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2023 Draft and UFA Thread

Maybe injury related but he has not progressed in 3 post draft seasons. So I'm not holding my breath he can be anything at the NHL level
 
I don't know what to make of him. Didn't when he was drafted either. Tools are there. Maybe not skating but the tools are there but he's a solid meh.
 
If you're able to get one real, legitimate NHLer every draft, that's a good draft. More than that and that's when you get the real juice of it.

And if by minor miracle you're able to get a Gallagher or a Jesper Bratt / Mark Stone in the 5th/6th? Boy oh boy, you've got something there.

So in 2019, we drafted one of the best pure goal scorers in the world without a lottery pick. That in of itself makes the draft good. Nothing of note after.

2018, KK, Romanov & Harris are NHLers. At this rate, KK might be out of the league before the other two, which is kind of wild.

2020, Guhle's a great pick. Farrell has NHL talent, but he's wasting his time at Harvard. Mysak/Biondi/Dobes, TBD

2021, Mailloux is a lot of potential, but he needs to play and get minutes. I was happy with the Kidney pick, but he leaves me kind of indifferent. Don't know if he makes it. Trudeau's interesting, but a project. Roy has offensive tools, but he needs to improve other aspects of his game. Kapanen, Kostenko, Sobolev, Vrbetic & Simoneau are nothing prospects

2022, too early to tell, but Slafkovsky, Mesar, Beck & Hutson all look like they have a shot to be regular NHLers.
 
Another really interesting player with zero limelight, playing in the WHL? Andrew Cristall. A small-ish winger for the Kelowna Rocket and he's at 2PPG.

Quite the year for the WHL.
 
GGpX said:
Another really interesting player with zero limelight, playing in the WHL? Andrew Cristall. A small-ish winger for the Kelowna Rocket and he's at 2PPG.

Quite the year for the WHL.
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Having seen him in person many times last season / this season, he is sure an exciting player to watch. I know that Montreal has more pressing draft needs, but I would be very happy if they drafted Cristall. Hate making comparisons but he does remind me a lot of St Louis in that Cristall is small but very skilled winger that is not afraid of being roughed up
 
Those of you in Western Canada have a lot of good players. Check the top-32 lists that are out and there's a dozen or so players projected to go in the first 2 rounds.

Bedard (Regina)
Yager (Moose Jaw)
Benson (Winnipeg)
Ziemmer (Prince Geore)
Cristall (Kelowna)
Danielson (Brandon)
Honzek (Vancouver)
Dragicevic (Tri-City)

Lind (Red Deer)
Price (Kelowna)
Bjarnason (Brandon)
Levis (Kamloops)

Those are in Button's latest rankings. Not a bad year to watch some games, half the teams have a notable draft-eligible prospect for this draft.
 
GGpX said:
Those of you in Western Canada have a lot of good players. Check the top-32 lists that are out and there's a dozen or so players projected to go in the first 2 rounds.

Bedard (Regina)
Yager (Moose Jaw)
Benson (Winnipeg)
Ziemmer (Prince Geore)
Cristall (Kelowna)
Danielson (Brandon)
Honzek (Vancouver)
Dragicevic (Tri-City)

Lind (Red Deer)
Price (Kelowna)
Bjarnason (Brandon)
Levis (Kamloops)

Those are in Button's latest rankings. Not a bad year to watch some games, half the teams have a notable draft-eligible prospect for this draft.
Click to expand...

Need more days in a week.
 
worm said:
A few more good games and he will catch up to his post draft season numbers
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Boston University Terriers defenceman Lane Hutson has grabbed a lot of attention this season, and among Canadiens fans, that clearly creates a shadow on forward Luke Tuch, who was drafted by Montreal with the No. 47 pick in 2020. The younger brother of Buffalo Sabres forward Alex Tuch had an excellent freshman season at BU, but last season was more difficult because of an ankle injury that made it so he never really got going.

Another injury prevented him from playing in the World Junior Championship last summer, but Tuch’s been healthy so far this season.

“This year I’m trying to bring that positive energy into the season to try to play in every game, but playing my game, and my game is being a big, heavy power forward who’s good in front of the net and has a heavy shot,” Tuch said. “So that’s what I’m trying to bring in every game. I think the production has been OK this year, but it’ll pick up for sure.”

After scoring in his first two games of the season, the 6-foot-3, 207-pound winger hasn’t scored in his last 12 games. Tuch has a very good shot but he doesn’t use it enough, registering fewer than two shots on goal per game. He told us he would like to score more parked in front of the net and, if he’s not going to be the one sniping goals, he was the one over his last two games who contributed to goals by teammates with his work in front of the net. It’s not rocket science, if he wants to establish himself with the Canadiens one day, probably as a third- or fourth-line player, he’ll need to maximize his physical tools as much as possible.

“I think I’ve seen a lot of improvement this year, he’s coming along,” said Terriers head coach Jay Pandolfo. “I think even the last three or four weeks he’s started to come. He has to play to his identity. You have a power forward type, he’s got to play straight lines up and down the ice and get to the net, protect pucks down low, and just be hard to play against on a nightly basis. He’s got a great shot. I think that’s the one thing for him: He wants to produce — everyone wants to produce — and I don’t think the goals have come as easily as he’d like to see. He’s had his chances and maybe he’s missed the net, but he’s getting better.

“He’s getting closer, and I’m happy with his game. His defensive game is solid, and that’s another key for us.”

On top of Pandolfo’s coaching staff in Boston, Tuch says he’s happy to have the support of Nicholas, the Canadiens director of hockey development who texts him about once every two weeks.

“We do some Zoom sessions and we do a lot of one-on-one video,” Tuch said. “So he’ll watch my shifts from previous games and he’ll ask me what I see here, and we’ll just break down certain plays and things I can add to my game.”

Tuch is a second-round pick from the Trevor Timmins era and someone Albie O’Connell, now an amateur scout for the Canadiens, recruited and coached at Boston University. So even if Timmins is no longer in the organization, there is still at least one person around who could speak up for Tuch when it comes time to make a decision on his future with the Canadiens.

The team’s new management seems to favour players with size, and there’s no rush for Tuch to show he’s ready to play in the NHL. But the progression Pandolfo says he sees in him will need to manifest itself in more tangible ways soon, because the Canadiens will soon have a lot of prospects they will need to decide whether to sign and some difficult decisions will need to be made.

Tuch has one more year left in college before graduation.
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Tuch was one of a handful of the orgs prospects (6) Hughes talked up in last weeks interview w TVA Sports
 
montrealhockeynow.com

Canadiens Scouting Some 2023 Draft Prospects Closely At WJC

The Montreal Canadiens will have their eye few of the top prospects currently at the World Juniors, as they continue to focus on the 2023 NHL Draft. It’s no secret that General Manager Kent Hughes is a big fan of this upcoming draft class, as he’s actively looking to add a third 1st-round pick...
montrealhockeynow.com montrealhockeynow.com

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