Montreal Canadiens: Grading Every Habs Pick From The 2013 NHL Draft
With the Montreal Canadiens season on hiatus, we have been taking a look back at some of their past drafts. Today, we look back and grade every pick from the 2013 NHL Draft.
The Montreal Canadiens have built up a great group of prospects in the past few years. We haven’t looked back at the most recent draft because it is a little too early to make any grand proclamations about 19 or 20 year old hockey players.
So, we have been looking back at the drafts a little earlier than that. We started with the 2017 NHL Draft and have been working our way backwards. Today, we take a look at the 2013 NHL Draft, which gave the Habs a chance to set up their team for long term success.
The 2013 NHL season as shortened due to a lockout, but it was a successful one for the Canadiens. At least the regular season was a success. They won the Atlantic Division, but were pummelled in the first round by the Ottawa Senators, scoring only nine goals in the five game series defeat.
The Habs had added a couple of second round picks the season previous when they traded Mike Cammalleri and Andrei Kostitsyn, acquiring second round picks in 2013, among other assets, in those trades. They had also added a third round pick in this draft when they traded Erik Cole for Michael Ryder early in the season.
That left the Habs with six picks in the first three rounds of the draft. It gave them an excellent opportunity to build depth around a team that was already a playoff team. Let’s take a look at all those picks and give each a grade based on where they were taken and how they turned out.
D. After being manhandled on the ice by the Seas in the playoffs, the Habs selected a hulking winger late in the first round and immediately the comparisons to Milan Lucic began. The problem? McCarron was sixth on his Under-18 team in scoring and never developed into an offensive threat, even at the AHL level. He was traded for Laurent Dauphin who was drafted 14 picks later. <strong>Others available: </strong>Shea Theodore, Ryan Hartman. 1st Round. 25th Overall. MICHAEL MCCARRON
De la Rose had 12 points in 38 games in Sweden’s second best league before being drafted. He was terrific defensively and was captain of their Under-18 team. He also hasn’t been able to produce offence, even at the AHL level, but is a reliable penalty killer at the NHL level. The Habs lost him on waivers to the Detroit Red Wings. <strong>Others available: </strong>JT Compher, Valentin Zykov. 2nd Round. 34th overall. JACOB DE LA ROSE. B -
D. Fucale had a fantastic record in the QMJHL as a 17 year old goaltender, but was also playing behind one of the best Junior teams ever assembled. Goalies are difficult to judge and Fucale struggled to adjust to the pro game. He was eventually allowed to leave as a free agent when he didn’t receive a qualifying offer in 2018. The Habs also had this guy named Carey Price… <strong>Others available: </strong>Robert Hagg, Tristan Jarry. 2nd Round. 36th Overall. ZACH FUCALE
A -. Lehkonen is a great defensive winger and has been a huge part of the Canadiens penalty kill since he arrived in Montreal. His offensive game is yet to really take off so he remains a smart, reliable bottom six winger at this point in his career, but that’s pretty good value for late in the second round. <strong>Others available: </strong>Will Carrier, Tyler Bertuzzi. 2nd Round. 55th Overall. ARTTURI LEHKONEN
F. Crisp was passed over in the 2012 NHL Draft because at that point in his OHL career he had six points in 54 games. He scored 36 points in 63 games the following year and the Habs decided that made him worth a third round pick. He did sign an entry-level contract, but had seven points in 63 career AHL games before leaving as a free agent. <strong>Others available: </strong>John Hayden, Pavel Buchnevich, Jake Guentzel, Anthony Duclair. 3rd Round. 71st Overall. CONNOR CRISP
SVEN ANDRIGHETTO. B -. Andrighetto was passed over in two consecutive drafts before the Habs took him. He immediately joined the AHL team and was a decent offensive presence right away. He was a bit undersized, but very skilled and had some flashes of brilliance for the Habs and looked great for their AHL team before being traded for Andreas Martinsen. He is now in the KHL, but was a good organizational depth player. <strong>Others available: </strong>Olivier Bjorkstrand, Nic Paul. 3rd Round. 86th Overall
C +. Reway had a great year with the Gatineau Olympiques of the QMJHL after being drafted by the Habs. He then returned to Europe where he scored over a point per game in the top leagues in the Czech Republic and Switzerland as a 20 and 21 year old. A scary virus and heart condition led to Reway missing more than a year and he hasn’t been the same since. He had tremendous potential for a fourth round pick but health concerns drastically changed his trajectory.. 4th Round. 116th Overall. MARTIN REWAY
C. You can’t expect much from a sixth round pick, so you can’t blame the Habs for targeting a local kid who had 32 points in 62 QMJHL games in his draft year. Gregoire scored 35 goals the next year and then had 21 points in 12 playoff games his final Junior season. He couldn’t translate that offence to the pro level and was a bottom six player for the Habs AHL affiliate for three years before leaving the organization as a free agent. <strong>Others available: </strong>Anton Blidh. 6th Round. 176th Overall. JEREMY GREGOIRE