Habs Season Thread: 2024-25 Regular Season

[Krustchev]

Napier was good (although he was already a proven commodity having played in the WHA) but he wasn't as good as Bossy, who the Habs passed on in order to take him.

And Napier helped us land Bobby Smith.

 

[GEEMAN]

And even Svoboda never really panned out and was shipped out a few years after his draft.

Correct me if I am wrong

Svoboda , was a name from nowhere in that draft

Not on draft lists or being talked about , almost like Romanov

 

[Habsy]

And yet Trevor Timmins still has a job.

The problems with this franchise begin and end with a lack of accountability at the top. If those names listed above can't get a head scout fired I don't know what it will take.

He's not a head scout

 

[Krustchev]

Correct me if I am wrong

Svoboda , was a name from nowhere in that draft

Not on draft lists or being talked about , almost like Romanov

Not exactly. Svoboda defected the day before the draft. Back then (1984), players from the Soviet block, like him, were risky picks because they were not allowed to come over until they were older and past their prime. I was actually at the draft at the Forum when he was selected 5th overall. Had never heard of him until then.

 

[GEEMAN]

Not exactly. Svoboda defected the day before the draft. Back then (1984), players from the Soviet block, like him, were risky picks because they were not allowed to come over until they were older and past their prime. I was actually at the draft at the Forum when he was selected 5th overall. Had never heard of him until then.

I watched the draft with Hab fans and saying , " WTF " .

 

[Sal_Butera]

Correct me if I am wrong

Svoboda , was a name from nowhere in that draft

Not on draft lists or being talked about , almost like Romanov

Svoboda was also Savards first top-5 pick in his GM career , and also had a component of Habs org response to Nords getting Stastny bros to defect a couple of years earlier. Just as Savard in his inaugural draft had selected Tretiak

Yet Savard didn’t feel the need to go for Berlin Wall defectors - Mogilny, Bure, Federov etc..

 

[GrandWazoo]

And even Svoboda never really panned out and was shipped out a few years after his draft.

Yeah, I almost wanted to put an asterisk next to his name, but he had a decent career compared to the rest of the names and played over 500 games with us.

 

[Habspatrol]

You can keep going and it doesn't get much better.

Chipchura, Kostitysn, Higgins, Komisarek, Hainsey, Buturlin (2nd round), Chouinard, Ward, Higgins, Ryan, Brown, Koivu(!), Wilkie, Bilodeau, Stevenson, Vallis, Charron, Cassels, Pederson, Charbonneau, Svododa, Turcotte, Heroux, Hunter, Wickenheiser, Gingras, Geoffrion, Napier, Lee, Connor, Sadler.

All our first picks since 1974 have been wasted with the exception of Svododa, Koivu, Price, and hopefully Caufield.

Pacioretty definitely wasn't a waste. Had some really good years for us, then flipped him for Suzuki++

 

[GrandWazoo]

Pacioretty definitely wasn't a waste. Had some really good years for us, then flipped him for Suzuki++

He wasn't our first pick that year though. I didn't say first round picks, just first picks.

 

[Habspatrol]

He wasn't our first pick that year though. I didn't say first round picks, just first picks.

Oh... seems like a silly distinction, just to make a bad situation sound worse.

 

[GrandWazoo]

Oh... seems like a silly distinction, just to make a bad situation sound worse.

I thought that was the rule when I read Sal's list and it included Kristo but not Max. That's why I added Burturlin as well.

Excluding the 70s when something we had 5 first round picks, you'd gain Max and Corson. But you'd also account for Hossa, Perezhogin, Chorske, Delorme and Ingman.

 

[Habspatrol]

It's definitely grim either way.

 

[WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou]

So basically since Pollock left the organization our drafting has been absolute shit with occasional gusts up to mediocre for the past 40-odd years.

 

[Sal_Butera]

So basically since Pollock left the organization our drafting has been absolute shit with occasional gusts up to mediocre for the past 40-odd years.

Drafting was absolute shit during last 5-years of Pollock’s tenure as well - capped off with Napier selection over Bossy.

Shockingly the short time Grundman was there led to Naslund & Chelios....I’ll skip over Wickenheiser

 

[Habsy]

So basically since Pollock left the organization our drafting has been absolute shit with occasional gusts up to mediocre for the past 40-odd years.

Or more precisely, since expansion.

 

[Habsy]

This is a really bloody good read if you have a sub. Love the party about first rounders and how many are with each team.

 

[Rocket Man74]

Well Bergy is holding a press conference tomorrow, undoubtedly to talk about the KK / Dvorak situation but I wonder if there will be any mention of his rumoured contract extension?

 

[Habsy]

Can we poach Tampa's player development guy?

 

[GrandWazoo]

This is a really bloody good read if you have a sub. Love the party about first rounders and how many are with each team.

We lost our way in developing players a long time ago, it's been really bad since Gainey and truly abysmal under Bergevin. Gallagher survived the process, Evans' slow and steady progression has been a welcome change and Caufield seems to be a unicorn but I'm still waiting to see how we're going to screw that one. That's about it. We even managed to mess up Romanov whose progression went backward as the season went on.

 

[WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou]

You know your player development is bad when you see promising results from prospects and your first thought isn't "When will this kid make the big club?" but rather "How will the Habs destroy this kid?"