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Montreal Canadiens: Further information on the Leafs second-round pick

By Omar L

NEWARK, NJ - JUNE 30: Artturi Lehkonen greets the team after being selected 55th overall by the Montreal Canadiens during the 2013 NHL Draft at Prudential Center on June 30, 2013 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ - JUNE 30: Artturi Lehkonen greets the team after being selected 55th overall by the Montreal Canadiens during the 2013 NHL Draft at Prudential Center on June 30, 2013 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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With the Toronto Maple Leafs losing in the first-round to the Boston Bruins, the Montreal Canadiens have an idea of where that second-round pick will fall.

The first-round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs are over. The Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, Nashville Predators, Winnipeg Jets, San Jose Sharks, and Vegas Golden Knights are all advancing extending their quest to contend for a championship. However, now that the Leafs season is over, the Montreal Canadiens have some further information that could aid in their plans heading into the NHL Draft in June.

Marc Bergevin managed to get a second-round pick along with Kerby Rychel and Rinat Valiev in the trade for Tomas Plekanec. With the Leafs eliminated, they know that their first-round pick will be 23rd overall, whereas their second-round pick will fall somewhere in the 54-56 range. The next stone to fall will be the Capitals and where they stand in their series. History is going against them by taking on the Penguins, and if it repeats itself, then that’ll be another pick in the 50’s.

Again, the Montreal Canadiens are set up pretty well in the second-round this year. Looking at past, some solid players have come out of that round. Brandon Montour of the Anaheim Ducks (55th overall in the 2014 draft), Nikita Kucherov in Tampa (58th overall in 2011), and Travis Hamonic (53rd overall in 2008) are three names to get selected in the 50’s in the last ten years. We also can’t forget about our very own Artturi Lehkonen who was taken 55th overall in 2013.

There’s always someone who teams choose to pass on for some odd reason, giving another organization an opportunity to begin an interesting story. If a player falls in the Habs’ lap with that Leafs second-round pick, it’ll be the start of some good luck for the team.

Next: More Holes to Start the Year

Luck is part of it, but certainly not all of it. The scouting staff has to compile everything they have and ensure they hit on at least half of those picks. At the same time, it may just come down to Trevor Timmins’ intuition when the Montreal Canadiens are on the board seeing as how changes will probably be coming to the amateur scouting group by the time of the event.

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