Montreal Canadiens: 6 Players the Canadiens Should Consider in the Later Rounds of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft

For the Montreal Canadiens, it’s draft time, once again, not expansion draft time, Entry Draft time, my favourite yearly NHL event. I have spent the last year, and last two months especially, scouting draft-eligible players and the time has come for me to present six players I would adore seeing in the Tricolore on Saturday, day two of the event. I covered my targets for the 30th pick in a separate article.

I wrote similar articles the last two seasons and while the Habs picked exactly none of the 20 players I outlined, if you include last year’s honourable mentions, I think both the Habs’ picks and my targets have progressed rather well since their respective draft days. Last year, for instance, I outlined Daniil Gushchin (an eventual Sharks 3rd round pick) as a target and I really liked how he played in Muskegon this season.

In 2019, I looked at guys like Dustin Wolf (Flames 7th round pick) and Nathan Légaré (Penguins 3rd round pick), both of whom would go in the top two rounds in a re-draft. I’m very curious to see which of the players I outline today will be the steals of this weird 2021 draft class. I will pick players that fall into the range of all of the Canadiens’ non-first round picks, which fall at 63, 64, 76, 87, 113, 126, 127, 142, 191 and 223 overall (though each pick is actually one slot higher due to the forfeiture of Arizona’s first-round pick).

Round 2 (63, 64): Ville Koivunen, RW/LW, 6’0″, 165 lbs, Kärpät, U20 SM-sarja.

While Koivunen is projected to go in the third round according to Bob McKenzie’s consensus ranking, which places him at 79, he’s someone I would draft in the first round if players like Stankoven and Svechkov are off the board. Like many other players I like a lot, Koivunen is extremely intelligent, he knows where he has to be on the ice to be effective and dangerous, when to pass, when to shoot and which routes he needs to take to have the best impact. He’s intelligent and plays with purpose.

Apart from having a great hockey name, especially in the Montreal market, Koivunen endears himself to fans through hard work and efficiency that permeates his entire game. He’s an effective offensive creator, he’s effective at getting the puck out of the defensive zone and into the offensive zone and he’s effective defensively. The completeness of his game is a huge strength and I’m confident he makes the NHL, the bigger question is his upside, which ranges from Artturi Lehkonen to a real second-line two-way forward consistently putting up 50 points.

At the very least, Koivunen has the offence figured out against Junior competition in Finland, where he finished third in both goals and points this season. He certainly projects as a playmaker rather than a sniper but he is still able to score goals. If you’re interested in reading a far more knowledgeable analysis than mine on this player, I’d recommend this article by Lassi Alanen, the Finnish scout for Elite Prospects. If Koivunen is on the board at 63, I take him without hesitation, hopefully he’s available.