Quoting: F50marco
Im always of the belief you go BPA with the caveat that you put a little emphasis on position to differentiate between equal players. Taking Silayev simply doesn't make sense unless they had a Guhle/Hutson/Matheson trade locked and loaded.
If they don't, then I would be fine picking the positional need whose slightly worse than Silayev. Its not like the gap is that great this year. 3-10 is basically a toss up and any one of them could be the best player at that point.
That is kind of the nice thing about this draft, they can't really mess it up as long as they take a player from the consensus top 12-13 players. Last year was the year to NOT reach for a dman...... but hindsight is 20/20 I guess.
One of the points I made is the exact opposite. There’s no rush to trade anyone since Silayev is signed for 2 more seasons in the KHL. Habs could take their time, and naturally move from Matheson (trade deadline deal of 2026?)
And going with BPA… if Gorton, Hughes, Bobrov and Lapointe all think Silayev is a bonafide #1D who could be the next Hedman or prime Chara, it’s kind of hard to pass on that, regardless of handedness.
And as much as I love Hutson, Reinbacher, and Guhle (the Habs best young dmen imo) none of them have that bonafide #1 franchise D.
So if Hughes steps to the podium and calls Silayev’s name, then says at his press conference that he’s found a franchise defenseman to build around. I won’t complain.
I do agree that if MTL has someone on their list (let’s use Lindstrom hypothetically) who’s
slightly worse in their minds, but is a better fit (a forward), pick him. No issues.
But slightly worse than a franchise Dman is still a true #1C, does Lindstrom fit that description for the Habs? Who knows. Same could be said for Silayev as a possible franchise D. Tough call.