Montreal Canadiens: Should Habs Have Targeted Different Position With First Round Pick?

The Montreal Canadiens selected Kaiden Guhle in the first round but does he fill a need?

The Montreal Canadiens selected Kaiden Guhle with the 16th overall pick in the first round of the NHL Draft last night.

Guhle is a big, physical defenceman who skates well and can chip in offensively. He is a left shot and will play a big role for the Prince Albert Raiders this season.

He played well for the Raiders last season, scoring 11 goals and 40 points in 64 games. He has proven to have leadership capabilities as well, wearing the captain’s “C” when he played at the World Under-17 Tournament for Canada, and wearing an “A” at the Hlinka Gretzky event last summer.

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So, Guhle is a solid prospect. He has represented his country and been a leader on those teams. He has size, skates well and plays a solid game at both ends of the ice. He has the skills and potential to be a solid, reliable top four defenceman and was fully deserving of being selected in the middle of the first round.

But, should the Canadiens have taken him in the middle of the first round?

If you look at the Habs prospect pool, Guhle doesn’t exactly fill a huge organizational need. The Habs best prospect is super sniper Cole Caufield. Beyond him, there are centre Ryan Poehling and goaltender Cayden Primeau near the top, but there is also a slew of left defencemen.

Alexander Romanov just signed with the team and will compete for a spot on the NHL roster. Jayden Struble and Jordan Harris will play a huge role for the Northeastern Huskies this season. Victor Mete is still just 22 years old. Mattias Norlinder looks terrific early in his first season in the Swedish Hockey League.

All of those players are left defenders. Now, Guhle is added to that long list of promising players at the exact same position.

Would it have made more sense for the Canadiens to draft a player that fills a bigger need?

Shortly after Guhle was taken off the board, wingers Lukas Reichel and Dawson Mercer were taken with the next to picks. Reichel played pro in Germany last season and looked terrific at the World Juniors. Mercer scored 60 points in 42 games in the QMJHL.

Also available at 16th were high scoring forwards like Connor Zary, Hendrix Lapierre and Jacob Perreault. These are forwards that can make plays with the puck and put it in the back of the net.

They would fill a more immediate need for the Canadiens on the wing. However, that doesn’t mean Guhle is a bad hockey player. He just adds to an already impressive list of left defence prospects in the Canadiens system.

The Habs can always trade some of these prospects for help at other positions later on. But it might have made sense to add a scoring winger with this pick.