The Habs have added an interesting youngster in free agency as they announced on Sunday that they’ve signed centre Lias Andersson to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal pays $775,000 in the NHL and $450,000 at the AHL level.
The Habs enter the second day of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft with eight picks on hand. As is tradition, we’ll keep track of their moves here with scouting reports on their newest prospects.
The Habs went into the opening round of Wednesday’s draft with the fifth selection. While there was plenty of speculation that they might trade down, they didn’t and instead selected defenceman David Reinbacher out of the Swiss league.
Ryan Leonard has played his way into top-ten consideration in the upcoming draft at the very least. Depending on who is still on the board when the Habs are picking overall, there’s a chance that he could be an option at the fifth selection.
If the four centres go with the first four picks in the draft and Montreal opts not to take Matvei Michkov, other players will need to be considered. Zach Benson, an undersized but highly skilled player, should be one that garners consideration.
The Habs had several junior-aged players under contract this past season, bringing the oft-mentioned ‘slide rule’ into play. In the end, five of the six players that had this potential outcome did see their deals slide and thus, their cap hit changing. Here is a breakdown of those changes.
If the Habs are looking to draft a centre with the fifth pick later this month and the top three middlemen are off the board, Slovakian centre Dalibor Dvorsky is sure to draw some consideration.
There’s a chance that US National Team Development Program centre Will Smith will still be on the board when the Habs pick fifth overall later this month. If so, his offensive skills would be difficult to pass up.
The Habs parted ways with two of their prospects on Thursday as the Canadiens failed to sign goaltender Frederik Dichow and winger Jack Gorniak prior to the 5 PM ET deadline. They now become unrestricted free agents.
Leo Carlsson is expected by many to be gone at fifth overall but a surprising selection, as there often are on draft day, could change that. If that happens, the Habs should consider themselves quite fortunate.