Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes spoke with the media earlier this week from the NHL’s Scouting Combine. The combine brings together 106 of the best prospects from around the world for physical testing, medical testing and interviews.
With the Canadiens holding the fifth overall pick, they know they will not have the opportunity to select Connor Bedard or Adam Fantilli. They are the top two ranked prospects in the draft and will surely be gone before the Habs step to the podium, but the management team will cast a wide net this week to get to know potential draft picks.
Consensus draft lists would suggest the next wave of players include Leo Carlsson, Matvei Michkov and Will Smith, and the Canadiens would be wise just to select whichever of them is still on the board at five. But those are not the only players that deserve attention in the top five.
While speaking with the media, Hughes dropped a pretty big hint that he is high on another prospect who isn’t getting as much attention as the aforementioned big five.
Ryan Leonard, who is ranked around 10th by most scouting outfits, is a rugged winger for the United States Development Program. When asked about him, Hughes compared Leonard and his playing style to that of the Tkachuk brothers.
Kent Hughes a comparé le style de Ryan Leonard à celui des frères Tkachuk.
— Marc Antoine Godin (@MAGodin) June 8, 2023
That is not a minor throwaway comment when it comes from the Canadiens general manager in the middle of the Stanley Cup Final. In case you stopped following hockey when the Canadiens season ended, Matthew Tkachuk helped the Florida Panthers make the Stanley Cup Final and was the co-favorite for Conn Smythe winner when the final series began. He has been simply dominant throughout the postseason.
His younger brother Brady didn’t make the playoffs, but he is best known around Montreal as the player the Habs should have drafted in 2018 instead of Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Essentially, Matthew is the player everyone wants right now and Brady is the player every Habs player wishes they had.
So, for Hughes to compare a top ten prospect to the Tkachuk’s is a huge statement. These players are not easy to find or acquire. A big reason that Hughes selected Juraj Slafkovsky first overall last year was because a player with that mix of size and skill is difficult to get.
Leonard does not have the same height, as he is listed at 5’11” but he plays like a much bigger player and has an incredible mix of skill and physicality.
He played on a tremendous line last season with fellow first round picks Will Smith and Gabe Perreault, and Leonard scored 51 goals and 94 points in 57 games while doing a lot of the heavy lifting in the corners and along the walls for that line.
That mix of skill and will was coveted by Hughes a year ago, and there isn’t much higher praise during the current Stanley Cup Final to give a player than to compare him to the uniquely talented Matthew Tkachuk.
Is this a sign the Habs are leaning towards Leonard with the 5th pick? Is Hughes trying to get a team to trade up to take someone else while he can still land Leonard? Or is it all a smokescreen to keep other teams guessing?
I suppose we will have to wait until June 27th to see, but don’t be shocked if the Canadiens end up taking the physical and skilled Leonard in the top five.
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