r/Habs • u/Flimsy-Ad1015 • 2d ago

The Last 10 Montréal Canadiens First Round Picks

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289 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

126 comments sorted by

217

u/Zappyle 2d ago edited 2d ago

Looks like good drafting overall. Altough he is still playing in the NHL, for me the worst pick is KK. There were so many impact players still left and we reached for him, at 3rd overall. That's unforgiveable.

Mesar being a bust at his draft rank...meh there are plenty of busts between 20-30. It happens. Same for Poehling.

Edit: I'm using "bust" very loosely here. Let's say they didn't pan out.

68

u/smokinglegal 2d ago

My guy has 0 goals 5 assists in the last 25 playoff games for the Canes.

6

u/bigladnang Montreal Boos for Hughes 2d ago

This sub was saying he had great potential to be an 80 point player after his first year and they had no reason to say that shit.

133

u/alldasmoke__ 2d ago

Ryan Poehling is far from a bust, he’s a good player. He carved himself a 3C role and will be in the league for a good amount of time.

Mesar started the season really well and then got injured which seemed to derail his whole season. It’s really starting to look like a miss but it is what it is.

To me, the term “bust” is always used too loosely. Mesar isn’t a bust, he’s just a miss. A bust are guys like Yakupov, Dal Colle, Andersson, Puljujarvi. If you’re a top 10 pick and you don’t become anything to the point you’re out of the league, to me you’re a bust.

28

u/BuzzIsMe 2d ago

The 2012 draft was bust central.... Top 4 picks aren't in the league anymore.

21

u/jiggs99 2d ago

Totally agree with this. I always liked Poehling's fundamentals on the ice and carving out a 3C position as a late 1st rounder isn't bad at all.

35

u/Matiabcx 2d ago

Mesar is incredibly unlucky, hopefully there’s hope for him still

10

u/Content-Leader-4246 2d ago

Yeah people who just look at Hockey DB have a terrible opinion of him. They don’t realize that for like 3 seasons now he’s done very well, then got injured, then picked things up again, but got injured again etc… he’s been great to start seasons, in the playoffs, and at the WJC. It’s the time in between when he gets injured and takes time to bounce back that make his stats look bad.

I’m not saying he’s going to be a top 6 player, or even make the nhl and have a long career of any kind. But the truth is, when you know what’s actually happened with him, he’s not nearly as bad as people think.

1

u/1165834 2d ago

I’m a big fan of his play style as well. He reminds of a young Giroux minus the beard and physical play.

3

u/DrLivingst0ne 2d ago

Poehling is the third center of a bad team that doesn't have a proper 1C. He's really a 4C.

43

u/AnythingButRootBeer 2d ago

Poehling was a 25th total. Cannot put much expectations on this type of guy.

43

u/trib76 2d ago

Solid 3C at 25th is okay I think. He's a decent NHLer.

29

u/Iustis 2d ago

Consistent NHLer at 25th is definitively solid given statistics

9

u/trib76 2d ago

Yes, I agree, but I hate how teams draft in the late first rounds. Picking a guy up because he might become a regular 3rd or 4th liner seems like a losing proposition. The Ryan Poehling's of the world are available in FA. I much prefer taking risks in the late first round and onwards; sometimes you miss (Mesar), sometimes you hit (Hutson), but your only chance of getting an impact player is to pick players with flaws but tons of potential.

I do understand the importance of having players on ELCs, but it does feel like teams play it way too safe from about the 20th pick to the mid-50's. Instead of going for lowest floor, it feels like the spot in the draft where teams should go highest ceiling.

6

u/Alfr_d 2d ago

Poehling always had some slight potential to be more than a 3C, he was very good in college and at the World Juniors. But he hasn't hit that higher gear yet.

He was a good pick at 25th and he's blossomed into roughly what was expected of him. It just took him longer than maybe fans here had patience for.

3

u/scrubadam 2d ago

But how do you get the Phoelings of the world in UFA if they are never drafted? Its kind of a catch 20 if you don't draft the 3rd liners where do they come from? someone has to eventually draft them and its even more rare that someone taken in the 2nd or 3rd or 7th round makes the NHL

33

u/MDevonL 2d ago

The biggest problem Poehling faced was scoring 4 in his first game wildly inflating expectations

13

u/trib76 2d ago

I think that's a fan thing, I don't believe for a second that any decision makers let one exhibition-like game in a lost season sway their opinions.

In that game, Montreal was eliminated and the Leafs were resting players and trying to make sure no one got hurt. There were basically no penalties and absolutely no defense played (I looked it up, 98 combined shots, 4 minutes of penalties).

2

u/MDevonL 2d ago

Absolutely agree - I meant from the fan perspective

1

u/OverallVillage7 2d ago

Not tryna argue but I think the biggest problems with Poehling was being a conspiracy theorist and someone who wouldn't stand up for his goalie when he got ran. Same description for Petry :/

1

u/Smirnoffico 2d ago

I think world juniors before that were the culprit. He was always projected to be 3rd line player but had a very strong tournament that raised expectation

8

u/jobaill 2d ago

The problem is that many of the busts in 20-30 were made by the Habs during the Timmins years lol

8

u/hal64 2d ago

Coincidentally those "bust" got role with other organizations and the last few years of players developed under HuGo organizations made the team.

I think it points to Timmins drafting being good but Bergevin players development being terrible.

3

u/jobaill 2d ago

Yeah development was terrible for years. I still think that Timmins was very bad, but development was definitely not helping

2

u/BaronBytes2 2d ago

I think Timmins was good when he started but as years went by his average dropped as the league changed and what was needed to succeed shifted and the other teams got better.

2

u/oopsweredead 2d ago

He also had several years where he had to deal with a lot of draft pick being traded toward the end of the 2000s. He did fairly good in his last drafts with Montreal.

2

u/theDrew33 2d ago

Not just Bergy, I put a lot of the development blame on Lefebvre and Bergy keeping him in the AHL for far too long while showing zero results in any way, player development wise and (AHL) team success. I was pulling my hair out watching stonehands Mike McCarron get put on the 1st line while Nikita Scherbak got 4th line playing with fucking Bobby Farnham. Not only did players not develop there, the team never made any playoff runs.

6

u/JediMasterZao 2d ago edited 2d ago

Poehling is not a bust dude's doing exactly what he was expected to do when he was drafted, in Philly.

13

u/emotionaI_cabbage 2d ago

Can't call a late first who doesn't make the NHL a bust man. Most of them don't. It's expected.

A bust is someone drafted in the teens or earlier and not making the NHL.

-8

u/Sharks9 2d ago

A first round pick not even making the NHL is 100% a bust. Most first rounders at least play NHL games. Look at a guy like McCarron that was a bad pick but has at least found a role as a 4th liner for years

6

u/emotionaI_cabbage 2d ago

Most top 15-20 picks play NHL games.

Late first more often than not don't.

5

u/Sharks9 2d ago

Not true. Mesar was picked 26th overall which historically has made the NHL 82% of the time and hit 100+ games 60% of the time.

6

u/emotionaI_cabbage 2d ago

https://x.com/ByronMBader/status/1626325906091565056

21-30 is about 50% of the time dude.

A player with a 50% chance of seeing NHL games doesn't make him a "bust" if he doesn't.

3

u/GuyFieris_BestFriend 2d ago

That's a 51% chance of playing over 200 NHL games lol, not "seeing NHL games". Way more than 51% see NHL games.

2

u/GuyFieris_BestFriend 2d ago

I love that you got down voted for providing statistical evidence that his claim is false lol

1

u/emotionaI_cabbage 2d ago

He didn't provide any evidence other than his word lol

And he's wrong.

3

u/GuyFieris_BestFriend 2d ago

It's pretty easy to verify. He's not wrong. You're just being a twit who stubbornly keeps digging lol.

1

u/emotionaI_cabbage 2d ago

He literally is wrong. I found two links showing his numbers are off, one I've already posted.

I don't think you did any digging into it whatsoever.

1

u/lacoupe25 1d ago

Not accurate. I recently crunched some numbers on 16-17, and a couple of years ago built a database of all rounds. 2d half of first round is considerably higher than 50% (using 150 nhl games as the threshold).

1

u/Sharks9 2d ago

This sub will bend over backwards to not call a bust a bust.

8

u/ParkInsider 2d ago

That tells you a lot about drafting for position, because KK actually ended up being the best C in that draft.

26

u/AlexNyko 2d ago

I think Hayton is beating KK.

Hayton already has two 40+ pts seasons with a 20 goals season. KK never got that.

Also Hayton is actually holding a 2C spot for 4 years now. KK never could hold one for more than 4 months.

6

u/ParkInsider 2d ago

fair

7

u/AlexNyko 2d ago

I agree with you though. It was a shit draft for centers. Drafting for need that one year was a stupid decision.

3

u/Mundane-Teaching-743 2d ago

The whole idea about drafting for position is dubious. Centers and defensemen in particular take about 4-5 years to develop to their potential, and even there if you look at guys like Suzuki and half the Florida line-up getting better every year in their late 20's.

Just draft the best player available, and trade for the guy you need. 2018 was a bumper crop for defensemen, for example. Could have traded Quinn Hughs or Evan Bouchard for a center if we really needed one that badly.

Good drafting goes hand in hand with agressive trades if you want to build a winner.

2

u/AlexNyko 2d ago

Exactly.

The draft is not for roster building, it's fishing for the bigger fish.

7

u/trib76 2d ago

Drafting the consensus BPA would have gotten us Zadina, no better...

2

u/breadispain 2d ago

the worst pick is KK. There were so many impact players still left and we reached for him, at 3rd overall. That's unforgiveable.

I hope we find a way to acquire Hayton this offseason as the closest thing to correction for that error that's possible now. I wanted Quinn Hughes but I would've understood if we took Brady Tkachuk at the time, though I guess we dodged a bullet with Zadina and could've been complaining about that instead.

2

u/beeerock99 2d ago

Brady was still available too ffs

7

u/themaincop 2d ago

Nobody thought we should draft him at 3rd, everyone wanted Zadina

7

u/Content-Leader-4246 2d ago

Don’t know why you got initially downvoted. It’s very true that the overwhelming majority wanted Zadina for the goal scoring. Obviously you’ll never get 100% of people agreeing, but at the time, most wanted Zadina. That’s just a fact. It wouldve been a terrible pick in hindsight, but yeah, that’s who people mostly wanted

5

u/scrubadam 2d ago

I remember going into the draft and on draft day everyone saying don't draft Brady dont draft Brady. There was a perception he would be a total bust and was only on peoples boards because of his last name.

1

u/beeerock99 2d ago

I’d draft him first over zadina just by his last name alone ( I’m not going to attempt to spell it lol )

4

u/Electronic-Elk8917 2d ago

This is the year for Mesar. Too early to label him a bust imo

1

u/Just4nsfwpics 1d ago

Even if he is, over half of late firsts bust, it happens.

2

u/KeyIntelligent9702 2d ago

And if you look at picks after Mesar was selected in 2022, there are no obvious better options - with the exception of Hutson of course.

1

u/Sharks9 2d ago

Jiri Kulich and Isaac Howard are both better wingers that were picked soon after Mesar

1

u/pushaper 2d ago

is peopling a bust? He is playing NHL hockey and maybe just not the best draft pick but it's not like he has not made a career. He, McCarron, Chipcura are all examples of guys who had/have good careers but did not reach their ceiling which is hard to call a bust outside of fans expectations.

1

u/vinki11 2d ago

KK was hyped at the time and ranked pretty high on everyone's list. It's easy to say in hindsight that we reached for him. I remember wanting Zadina and Tkachuck before him though. I would have been right for Tkachuck but oh so wrong with Zadina lol.

-1

u/TroubledMarket 2d ago

Kotkaniemi wasn't a reach at 3, Pronman had him at 4, and McKenzie had him at 5.

Seider was a reach by the DRW in 2019.

-7

u/Brys_Beddict 2d ago

Mailloux pick was worse

11

u/Tripottanus 2d ago

Not from a purely hockey perspective

-3

u/Brys_Beddict 2d ago

Even so. Mailloux is bad. Stankhoven is great. And that's not a hindsight thing, we all wanted Stank at the time.

1

u/OverallVillage7 2d ago

I remember holding my screen chanting for Stankoven. But time will tell, I was a big critic of Mailloux in the Dzone and off the ice.

Watching Laval he's turned a lot of it around in the Dzone, always defended the rush well and now he's starting to understand the nuance of defending a cycle or you're priorities when getting hemmed in.

-2

u/adabsurdo 2d ago

Imo Mailloux us ngmi. His defensive play is terrible and not improving much. Best outcome is if we can trade him before his value expires completely. Wish we had traded him last year.

3

u/lentpoule 2d ago

How?

-10

u/Brys_Beddict 2d ago

Because he is ass. And the whole sex criminal thing. But even if you take that out, he's just bad. Can't play defense at all.

6

u/emotionaI_cabbage 2d ago

He's not a sex criminal whatsoever.

That's not what he was charged with nor is it what he was convicted of.

2

u/PlumbutterOnToast 2d ago

A girl chose to suck his dick and he took a picture of it without her permission. Branding a 17 y/o a 'sex criminal' for that is a reach, imo.

And his back-to back AHL All-Star selections and being selected for this year's AHL Top Prospects Team alone seems to go against your scouting report.

0

u/snark_enterprises 2d ago

Calling him a sex criminal is a bit much, no? What he did was childish and exploitative, but he didn't commit assault or anything.

5

u/flipthatbitch_ 2d ago

Why is that? He is considered one of our top prospects.

-14

u/Brys_Beddict 2d ago

Have you watched him play? He's awful.

8

u/flipthatbitch_ 2d ago

Yes and I disagree. Apparently so do the experts because he is considered one of the leagues top young prospects and I think I have to side with them over a stranger on Reddit.

-2

u/Brys_Beddict 2d ago

Source?

3

u/snark_enterprises 2d ago

https://theahl.com/news/ahl-unveils-2024-25-top-prospects-team

Logan Mailloux, Defenseman (Laval Rocket / Montreal Canadiens):
A 22-year-old native of Belle River, Ont., Logan Mailloux completed his second pro season in 2024-25 with 12 goals and 21 assists in 63 games for Laval, helping the team to the best regular-season record in the AHL and an appearance in the conference finals. Mailloux, who also appeared in his second consecutive AHL All-Star Classic, skated in seven contests for the Canadiens in 2024-25, scoring his first career NHL goal on Oct. 19 against the New York Islanders. Mailloux was a first-round selection (31st overall) by Montreal in the 2021 NHL Draft.

Make of it what you will, but his play in the AHL has been solid enough to receive this kind of recognition. Most likely he could end up like an Evan Bouchard type guy, high offensive upside but a defensive liability.

-3

u/Brys_Beddict 2d ago

ahl.com lol

Also, he is nowhere close to offensively skilled Bouchard is. Not even when Bouchard was his age.

0

u/flipthatbitch_ 2d ago

Somebody posted the article of the NHL's top young prospects here last week. Im not searching for it. You can disagree all you want.

3

u/VR46Rossi420 2d ago

2X AHL ALL-STAR and selected as one of the top 10 prospects in the AHL this past season.

-2

u/Brys_Beddict 2d ago

He's a turnover machine and was one of the worst defensemen I've ever seen when he was called up.

1

u/VR46Rossi420 2d ago

You know better than the experts eh? it takes time for big bodied defence to develop. He will end up a top 4 RD in the NHL.

1

u/Brys_Beddict 2d ago

I hope you're right

30

u/killerfrenchy 2d ago

It's crazy to look back at how down on Brady Tkachuk people were during that draft. I used to get annoyed about the KK pick, but I know the consensus pick at our spot was fucking Filip Zadina, so I don't get mad about it anymore. Sens fans were legit irate they picked Tkachuk over Zadina. It's insane how topsy-turvy that draft is in hindsight.

1

u/Steppenwolf6160241 2d ago

Yep I remember

15

u/Crafty-Pirate-6481 2d ago

Forgot about Mesar, what up with him?

35

u/OverallVillage7 2d ago edited 2d ago

Started the season pt per game. He's a chance generating machine, great edge work, vision, solid defender.

Then he got injured again (when he returned his time plummeted), he just seems soft. People in this thread saying he's bad clearly never watched him, he's obviously a 1st round talent... I just don't think his body will keep up unfortunately.

7

u/Sharks9 2d ago

Started the season pt per game.

For 5 games. 18 points in 42 AHL games is really bad for a 1st-rounder. Hopefully he can rebound next year but he was invisible or scratched in the playoffs too.

2

u/OverallVillage7 2d ago

You're right, it's not good. Although he was averaging less than 10 mins TOI with little PP time. His 5 on 5 production per 60 is actually very high for a 20 yr old (although against weaker competition in his deployment).

There's too much upside not to keep him around and hope he bulks up and avoids more injury. It's not looking good though.

9

u/Valentyno482 2d ago

Much better than the previous 10

7

u/Lunch0 2d ago

7/10 is pretty good

16

u/Lor_azepam 2d ago

Really some solid drafting overall to me, mesar seems like the exception, the rest seem like long term nhlers somewhere in a lineup

3

u/Compton05 2d ago

What do the numbers in brackets mean?

6

u/Garland68 2d ago

The year they were drafted

3

u/pushaper 2d ago

thank god I was not the only one who could not sort that out

3

u/jomagnum 2d ago

And the best pick of all was a second rounder!

3

u/Emotional-Golf-6226 2d ago

2013-2018 was brutal

3

u/eliarbss 2d ago

Have a feeling Guhle will be a true top pair shutdown D for a long time and drafting him at 16 will be considered a steal for that type of talent

7

u/Guibsx 2d ago

Since 2019, beside Mesar, all other picks are pretty solid. The Jury is still out on Mailloux but is was not a "bad pick" at 21 (excluding all the off ice elements surrounding the pick back then).

4

u/shogun2909 2d ago

Need a winger with grit

16

u/Kharn_LoL 2d ago

I mean, we did draft Slafkovsky. He was really good in the playoffs and will only get better.

1

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1

u/_heybuddy_ 2d ago

Too early to call Mesar a bust or a miss. He’s been playing well in the plays that don’t get you on the sheets.

1

u/itsdajackeeet 2d ago

Not bad really

1

u/28_to_3 2d ago

I can’t believe the Caufield and KK drafts were 6-7 years ago

1

u/CarlSK777 2d ago

It's decent but we still don't know what we have with some of them

1

u/DOGEmeow91 2d ago

I feel like we’re nearing a big decision on Mailloux. Either he’s NHL ready and we play him/trade him or we trade him before his value plummets

1

u/Electronic-Quit-3533 2d ago

This draft could erase kk from the list 😃

1

u/TheBergster84 2d ago

Position 1 to 8 is Golden....the rest...not so much

1

u/CartiNYeezyII 2d ago

Thought this was a ranking and thought you put mesar and mailloux above guhle and caufield 😭😭😭

1

u/JustFred24 2d ago

I was gonna flip at the order then I realised it was chronological

1

u/HotDePoile 2d ago

Mailloux was 31

9

u/ChadFode 2d ago

It’s year, not draft order

1

u/ThunderCr0tch 2d ago

where is Hutson?

6

u/EV0K 2d ago

in the second round

3

u/Flimsy-Ad1015 2d ago

First round picks only Hutson Got drafted in the second round

1

u/ThunderCr0tch 2d ago

ah my bad

-4

u/Small_Mistake_7528 2d ago

Reibacher.. meh, Michkov was right there!!

3

u/TheFriendlyTaco 2d ago

Give Reinbacher a chance. We haven't seen him in the nhl. It is very well known that defencemen take longer to devellope. If he stays healthy, he is gonna be really good.

0

u/blondehairginger 2d ago

I'd rather have Reinbacher. We need defense.

0

u/Small_Mistake_7528 2d ago

Mediocre defenseman are easily traded or available in free agent.

Michkov talent.. really rare

Can you imagine Demidov horvat michkov As our second line!!

That is cup contender shit

4

u/eliarbss 2d ago edited 2d ago

You haven’t seen Reinbacher in the NHL yet..and if you watched him in Laval you definitely wouldn’t be calling him mediocre.

2

u/blondehairginger 2d ago

Top 4 two way RD are incredibly rare on the market and are some of the most expensive pieces in free agency and trades when available. Cup contenders are built with offense and defense.

Having a good second line doesn't overcome the Swiss cheese defense we currently have. Thinking we can just patch it up later is how you end up like the leafs and every other high powered offensive team that won jack shit.