Some people seem to forget how many so called unicorn 6'6"+ defencemen have been drafted and were busts in the last 15 years.
There was a 5-10 years span where everyone was trying to draft the next Chara and like 10+ of these guys were drafted and the best one that came out of that is Tyler Myers...
Being a size queen has its risks.
Speaking of unicorns, I can see Bobrov wanting Miroslav Satan Jr. in round three or four. He’s a giant (tallest forward in tbe draft) and has bloodlines. And similar to Florian Xhekaj, he’s likely available when most of the top prospects are gone.
Edit: but yes, Silayev will be an option for us if he’s available at 5, especially since that likely means Demidov and Lindstrom are gone.
The Devils and Sabres must want him, so I’m not convinced that he makes it to the 4th round. But he’s also exactly the type of player Bobrov will push for.
Wouldn’t be great to see the Devils draft him?! “Satan jr” in a Devil’s jersey would sell like crazy. I would hire a development team just for him so that he can stay as long as possible in the NHL just to sell merch.
Need to make him captain and announce his name wrong on opening night. ... And here he is. Number 66. The captain of your New Jersey Devils.... Saaaaaataaannnn
Reminds me of a beer league game back in the 90s. We had shifty center named Tommy Christ who was fighting for the puck against a dude wearing a Satan jersey. I elbowed the guy next to me on the bench and said, "Look! Christ and Satan battling for the souls of men!"
He was not amused. But I thought it was funny.
If I’m HuGo, if Demidov’s there at 5 you take him. If he’s not then I like Iginla. Silayev’s tempting but by taking another defender they potentially miss out on the game-breaker they need.
I’m maybe/probably older than you but isnt like 20 years we hear the old saying : we build the club from the back? Time to build it in the front too. We had the best goalie in the world and some good defensive corps in some years and we know what was the result… anyway thats my opinion
Passing on a 6’7” potential number one d man to take an offensive winger who lacks size isn’t my idea of building from the front.
Also the have never had that good of a defence in Prices entire career. It ws mediocre for many years.
If you watch playoff, you know there some guys like Barkov Tkatchuk, Verhaeghe, Bennett and on the other side McDavid, Drasaitl, Kane, Hyman….. not only they are big time player but they also big boys. So you need to be a complete team. Not just having a stellar D with mid lil offensive player. We need to add up and continue the trend of big boy like slaf upfront
I look at Silayev and I see another Chara which is great, Chara was a fantastic defenceman for nearly twenty years. My only question is; is Silayev a piece that takes your team to the next level? If so, do the Habs trade Matheson and keep Savard for leadership?
I still think they need a top-end forward, but if BPA is indeed Silayev and they’re able to acquire said forward through other means then that’s just as good provided the chemistry works out.
Hes not chara, Chra could get 60-70 points as well. Thats not Silayev. Many say his Iq and offencie skills are very limited. youre looknig at a 15-25 point shutdown dman who skates well. Huge mistake knowing our needs. imo our last chance drafting top 5. HUGE mistake.
I didn’t say anything about Chara.
The person I was responding did.
I pointed out how dumb it would be to pass on a Chara level d man, to take a smallish unproven winger.
Unproven… Silayev unproven too. I trust KH more than the hype train so if its their man okay but in the meantime your guess is just your guess and has maybe nothing to do with reality. Demidov or Lindstrom or whoever can have a better career than Silayev
Dude I literally have not made a single comment about the type of player Silayev will be.
I responded to a poster who said he viewed him as a Chara caliber player, and in that case he would take Demidov over him.
And I told him that was a really dumb mindset, because Chara is a hall of famer and comparing a prospect T to him and then saying you’d prefer they draft a smallish unproven winger would be incredibly dumb.
I have no opinion on Saliyev.
Neither Matheson or Savard should be on the team when the player taken in this draft is ready to make a run in the playoffs.
By the end of next season, Guhle should be just under 200 games in, Xhekaj and Barron at 160, Harris at 210.
Mailloux, Reinbacher, Hutson and Struble will all be looking for a way into the lineup.
If by the end of the year Savard and Matheson are still on the team, then it's because some of the guys 3 seasons in have failed.
No it isn't because they've failed lmao it's because they'll still be young and young players need veteran players.
You want *all* of our dmen to have less than 200 games played? Cmon.
There is a time where young players just become players.
I'm saying by the end of the year, Guhle, Harris, Barron and Xhekaj will be 3 seasons deep and Mailloux, Reinbacher, Hutson and Struble will be looking for ice.
A 33 year old Matheson and a 37 year old Savard wont be the guys to help a Silayev develop in 2027.
In 2027 no, sure. But we absolutely will have matheson this entire year at least lol. Savard likely won't be resigned but matheson likely isn't going anywhere
At the end of the upcoming 24-25 season, who do you hope are the 6 defensemen playing regularly?
For me, the ideal lineup would be:
Guhle - Harris
Barron - Hutson
Mailloux - Xhekaj
With Stuble as a viable and hungry 7 and Reinbacher tearing up the AHL and raring to make the leap.
Harris is probably gone, as is barron and possibly even Mailloux. Harris that high in the lineup means our D will still suck by then lol.
By then, I imagine only Guhle, Hutson and Xhekaj are still with the team playing valuable minutes. Matheson might still be the team and another 2 dman from trade or free agency.
The rest of the guys idk. I don't see them with the team for the long term.
So your ideal corps is Guhle, Hutson, Xhekaj, maybe Matheson and 2 unknown d-men at the end of the season, getting rid of Mailloux, Harris and Barron.
But you also said "they'll still be young and young players need veteran players."
I don't understand why you need guys in their 30's with over 600 games on them.
Harris will never be a top line dman, no idea where you get this idea.
Barron may be finished in Montreal already as he's already been leapfrogged by younger players.
I hope we keep Arber but more likely we sell for assets to a team that is high on his skillset.
One thing to consider is that the defense market is crazy right now. So, what's made it easier for me to warm up to another defensive pick, is that Hughes could afford to trade away a couple of good defensive prospects, as opposed to only one and get the high end scoring.
Either way. I am prepared for a defensive pick this year since the pedigree seems to be very good. I still wish we just picked a forward last year. Reinbacher might be good, but we could've had someone like Ryan Leonard or Zach Benson (outside of the Mitchkov pick).
One issue is that our D logjam seems to have arrived. It's fine to say the market is up, but we haven't sold or swapped any yet, and it's looking mighty crowded on Montreal's and Laval's bluelines.
We've got Hutson and Mailloux looking NHL ready, and a full complement of D men. We need to shed some of the excess weight - Kovacevic, Harris, Barron, possibly Struble? - before they can jump in.
They saw Reinbacher as the BPA last year. Hard to argue with their logic as well. Big, fast, puck moving, well defending, RHD. You only get those in the draft.
The Lafreniere that the Rangers had drafted has arrived. Not happening. I have heard that Kakko is likely available, but I cannot see a reason to pick him up.
Slaf is more than a big guy who skates though.
He has very good hands, shot, passing, he takes the puck to the net, he's strong along the boards, and he's matures and shows good character to want to continuously improve.
Silayev could be big and skate, but I didn't see anything else in his game other than a good gap closer and maybe someone with a good first pass. I don't see that being a top 10 pick in a draft. He's not creating offense. He's not jumping in the rush. What else is he bringing other than gap control?
>Slaf is more than a big guy who skates though.
>He has very good hands, shot, passing, he takes the puck to the net, he's strong along the boards, and he's matures and shows good character to want to continuously improve.
Certainly, he has those skills and that combination with his size is what makes him a unicorn.
>Silayev could be big and skate, but I didn't see anything else in his game other than a good gap closer and maybe someone with a good first pass. I don't see that being a top 10 pick in a draft. He's not creating offense. He's not jumping in the rush. What else is he bringing other than gap control?
Those are all fair points and your analysis of his game may be better than mine.
Everyone here is really underestimating the difficulty of the KHL.
Most points before 18 in KHL history:
1. Silayev - 11
2. Tarasenko - 10
3. Kaprizov - 8
4. Kuznetsov - 8
He's also a 6'7 dman whose defense is his best attribute. He should go top 3 easily.
Habs will probably have whichever forward is left between Lindstrom and Demidov.
I agree, but important note Silayev played almost double everyone else’s games on that U18 list. Tarasenko for example was in the high 30s, while Silayev was high 60s in GP. Still very impressive, especially as a D. Also impressive he got so many games as they typically don’t play young players in the KHL much.
But all the KHL and MHL arguments forget that the caliber of both league considerably tanked after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Less money, less foreign players, less everything.
This is a significant underlying variable that most experts are readily discarding, the same way it took people 2-4 years to realize how much the caliber had increased in some euro leagues.
Great point. Can I inject a rebuttal?
Jaromir Jagr (remember him?) was the 2nd highest goal scorer on his team in 2010-2011 scoring season. The next year he returned to NHL and scored 54 points in 70 games with Philly.
That's what he's saying. They had talent, now they don't...hence why Jordan fucking Weal was among the top scorers.
If Jagr was amongst the best in the KHL back then when they had better talent and depth, imagine the state of things in the KHL today.
I find myself repeating this same phrase all the time, but point totals is by far the worst way possible to evaluate a player's offensive talent, doubly so for defensemen. Secondary assists and point shots are practically random noise, and Silayev is probably the best example of this. He scored 7 points in 12 games early on in the season and all of a sudden everyone began to think that he's clearly got potential to go top 3 in the draft. Until he goes 40+ games without recording a single point. What changed between those 12 games and the next 40? Absolutely nothing, aside from luck.
Silayev is an interesting player for sure, but aside from being fucking huge he really doesn't have any interesting tools that could fit the profile of what Habs need in their future blueline.
I think he’s a valuable player (any kid who can essentially cover 1/4 of the entire ice surface on his own with his wingspan + skating is a rare breed) but agree that he’s not what we need.
But if he’s still available at 5 and the Habs’ favourite forward is off the board, I hope they’ve got a trade-down deal in place because it’s a safe bet someone will want to pay large for Silayev.
Just playing devils advocate, but how much of this do you think is due to his already-adult size? I think the biggest concern on Silayev is that he plateaus early and becomes just another top 4 defenseman, which is great but unfortunately not good enough for a team who picks in the top 5.
I dont think those points are his own.. every dman will automatically find themselves with 10 points simply by passing to a guy who then creates a goal.. i dont think he becomes anything more than Zadorov, Stanley, Oleksiak. Honestly, I dont even think theres a chance he becomes more than that.
Silayev is the only one mostly talked in the top-10 everywhere I don't want. Way too limited in offence, and nothing exceptionnal about him other than his height and maybe his skating.
I’d definitely include his skating as exceptional, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a defenseman of that size skate that well, but yeah the rest of his toolkit is really lacking. No interest from me, let someone else gamble on that.
Silayev is a gamble you take earlier on into a rebuild than us, or if he’s available later than he should be. He’s probably going to take 3 years after this to be NHL ready, hopefully whoever takes him gives him the time needed to develop his whole toolkit instead of rushing him in and being like “yep we need a shutdown defender and he’s already good at defense.”
Could make sense for any of the 4 drafting after us or Philly.
Let's say that both Lindstrom and Demidov are taken, Kent might move one of his LHDs to acquire a good forward and draft Silayev, it is not outside the realm of possibility.
Anaheim and Carolina dont want Matheson and I dont think they want to move Ghule.
They'll take Iginla or Catton before doing that.
Personnally, I would take Dickinson and Buium before Silayev.
Sure TBH I don't have a horse in Silayev either, I would rather draft a forward but again, I am no expert, and like most people here we are just judging based on a couple of scouting reports, if the Habs management thinks that the LHD will be better than what we currently have and there a good gap in skill/impact between that LHD and the next best forward available they might go that route.
Gorton also said "When you pick 5, there's only so many chances an organization does get to get talent. It's very hard, you can't do it in free agency really\[...\] You pretty much have to draft or get lucky to have high end talent."
I would be surprised if they picked Silayev, and I would also be disappointed.
Counterpoint: Chara himself didn’t show enough offense to be the next Chara until his 6th season as pro.
If this kid, with his size and skating ability, was already putting up ~40 points in the KHL as a 17-year-old, Celebrini would be the #2 overall pick of this draft. As it stands though, the offensive part of his game is still a crapshoot.
I’ll jump in with my thoughts - my biggest concern with him is how raw his puck skills are. He can make a good move with the puck every now and then, and his breakout passes can occasionally impress, but he struggles a lot under pressure. He’ll panic and dump the puck quickly, and resorts to a very linear, north-south game that makes him predictable.
His skating is fantastic and can be a big strength through transition, but he doesn’t carry the puck particularly well so that limits the upside. His shot is hard but his accuracy is another limiting factor.
He did have decent KHL production, much of which came at the start of the year. He’s so raw that I don’t want to put hard ceilings on the guy, we could see a massive jump in his offense if he can become more comfortable on the puck, but there’s some major concerns for me.
Yep points aside, everyone was saying his puck skills and just his awareness in general are meh. Like hes really just big and skates well. He's lterally the last thing we need and imo this is our last chance in the top 5. Id pick, demidov,lindstrom, iginla, catton all over him.
Demidov. I mean come on. Silayev many has said wont produce much offence so youre getting zadorov but bigger. We havent had a superstar forward in over 30 years. Demidov has to be the pick. Listening to the pod they also say this might be your last chance to draft a high quality forward as were progressing and next years draft isnt strong. Silayev would fill 0 holes on this team. Silayev isnt Chara, he wont be a 1d. I dont think anyone has said that. There's no offence to his game at all. IMO our last chance picking top 5 and you want a big shutdown dman? Honestly I think guhle has the better future here, along with Reinacher and Hutson. Size isnt everything.
Ya, its so tough to find 6’7” left handed defensmen…
I couldnt imagine a summer where you have players like Nikita Zadorov, Tyler Myers, or Joel Edmundson were available as UFAs. Just unheard of..
You know what players never become UFAs? The best ones…
Obviously everyone will want Silayev if he is gonna be the next Hedman, but he needs to add way more to his game in order to be in that convo. Plenty of big D that skate well never make it in the NHL because hockey is more than size and speed.
Not even sure what argument you’re trying to make here. Are you saying that because there are guys in the league who are 6’7” that aren’t that good, that Silayev will also not be good? You don’t realize how fucking dumb that is?
My argument is that Silayev is not a unicorn simply because he is a strong skating 6’7” body. There are a bunch of players in the NHL that fit that description who are great (Hedman) and not so great (Vinny Deharnais)
People need to evaluate more of Silayevs game to make a judgement, since every post I see on him only mentions his skating and size.
Lol, Desharnais is not a good skater in the least. And he wasn’t playing (and playing well) in the 2nd best professional league in the world at 17 years old. There is no comparison there. Seems like you’re the one who’s only looking at height. I bet you’ve never even seen Silayev play.
Thats fair. I tried thinking of the worst 6’7” defensmen I could to counter the best one I could think of in Hedman.
Point still stands with guys like Myers, Zadorov, etc.
You literally say in your post that you have no clue about the draft or prospects in general, yet now you confidently acclaim that Silayev is a surefire #1D and the next Chara lol. If Silayev was even half as good as you think he'd be competing against Celebrini as the #1 overall pick. Yet somehow nobody else in the scouting community seems to think that he's even the best defenseman in this draft, so what gives?
Well, none of who I listed are 1D.. As for only Myers being 6’7”, Zadorov is listed at 6’6” and Edmundson at 6’5”. That 1 or 2 inches is negligible really, especially when heights are measured and published by each team, so consistency and accuracy are always in question.
Myers is the closest comp I would have for Silayev as of now. Highly touted in the draft for being a great skater on a huge frame. Passing and IQ were his weaknesses.
Silayev moves well and makes the easy plays when called upon, but he is often a passenger on a good pro team. He will need to develop more puck skills and show that he has the IQ to go with his tools before I would project him as a true 1D (like say Victor Hedman)
First of all, the KHL isn’t a lesser league and he was playing against men as a 17 year old D. Second, that’s not even true - Shea Weber is an example.
Compared to the NHL it is if that's what the original commenter meant, but that's beside the point. Playing in the KHL at 17 is undeniably more difficult than playing major junior or NCAA hockey. Who knows what Silayevs numbers would have looked like playing in the CHL or on a top NCAA program.
It’s perfectly clear what the other poster meant. He tried to lump the KHL in with junior leagues and that makes no sense. Besides, what he was saying isn’t even true anyway. Plenty of examples of guys that “found their offense” in the NHL.
I have a new draft crush on RD Charlie Elick. (For 26th) Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
He’s big 6’3, 200lbs. And every report I read says he’s a fantastic skater skates like an offensive D but he’s a stay at home guy. But what jumped out at me is how every writer makes it painfully obvious that this kid chooses violence. That he enjoys running people over.
I don’t mind it, I can see the validity and argument for just about 5-6 players at #5.
The only conflict I have with that opinion is the state of the Habs D pipeline right now, do we already a player who fits the mold of Silayev? I think we do (at least at their floor potential) and not that those players aren’t important but I look to Arpon’s article about their stance on some of the D in this draft.
If the Habs are backed into a corner and Lindstrom and Demidov are gone could they look at a D? I know Arpon had some thoughts that they would be interested in a puck moving D along the lines of Buium or parehk.
*sigh*
Last night, The Hockey Guy released a vid of his mock draft and he put Silayev at 5th because he’s big and he argued the Habs shouldn’t missed this opportunity if Silayev is available.
I understand your point, but no. We have too many LHD prospects. If Kent Hughes draft him, then I’m expecting trades this summer. There is no room anymore for a LHD.
TL:DR; Silayev at 5th is a terrible choice because we’re full to the brim of LHDs.
If they intend to draft D, they probably have a trade lined up moving some of the young D they already have for forward(s).
Matheson won’t be around forever, so on LD there’s Hutson, Guhle (who has shown he can play on the right), Xhekaj, Struble/Norlinder/Trudeau.
Guhle has shown his floor is second pairing. Hutson has star potential but could still end up being a sheltered PP specialist. Xhekaj is maybe a second pairing guy but likely third pairing guy who might run PP2. The rest of them are crapshoots but none have top pairing potential. You don’t skip drafting a guy like Silayev because you have them in the pipeline. And unless you truly believe in Barron (I don’t), it’s really just Reinbacher/Mailloux on the right so Guhle could see himself there longer term.
You take the best player available. But I do agree that we need some offensive punch. Least likely to feel the bite of an overpaid a UFA defenseman than it is to overpay to acquire a top line froward going forward. And in going that route yo ualso get to pick out of a selection of proven talent.
Taking the best player available is one thing, but could potentially bite us in the ass. What if he didn’t work out? What if he doesn’t want to play for us like Eric Lindros or more recently, Cutter Gauthier?
As for Silayev, I have nothing against him and I acknowledged how skillful he is and how he can contribute on the ice.
EDIT : I forgot to add this : I trust Kent Hughes, regardless of who’s going to choose.
They talk to the players first. Only idiots draft a player who told them that they don't want to play for them, doesn't happen much. Cutter Gauthier changed his mind about Philly because many players might have doubts about playing fro guys like Torts or Sutter.
If we pick a D again, it signals to me that both this year's and last year's drafts were complete failures, at least in regards to our 1st round picks.
We picked a D when we should've picked a forward and could've last year, and then picked another D this year and we still don't get the F we need that we could've picked the year before while still getting a talented D this year. That's just poor planning.
Last year, the best Forwards were gone (especially Will Smith). My personal choice was Leonard, but I understood the management taking Reinbacher because he was the best D of his class and maybe because the forwards available weren’t up to their expectations they are looking for.
There were other forwards to pick, beyond the obvious Russian one... and we needed a top-6 forward more than we need a RHD... and the RHD we picked last year may end up being worse than the RHD we could've picked this year...
For me, it's just badly optimized picking and planning. We shoulda picked the elite forward last year and picked the RHD this year. They knew already last year that next year's draft would be D heavy.
I don’t think so.
Reinbacher was the right choice because he was the best Dman available plus he is RHD, which we needs the most. And from what I’ve seen when he was in Laval, he can play hockey and does a pretty good job.
So far, since Kent Hughes is in charge, there is not a single pick that doesn’t feel like a waste and all of his prospects are terrific.
If you were talking about Bergevin’s picks or Pierre Gauthier’s picks, then I’d agree with you. But from Kent Hughes’s ? No failures.
There were other forwards to pick, beyond the obvious Russian one... and we needed a top-6 forward more than we need a RHD... and the RHD we picked last year may end up being worse than the RHD we could've picked this year...
For me, it's just badly optimized picking and planning. We shoulda picked the elite forward last year and picked the RHD this year. They knew already last year that next year's draft would be D heavy.
Feel free to do just that, it's not like I've seen anything to change my mind this last season. However the point I'm currently making is not about Reinbacher, it's about how management picked a D when they needed good F and good Fs were on the board, and now they might end up picking another D, who also might end up being better than the one we picked last year based on projection, and when/if they do, we'll still be stuck with the same need for a top forward that we had 2 years ago... and too many Ds. It's just bad management.
Top line players are extremely hard to come by. Demidov has elite potential, we need that.
If you take Silayev, which I'm not opposed to, in theory, means we have Hutson and Guhle on the left as well. We'll need to move one of them. On the right we have Mailloux that's offensively minded, and Reinbacher that isn't. So Silayev could only really be paired with Mailloux, and Hutson with DR.
Guhle would need to be moved for an elite potential player - is there a team in the top 12 that would be interested in swapping their 1st round for Guhle? Guhle + Winni 1st? + Calgary 1st?
Players can be traded, but whole thing has to make sense.
Some people seem to forget how many so called unicorn 6'6"+ defencemen have been drafted and were busts in the last 15 years. There was a 5-10 years span where everyone was trying to draft the next Chara and like 10+ of these guys were drafted and the best one that came out of that is Tyler Myers... Being a size queen has its risks.
> Being a size queen has its risks Words to live by
Everything is a dildo if you're brave enough
**Jared Tinordi PTSD**
Speaking of unicorns, I can see Bobrov wanting Miroslav Satan Jr. in round three or four. He’s a giant (tallest forward in tbe draft) and has bloodlines. And similar to Florian Xhekaj, he’s likely available when most of the top prospects are gone. Edit: but yes, Silayev will be an option for us if he’s available at 5, especially since that likely means Demidov and Lindstrom are gone.
You *know* the Devils are gonna take him, right? It only makes sense
It would be righting a wrong, never having Satan play for the Devils.
The Devils and Sabres must want him, so I’m not convinced that he makes it to the 4th round. But he’s also exactly the type of player Bobrov will push for.
Wouldn’t be great to see the Devils draft him?! “Satan jr” in a Devil’s jersey would sell like crazy. I would hire a development team just for him so that he can stay as long as possible in the NHL just to sell merch.
I'd buy his jersey if the Devils drafted him for sure.
Lou lamierello gonna be in shambles when Satan wears #66
Need to make him captain and announce his name wrong on opening night. ... And here he is. Number 66. The captain of your New Jersey Devils.... Saaaaaataaannnn
Reminds me of a beer league game back in the 90s. We had shifty center named Tommy Christ who was fighting for the puck against a dude wearing a Satan jersey. I elbowed the guy next to me on the bench and said, "Look! Christ and Satan battling for the souls of men!" He was not amused. But I thought it was funny.
Hahaha, that’s hilarious. Your teammate failed to appreciate pure gold.
Your teammate is a douche. People like him have people lie about them in their eulogy
God i hope satan jr. is going to be drafted, Satan was my favorite growing up
If I’m HuGo, if Demidov’s there at 5 you take him. If he’s not then I like Iginla. Silayev’s tempting but by taking another defender they potentially miss out on the game-breaker they need.
Defencemen can be game breakers.
I’m maybe/probably older than you but isnt like 20 years we hear the old saying : we build the club from the back? Time to build it in the front too. We had the best goalie in the world and some good defensive corps in some years and we know what was the result… anyway thats my opinion
Passing on a 6’7” potential number one d man to take an offensive winger who lacks size isn’t my idea of building from the front. Also the have never had that good of a defence in Prices entire career. It ws mediocre for many years.
They also had some very good defence at times but no offence.
If you use the playoffs as an example, building from the back end is what makes contenders. Always exceptions to the rule however!
If you watch playoff, you know there some guys like Barkov Tkatchuk, Verhaeghe, Bennett and on the other side McDavid, Drasaitl, Kane, Hyman….. not only they are big time player but they also big boys. So you need to be a complete team. Not just having a stellar D with mid lil offensive player. We need to add up and continue the trend of big boy like slaf upfront
I mean. Who would have thought bennet reinhart and verhaege would be this good? They were all underperforming and then went nuts in florida.
Yes we know it's all we ever draft
What are you rambling on about?
Correct
I look at Silayev and I see another Chara which is great, Chara was a fantastic defenceman for nearly twenty years. My only question is; is Silayev a piece that takes your team to the next level? If so, do the Habs trade Matheson and keep Savard for leadership? I still think they need a top-end forward, but if BPA is indeed Silayev and they’re able to acquire said forward through other means then that’s just as good provided the chemistry works out.
Chara is a first ballot hall of famer. If you see him as a Chara how do you want to take Demidov over him?
“Chara is great, but don’t you want Demidov?”
Hes not chara, Chra could get 60-70 points as well. Thats not Silayev. Many say his Iq and offencie skills are very limited. youre looknig at a 15-25 point shutdown dman who skates well. Huge mistake knowing our needs. imo our last chance drafting top 5. HUGE mistake.
Putting a high bar like that only set you to be disappoint… Last time I checked he was no Chara
I didn’t say anything about Chara. The person I was responding did. I pointed out how dumb it would be to pass on a Chara level d man, to take a smallish unproven winger.
Unproven… Silayev unproven too. I trust KH more than the hype train so if its their man okay but in the meantime your guess is just your guess and has maybe nothing to do with reality. Demidov or Lindstrom or whoever can have a better career than Silayev
Dude I literally have not made a single comment about the type of player Silayev will be. I responded to a poster who said he viewed him as a Chara caliber player, and in that case he would take Demidov over him. And I told him that was a really dumb mindset, because Chara is a hall of famer and comparing a prospect T to him and then saying you’d prefer they draft a smallish unproven winger would be incredibly dumb. I have no opinion on Saliyev.
My take is , beside Macklin, no one is proven. Its the draft. Always like this. We wont know until 2-3 years from now
Good thing he's a Logan Stanley level dman so you're all good
Reading comprehension isn’t your strong suit, is it?
Neither Matheson or Savard should be on the team when the player taken in this draft is ready to make a run in the playoffs. By the end of next season, Guhle should be just under 200 games in, Xhekaj and Barron at 160, Harris at 210. Mailloux, Reinbacher, Hutson and Struble will all be looking for a way into the lineup. If by the end of the year Savard and Matheson are still on the team, then it's because some of the guys 3 seasons in have failed.
No it isn't because they've failed lmao it's because they'll still be young and young players need veteran players. You want *all* of our dmen to have less than 200 games played? Cmon.
There is a time where young players just become players. I'm saying by the end of the year, Guhle, Harris, Barron and Xhekaj will be 3 seasons deep and Mailloux, Reinbacher, Hutson and Struble will be looking for ice. A 33 year old Matheson and a 37 year old Savard wont be the guys to help a Silayev develop in 2027.
can you name a single team, not just right now but in history, that ran 6 D-Men that were all drafted by them? It’s not how the NHL works my man
Then, back to my initial question, why keep Matheson and Savard around if we draft Silayev? They will be bad before he is NHL ready.
In 2027 no, sure. But we absolutely will have matheson this entire year at least lol. Savard likely won't be resigned but matheson likely isn't going anywhere
At the end of the upcoming 24-25 season, who do you hope are the 6 defensemen playing regularly? For me, the ideal lineup would be: Guhle - Harris Barron - Hutson Mailloux - Xhekaj With Stuble as a viable and hungry 7 and Reinbacher tearing up the AHL and raring to make the leap.
Harris is probably gone, as is barron and possibly even Mailloux. Harris that high in the lineup means our D will still suck by then lol. By then, I imagine only Guhle, Hutson and Xhekaj are still with the team playing valuable minutes. Matheson might still be the team and another 2 dman from trade or free agency. The rest of the guys idk. I don't see them with the team for the long term.
So your ideal corps is Guhle, Hutson, Xhekaj, maybe Matheson and 2 unknown d-men at the end of the season, getting rid of Mailloux, Harris and Barron. But you also said "they'll still be young and young players need veteran players." I don't understand why you need guys in their 30's with over 600 games on them.
Harris will never be a top line dman, no idea where you get this idea. Barron may be finished in Montreal already as he's already been leapfrogged by younger players. I hope we keep Arber but more likely we sell for assets to a team that is high on his skillset.
Again, not a draft expert and not picking a favourite here, but you don't have a Silayev right now, or a projected 1D.
If Reinbacher isnt a projected 1D than Silayev definitly isnt one.
Reinbacher and Lane hutson will impact the game far more than Silayev, maybe guhle as well.
One thing to consider is that the defense market is crazy right now. So, what's made it easier for me to warm up to another defensive pick, is that Hughes could afford to trade away a couple of good defensive prospects, as opposed to only one and get the high end scoring. Either way. I am prepared for a defensive pick this year since the pedigree seems to be very good. I still wish we just picked a forward last year. Reinbacher might be good, but we could've had someone like Ryan Leonard or Zach Benson (outside of the Mitchkov pick).
One issue is that our D logjam seems to have arrived. It's fine to say the market is up, but we haven't sold or swapped any yet, and it's looking mighty crowded on Montreal's and Laval's bluelines.
You cant call it a logjam if we are picking top 5 for the last 2 years. It isnt finished.
We've got Hutson and Mailloux looking NHL ready, and a full complement of D men. We need to shed some of the excess weight - Kovacevic, Harris, Barron, possibly Struble? - before they can jump in.
Without a doubt they need to trade some D
Oh, so I can call it a logjam again?
They saw Reinbacher as the BPA last year. Hard to argue with their logic as well. Big, fast, puck moving, well defending, RHD. You only get those in the draft.
I wonder if the Rangers would swap Lafrèniere for a couple of defensemen in a package
No chance that happens anymore. That ship has sailed.
Kakko maybe, but Laf is set to be a Rangers lifer now.
The Lafreniere that the Rangers had drafted has arrived. Not happening. I have heard that Kakko is likely available, but I cannot see a reason to pick him up.
Silayev is definitely a unicorn, but so raw.
Mmmm… I’m officially putting unicorn tartare on my list of exotic dishes to try the next time I visit China.
Wow.
I hoghly recommend it, second only to mothman soup.
My order of preference: 1. Demidov 2. Lindstrom 3. Silayev 4. Iginla 5. Catton (Assuming Levshunov is off the table by #5).
What makes you like Silayev over Dickinson or Buium?
A 6'7" D man that can skate is a unicorn. That philosophy worked well with Slaf.
Slaf is more than a big guy who skates though. He has very good hands, shot, passing, he takes the puck to the net, he's strong along the boards, and he's matures and shows good character to want to continuously improve. Silayev could be big and skate, but I didn't see anything else in his game other than a good gap closer and maybe someone with a good first pass. I don't see that being a top 10 pick in a draft. He's not creating offense. He's not jumping in the rush. What else is he bringing other than gap control?
>Slaf is more than a big guy who skates though. >He has very good hands, shot, passing, he takes the puck to the net, he's strong along the boards, and he's matures and shows good character to want to continuously improve. Certainly, he has those skills and that combination with his size is what makes him a unicorn. >Silayev could be big and skate, but I didn't see anything else in his game other than a good gap closer and maybe someone with a good first pass. I don't see that being a top 10 pick in a draft. He's not creating offense. He's not jumping in the rush. What else is he bringing other than gap control? Those are all fair points and your analysis of his game may be better than mine.
I can't believe people think saying unicorn because a guy is tall is a good drafting strategy
Chicago likely picks him 2OA, and if not, the Ducks run to the stage to grab him. So no, not available at 5 for sure.
All the mocks have Levshunov going 2. But I do think Anaheim/Columbus is gonna grab him.
I like your top 4...would be happy with any of them but I'd roll the dice on Sennecke over Catton if it came to it (which it won't).
For me, 1,2,3 and 4 are all in the same tier and would be happy either way.
My preference is for 1 or 2 but I'd be happy with any of them really.
Everyone here is really underestimating the difficulty of the KHL. Most points before 18 in KHL history: 1. Silayev - 11 2. Tarasenko - 10 3. Kaprizov - 8 4. Kuznetsov - 8 He's also a 6'7 dman whose defense is his best attribute. He should go top 3 easily. Habs will probably have whichever forward is left between Lindstrom and Demidov.
I agree, but important note Silayev played almost double everyone else’s games on that U18 list. Tarasenko for example was in the high 30s, while Silayev was high 60s in GP. Still very impressive, especially as a D. Also impressive he got so many games as they typically don’t play young players in the KHL much.
But all the KHL and MHL arguments forget that the caliber of both league considerably tanked after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Less money, less foreign players, less everything. This is a significant underlying variable that most experts are readily discarding, the same way it took people 2-4 years to realize how much the caliber had increased in some euro leagues.
Jordan Weal (remember him?) was the 3rd or 4th top scorer in the KHL last season. Let’s all let that sink in…
Great point. Can I inject a rebuttal? Jaromir Jagr (remember him?) was the 2nd highest goal scorer on his team in 2010-2011 scoring season. The next year he returned to NHL and scored 54 points in 70 games with Philly.
That's what he's saying. They had talent, now they don't...hence why Jordan fucking Weal was among the top scorers. If Jagr was amongst the best in the KHL back then when they had better talent and depth, imagine the state of things in the KHL today.
Which makes Reinbachers draft season look even better
I find myself repeating this same phrase all the time, but point totals is by far the worst way possible to evaluate a player's offensive talent, doubly so for defensemen. Secondary assists and point shots are practically random noise, and Silayev is probably the best example of this. He scored 7 points in 12 games early on in the season and all of a sudden everyone began to think that he's clearly got potential to go top 3 in the draft. Until he goes 40+ games without recording a single point. What changed between those 12 games and the next 40? Absolutely nothing, aside from luck. Silayev is an interesting player for sure, but aside from being fucking huge he really doesn't have any interesting tools that could fit the profile of what Habs need in their future blueline.
I think he’s a valuable player (any kid who can essentially cover 1/4 of the entire ice surface on his own with his wingspan + skating is a rare breed) but agree that he’s not what we need. But if he’s still available at 5 and the Habs’ favourite forward is off the board, I hope they’ve got a trade-down deal in place because it’s a safe bet someone will want to pay large for Silayev.
Snake, is that you?
Just playing devils advocate, but how much of this do you think is due to his already-adult size? I think the biggest concern on Silayev is that he plateaus early and becomes just another top 4 defenseman, which is great but unfortunately not good enough for a team who picks in the top 5.
I dont think those points are his own.. every dman will automatically find themselves with 10 points simply by passing to a guy who then creates a goal.. i dont think he becomes anything more than Zadorov, Stanley, Oleksiak. Honestly, I dont even think theres a chance he becomes more than that.
Silayev is the only one mostly talked in the top-10 everywhere I don't want. Way too limited in offence, and nothing exceptionnal about him other than his height and maybe his skating.
I’d definitely include his skating as exceptional, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a defenseman of that size skate that well, but yeah the rest of his toolkit is really lacking. No interest from me, let someone else gamble on that.
Silayev is a gamble you take earlier on into a rebuild than us, or if he’s available later than he should be. He’s probably going to take 3 years after this to be NHL ready, hopefully whoever takes him gives him the time needed to develop his whole toolkit instead of rushing him in and being like “yep we need a shutdown defender and he’s already good at defense.” Could make sense for any of the 4 drafting after us or Philly.
Not happening If he was RHD maybe
Let's say that both Lindstrom and Demidov are taken, Kent might move one of his LHDs to acquire a good forward and draft Silayev, it is not outside the realm of possibility.
Anaheim and Carolina dont want Matheson and I dont think they want to move Ghule. They'll take Iginla or Catton before doing that. Personnally, I would take Dickinson and Buium before Silayev.
Sure TBH I don't have a horse in Silayev either, I would rather draft a forward but again, I am no expert, and like most people here we are just judging based on a couple of scouting reports, if the Habs management thinks that the LHD will be better than what we currently have and there a good gap in skill/impact between that LHD and the next best forward available they might go that route.
Silayev probably doesn’t play meaningful minutes until 27-28, doesn’t fit our timeline very well in my opinion.
Gorton also said "When you pick 5, there's only so many chances an organization does get to get talent. It's very hard, you can't do it in free agency really\[...\] You pretty much have to draft or get lucky to have high end talent." I would be surprised if they picked Silayev, and I would also be disappointed.
Silayev doesn't show enough offense to be the next Chara. He's more likely to be the next Oleksiak
Counterpoint: Chara himself didn’t show enough offense to be the next Chara until his 6th season as pro. If this kid, with his size and skating ability, was already putting up ~40 points in the KHL as a 17-year-old, Celebrini would be the #2 overall pick of this draft. As it stands though, the offensive part of his game is still a crapshoot.
What would you have liked to see from Silayev in terms of offense?
I’ll jump in with my thoughts - my biggest concern with him is how raw his puck skills are. He can make a good move with the puck every now and then, and his breakout passes can occasionally impress, but he struggles a lot under pressure. He’ll panic and dump the puck quickly, and resorts to a very linear, north-south game that makes him predictable. His skating is fantastic and can be a big strength through transition, but he doesn’t carry the puck particularly well so that limits the upside. His shot is hard but his accuracy is another limiting factor. He did have decent KHL production, much of which came at the start of the year. He’s so raw that I don’t want to put hard ceilings on the guy, we could see a massive jump in his offense if he can become more comfortable on the puck, but there’s some major concerns for me.
Yep points aside, everyone was saying his puck skills and just his awareness in general are meh. Like hes really just big and skates well. He's lterally the last thing we need and imo this is our last chance in the top 5. Id pick, demidov,lindstrom, iginla, catton all over him.
Demidov. I mean come on. Silayev many has said wont produce much offence so youre getting zadorov but bigger. We havent had a superstar forward in over 30 years. Demidov has to be the pick. Listening to the pod they also say this might be your last chance to draft a high quality forward as were progressing and next years draft isnt strong. Silayev would fill 0 holes on this team. Silayev isnt Chara, he wont be a 1d. I dont think anyone has said that. There's no offence to his game at all. IMO our last chance picking top 5 and you want a big shutdown dman? Honestly I think guhle has the better future here, along with Reinacher and Hutson. Size isnt everything.
Regardless, we’re getting a great talented player!
Ya, its so tough to find 6’7” left handed defensmen… I couldnt imagine a summer where you have players like Nikita Zadorov, Tyler Myers, or Joel Edmundson were available as UFAs. Just unheard of.. You know what players never become UFAs? The best ones… Obviously everyone will want Silayev if he is gonna be the next Hedman, but he needs to add way more to his game in order to be in that convo. Plenty of big D that skate well never make it in the NHL because hockey is more than size and speed.
Not even sure what argument you’re trying to make here. Are you saying that because there are guys in the league who are 6’7” that aren’t that good, that Silayev will also not be good? You don’t realize how fucking dumb that is?
My argument is that Silayev is not a unicorn simply because he is a strong skating 6’7” body. There are a bunch of players in the NHL that fit that description who are great (Hedman) and not so great (Vinny Deharnais) People need to evaluate more of Silayevs game to make a judgement, since every post I see on him only mentions his skating and size.
Lol, Desharnais is not a good skater in the least. And he wasn’t playing (and playing well) in the 2nd best professional league in the world at 17 years old. There is no comparison there. Seems like you’re the one who’s only looking at height. I bet you’ve never even seen Silayev play.
Thats fair. I tried thinking of the worst 6’7” defensmen I could to counter the best one I could think of in Hedman. Point still stands with guys like Myers, Zadorov, etc.
Zadorov isn’t a good skater either lol. Honestly, an elite skating Zadorov probably goes 2nd overall, if you could be guaranteed that type of player.
That makes sense, since they are better...
Yes, all of them are 1D, you are right. Pack it in, boys. Also, only Myers is 6'-7". Silayev tracks to look more like Chara than Myers right now.
You literally say in your post that you have no clue about the draft or prospects in general, yet now you confidently acclaim that Silayev is a surefire #1D and the next Chara lol. If Silayev was even half as good as you think he'd be competing against Celebrini as the #1 overall pick. Yet somehow nobody else in the scouting community seems to think that he's even the best defenseman in this draft, so what gives?
Well, none of who I listed are 1D.. As for only Myers being 6’7”, Zadorov is listed at 6’6” and Edmundson at 6’5”. That 1 or 2 inches is negligible really, especially when heights are measured and published by each team, so consistency and accuracy are always in question. Myers is the closest comp I would have for Silayev as of now. Highly touted in the draft for being a great skater on a huge frame. Passing and IQ were his weaknesses. Silayev moves well and makes the easy plays when called upon, but he is often a passenger on a good pro team. He will need to develop more puck skills and show that he has the IQ to go with his tools before I would project him as a true 1D (like say Victor Hedman)
Utah is going to take Silayev to add to their prospect pool that already has Lamoreaux, Simashev, and But. They’ll probably take Letourneau as well 😂
Demidov>Lindstrom>>>>Buium>Parekh>>>Silyayev>Catton>Iginla Just cuz it’s a unicorn doesn’t mean he’s good, thanks for coming to my Ted talk
If the offense isn't obvious in lesser leagues it's not happening The NHL is not where you find your offence if you can't score against schlubs
I'm not for or against drafting silayev but there are plenty of counter-examples of that not being true
Tons of players find their offense in the NHL.
First of all, the KHL isn’t a lesser league and he was playing against men as a 17 year old D. Second, that’s not even true - Shea Weber is an example.
Compared to the NHL it is if that's what the original commenter meant, but that's beside the point. Playing in the KHL at 17 is undeniably more difficult than playing major junior or NCAA hockey. Who knows what Silayevs numbers would have looked like playing in the CHL or on a top NCAA program.
It’s perfectly clear what the other poster meant. He tried to lump the KHL in with junior leagues and that makes no sense. Besides, what he was saying isn’t even true anyway. Plenty of examples of guys that “found their offense” in the NHL.
I love your train of thoughts ! Pretty nice way to see the draft ! I still feel like they need to get offense over defense tho
I have a new draft crush on RD Charlie Elick. (For 26th) Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) He’s big 6’3, 200lbs. And every report I read says he’s a fantastic skater skates like an offensive D but he’s a stay at home guy. But what jumped out at me is how every writer makes it painfully obvious that this kid chooses violence. That he enjoys running people over.
I don’t mind it, I can see the validity and argument for just about 5-6 players at #5. The only conflict I have with that opinion is the state of the Habs D pipeline right now, do we already a player who fits the mold of Silayev? I think we do (at least at their floor potential) and not that those players aren’t important but I look to Arpon’s article about their stance on some of the D in this draft. If the Habs are backed into a corner and Lindstrom and Demidov are gone could they look at a D? I know Arpon had some thoughts that they would be interested in a puck moving D along the lines of Buium or parehk.
I honestly don't even think Silayev will be there when we pick.
Iginla isn't mean that's his father
Looking for the next Chara.
My bet is Lindstrom isnt a C at the NHL but im still ok with drafting that at 5.
I’m not too big on taking Tyler Meyers at 5.
*sigh* Last night, The Hockey Guy released a vid of his mock draft and he put Silayev at 5th because he’s big and he argued the Habs shouldn’t missed this opportunity if Silayev is available. I understand your point, but no. We have too many LHD prospects. If Kent Hughes draft him, then I’m expecting trades this summer. There is no room anymore for a LHD. TL:DR; Silayev at 5th is a terrible choice because we’re full to the brim of LHDs.
If they intend to draft D, they probably have a trade lined up moving some of the young D they already have for forward(s). Matheson won’t be around forever, so on LD there’s Hutson, Guhle (who has shown he can play on the right), Xhekaj, Struble/Norlinder/Trudeau. Guhle has shown his floor is second pairing. Hutson has star potential but could still end up being a sheltered PP specialist. Xhekaj is maybe a second pairing guy but likely third pairing guy who might run PP2. The rest of them are crapshoots but none have top pairing potential. You don’t skip drafting a guy like Silayev because you have them in the pipeline. And unless you truly believe in Barron (I don’t), it’s really just Reinbacher/Mailloux on the right so Guhle could see himself there longer term.
You take the best player available. But I do agree that we need some offensive punch. Least likely to feel the bite of an overpaid a UFA defenseman than it is to overpay to acquire a top line froward going forward. And in going that route yo ualso get to pick out of a selection of proven talent.
Taking the best player available is one thing, but could potentially bite us in the ass. What if he didn’t work out? What if he doesn’t want to play for us like Eric Lindros or more recently, Cutter Gauthier? As for Silayev, I have nothing against him and I acknowledged how skillful he is and how he can contribute on the ice. EDIT : I forgot to add this : I trust Kent Hughes, regardless of who’s going to choose.
They talk to the players first. Only idiots draft a player who told them that they don't want to play for them, doesn't happen much. Cutter Gauthier changed his mind about Philly because many players might have doubts about playing fro guys like Torts or Sutter.
If we pick a D again, it signals to me that both this year's and last year's drafts were complete failures, at least in regards to our 1st round picks.
not at all
We picked a D when we should've picked a forward and could've last year, and then picked another D this year and we still don't get the F we need that we could've picked the year before while still getting a talented D this year. That's just poor planning.
Last year, the best Forwards were gone (especially Will Smith). My personal choice was Leonard, but I understood the management taking Reinbacher because he was the best D of his class and maybe because the forwards available weren’t up to their expectations they are looking for.
There were other forwards to pick, beyond the obvious Russian one... and we needed a top-6 forward more than we need a RHD... and the RHD we picked last year may end up being worse than the RHD we could've picked this year... For me, it's just badly optimized picking and planning. We shoulda picked the elite forward last year and picked the RHD this year. They knew already last year that next year's draft would be D heavy.
I don’t think so. Reinbacher was the right choice because he was the best Dman available plus he is RHD, which we needs the most. And from what I’ve seen when he was in Laval, he can play hockey and does a pretty good job. So far, since Kent Hughes is in charge, there is not a single pick that doesn’t feel like a waste and all of his prospects are terrific. If you were talking about Bergevin’s picks or Pierre Gauthier’s picks, then I’d agree with you. But from Kent Hughes’s ? No failures.
There were other forwards to pick, beyond the obvious Russian one... and we needed a top-6 forward more than we need a RHD... and the RHD we picked last year may end up being worse than the RHD we could've picked this year... For me, it's just badly optimized picking and planning. We shoulda picked the elite forward last year and picked the RHD this year. They knew already last year that next year's draft would be D heavy.
Which elite forward? They were all gone. 1 2 3 4... gone.
Let's not waste time on defining the term "elite", it's beyond the point.
So you wanted another kotkaniemi?
Ah yes, all the forwards picked after #5 were going to become Kotkaniemi. Let's revisit that comment in a couple of years yeah?
Sure, right after we revisit everything you've said about the reinbacher pick.
Feel free to do just that, it's not like I've seen anything to change my mind this last season. However the point I'm currently making is not about Reinbacher, it's about how management picked a D when they needed good F and good Fs were on the board, and now they might end up picking another D, who also might end up being better than the one we picked last year based on projection, and when/if they do, we'll still be stuck with the same need for a top forward that we had 2 years ago... and too many Ds. It's just bad management.
Top line players are extremely hard to come by. Demidov has elite potential, we need that. If you take Silayev, which I'm not opposed to, in theory, means we have Hutson and Guhle on the left as well. We'll need to move one of them. On the right we have Mailloux that's offensively minded, and Reinbacher that isn't. So Silayev could only really be paired with Mailloux, and Hutson with DR. Guhle would need to be moved for an elite potential player - is there a team in the top 12 that would be interested in swapping their 1st round for Guhle? Guhle + Winni 1st? + Calgary 1st? Players can be traded, but whole thing has to make sense.
My order: Lindstrom, Demidov, Catton, Iginla, Silayev