Montreal Canadiens: Grading Every Pick From The 2006 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 2006 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 2006 NHL Draft.
The Habs narrowly made it into the 2006 NHL postseason, losing to the Carolina Hurricanes in six games in the opening round. They were the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference, finishing with 93 points. This gave them the 16th overall selection heading into the NHL Draft.
The Habs made a solid move that should have added lots of value at the draft in 2006. They moved that 16th overall pick to the San Jose Sharks for the 20th and 53 overall picks. So, for moving down four slots in the first round, the Habs added a second round pick as well.
The Habs would make a similar move later in the draft, but this time they would move up. They gave up their third and fourth round picks to move up 13 spots in the third round. The Habs also traded their 6th round pick for Todd Simpson.
This gave them a first round pick, two seconds, a third, a fifth and a seventh. Let’s take a look at who they selected and give them a grade for every pick.
DAVID FISCHER. F. Fischer is a big right-shot defenceman and they are highly coveted in the NHL. However, hockey sense and defensive abilities are pretty important for a defenceman as well. Fischer was a high scoring high school defenceman when the Habs selected him. He would play four years of college hockey at Minnesota and max out at 14 points. He is now the captain of a team in EBEL in Austria. Claude Giroux scored close to two points per game in the QMJHL that season…. <strong>Others available: </strong>Claude Giroux. 1st Round. 20th Overall
C +. Maxwell was a decent scoring centre with good size in the WHL when the Habs chose him in the second round. He played really well when representing Canada at World Under-17 and Under-18 tournaments. Maxwell missed half of each of the next two seasons with injuries and was never the same. He was a really good scorer in the AHL for the Hamilton Bulldogs, putting up 142 points in 177 games over three years, but he was held pointless in 13 games with the Canadiens. <strong>Others available: </strong>Milan Lucic. 2nd Round. 49th Overall. BEN MAXWELL
2nd Round. 53rd Overall. MATHIEU CARLE. C. Carle was a high scoring defenceman in the QMJHL when the Habs grabbed him in the third round. He scored over a point per game and put up decent numbers while playing in the AHL for the Habs organization. He had 29 points in 68 games and another 12 points in 19 playoff games in his last AHL season with the Hamilton Bulldogs. He only played three career NHL games. <strong>Others available: </strong>Artem Anisimov
B. White was a hard-nosed player who would do whatever was asked of him to earn another shift in the NHL. Not blessed with the most natural talent in the hockey world, White carved out a nice pro career and played parts of five seasons with the Habs. He would kill penalties and provide energy on the fourth line. He wasn’t a top scorer, but he became a regular NHL player for a few years and still plays in the AHL for the Manitoba Moose. Not a home run pick, but no bad value for a third round pick. <strong>Others available: </strong>Brad Marchand, Cal Clutterbuck. 3rd Round. 66th Overall. RYAN WHITE
C +. Valentenko was a fairly skilled defenceman and he played in Russia’s top league the year after being drafted by the Habs. He played in the AHL as a 20 year old and had a solid season in Hamilton. He looked like a great prospect, but then missed most of the next two years with injuries and was traded to the New York Rangers in the Scott Gomez deal. <strong>Others </strong><b>available: </b>Alex Biega. 5th Round. 139th Overall. PAVEL VALENTENKO
D. The Habs took a shot on a big defenceman who was injured most of the previous season. Cepek played three more years in the WHL after being drafted and then had a three game audition in the AHL before calling it a career. <strong>Others available: </strong>Erik Condra. 7th Round. 199th Overall. CAMERON CEPEK