Montreal Canadiens 2022 NHL Draft Recap

The Montreal Canadiens entered the 2022 NHL Draft with 14 picks, including the first overall selection. They didn’t make all those picks, swapping a pair of them out to move up and then trade for Kirby Dach.

They also sent a fourth round pick to the Vegas Golden Knights for their fourth round pick next year. In all, they made 11 picks over the two day event held at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

Who did they take? Let’s run down the list of the newest members of the Montreal Canadiens.

Juraj Slafkovky was selected with the first overall pick and projects to be a top six left winger for the Canadiens in the very near future. He is 6’4″ and was the MVP of the Olympics with seven goals in seven games. He only had ten points in 31 Liiga games which doesn’t translate well to offensive success at the NHL level, but he has the size to fit in on a line with smaller linemates (like Cole Caufield) where he can do the heavy lifting.

Filip Mesar, a fellow Slovakian was the Habs next choice. He is a smaller, yet very creative offensive winger who can create offence with speed, stickhandling and vision. He has a good shot and can find teammates with a quick pass. He had 16 points in 37 games in Slovakia and could make the switch to North America next season to play with the Kitchener Rangers.

Owen Beck is a good sized centre who plays well at both ends of the ice. He scored 21 goals and 51 points in 68 games for the Mississauga Steelheads of the OHL. The 6’0″ and 190 pound centre uses great acceleration and speed to create offence and get back into the right spot in the defensive zone as well.

Lane Hutson is the pick with the most upside from this list. He may have dropped to the end of the second round, but he has the potential to be the best offensive defenceman to have been drafted in 2022. He scored ten goals and 63 points in 60 games for the United States Development Program. That is incredible production for a defensemen, but NHL scouts don’t like him because he is 5’8″.

Vinzenz Rohrer is another pick with a lot of potential. The Austrian native just played his first season in the OHL and scored 25 goals and 48 points in 64 games. He is still 17 years old and was one of the youngest players drafted this year as he doesn’t turn 18 until September 9th. He will grow a lot in the next two seasons in the OHL and is sure to play in big tournaments like the World Juniors along the way.

Adam Engstrom was an off the board pick who not many people had ranked at all. The Canadians often hold a European combine before the draft and it will be interesting to hear if they saw anything in Engstrom there that made them pounce on him in the third round when most teams may not have had him ranked at all. He is a good sized left defenceman at 6’2″ and 185 pounds and he finished the season strong with seven points in six playoff games in Sweden’s top Junior league.

The Canadiens returned to the OHL for their next pick, taking left winger Cedrick Guindon with the 127th selection. Guindon was a rookie in the OHL last season and scored 30 goals and 59 points in 68 games for the Owen Sound Attack.

Jared Davidson is another overaged who was passed over in two previous drafts. He scored 42 goals and 89 points in 64 games for the Seattle Thunderbirds. He added 29 points in 25 playoff games before being eliminated by Kaiden Guhle’s Edmonton Oil Kings in the final. He could return for a 5th WHL season next year as a 20 year old or head straight to the pro ranks.

Goaltenders are difficult to project which is why the Canadiens often take a flier on one in later rounds. Cayden Primeau and Jakub Dobes look like good late picks and Croteau could be next. He had decent numbers at the USHL level but will face a much bigger test when he heads to Clarkson to start his NCAA career next season.

Another 20 year old and another left defenceman from Europe. Petteri Nurmi played all of last season in Liiga, scoring four points in 58 games, but he also made Finland’s World Junior team, though the tournament was cancelled after two games. We should get a look at him this August when the World Juniors return to Edmonton.

Miguël Tourigny is an overaged right defenceman who was passed over in the 2020 and 2021 NHL Drafts. He scored an incredible 31 goals and 80 points in 65 QMJHL games for the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and Acadie-Bathurst Titan. He could return to Junior for his 20 year old season next year or he could turn pro. He fills a void in the pipeline on the right side of the blue line, and is a supremely skilled playmaker and shooter with the puck. A great gamble in the 7th round on a guy who could turn into a Chris Wideman type down the road.