--So the Devils grab P.K., for loose change really, two second-rounders +. I guess if Nashville didn't retain salary, their options were few, there was no bidding war, with most contenders out of the running when it comes to taking on $9M.
The haterz, those who call him inferior to Shea Weber, those who called him "fat", might spin this as a come-down for P.K., might schadenfreude that P.K. goes to NYC, but not at all really, he's in Newark if anything. Shame, shame, shame, you negatrons...
--The Hurricanes get a first-round pick + for taking on Patrick Marleau and buying him out. Elliotte Friedman thinks this is a prelude to an attempt at a return to San Jose.
I thought there was a Marleau-Kapanen deal possible for the Canadiens, where you don't even buy out Patrick Marleau, you wring every last bit of juice out of him next season. He can still skate, he'd be a fit.
But there's the slight matter of his NMC, and how the Leafs wouldn't risk trading Kasperi Kapanen in-Division.
That's okay, there are still lots of opportunities to shark some team out of a prospect and picks in return for taking on a bad contract.
--Last year, I crossed my fingers to the point of dislocation and was ecstatic, gratified that Jared McIsaac was available at our spot to pick in the second round, but they veered hard-left and picked up unknown nobodies Alex Romanov and Jesse Ylonen. So I'm ready to hear some obscure Euro names at #46 and 50. Heck, they might conjure up a goalie out of thin air.
I decided I wouldn't mind Raphaël Lavoie at #46. We could rant and rave about how we got great value, he was a Top 10 pick, really, who 'fell' to us, for unfair reasons, discrimination by English scouts as always, did you know he was 6'4"?...
If they picked Leason over Lavoie, TVA Sports would melt down. Réjean Tremblay would go Unabomber and publish a 300-page screed.
--Do not trade up, especially for Lavoie. Only if he falls in our lap. All the players remaining are all on the same level, the same tier. We don't need to pick one shlub over another so much that we overpay. Take the shlubs as they come.
The only player I'd be overjoyed with our seconds would be Brett Leason, 6'4" right-shot right winger, he's a 19-year-old who had a monster breakout season after being passed over in the draft twice. Had a great tourney at the World Juniors. There's a chance he could step right into the lineup, or after very little time in Laval.
The other is Matthew Robertson, who we talked about earlier. He plays for the Oil Kings, 6'3" leftie blueliner, was talked about in the same breath as Broberg or Harley at mid-season, although it was acknowledged he was less skilled on offence, but really good at defending, and tough.
Any two of those guys with our picks tomorrow would be great, but chances are these two will fly off the board early. Realistically, I'm hoping for Samuel Bolduc or Alex Beaucage in the third, one of Nathan Légaré or Alex Campbell in the second round. That'd make me happy, as a fanboy who wants local kids on my team and who's done zero scouting all year. I've never seen these kids play, but I have opinions.
1) Ottawa picks first, doesn't seem like they auctioned off that singular pick overnight. Usually this pick is a prime opportunity to trade down with a desperate team, like the Sharks were to trade up and snag Jérémy Roy in 2015.
They grab Shane Pinto, and my man-crushes are not affected. Let's see who slides down to #46.
2) The Kings snap up 51-goal scorer Arthur Kaliyev at #33. Not surprising he didn't last long.
3) A run on goaltenders early helps our cause by causing players we like to fall.
4) The Lavoie Fall arrests at #38. He goes to exotic scenic Edmonton. He might have the last laugh, playing with either/both of their great centres in a couple years.
5) The Canucks grab Nils Hoglander, a 5'10" workout warrior who slipped a little bit. Check out his workout videos on YouTube.
6) Kaedan Korczak of the defenceman factory that is the Kelowna Rockets lands in Vegas in #41. Intriguing right-shot offensive defenceman is how he's described, but he fails the .6 pts/game test, so I didn't really care. Alex Vlasic taken at #43 by the Blackhawks, another defenceman I wasn't too keen on, not much offence demonstrated, but you have to be wowed by his size.
7) Lots of trades, teams moving up or down, some of it caused by teams on the hunt for a goalie. The Canucks get J.T. Miller from Tampa, in return for a package that includes a conditional first-round pick in 2021 or 2022. Not sure what I think of this.
8) Two picks away. Will we get Matthew Robertson or Brett Leason? At least one of them will be on the board.
9) Both of them are available, and we're on the clock. Nashville gets Egor Afanasyev, a big scoring winger from the USHL.
10) We get Jayden Struble at #46, a U.S. high school player. Apparently known for physical play. 6", 195 lbs. I'll let myself be swayed by the pundits, then develop a fiery take on this pick
We're up again at #50.
11) Leason? Robertson? Nathan Légaré?
Rangers take Matthew Robertson at #49, and the Canadiens trade down from #50, with the Kings. According to Arpon Basu, they get a third-round and a fifth-round pick from the Kings.
12) Vaguely familiar names being snapped up, no LHJMQ players being taken. Opportunity for the Canadiens?
I guess Matthew Robertson's upside, his puck handling and mobility didn't measure up to the Canadiens' style. He did clear the .6 pts/game test, 7 goals and 33 points in 52 games.
13) Samuel Bolduc gone to the Islanders at #57. Doesn't meet the .6 pts/game standard, but at this point in the draft, with the tremendous size and fitness, with the untapped potential that scouts swear is there, I was ready to take the plunge.
Brett Leason, the big right-winger who was touted as a late-first rounder by a lot of draft watchers, goes 56th overall to the Capitals.
14) The Canadiens are up at #64 and 77 in the third round. I wonder if Marc Bergevin will trade some picks for others next year, as he did last year, and especially since the Draft will be held in Montréal.
15) Mattias Norlinder at #64, a 5'10" 180 lb overager. Passed over in the draft last year, 6 points in 14 games in the Swedish second-division, I don't know.
Actually I do know, I'll call it: he's a bust. He's one of those picks that the Canadiens overthought, got too cute with.
I'll say it again, if you're going to reach, going to bend over backwards in the third round, do that with LHJMQ prospects. Take a chance on a sneaky hunch on our boys. Not a guy who's playing 2nd Division at 19.
This is Lukas Vejdemo picked late in the third round at 19 years old instead of 17 year old 6'4" right-shot centreman Nicolas Roy all over again.
I'm not happy, this is bullshit. This is a seventh-round hunch pick.
16) Pittsburgh grabs Nathan Légaré at #74. I say it again: bullshit.
The Penguins got Samuel Poulin in the first round too.
17) At #77, the Canadiens take Gianni Fairbrother, a defenceman out of the Everett Silvertips.
Brace yourself: he's an overager. Passed over last year too.
There's more. Not only did he not meet the .6 pts/game standard in his draft year, he didn't meet it THIS year, at 19! This is Jarret Tyszka and Scott Walford all over again.
Another bust, I'm calling this one right now too, no waiting.
18) Too many resources maybe? Paralysis by analysis? What are the Canadiens scouts looking at? What are they looking for?
If there was a mondo productive kid who fell into their lap, I'd understand not looking at Québec kids, but they're picking through the dregs and the rejects, and taking kids who don't show the barest level of production. It's the triumph of the eye-test and 'horseflesh evaluation' as decried in "Moneyball".
19) Meanwhile the Leafs draft Mikko Kokkonen at #84, who's been playing in the Liga for three seasons (!), and set a record for most points by a defenceman under 18. Which one of these latter two prospects would you rather have? Which seems, on the surface, more likely to pan out?
20) The Canadiens pick again at #108, and four times in the fifth round. They're preparing their Samuel Houde media-soother pick for then, no doubt.
21) Right after the Canadiens took Mattias Norlinder, the Preds took Alex Campbell, a local kid playing in the BCHL with Alex Newhook. Right after.
And right after the Canadiens took Gianni Fairbrother, the Avalanche took Alexis Beaucage at #78. The very next pick.
So it goes...
22) The Kings nab Jordan Spence at #95. Would have been nice...
23) The Canadiens traded #108 to the Sharks, waiting to find out what we got in return.
CapFriendly tweets that we get a 2020 4th-round pick. Doesn't seem like that's a great trade. You postpone the pick one year, lose that value, and what are the chances that it'll be better than a mid-round fourth? The Sharks are stacked, it'll be a low fourth-rounder.
I'm not negative, you're negative.
24) Leafs on the clock at 124. Canadiens have numbers 126, 134, 136 and 138. But the LHJMQ cupboard is very bare. Nothing left of any note.
25) At #126, Jacob Leguerrier of the Greyhounds in the OHL. Doesn't meet the .6 pts/game standard. 16 points in 68 games, he had 11 last season, in what should have been his draft year.
Nope.
26) At #131, Rhett Pitlick. 5'9", 160 lbs, 5 points in 7 USHL games.
Nope.
27) At #136, the Canadiens trade down/out. Same deal as with San Jose, they trade a fifth this year for a fifth next year.
Mmmmff.
28) At #138, the Canadiens draft 6'5" goalie Frederik Nissen Dichow from Denmark.
Sure, that's a reasonable pick. I'll allow it.
29) At #170, the Canadiens get Arsen Khisamutdinov, a 21-year-old 6'3" left-shot centre who had 5 points in 9 games in the KHL, 55 points in 41 games in the MHL.
Sure. In the sixth round, why not.
30) At #201, the Canadiens take Rouyn-Noranda Huskies captain Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, fresh off his Memorial Cup conquest.
A sop to the baying hounds of the dastardly French media, so so so much worse than the equivocal even-handed English media? Maybe so, but I'll allow it.
31) At 206, the Canadiens take Kieran Ruscheinski, a 6'5" 200 lbs left-shot defenceman out of the AJHL. A late-bloomer with very little offensive potential, based on his stats.
In the seventh round, a perfectly adequate pick.
* * * * *
I'm tired. I'm bummed. I'm out.
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