Would you guys say that the upcoming talent in the 2012 draft is as high as previous years.
Please elaborate, something tells me that it's not.
High end talent is there.
Yakupov is as good or better than Hall, RNH
top 7 is as good as top 8 or 9 last year
But depth isnt there past that point
Alot of it though is i've never seen a draft class as injured as this year so a lot of the guys who shoul be 15-30 and lower have dealt with serious injuries.
Our third this year will likely be in the low 60s too (current 62nd/63 overall depending if the Devils forfeit this year).
Sharks are getting a compensation pick late in the 2nd (55th overall) for not signing 2007 1st round pick Patrick White (got him in the Ehrhoff trade), so we'll be picking in the 3rd round in the same slot as the 1st.
Devils likely forfeiting their 1st only impacts our 2nd, possibly the Preds pick if it's before 55.
Jim Rutherford quote from today: “If the draft was today, we’d improve immediately because we’d be picking in the top five,” Rutherford said. “If you pick in the top five of this year’s draft, you’re going to get a pretty damn good player.
Last edited by Marc the Habs Fan: 02-27-2012 at 08:31 PM.
If the Habs land Grigorenko or Galchenyuk, one of Desharnais or Eller has to go. Teams need good veteran like Plekanec to lead the way for the young guns, plus he is eating so much tough minutes, it would be a disaster to throw him away even if the return is good.
Now, does the Habs keep the two-way talent with size who will likely put up 50pts while being rock solid defensively or do they keep a small center which his hockey IQ is through the roof.
It's a hard decision but, my choice would be to keep Eller ; he has size, is gritty and has the upside to become another Plekanec. With Grigorenko/Galchenyuk bringing the offense, the Habs need a two-way center down the road. I know, I know. Another good Quebecois they send away. I choose Eller, but he probably has more value than Desharnais, so I wouldn't lose sleep if the return was valuable.
The other option is to transfer Desharnais to the wing.
If the Habs land Grigorenko or Galchenyuk, one of Desharnais or Eller has to go. Teams need good veteran like Plekanec to lead the way for the young guns, plus he is eating so much tough minutes, it would be a disaster to throw him away even if the return is good.
Now, does the Habs keep the two-way talent with size who will likely put up 50pts while being rock solid defensively or do they keep a small center which his hockey IQ is through the roof.
It's a hard decision but, my choice would be to keep Eller ; he has size, is gritty and has the upside to become another Plekanec. With Grigorenko/Galchenyuk bringing the offense, the Habs need a two-way center down the road. I know, I know. Another good Quebecois they send away. I choose Eller, but he probably has more value than Desharnais, so I wouldn't lose sleep if the return was valuable.
The other option is to transfer Desharnais to the wing.
I'd also pick Eller. Honestly, Desharnais is making the most of his situation right now, and that's great for him, but I highly doubt his ceiling is much higher than what he's achieving this year. And this doesn't get mentioned enough, but he is below average in the defensive zone. Maybe Desharnais is the better offensive player for the next couple of years, but I believe Eller will have a better career overall.
If the Habs land Grigorenko or Galchenyuk, one of Desharnais or Eller has to go. Teams need good veteran like Plekanec to lead the way for the young guns, plus he is eating so much tough minutes, it would be a disaster to throw him away even if the return is good.
Now, does the Habs keep the two-way talent with size who will likely put up 50pts while being rock solid defensively or do they keep a small center which his hockey IQ is through the roof.
It's a hard decision but, my choice would be to keep Eller ; he has size, is gritty and has the upside to become another Plekanec. With Grigorenko/Galchenyuk bringing the offense, the Habs need a two-way center down the road. I know, I know. Another good Quebecois they send away. I choose Eller, but he probably has more value than Desharnais, so I wouldn't lose sleep if the return was valuable.
The other option is to transfer Desharnais to the wing.
I wouldn't rush to get rid of any centre. I believe Grigorenko has been used on the wing before and as you said, Desharnais can be used on the wing. Plus I'm not sure if either is NHL ready, Grigorenko might be but Galchenyuk missed a year of development, I'm not sure if it's fair to expect him to play in the NHL right away and even if he can, expectations must be limited. Neither player is going to be a top 2 C right away.
Plus both Desharnais and Eller are cheap and low maintence for now. While I agree Desharnais would probably be the more expendable of the two of we draft a playmaking centre, we have an extreme lack of skill in our top 6 right now. For all the complaining about how shallow we are at C, right now our only above average puckhandlers are our Cs. While I think Eller has a lot more untapped potential of the two, there's no reason to rush one out of town when we can evaluate what we have. Grigorenko isn't going to have a Crosby-like rookie season, a Tavares-like rookie season is the best case scenario.
If the Habs land Grigorenko or Galchenyuk, one of Desharnais or Eller has to go. Teams need good veteran like Plekanec to lead the way for the young guns, plus he is eating so much tough minutes, it would be a disaster to throw him away even if the return is good.
Now, does the Habs keep the two-way talent with size who will likely put up 50pts while being rock solid defensively or do they keep a small center which his hockey IQ is through the roof.
It's a hard decision but, my choice would be to keep Eller ; he has size, is gritty and has the upside to become another Plekanec. With Grigorenko/Galchenyuk bringing the offense, the Habs need a two-way center down the road. I know, I know. Another good Quebecois they send away. I choose Eller, but he probably has more value than Desharnais, so I wouldn't lose sleep if the return was valuable.
The other option is to transfer Desharnais to the wing.
I like Desharnais I really do... but the only problem is that we have Eller and Plekanec in the system... and I would take them both before DD...
Ideally our centers for next season would look like this.
[1st rnd pick 2012 tall superstar Russian center]
Plekanec
Eller
DD has no place on the wings and he would command a hefty return if traded. He's expendable imo.
2 points out of the 2nd pick and the Oilers have a game in hand and the ROW tie-breaker as of now.
With RC at the helm, as well as RNH back for EDM, I feel confident we will get that 2nd slot.
Also, after watching the Flames stink it up for 40 minutes, I am getting quite excited about having their 2nd round pick next year. That team is old, they have little to no help coming for next season (maybe Baertschi), Iginla seems to be on the decline, they do have cap room but the UFA market is very shallow and I doubt Parise or Sutter signs there. It could be a top 35 pick.
Edit: LOL, some Flames fan in their GDT thinks they still have Holland and views him as part of their core going forward, ok...
It's for sure on any team that wants to build a strong team going forward.
You don't bring in a young top pick in a young, talent deprived team, in the spotlight of Montreal and think you're going to make headway.
Give development time to the young guys we have on this team, get some good supporting vets to replace our aging 'offensive' players and bring in the kid in 2013-2014 with a strong supporting cast.
It's for sure on any team that wants to build a strong team going forward.
You don't bring in a young top pick in a young, talent deprived team, in the spotlight of Montreal and think you're going to make headway.
Give development time to the young guys we have on this team, get some good supporting vets to replace our aging 'offensive' players and bring in the kid in 2013-2014 with a strong supporting cast.
Then you got something to build on.
Grigorenko is pratically wasting his time in the Q right now, I don't see him anywhere except in the NHL next year. Maybe Galchenyuk could benefit from playing in the OHL since he missed pratically a full season, but that's it. Of course, I'm talking about the big 3 (Yakupov, Grigorenko, Galchenyuk). If they end up with Forsberg or someone else, they won't make the jump next year.
I like Desharnais I really do... but the only problem is that we have Eller and Plekanec in the system... and I would take them both before DD...
Ideally our centers for next season would look like this.
[1st rnd pick 2012 tall superstar Russian center]
Plekanec
Eller
DD has no place on the wings and he would command a hefty return if traded. He's expendable imo.
If the guy we draft makes our lineup, it will be in a heavily sheltered offensive third line role so please people stop putting Grig/Galchenyuk on our first line. And DD would make a great winger, he'd probably need less sheltering from there too. No need to trade him.
Knowing our luck we'll finish the season 12-3-4, still obviously miss the playoffs, and pick in the 10th-12th range.
I am confident that will most assuredly not happen ...because we suck this year. There is a suck aura around the team due to everyone giving up. Maybe we will win a couple here and there but nothing to worry ourselves with. Subban is my mancrush and he really is playing so well right now, yet the rest of the D is so bad... let's not worry about it shall we we're in good hands, ha.
If the guy we draft makes our lineup, it will be in a heavily sheltered offensive third line role so please people stop putting Grig/Galchenyuk on our first line. And DD would make a great winger, he'd probably need less sheltering from there too. No need to trade him.
How do you know he will be sheltered? We don't even have a coach. I think it's highly probable he gets the Subban treatment, minus the two years in the juniors/AHL. And I don't think it will be a bad thing either if we pick who I am thinking we should.
Grigorenko is pratically wasting his time in the Q right now, I don't see him anywhere except in the NHL next year. Maybe Galchenyuk could benefit from playing in the OHL since he missed pratically a full season, but that's it. Of course, I'm talking about the big 3 (Yakupov, Grigorenko, Galchenyuk). If they end up with Forsberg or someone else, they won't make the jump next year.
So was Latendresse. This isn't LA where you can fade in the background.
Knowing our luck we'll finish the season 12-3-4, still obviously miss the playoffs, and pick in the 10th-12th range.
Have you realized what our 2nd to 4th lines are right now? It's beyond ugly. Our D is small and will get manhandled during the most intense time of the year.
I don't see how this team even plays .500 down the stretch.
I also expect some players to start being suddenly ''injured'' once we are eliminated. Cole comes to mind as a guy who could be shut down.
I am confident that will most assuredly not happen ...because we suck this year. There is a suck aura around the team due to everyone giving up. Maybe we will win a couple here and there but nothing to worry ourselves with. Subban is my mancrush and he really is playing so well right now, yet the rest of the D is so bad... let's not worry about it shall we we're in good hands, ha.
"Suck Aura", is there such a thing? But I agree with you, we sucked and there is nothing to be worry about.
we're in good hands, ha.
