Montreal Canadiens: Another way to make use of those picks

The Montreal Canadiens are going to have a lot to work with going into this year’s Entry Draft, but there are other ways to make the most of those picks.

It started back in November when the Montreal Canadiens acquired a conditional fifth-round pick from the Los Angeles Kings for Torrey Mitchell. Then Marc Bergevin got a conditional fifth-round pick for Al Montoya, a fourth-round pick for Joseph Morrow, and a second-round pick for Tomas Plekanec. However, that’s not all the Habs. After deals involving Phillip Danault and Lars Eller as well as the picks the team already has, Bergevin and most importantly Trevor Timmins have a total of ten picks going into the draft.

The four second-round picks are what stand out the most here. Montreal has had many years of not drafting in the second-round or having the players selected have little to no success in the NHL. P.K. Subban was the Habs’ best choice in that round back in 2007, but they also managed to find players in Artturi Lehkonen, Jacob de La Rose, and Zachary Fucale. Additionally, the jury is still out on Joni Ikonen and Josh Brook who have been showing signs of NHL potential.

It’ll be up to the scouting reports and Timmins’ judgement to determine who is the best player to take, however, there is something else the Habs could do. This year’s draft has been projected to be a deep one as far as the first-round goes. If Bergevin plays his cards right, it would be interesting to see if he could possibly package one or two of them to get another pick in the first round.

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That might be a tough sell to other teams though when you consider that the selections from the Leafs and Capitals will be in the latter half of the second. Additionally, it’s possible the bigger deals we expect to take place at some point happen at the draft where the Habs get another first as a result.

Besides that, the Habs could also lend a hand to some of the other teams in the league. New Jersey, Ottawa, Chicago, Minnesota, and San Jose all don’t have a second-round pick. It’s a tougher situation for Nashville and Calgary who doesn’t have a pick in the first or second in this year’s draft. If either team would be willing to part with a young player with speed, then it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Habs part ways with one of the four picks.

Save for the draft lottery (just did one via Tankathon and the Habs got the third overall pick) there’s a lot to look forward to as we get closer to the summer months. Geoff Molson is giving Bergevin a chance to turn things around, let’s see if he can.

Next: Trust in Juulsen and Mete

Do you think the Habs should do anything with those picks? Let us know in the comments below.