Montreal Canadiens: Grading Every Habs Pick From 2012 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 2012 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 2012 NHL Draft, which gave the Habs a chance to set up their team for long term success.
After an awful 2011-12 season, the Habs headed into the 2012 draft holding the third overall pick. This should have given them an opportunity to add a superstar type player to their organization. The Habs also held two second round picks, adding an extra one when they traded Hal Gill at the trade deadline to the Nashville Predators.
Their early round selections and additional second round pick gave the Habs four of the first 64 selections in the 2012 NHL Draft. Did they take advantage? Let’s take a look back and give them a grade for every selection they made.
Keep in mind, when you have the third overall selection, you are expecting a star player. When you step to the podium in the fifth round, getting a decent AHL scorer is better than most can do at that point in the draft.
ALEX GALCHENYUK. C +. Galchenyuk was expected to be the future first line centre of the Habs. He had one season where he played some centre and scored 30 goals. He didn’t score more than 20 in any other season. He was traded for Max Domi and looks like he could be headed for the KHL next year. <strong>Others available: </strong>Morgan Rielly, Hampus Lindholm, Filip Forsberg. 1st Round. 3rd Overall
D. Collberg had a great World Juniors as a 17 year old and put up decent numbers in Sweden’s Junior league. He did also play 41 SHL games and failed to score a single point. He was slightly better the next two years and was then traded for Thomas Vanek at the 2014 trade deadline. He has played 85 career AHL games to date and had 28 points. <strong>Others available: </strong>Ville Pokka, Pontus Aberg, Jake McCabe. 2nd Round. 33rd Overall. SEBASTIAN COLLBERG
2nd Round. 51st Overall. DALTON THROWER. F. Thrower was a good sized right defenceman who had 54 points in 66 games in the WHL before being drafted in the second round by the Habs. Since turning pro, he hasn’t elevated beyond the ECHL except for a nine game AHL stint with the St. John’s Ice Caps. <strong>Others available: </strong>Teddy Blueger, Chris Tierney
Bozon scored 36 goals and 71 points in 71 WHL games in his draft year. He upped that to 91 the following year before dealing with a life threatening bout with meningitis. If not for that ordeal, things may have turned out different for Bozon. He is now playing pro hockey in Switzerland after scoring 23 points in 85 career AHL games. <strong>Others available: </strong>Adam Pelech, Jimmy Vesey, Esa Lindell, Shayne Gostisbehere, Colton Parayko, Freddie Andersen, Matt Murray. 3rd Round. 64th Overall. TIM BOZON. C -
D. Vail had 52 points in 68 games with the Windsor Spitfires in his draft year. He put up even better numbers the next two years in the OHL but has only scored eight points in 49 career AHL games. He is a veteran of over 300 ECHL games where he still plays after not signing a contract with the Canadiens. <strong>Others available: </strong>Josh Anderson, Cedric Paquette, Brett Kulak, Andreas Athanasiou. 4th Round. 94th Overall. BRADY VAIL
B +. Hudon scored 25 goals and 66 points in 59 games before the Habs grabbed him in the fifth round. He has turned into an excellent goal scorer at the AHL level, but hasn’t been able to translate that to the NHL level. Still, a great AHL scorer who can play a dependable defensive game at the NHL level when injuries hit is good value for a fifth round pick. <strong>Others available: </strong>Connor Hellebuyck, Seth Griffith, Connor Carrick. 5th Round. 122nd Overall. CHARLES HUDON
154th Overall. ERIK NYSTROM. D. There was an Eric Nystrom who played decent bottom six minutes for the Minnesota Wild, Calgary Flames, Dallas Stars and Nashville Predators recently. That would be terrific value for a 6th round pick. This is Erik (with a k) Nystrom. He played 17 AHL games and scored one goal. He has been bouncing around Sweden’s top leagues since the Habs drafted him. <strong>Others available: </strong>Connor Brown, Jake Dotchin, Linus Ullmark. 6th Round