There are players who fall down the draft rankings as the season goes on but still possess first-round skill. Ryan Roobroeck is one of those players and because of that skill, he’s someone the Habs may consider with their first-round selection.
We’ve reached the top eight in our annual prospect rankings. It’d take a lot for the Habs to find themselves picking in this range on Friday night but we’ve already seen multiple top-ten selections move so perhaps there are more trades to come that could change things.
Power forwards with some offensive skill aren’t easy to come by, especially with a late first-round pick. But if the Habs are looking for someone who could fit that bill on Friday night, the son of a former Canadien could certainly fit the bill.
We’ve reached the late lottery section of our final draft rankings. The Habs aren’t likely to trade up this high on Friday night but if one of these players fall, they could look to trade up to try to land one of them.
The Habs have traded up in the draft in recent years to get a better shot at getting a specific player on the board. If that’s something that Kent Hughes and company are considering this year, these are some of the players they may be trying to move up to get.
The Habs took a swing on skill at the draft last year when they picked up Alexander Zharovsky. If they have a similar goal this time around, Yegor Shilov is a player to keep an eye on if he’s on the board when the Habs are picking with the 28th selection.
While the Habs are searching for an impactful second centre, they will likely be looking to continue to stock their pipeline at that position as well. With that in mind, Ilia Morozov is someone they may be looking to target at next week’s draft.
A few months ago, it wasn’t looking likely that the Habs would be picking in the back of the first round but a strong playoff run changed that. Some of these players have a good chance to be available when Montreal is on the clock next week.
Our final 2026 Draft Rankings begin with a look at the second round. The Habs only hold one selection in this round but as we saw last year, they are willing to trade up if someone high on their list slides down.
During Montreal’s run to the Eastern Conference Final, a lack of size and grit started to become more noticeable as the series went on. As a result, they could be looking to address that at the draft next week. If so, winger Casey Mutryn could be one to watch for at 28th overall.