9 Players the Canadiens May Consider in Rounds 2-7 of the NHL Entry Draft

Sam Colangelo, RW, Chicago Steel, USHL, 6’2″, 207 lbs, 2nd to 3rd round.

Sam Colangelo addresses a need of the Montreal Canadiens, he is big, he’s a right-winger and he can score. He is projected to be picked in the same range as Gushchin, so 40-65. He played on a dominant Chicago Steel USHL team and had Brendan Brisson (Pat Brisson’s son and a projected 1st-round draft pick) and Sean Farell (projected 3rd-round pick) as linemates. Colangelo put up 28 goals and 58 points in 44 games.

Colangelo is a gritty power forward who, aside from possessing a dangerous shot and a great playmaking ability, is very good defensively, playing a key role on both the powerplay and penalty kill on that stacked Chicago Steel team. Colangelo is also not a passenger on that top line, he drives the play. He is a smart and physical player who could become a high-end Swiss army knife type player.

Colangelo’s sole detractor is his skating. He possesses a slow and slightly clumsy stride. Were it not for this, he would be a sure-fire first-round pick, so selecting him is taking a gamble on his ability to refine this area of his play; even if he just becomes an NHL-average skater, he could very well find himself as a Joel Armia type 3rd liner and his ceiling could resemble that of an Alex Tuch, as Marco D’Amico from Scrimmage and Stats pointed out in his final prospect ranking.

Anton Johannesson, LD, HV71, J20 SuperElit, 5’9″, 154 lbs, 2nd to 3rd round.

Anton Johannesson may be small, but that small frame packs quite the punch. The Swedish defenceman played last season in the under-20 SuperElit and was a regular defensive partner of Emil Andrae, who may be a first-round selection in this year’s draft. While Andrae is an all-out offensive defenceman who struggles defensively, Johannesson produces just as much, if not more, offence while also being competent defensively.

Johannesson led all defencemen in the J20 SuperElit in points/game with 1.2. He scored 8 goals and 24 points in 20 games. It must be noted that most defencemen played around 40 games, which Johannesson missed out on due to injury, but when he got on the ice, he produced. Since 1995, only one defenceman to have played at least 15 games has recorded a higher points/game total than Johannesson in a J20 SuperElit season, and that was a certain Erik Brannstrom, who put up 23 points in 19 games, or 1.21 points/game.

Johannesson is a very creative playmaker and distributor in the offensive zone, his high-level vision and his deceptive abilities make him a constant offensive threat when the puck is on his stick. He is also very mobile, which is a necessity given his diminutive stature. On the defensive side of things, Johannesson is very good at preventing controlled zone entries against, in other words, he protects his blue line very well. He is also more than competent in 1-on-1 defensive situations.

Where Johannesson struggles is during sustained play in his own zone. This, however, can be taught, if he learns to be less passive in these situations and improve his gap-control, he could become a decent defensive piece. The one thing Johannesson will never be, though, is physical. He is not one of those small players like Daniil Gushchin who relishes physical play. All in all, though, Johannesson has a high offensive potential, and could very well become a point-producing top-4 NHL defenceman, he just needs a few more years of development.