Who Will the Montreal Canadiens Target in the First Round?

The NHL Draft is fast approaching, let us take a look at who the Montreal Canadiens may have their eyes on and who would be a good fit for the team.

I really love the weeks leading up to the NHL Entry Draft; they’re always rather hectic for me, as I try to get some final bits of research on prospects done, but it always makes for an enjoyable summer project. While Marc Bergevin is notoriously unpredictable when it comes to trades, his tenure has demonstrated some clear trends in his – and Trevor Timmins’ – draft strategy.

We will take a look at three prospects that I have a hunch could very well be wearing the Tricolore on July 23, as well as three prospects I really want to see in Habs’ colours. Let us begin with the actual predictions for the 31st pick.

Matthew Coronato, LW, Chicago Steel, USHL, Nov. 14, 2002. (48 goals, 85 points in 51 games)

Coronato is a name I’ve heard a whole bunch of Habs fans mention as their ideal target in the first round. It certainly is possible that he’s off the board by the 31st pick (actually the 30th selection because of Arizona’s forfeited pick), Bob McKenzie’s consensus ranking has him at 21st, but in the late first-round, players always fall. The Habs could also trade up with their wealth of draft capital.

Fans love Coronato because he put up gaudy goal and point totals (he was the top goalscorer and second in points in the USHL this season) and because he demonstrates a wealth of tenacity and work ethic. The 5’10”, 183 lbs left-winger was a teammate of the Habs’ fourth-round selection of last year in Sean Farrell, who was the only USHL player to exceed Coronato’s 85 points, with 101 and who will join him at Harvard next season. This connection means that the Habs have certainly watched a lot of Coronato’s game tape by virtue of following Farrell’s progression and may have taken a liking to his grit and goalscoring.

The Habs also love drafting players from the USHL and from US Prep Schools as they retain their rights for at least their four years of college, giving them more time to make a decision on signing them than with CHL players. Fans and NHL teams alike should be aware of a few factors that impacted Coronato’s dominance this season, however.

1. Coronato is a very early birthday, he is among the draft class’ older players and his maturity will have helped a lot in a junior league like the USHL.
2. Coronato played on by far the best team in the USHL; each of the league’s top-4 point producers played for the Steel, that kind of environment inflates point totals.
3. Coronato scored on a ridiculous 21% of his shots, I’m not sure if this is an indictment on USHL goaltenders or just a result of a fair amount of luck for Coronato, but that’s unsustainable.

These factors explain why Coronato might still be available when the Habs pick, despite his crazy totals. Beyond simple production, Coronato is a very smart offensive player who manipulates shooting lanes to give himself scoring opportunities, has very good hands and gets to the high-danger areas. His shot is good, but not to the extent his goal totals would suggest, they’re more indicative of his offensive awareness. He’s also quite a decent playmaker and plays at a high pace.

Jack Peart, LD, Fargo Force, USHL, May 15, 2003. (1 goal, 15 points in 24 games)

Bob McKenzie has Peart ranked at 51, but many other scouting outlets have him as high as the mid-twenties. He would likely be a bit of a reach at 31, but the Canadiens have had a knack for reaching on American High School/USHL defensemen in the early rounds.

The Canadiens may be a bit weak at left defence right now, especially if they lose the minute-munching Ben Chiarot to Seattle, but their LD prospect corps is bursting at the seams with names like Alexander Romanov, Mattias Norlinder, Jordan Harris, Jayden Struble, Gianni Fairbrother and last year’s first-round pick Kaiden Guhle having tangible NHL potential and common qualities: great mobility and skating to go along with physicality and dynamism. Marc Bergevin has demonstrated his taste in defensive prospects and I don’t see that trend ending.

Jack Peart may just be the Habs’ favourite player on the board when they’re up and the position he plays won’t prevent them from taking the leap. Peart is a phenomenal skater, which is facilitated by his 5’11”, 181 lbs frame. The Canadiens picked last year’s Minnesota High School Mr. Hockey in Blake Biondi and might continue that trend with Peart who racked up 11 goals and 35 points in 18 games as a defenceman before heading to the USHL this season.

Peart plays with a degree of calm that teams are sure to appreciate and uses his vision to perform clean breakouts through the neutral zone; paired with his great mobility, this makes him a real weapon in transition, something the Canadiens lack on the back end. His calm has, however, been a limiting factor, as he prevents himself from taking risks with the puck to create offence, which makes him a bit less valuable in the offensive zone.

Along with his transition skills, Peart is as solid of a d-zone defenseman as you’re likely to find. His positioning is almost perfect and an active stick is a constant threat to break up play for his opponents. If Peart learns to take more risks, he could maybe develop into a solid #3 defenseman, which is more than solid at this stage of the draft, but his defensive skills make him a near surefire NHL player. I personally gravitate toward the real home-run swings in the draft, but the Canadiens could be attracted to a safer but really solid and fun player like Peart.

Simon Robertsson, RW, Skellefteå AIK, SHL, Feb. 5, 2003. (1 goal, 2 points in 22 games)

Robertsson played most of his season in one of the world’s top leagues; Sweden’s top division is not at all a development league and 17-year-olds like Robertsson almost never get more than 9 minutes of ice time, so don’t read too much into his low production. Simply playing at that level of pro hockey for 22 games is impressive. McKenzie has him ranked at 28th, so he could very well be on the board at 31, which, again, is actually the draft’s 30th selection.

Robertsson also played 15 games in Sweden’s top U20 league, where he racked up 9 goals and 20 points. He’s already quite physically mature in his 6’0″, 190 lbs frame and is a jack-of-all-trades. His shot is elite and, similar to Coronato, his off-puck movement in the offensive zone is what makes him a consistent scoring threat. He’s also a good defensive winger and has a projectable 2-way game for the NHL.

He reminds me quite a bit of Joel Armia, who never quite hit his potential despite having all the tools to be a top-6 scorer. Both aren’t the best skaters but combine their dangerous shots with good defensive play and a diverse toolkit. It’s very possible that Robertsson hits his ceiling, unlike his Finnish counterpart and the skillset is certainly appealing. Marc Bergevin is clearly appreciative of Armia’s skills and might want to take a swing on a player like Robertsson.

Robertsson’s high work rate and skill in offensive transition give him a real identity as a player and he could become a great 2-way winger in the top-6 of an NHL team if his development goes well. He really strikes me as the type of player the Canadiens would rate very highly and that, paired with the real possibility of him being available at 31 makes him a safe prediction for the Habs’ selection.

Robertsson, Peart and Coronato are the players I think the Canadiens would like to draft at 31, but let’s take a look at the three guys I’d most like to see become Canadiens in this draft class (within the realms of possibility, of course).

Logan Stankoven, C/RW, Kamploops Blazers, WHL, Feb. 26, 2003. (7 goals, 10 points in 6 games)

Stankoven could easily have been one of the three players I outlined in the previous section because he does kind of have Habs written all over him. However, he’s a prospect I’ve taken such a liking to that I had to include him here instead.

Bob McKenzie’s consolidated ranking has him at 44th, but other scouting networks have him in the early teens, so who knows where he’s being picked. Actually, I’m willing to bet he’s still available when the Habs pick because he’s 5’8″ and 170 lbs and skating isn’t a strength of his; that combination always makes players drop way further than they should.

I know that comparing prospects to current players isn’t a great practice, but whenever I’ve watched Stankoven play, I saw a young Brendan Gallagher. They have similar size, similar skating, a similar playing style, similar tenacity and a similar nose for the front of the net. The similarities go on and on. Stankoven played a big role on the Gold Medal-winning Team Canada at the U18s this year scoring four goals and adding as many assists in seven games.

I’ve always really enjoyed watching him play. There’s never any frustration in watching him, as there is with some other players. He puts in a lot of work defensively, never misses a shift and creates offence at every turn, again, just like Montreal’s #11. His shot is among the best in the class and his playmaking ability doesn’t lag far behind.

Gallagher slipped to the 5th round in 2010, something that won’t happen to Stankoven this year, so the NHL has seemingly progressed in its mindset of drafting with a measuring tape, but I have Stankoven firmly in my top-15 (where Stankoven won’t be selected) because he has the upside of a 30-goalscorer who drives offence and plays solid defence, and he has produced and scored at every level he’s played. If the Habs can pick him up at the end of the first round, I will be over the moon.

Zach Dean, C, Gatineau Olympiques, QMJHL, Jan. 4, 2003. (10 goals, 20 points in 23 games)

Dean is a 6’0″ and 176 lbs centreman with high-end offensive skill, who is ranked at 32 by Bob McKenzie. While the point totals may seem underwhelming, Gatineau just wasn’t a great team this year and while Dean’s playmaking shone, his passes weren’t often converted. The thing I noticed every game I watched of his the very most was his dynamism; he’s a great skater who uses his large set of tools to deceive defenders, making him electric in offensive transition.

He plays at an extremely high speed and created opportunities from seemingly nothing. His shot is good, but by no means his primary weapon in the offensive zone; the speed at which he processes the game allows him to take advantage of the passing lanes opened by his skating speed and elusiveness. His intelligence really shone in junior, especially in the later games of his I watched, he has great spatial awareness in all three zones.

While his defensive work rate is hit or miss and he isn’t very physical (though he does engage himself in physical battles), Dean has an abundance of raw skill. He likely won’t see the NHL in the next four years, but his dangerous set of tools gives him a very high ceiling offensively and in transition, and I like prospects with high ceilings.

Dean may fly a bit under the radar because he played on a weaker team, but that shouldn’t keep the Canadiens from drafting a player with as high an upside as Zach Dean.

Statistics sourced from EliteProspects.com. Opinions on players formed by my own viewings of their games as well as analysis by Will Scouch and the EP Rinkside scouting team.