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.

The Memorial Cup will take place from May 26th through June 4th in Kamloops. This year, the Habs will have two prospects taking part. As always, we’ll keep track of their stats here.

While the playoff runs have come to an end for many of Montreal’s top prospects, there are some still going strong. Those players get the spotlight as look back at the top prospect performers from last month.