Not from me.
I hope we take him. The potential is there. But I understand why we wouldn’t. If we don’t, I’m not going to scream at the team.
I just think he’s worth going in on. The potential is just awesome. Everything that he doesn’t have can be taught. Everything he does can’t.
Yeah he’s cocky. So was Roy, so was Subban. Sometimes you need some of that for a market like Montreal.
I respectfully disagree.
Right now Eiserman is a pretty clueless defensive player against the cycle, and that can get fixed, sure. So can his propension for careless puck management and hogging the puck too much instead of properly using his teammates.
But the lack of effort at times (and most egregiously defensively), the suspect playmaking, the subpar puck-possession game, the lack of high-end decision-making with the puck on his stick, I think they are baked-in flaws for Eiserman. Ones that the team that selects him will have to learn to live with.
Now, does that make him a bad prospect? No.
Eiserman's still very good, and could be an amazing offensive player for a team that already has its primary play-drivers and physical space-creators sorted-out and is in need of a pure goalscorer.
Thing is, aside from the Caufield/Suzuki/Slafkovsky line and Dach (if he even returns healthy next year) we don't really have much in the way of big play-drivers, space-creators, or puck-dominant forwards that project as top 6 guys in our team and prospect pool.
And so we need to draft any of those types of players, plain and simple. As much as a goalscorer would help our team, it's not our primary need right now; good play-driving is.
Now, the ideal pick for us would admittedly be Demidov, with his superb all-around skills as a play-driver. But chances are low that he'll last until the 5th pick considering his sheer talent and the needs of the teams above us at the draft.
Another option could be someone like Lindstrom because of his physical presence as a potential top-6 winger (don't think he has the playmaking in him to stick at C in the NHL, could be wrong though) that drives the net and creates space for teammates while also having a great shot, some skill, and good skating.
The most likely outcome for us at #5 though is Iginla, because he should be available where we draft and is the most versatile of the options available. He projects as an enticing mix of a play-driver, a goalscorer, and also as a facilitator on the ice all at once, with definite top-6 potential.
And to close the book on Eiserman, I'd have him 13th on my list.