As any one who follows hockey will tell you, getting the draft selections right can make you a Stanley Cup contender.
However, if you get them wrong too many times then you will be a perennial bottom-half dweller.
So getting back to Mr. Timmins, how has he done?
His first go around was in 2003, a stacked draft year. In my opinion he real messed it up at his first draft. At the 10th pick overall, he selected Andrei Kostitsyn. At the 40th and 61st picks he selected Cory Urquhart (who you ask) and Maxim Lapierre. Andrei was okay when he played with Kovy and Pleky a few years back, but then disappeared. Lapierre was never more than a fourth liner at best and Urquhart is a no show.
Who could have Timmins selected? Well, it is an impressive list I am about to share, and it makes you cry when you think we could have had even one of these guys instead of what we did get. How about Jeff Carter, Dustin Brown, Brent Seabrook, Zach Parise, Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Keslar, Corey Perry, Patrice Bergeron, Shea Weber, and David Backes. Anyone of those guys would be a huge help to our Habs today. How he could have missed this talent pool and picked what he did I will never understand.
However, I will give him a little bit of a break since it was his first time at the draft table. What about his second sit down at the draft table? In 2004 he selected Kyle Chipchura at the 18th selection. Who could he have selected instead and was still available instead of Chipchura? How would Travis Zajac look with the CH on his chest? What about Andrej Meszaros, Jeff Schultz, Mike Green, or David Krejci. So in my opinion year two was another big bust.
In 2005, we had the 5th pick overall and selected Carey Price. Nicely done Monsieur Timmins. Our next pick at the 45th spot was Guillaume Latendresse. Big G. never did pan out now did he? Who could be in a Habs uniform instead of Big G.? How about Kris Letang, Adam McQuaid, Keith Yandle, or Mason Raymond. Anyone of these guys could have been had instead of Latendresse. But he did give us Carey Price, so we will forgive him for 2005 misses. Can you imagine Letang and Subban on the power play today, man that would be something special to watch. And throw in McQuaid's mean streak (which we dearly lack in our line-up today), boy would Price drool at having those two defend his crease today instead of what we currently have.
In 2006, Timmins' fourth time at the draft table. What did he do this time? So far the only good thing he has accomplished is Carey Price. Well in 2006 Mr. Timmins did not do well again. He had the 20th pick and he selected David Fischer. Another colossal failure. He followed that selection with Mathieu Carle (not Matt Carle) and Ben Maxwell. Neither of these two are doing anything significant today to warrant any excitement at their future contributions to the Habs. Now who could have Monsieur Timmins giving us instead? How would Claude Giroux fit our needs today? Or how about Nick Foligno? And here is a real kicker; as much as I despise these two because they play for the Bruins I would have loved to have them join the NHL in a Habs uniform. Picture what a difference a Milan Lucic and a Brad Marchand could have done for us if they were selected instead of Maxwell and Carle. As much as I detest Lucic now, I would have loved him in a Habs uniform from day 1. So 2006 is another bust of a draft year for Mr. Timmins.
In 2007, his fifith draft I would say Mr. Timmins redeemed himself. He had the 12th pick and selected Ryan McDonagh. (Unfortunately Mr. Gainey in his infinite wisdom traded him away for a bag of hockey pucks (Gomez) to the Rangers.) He followed that up with Big Max Pacioretty and PK Subban. So 2007 was a win no matter how you look at it. He gave us two of our present day superstars who should be around for a long time.
For 2008, we did not have any first round picks because we traded those away. In the second round we received from Mr. Timmins, Danny Kristo and Steve Quailer. Neither of these two would make the Habs's current edition. Who could have been selected in this weak draft year? Well Zack Smith was available along with Adam Henrique and T.J. Brodie. I know, no big super stars but again much better than what we received. So 2008 we can say was a white wash since we never had a first round pick.
Mr. Timmins once again had a weak draft in 2009. We had the 18th selection and picked Louis Leblanc. Leblanc as his name may suggest was a huge blank. Never materialized into anything resembling a prospect. The very next pick was a guy named Chris Kreider. Remember him? He totally destroyed our cup dreams last year when he ran over Price and over our defense every time he entered our zone. After Leblanc we received Joonas Nattinen and Mac Bennett. Who could have been selected? How about Marcus Johansson or Ryan O'Reilly. So 2009 a lost draft year for the Habs.
In 2010, Timmins' 8th try was a good one. He gave us Gallagher and Tinordi. So it is safe to say that no matter who else was available we are definitely happy with Gallagher and the big potential of Tinordi.
As we get to the present years of 2011-2014 the jury is still out on the talent selected. Here are the highlights of those draft years. In 2011, we drafted Nathan Beaulieu in the first round and then did not have a pick until the third round. In 2012, that is when we had the third pick overall and selected our future #1 center in Alex Galchenyuk. That same draft we selected some high potential players in Tim Bozon and Charles Hudon. Both are doing very nicely in their present clubs (Kootenay and Hamiton) and should challenge for positions on the big club in the near future.
2013 saw the Habs get bigger with the 25th pick on Michael McCarron who says he wants to be compared to a Milan Lucic type of player). The next selection was Jacob De La Rose followed by Zachary Fucale and Sven Andrighetto with Martin Reway shortly after. Each one of these selections has high potential to make the big club and make an impact soon. Andrighetto already has several points in his short stint with the big club and showed he has NHL calibre speed and the hands to go with it. Reway had an excellent juniors tournament over the Christmas break as did De La Rose. The only knock I have against Reway and Andrighetto is they are both small players, neither stands over six feet. 2014 saw the addition of Nikita Scherbak, a big fast forward that the Habs need. So far he is excelling with the junior team (Everett Silvertips of the WHL) and looks to have huge potential in the next year or two, plus his 6' 2" frame will definitely be welcomed to the Habs line-up.
So the jury is still out on the last few draft years. We will wait and see how these selections mature and if they can contribute to the big club; and not as a fourth liner either. We have an abundance of fourth liners. Our best draft years were 2005 with Price; 2007 with Max Pac and Subban and 2012 with Galchenyuk. Other than that, the selections by Timmins have not really helped our club. Now I know there are some out there who say Timmins has one of the better records on his selections making the NHL. Yes but how many fourth liners does a club need. The draft is where you find your future stars. Other clubs have done a much better job at selecting players who can be a top-six forward or a top-four defenseman. Just review all the missed opportunities we have had with Timmins in charge. I say he needs to re-evaluate his scouting team because they are not up to were they need to be if the Habs are going to win another Stanley Cup.
What do you think? Are you happy as a Habs fan with what Timmins has brought to the table since 2003 or do we need to revamp the scouting department? Let me know your thoughts. Thanks.
