Friday, January 20, 2012

Habs/Pens, Rumors, Lottery, Selling and More

Tyler Toffoli Tyler Toffoli shakes hands with team personnel after being drafted in the second round by the Los Angeles Kings during day two of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft at Staples Center on June 26, 2010 in Los Angeles, California.
Morning hockey fans.

Last night the New York Islanders posted an impressive 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.

So, why the heck am I mentioning this on a Canadiens related website?

Because, with the win, the Islanders are now ahead of the Habs in the standings. And, perhaps more saliently, le tricolore now finds itself in the bottom-five of the overall league standings. 

All things considered, at this point it would be best if Montreal finished in such a position. By being in the bottom-five, they are eligible to win the first overall pick in the draft lottery. 

Frankly, any top-five pick can pay rapid dividends.

Last year, Adam Larsson was drafted fourth overall.

In 2010, Cam Fowler, Jeff Skinner and Evegeny Kuznetsov were all drafted outside of the first quintet. 

In 2009, Evander Kane was picked fourth, followed by Brayden Schenn and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

In short, what am I saying? 



(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America)

5 comments:

Louis,

A top 5 pick can pay real dividends however the 2012 draft (just as our luck would have it) is by most account a weak draft.

Take a look at the names and there really is not much there except for a bunch of D-men. It is really not a good year to be a bottom feeder.

Louis - you are the 1st person to share my views on our sacred Habs this season.
Save your strength, stop the injuries, get healthy, rebuild, basically pull an "Oilers."

Excellent call, my friend.

@Bryan

By most accounts its a weak draft? I love that. As if, somehow, the scouting community were impervious to mistake or over-generalization.

A top-five pick is a top-five pick, regardless of the year.

Tell me you would not be thrillled to land a Grigorenko, Yakupov, Murray or Maata.

@Bryan: I'm with Louis...the draft my be weak but that's outside of the top-10. Unless you really mess up (cough, cough, Benoit Pouliot...) you should be getting a blue chip prospect in the top-5 no matter how "weak" the draft is.

Guys have you see the list? Grigorenko is not a top 5 this year. many have him going somewhere between 6 and 9 It's basically Yakupov and then a bunch of D-men. Murray is not even in the top 5. He has been hovering around 10th and Maata is projected to go mid second round.

That's what I am saying here. Yakupov, Forsberg, Dumba,Galchenyuk (who hasn't played this year). This is what we are looking at.

It's not a good year for picks at all.

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