good margin but then again Cornell is a great defensive program and Clarkson had an impressive offensive season. Paquet is bigger then I expected, he's got a good frame on him, something like Hainsey's frame. Plus he skates really well with good speed but will need a lot of work to round out his game. Next year hopefully he will see a bigger role with the team.