The vast majority of the hype for the 2016 NHL Entry draft has surrounded the trio of elite forward prospects: Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine and Jesse Puljujarvi. Given their talent, this isn’t too surprising; however, some talented defencemen are flying under the radar as a result.
A late-riser on many draft boards, Clayton Keller may be gone long before the Canadiens walk to the podium to announce their pick at 9th overall. While his skill has always been undeniable, it was thought by many at the beginning of this year that his small stature would push him back towards the middle of the first round.
Earlier in the year, Jakob Chychrun was thought to be the best defenceman in the 2016 Entry Draft, but he has seen his stock fall of late. It’s hard to pin blame on Chychrun for this slide in the rankings, as he enjoyed a successful 15-16 campaign; however, the emergence of Olli Juolevi and Mikhail Sergachev as top defenders has hurt Chychrun’s worth in the eyes of critics.
If you’ve been reading up on the brimming with potential Canadian-Swede Alex Nylander, you’ve probably pieced together that the Canadiens would likely have to trade up to get a realistic crack at the young playmaker.
There’s a big American kid playing for the Windsor Spitfires that has been rocketing up draft lists in the second half of the season. When I say big, I mean huge – Logan Brown is already 6’6 and may still be growing. Brown has the potential to develop into the big, dynamic center that every team in the NHL craves, including the Canadiens.
Are you ready to add some more Russian fire power to this blueline? Andrei Markov’s inability to skate with speed and Alexei Emelin’s erratic play could mean that the young Mikhail Sergachyov of the Windsor Spitfires might just scratch that need for a talented Russian on defence.
The blueline is an area that the Habs vary considerably in terms of their depth at different levels. They have a pretty full group of NHL’ers but their minor league and junior/college options are spots where there is room for considerable improvement.
The draft and free agency are quickly approaching. Marc Bergevin and his staff will be putting together their offseason shopping lists and as we like to do at this time of year, we look at what they have at each position. We start with the goalies.
The Habs had several junior-aged players under contract this past season. All but one of them failed to suit up with the Canadiens during the year and each one of them will see their contract slide back a year as a result. Here is a look at which prospects qualified and how their cap hit will be changed.
The Habs inked one of their more promising offensive prospects on Wednesday as they announced the signing of Slovak winger Martin Reway to a three year, entry level contract. The deal carries a cap hit of $706,667 plus performance bonuses that could push it to $853,333.