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Five Players The Montreal Canadiens Should Consider Drafting Fifteenth Overall

By Sebastian High

BOISBRIAND, QC - OCTOBER 20: Raphael Lavoie #50 of the Halifax Mooseheads skates against the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada during the QMJHL game at Centre d'Excellence Sports Rousseau on October 20, 2017 in Boisbriand, Quebec, Canada. The Halifax Mooseheads defeated the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 4-2. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
BOISBRIAND, QC - OCTOBER 20: Raphael Lavoie #50 of the Halifax Mooseheads skates against the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada during the QMJHL game at Centre d'Excellence Sports Rousseau on October 20, 2017 in Boisbriand, Quebec, Canada. The Halifax Mooseheads defeated the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 4-2. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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Montreal Canadiens
VICTORIA , BC – DECEMBER 29: Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Kevin Light/Getty Images) /

Many players will be options for the Montreal Canadiens to draft in the first round in the 2019 draft but who will wear a Habs jersey in training camp?

The NHL teams that miss out on the playoffs are consolidated by a top fifteen draft pick (unless you’re the Ottawa Senators). While the Montreal Canadiens didn’t move up from the fifteenth slot in the lottery, a plethora of exciting prospects will be available when Marc Bergevin and Trevor Timmins step onto the stage in Vancouver on June 21.

In this article, I will present the five players I’d like to see wearing the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge after Montreal’s selection is announced, in order of my first to my fifth choice. Of course, I will keep my choices within the realm of possibility; so Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko will sadly not be making an appearance on this list.

Philip Broberg

First up is Swedish defenseman Philip Broberg. This kid has the complete package and fits Montreal’s needs seamlessly. The Habs lack size, Broberg stands 6’3″ tall. The Canadiens have a gaping hole at left defence, guess which shot Broberg is. So, this young man fulfills Montreal’s needs, but what does he bring to the table other than size?

Broberg is the best skater amongst defensemen by a fair margin. He glides across the ice, has an extremely powerful stride and is adept at spontaneously accelerating to top speed. He is also a solid passer of the puck, creating chances for his teammates from seemingly tame positions.

Of course, he has his deficiencies, or he wouldn’t potentially be available at #15. Broberg is not the smoothest puck handler, which sometimes causes him to slip up when he races down the boards with the puck on the break. Speaking of slip-ups, Broberg has a tendency to turn over the puck at inopportune moments.

However, I believe that these weaker points in his game can be ironed out. I say this because his performance at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup absolutely blew me away. Broberg ‘s skating was put his opponents to shame night-in-night-out and outshone top-ranked defenceman, Bowen Byram. And that was nearly a year ago, he has only gotten better since then. Quarterbacking the powerplay, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Buffalo’s Rasmus Ristolainen, the 2013 eighth overall pick who has put up four consecutive 40-point seasons.

I truly believe that with some finetuning Philip Broberg can slot into Montreal’s top 4 as early as 2020-21 and develop into a true top 2 left-shot defenseman.

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