Quoting: Daredevil514
I would not be mad about picking Lundell, I just would not be thrilled either. At our position, all players are 2-3 years away of having an impact in the NHL anyway. I just think we had enough safe picks in the first round those last few years (KK, Poehling, Juulsen). I want a homerun type of player like Rossi, Raymond or Perfetti. Its been years and years and years without an electrifying player with pure skills. A player who can change the pace of a game on its own. Suzuki has this potentiel but we didnt even drafted him. Caufield can maybe do it too but he will probably be a unidimensional type of player (a very good one but still). Galchenyuk was supposed to be one but a lot of circumstances on and off the ice have made that it didnt happen (still think it was a good pick).
As for Askarov, it would be a nice pick for sure but I would be very disappointed too. Not about the player but more about the statement and what it means in the next couple of years. Sure its nice to know a real top goalie is developping until Price is done but I feel like picking one this high is just a waste of assets. You can always pick up a very decent prospect at that position in other rounds. Only Vasilevsky, Price and Flower were top goaltender picked up in the top 20 since almost 20 years from what I can remember. Rask, Quick, Gibson, Bishop, Hellebyuck, Holtby, Hart, Binnigton and a lot of other goalies were 2nd, 3rd or later round picks (some even undrafted).
We already have Primeau as a very good prospect and still have a lot of time to find others before we realize Price cant do the job anymore or Primeau cant replace him.
Where we are right now in the retool, Askarov, as good as he could be, is not the good choice IMO. I dont want the habs to pick Lundell but I would still prefer him over Askarov.
i mean if we were talking a LW elite level and undisputed future top line guy then sure we'd take Perfetti
Issue is that's not what he's projected to be and i dont feel he'll even make his current projections
Every top 10 has a Jack Skille and i'm almost 100% sure its Perfetti
Otherwise i'd be where you are and say draft him as MTL only 2 big holes at the Pro level the next 2 years is
Top LW to replace Tatar longterm and an Undisputed #1 RD prospect on the level of lets say Bouchard or Timmons
Outside those 2 very specific roles we got Centers for years , We got young LW's and some veteran RW's who will soon be joined by a Ylonen or Caufield(year or so)
Our LD has depth for days as we cast a wide net drafting 7 LD over a few years and 4 of them over achieved and are closer then expected to turning Pro .(Romanov,Harris,Norlinder and Struble)
Our RD has good depth just no one to replace Weber or Petry when they get to old to keep up which is about 3-4 years before both are moved IMO
Goaltending is the only Area we havent treated as if it needs to be stocked .
Developing 2 Prospects in 2 different systems allows MTL to be in a position where rushing neither is a concern.
Primeau's not as close as most people think because while he's amazing overall his conditioning is very poor
Primeau went the NCAA route which means education over sports so no long road trips ever , no long playoffs ... no feel for what the NHL schedule is like.
This is particularly hard to adjust from if you're the only player expected to play 60 minutes a game and 50+ games a year if you want to be a starter.
Its why we pulled him out of the NCAA as in 2 years he undisputedly proved he was top dog and they had nothing left to offer him
Laval last season they had to work a 3 goalie rotation before Primeau found rhythm as his start was poor but his finish was strong
The skills there but put the kid on a 5 game road trip starting and we'll lose 4/5
I'm sure he'll adjust but that will take 1-2 full AHL seasons IMO which is likely why MTL left him down despite him out playing lindgren for the job
after that we'll see where he's at and maybe he's a starter or maybe he's just a tandem goalie like Halak or Murray
Askarov on the other hand will be an undisputed starter for a KHL team which faces some of the longest road trips in hockey so he'll be physically and mentally prepared to jump to NHL
Both are great but 1 chose Education over committing fully to his development
Because he had 1 foot in and 1 foot out his development will take longer based on his choices.
Russians like Canadians put hockey first (with Canada developing the option for those who commit to take university course free so if they want a career outside hockey they're equipped .)
i was a Primeau guy before the draft when i saw who he was , what he could do
i hoped MTL drafted him which we did as i always love investing in the long shots like Evans and Harvey Pinard (Desharnais 2.0)
That said the limitations on him dont hinder Askarov who IMO is Carey Price's replacement as best Goalie in the eyes of the Players for the next decade.
Primeau's just more of a Halak with a little bit of Roy's Flair when he throws out that leg