Montreal Canadiens: NHL Draft Day 2 Recap

The Montreal Canadiens entered day two of the NHL Draft with ten selections at their disposal.

They had a pair of picks in the second round, two picks in the third round, three picks in the fourth and a single pick in each of the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds.

It was a busy day for the Canadiens and some trades resulted in them adding some picks in next year’s draft as well as moving back and adding picks later on in this year’s draft marathon that stretched on for about seven hours today.

Round one was completed last night in about four hours and the final six rounds all took place this afternoon. By the end of the day, the Canadiens had made a trio of trades and added eight new prospects to the organization.

Let’s take a quick look at all of their selections form day two of the 2021 NHL Draft.

Riley Kidney is a skilled centre wit terrific vision and playmaking abilities. He got better and better as the QMJHL season went along and he was at his best in the postseason. The 5’11” native of Enfield, Nova Scotia had 13 goals and 38 points in 33 QMJHL games this season for the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

Oliver Kapanen was the top goal scorer in Finland’s top Junior league this season. He scored 25 goals and 41 points in 37 games. He was also on the country’s World Under-18 team but he suffered a scary injury when he crashed heavily into the boards in his team’s first game and had to be taken off the ice on a stretcher. He finished the tournament with zero points in four games but had proven long before that he is a solid goal scoring prospect who is ready to take the next step into Finland’s pro league next season with Kalpa.

Dmitri Kostenko is a big right shot defenceman from Russia who has shown some offensive promise at the Junior level. He played just ten games in the Junior league this season and scored nine points after having 20 points in 27 games last year. He was promoted to the VHL for most of the season which is basically Russia’s AHL and he scored ten points in 40 games in that league playing against men. For a 6’1″ and 187 pound defender there is a lot to work with for this third round pick.

William Trudeau is a left shot defenceman playing for the Charlottetown Islanders of the QMJHL. They went through an odd season where they didn’t travel to the province of Quebec so they only played against teams in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.He has good size at 6’0″ and 189 pounds and put up solid offensive numbers with 31 points in 40 games on a stacked Charlottetown team.

Sobolev would be described as more of a defensive defenceman though his 5’10” and 154 pound frame certainly doesn’t match the physicality and stature of the Habs current top four on defence. He played in Russia’s Junior league last season and scored six points in 48 games. He will join the Windsor Spitfires for the upcoming season.

Joshua Roy has the skills and talent to be a much higher draft pick than this. The problem is his compete level and work ethic don’t match his tremendous shot and offensive ability. He was the first overall pick in the 2019 QMJHL Draft but only last one and a half seasons with the Saint John Sea Dogs before they dealt him partway through last season. He scored 44 points in 60 games as a rookie and had 21 goals and 35 points in 35 games last season as a 17 year old. There is tons of ability but with his talent he should be more involved in every shift.

Xavier Simoneau has been piling up points in the QMJHL for four years. He just continued to produce until he could no longer be ignored. He was first eligible for the NHL Draft in 2019 but was not picked after scoring 57 points in 55 games that season. He scored 89 points in 61 games last season but once again went undrafted. This year, he had 37 points in 27 games and finally was taken in the 6th round. He is a small, skilled forward at 5’7″ but he can obviously produce offence. After piling up 228 points in 204 career QMJHL games, he could head straight to the AHL next season since he recently turned be 20 years old.

Joe Vrbetic plays for the North Bay Battalion but since the OHL did not play this season he did not suit up for a single game. He had a 4.23 GAA and a .881 SV% in 2019-20 and has tremendous size at 6’6″ tall.