Fair enough. Rafalski is a great player. I concede your point.
Follow up question: do the Habs take Jordan with the #2(presumably their own) second round pick?
Not with the draft as deep as it is. Plus the Habs already have a slew of PMD's. For the Habs he is a guy you take if he slips to the 4th round maybe. I see a team taking him late 2nd or early 3rd at least in part because of bloodlines.
I'm surprised no one mentioned Madison Bowey. I though he had a very good game. Not afraid to join the rush and solid in his zone. Looks much bigger than the 6'1" - 194lbs he's listed at on the CHL website.
I was also imprssed by Bjorkstrand. He completed Petan and Duclair very well. That whole line played a great game.
I agree on Bowey he had a rush that was similar to PK when he spinned around his own net before putting the wheels on.
I don't know what you guys saw in Morin but to me he looked like a pylon out there with not much but size. He was noticably brutal on Petan goal, he should have easily prevent that by using his stick and reach instead of trying to hump Petan in the back.
I agree on Bowey he had a rush that was similar to PK when he spinned around his own net before putting the wheels on.
I don't know what you guys saw in Morin but to me he looked like a pylon out there with not much but size. He was noticably brutal on Petan goal, he should have easily prevent that by using his stick and reach instead of trying to hump Petan in the back.
The draft is mostly about basic skills moreso than current excecution. 5'9" skill players will ALWAYS look better than big d-men at that age, it's which d-men can fill out their frame and master the defensive side and still have good mobility.
The draft is mostly about basic skills moreso than current excecution. 5'9" skill players will ALWAYS look better than big d-men at that age, it's which d-men can fill out their frame and master the defensive side and still have good mobility.
I respectfully disagree. While of course the player still need to fill out I do believe that the main differences between young player (big or not) is hockey sense. You can teach defense and skating but you can not improve hockey sense.
Anyway it was a one game where most players were out of sync due to playing with different teammates.
I believe in Morin. Each time I viewed one of his game, he appeared to be the best player on the ice. He's fast, he's tall, he has pretty good hockey IQ. He's not quite polished yet but I think his upside screams second round pick.
Want the Habs image to change? Find a way to get both Zadorov and Nurse. Throw them in with Tinordi and Dietz/Thrower, teams will **** their pants. No one would crash the net with those guys.
Seriously impressed by both last night. The fights that happened seemed more like gimmicks for the big stage, but those Zadorov hits looked natural. He wasn't holding back for this nothing All-Star game.
In junior, Subban was 100% offense. I even remember a pre-draft blurb about him where a scout was questioning if he even knew where his own zone was. The thinking was that there was just too much work to be done defensively for him to warrant a higher selection - some places didn't even have him in the second round.
Subban did develop during his draft year though, and I heard he left a very good impression one the scouting staff at the end of the year with how much the defensive side of his game progressed from start to finish in his draft year. Some agencies or scouting staff got stuck on their first impression at the beginning of the year while our scouting staff kept tabs on him for the whole year.
Being there live... it was a painful game to watch.
Depends what you're looking for... Not much in terms of pretty plays but there were loads of impressive defensive plays throughout the game. Team Orr had an amazing defense with Jones, Zadarov, Bowey and Bigras. They were very, very good and gave very little to team Cherry. I was impressed to say the least.
I believe in Morin. Each time I viewed one of his game, he appeared to be the best player on the ice. He's fast, he's tall, he has pretty good hockey IQ. He's not quite polished yet but I think his upside screams second round pick.
That is more accurate.. He is clearly not at S.Jones level nor Zadorov but he definately has the physical part.
Ristolainen is still my favourite non-Jones defender in the draft..but Zadarov is pushing him there.
Depends on what you are looking for though. Ristolainen has a fair bit of nastiness himself but is currently weaker defensively, at the expense of more offensive upside. I think what he's weak at (positioning, taking dumb penalties) is more correctable than teaching what he does have though.
Not with the draft as deep as it is. Plus the Habs already have a slew of PMD's. For the Habs he is a guy you take if he slips to the 4th round maybe. I see a team taking him late 2nd or early 3rd at least in part because of bloodlines.
Really not a possibility as the Habs don't have a 4th round pick this year.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rikiki Bousquet
I believe in Morin. Each time I viewed one of his game, he appeared to be the best player on the ice. He's fast, he's tall, he has pretty good hockey IQ. He's not quite polished yet but I think his upside screams second round pick.
He has his good points no doubting Thomas here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Beendair Donedat
He fights well too, lots of jam in that right hand. I'd love to get him in the second round. Tinordi and Morin would be nasty to play against.
He definitely has game but 2nd more likely 3rd round along with Nick Moutrey-Saginaw Spirit RW.
Quote:
Originally Posted by le_sean
Want the Habs image to change? Find a way to get both Zadorov and Nurse. Throw them in with Tinordi and Dietz/Thrower, teams will **** their pants. No one would crash the net with those guys.
Seriously impressed by both last night. The fights that happened seemed more like gimmicks for the big stage, but those Zadorov hits looked natural. He wasn't holding back for this nothing All-Star game.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeffrey
That is more accurate.. He is clearly not at S.Jones level nor Zadorov but he definately has the physical part.
Zadorov was impressive as was Robert Hagg for Sweden in the WJC,I could live with Zadorov as our 1st pick even though my heart cries out for Seth Jones or Johnathan Drouin**.
I made a proposal for trading Subban to Columbus for their three 1st round picks for 2013.If Bergevin can't make the deal with PK,the Columbus deal would insure the Habs ability to draft some of the great talent from the QMJHL.Drouin,Gauthier,Mantha,Erne and Carrier to name a few would give the Habs a distinct Francophone flavor once again.
I made a proposal for trading Subban to Columbus for their three 1st round picks for 2013.If Bergevin can't make the deal with PK,the Columbus deal would insure the Habs ability to draft some of the great talent from the QMJHL.Drouin,Gauthier,Mantha,Erne and Carrier to name a few would give the Habs a distinct Francophone flavor once again.
Gauthier has absolutely nothing in common with Latendresse. Nothing. And laid-back does not do him justice at all. As for Mantha, consistency is a bigger issue but he has much wheels than Latendresse.
You never answered my question how you see Gauthier's game translating to NHL game.
I asked this because as a generaly rule of thumb players like Gauthier generally their game don't translate well to NHL game. They lack first step quickness, intensity and the extra gear. Size, hands and skating alone will only go so far. If it did guys like Joe Colbourne, Bruce Graham, Kevin Veilleux wouldn't have struggled so badly once they turned pro. They were once either late 1st or 2nd round picks who have underachieved to date.
Best I see Gauthier is third line, defensive shut down center. With his size, hands, skating and face-off ability, he probably be best third line center in league some day. But he is not a guy I would target in early/mid first round. Many players besides Nurse or Erne I would take ahead of Gauthier. Zadarov be great, teamed with Tinordi someday what a twin towers they would make. Morin could be also. Unless Gauthier starts to slide, if he does and Habs have a late 1st or early 2nd he could be an excellent pick up.
I made a proposal for trading Subban to Columbus for their three 1st round picks for 2013.If Bergevin can't make the deal with PK,the Columbus deal would insure the Habs ability to draft some of the great talent from the QMJHL.Drouin,Gauthier,Mantha,Erne and Carrier to name a few would give the Habs a distinct Francophone flavor once again.
I'd rather trade Subban for Malkin and Letang but thats just me. We can throw in Kaberle and Bourque for salary.
I'd rather trade Subban for Malkin and Letang but thats just me. We can throw in Kaberle and Bourque for salary.
Malkin wouldn't give us distinct Francophone flavor though, lets cut Subban in half and give half to Pittsburgh for Letang and the other half to Philadelphia for Giroux. Maybe they will throw Couturier in there.
