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Who Will the Montreal Canadiens Select in the First Round?

By Sebastian High

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - JUNE 21: Cole Caufield reacts after being selected fifteenth overall by the Montreal Canadiens during the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft at Rogers Arena on June 21, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - JUNE 21: Cole Caufield reacts after being selected fifteenth overall by the Montreal Canadiens during the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft at Rogers Arena on June 21, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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Montreal Canadiens, Alexis Lafreniere
HAMILTON, ON – JANUARY 16TH: Alexis Lafreniere #11 of Team White skates during warm-up for the 2020 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game against Team Red at FirstOntario Centre on January 16th, 2020 in Hamilton, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images) /

If the Montreal Canadiens lose to the Penguins and win the second part of the Draft Lottery two things are guaranteed:

  1. The NHL will be accused of corruption for giving Montreal the first legitimate Quebecois superstar since the two Martins (St. Louis and Brodeur).
  2. The Montreal Canadiens will draft Alexis Lafreniere; while a few scouts have made a case for Quinton Byfield to go first overall, few teams would dare pass up on Lafreniere, and the Canadiens most certainly are not among them. Can you imagine the backlash if they pass on this particular ‘ti gars d’ché nous?

While landing Lafreniere still feels like a bit of a pipedream, it is within the rather surprising realm of possibility, so it must be mentioned in this article. Now with all of this out of the way, let us take a little look at this special player.

Saint-Eustache, QC. . LW. Rimouski Oceanic. ALEXIS LAFRENIERE

Having grown up just north of Laval, Lafreniere would truly present the CH with a homegrown superstar, something they have lacked in this Millenium. Lafreniere dominated AAA hockey and was drafted first overall by the Rimouski Oceanic in 2017 at the age of 15.

Related Story. It's not possible for the Habs to tank. light

As a QMJHL rookie, he put up what ended up being his major junior career-high of 42 goals in 60 games, to go along with 38 assists for 80 points, which equates to 1.33 points per game (PPG). The following season saw him put up 37 goals and 68 assists for 105 points and this in 61 games, giving him a stat line of 1.72 PPG. The Oceanic made the postseason that season and Lafreniere contributed 9 goals and 23 total points in 13 games (1.77 PPG). This past season, he accumulated 35 goals, 77 assists and 112 points in just 52 appearances (2.15 PPG). This shows a steady progression for the soon-to-be first-overall pick, becoming increasingly dominant every season.

One very interesting thing to take note of is that Lafreniere just the second-ever player to twice win the CHL player of the year award, one that has been handed out annually since 1974-75. The other? A kid who also played his major junior hockey in Rimouski, Sidney Crosby. It is no surprise that the sky is said to be the limit for this player. He has franchise-defining talent, and man do I hope for that franchise to be the Montreal Canadiens.

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