Is Danny Kristo worth the hype?

Am I the only one who thinks Danny Kristo is overhyped? The Canadiens drafted him in the second round in 2008 and he hasn’t set the world on fire, but some of us talk about him like he’s the Second Coming.

I don’t remember a second-rounder being so hyped since maybe Chris Chelios. General Manager Serge Savard kept telling us to wait until we see him, that he was going to be a heck of a player with a major impact on the team, so much so that the francophone media started referring to him as ‘Le Sauveur Chelios’. Lucky for us he was right.

I remember Mike Ribeiro being rushed up to the team too soon, but at that time we were bereft of hope, clutching at straws. The Claude Lemieux-Sergio Momesso draft also got a lot of hype, but that’s because we had seen those guys in junior, and we didn’t need to be sold like we did with Mr. Chelios, or are now with Mr. Kristo. Same goes with Stéphane Richer, I remember the Saguenéens being angry that he was in Montreal riding the bench instead of filling their arena, but we knew what he could turn into. When I get frustrated at Andrei Kostitsyn, it’s because I think he has the tools to have a similar impact as Mr. Richer, or at least seemed to at one time.

Some of you may bring up PK Subban, but again I think we saw him perform in the World Junior tournament and didn’t need to be preached to, we were already converted. If anything, the fans kind of thought we were being Subban-teased by the organization, we were ready for action before they gave it up.

I get the sense that if it wasn’t for the fact that the Canadiens traded away our first-rounder in 2008, we wouldn’t be so concerned with him. If we had kept our first-round pick, we’d be agonizing over Greg Nemisz, and how he needs to pack on some pounds and be stronger on the puck, and how he’s possibly a wasted pick who’ll never be a Top 6 forward, bla bla blah. Danny Kristo wouldn’t get any of the spotlight now trained on him.