Montreal Canadiens Add Six New Prospects On Day Two of NHL Draft
The Montreal Canadiens concluded a lengthy day two of the NHL Draft and added six new prospects into the organization.
The Montreal Canadiens drafted a big, physical left defenceman in the first round of the NHL Draft on Tuesday night. Kaiden Guhle is also a good skater who put up 11 goals and 40 points for the Prince Albert Raiders in the WHL last season.
The remaining six rounds of the draft took place virtually today. Though the process moved at a snail’s pace, the Canadiens eventually added six new players to the prospect pipeline.
Bergevin entered the day with nine picks, but he would make a trio of trades that moved them around.
He sent a second round pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a fourth round pick and a second round pick in next year’s draft. He later moved a fourth round pick for a third round pick in next year’s draft and then sent a seventh rounder to the Chicago Blackhawks for their seventh rounder next season.
However, in the midst of all that wheeling and dealing, the Canadiens did add six new players to the organization.
With their first pick of the day, the Canadiens selected Luke Tuch with the 47th overall pick. He is the younger brother of Alex Tuch, who has broken out as a great, physical winger for the Vegas Golden Knights. Luke is a big left winger at 6’2″ and over 200 pounds and can put up some points as well. He scored 15 goals and 30 points in 47 games for the United States Development Program last season.
The Habs didn’t have to wait long for their next pick as they held consecutive choices in the second round. They went with skilled forward Jan Mysak. The Czech Republic native split last season between the top league in his home country and the OHL. He scored five goals and nine points in 26 games in Europe, but caught fire with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the OHL. In 22 games, he scored 15 goals and 25 points which shot him up the draft ranking charts.
The Habs next pick was in the fourth round and they went with Zack Smith with the 102nd overall pick. He has been playing high school hockey in Minnesota and was ranked 169th among North American skaters by Central Scouting. He did have 30 points in 11 regular season games, but lots of teams wouldn’t have had him ranked in their top 200. He is committed to the University of Minnesota-Duluth which has a terrific program, so maybe he can develop into a pro but this is definitely a long term project.
The Canadiens didn’t look too far to find their next pick. Blake Biondi is a 6’0″ centre who played high school hockey in Minnesota last season. He averaged over three points per game with 37 goals and 76 points in 25 games. It is hard to decide how impressive those numbers are when Biondi didn’t have a high quality of competition. He did however, catch the eye of USA’s management team’s for international events. Biondi represented the States at the World Under-17 Tournament where he scored three points in five games and he played at the Hlinka Gretzky event last summer where he scored two points in four contests.
It is obviously a small sample, but first round picks Quinton Byfield, Ozzy Weissblatt, Mavric Bourque and Kaiden Guhle also had three points at that Under-17 event.
The Habs had yet another fourth round pick and took yet another American forward. This time, they went with Sean Farrell who played for the Chicago Steel of the USHL and not a high schooler. Farrell was the first overall pick in the USHL Draft a year ago, and led the league in assists this season. He had 15 goals and 41 assists for 56 points in 44 games. He played in the US Development Program for years, but was buried behind a top six that featured Jack Hughes, Cole Caufield, Trevor Zegras, Alex Turcotte, Matt Boldy and Bobby Brink. He is a bit small at 5’9″ but is a terrific playmaking left winger and is headed to Harvard.
The Canadiens elected to grab a goaltender in the sixth round. They took Jakub Dobes out of the Czech Republic with the 136th overall pick. He is a big puck stopper at 6’4″ and 200 pounds and he has been developing in North America for the past three years. He had terrific numbers in the NAHL last season which is a Tier-II Junior league in the USA. He played ten games there and had a 1.59 GAA and a .946 SV%. He did have a 3.09 GAA and .891 SV% in 21 games at the tougher USHL level.
Next. Guhle brings solid, two-way game to Habs. dark
The Habs final pick of the day was Alexander Gordin who played Junior hockey in Russia last season. He is a creative offensive winger and scored 39 goals and 68 points in 59 games for the Junior team in St Petersburg. Gordin has been playing in Russia’s top minor league this season where he has two goals in six games and he suited up for his first KHL game as well. He had one less point than Yegor Chinakhov who was taken in the first round by the Columbus Blue Jackets. We should get our first good look at him during the upcoming World Juniors.