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Montreal Canadiens 2016 Draft Picks

By Mat Germain

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It’s never too early to be thinking about the draft. Well, alright, in this case we’re extremely early with the previous draft seemingly right behind us. But, I think it’s fun to look ahead at what kind of draft situation Marc Bergevin and the Habs will be facing in 2016. I’ll include the draft picks in hand, something that can be used as trade chips throughout the year, as well as a few early favourite selection targets.

Before we begin, the Habs have dealt away the following picks:

Habs 5th Round Pick:

Habs 7th Round Pick:

  • Headed to Buffalo along with Jack Nevins as a return for Torrey Mitchell. Nevins, in case you were wondering, suited up for 10 games in the Sabres in their AHL affiliate (Rochester) failed to record a point and was -5 over those 10 games. That followed a 32 game stretch with the Bulldogs that had him also failing to record a single point.

***There are no other unresolved situations or draft picks pending as of September 1st, 2015

Montreal Canadiens 2016 Draft Picks

Habs 1st Round Pick:

Here’s a short Brett Howden video:

And one of Jesse Puljujarvi:

Minnesota Wild 2nd Round Pick:

  • Acquired in deal with Sabres as a return for Josh Gorges. Oddly enough, it was a pick that was acquired by the Sabres along with Torrey Mitchell in a deal that sent Matt Moulson and Cody McCormick to Minnesota.
  • Since I expect the Habs to do better than the Wild, I decided to slot them ahead of the Habs 2nd rounder. It’s hard to say who will be on the board at this point, but don’t be surprised if the Habs select a defenseman with this pick. With Noah Juulsen set to join P.K. Subban and Jeff Petry as great puck-moving defensemen with the Habs, and some others expected to graduate this season as well (Jarred Tinordi and possibly Brett Lernout), the Habs will be looking for depth at the position.

Habs 2nd Round Pick:

  • Last 5: None in ’15 or ’14, Jacob De La Rose (’13), Zach Fucale (’13), Artturi Lehkonen (’13), Sebastien Collberg (’12), Dalton Thrower (’12), None in ’11.
  • Maybe it’s just me, but withZachFurcale graduating to the AHL this season, I believe there’s a very good chance the Habs select a goaltender with one of their first 3 picks. If they do decide to go that route, I expect one of thefollowingto be a possibility:

Here’s a small video about Fitzpatrick:

Rounding out the draft for the Habs are the following picks:

  • Habs 3rd Round Pick;
    • Last 5: Lukas Vejdemo F (’15), Brett Lernout D (’14), Connor Crisp and Sven Andrighetto (’13), Tim Bozon (’12), None in ’11
  • Habs 4th Round Pick;
    • Last 5: None in ’15, None in ’14, Martin Reway (’13), Brady Vail (’12), Josiah Didier and Olivier Archambault and Magnus Nygren (’11)
  • Canucks 5th Round Pick;
  • Habs 5th Round Pick; 
    • Last 5: Matthew Bradley (’15), Nikolas Koberstein and Daniel Audette (’14), None in ’13, Charles Hudon (’12), and Darren Dietz (’11)
  • Habs 6th Round Pick;
    • Last 5: Simon Bourque (’15), Hayden Hawkey (’14), Jeremy Gregoire (’13), Erik Nystrom (’12), and Daniel Prybil (’11)

When you consider that the Habs will select 3 times within the top 60 picks, it will be a welcomed change from recent drafts that have seen them lack a second round pick at all. It will be a great chance for Marc Bergevin and his scouting staff to add a support group to what is currently a young core of players. With 8 picks within the top 6 rounds, however, you know that he may be itching to trade a few of these picks to add to the roster if it makes sense overall.

I’m already looking forward to seeing how the next draft shakes out and hope they’ll be continuing what has really been a nice few drafts of late. With prospects getting their chance to shine all season long, we’ll attempt to keep an eye on those that may be the best targets for the Habs in the upcoming draft, so stay tuned to AWH!

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