Montreal Canadiens drafts are highly anticipated every year. Even when their first pick is locked in around 25 there is endless discussion about who it could be and which way they should lean with their selection.
This year they pick 5th overall and the speculation seems to hit a fever pitch each day but just continues to grow. The 2023 NHL Draft is now nine days away and the talk around the Habs pick will just continue to spiral until they finally make their choice.
Of course, when there is endless speculation about a team, there are certain people who are more trusted than others. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet is among the best, if not the very best, insider in the game at the moment. On his 32 Thoughts Podcast with Jeff Marek today, he dropped an interesting tidbit when it comes to the Canadiens.
Friedman claims that other teams around the league believe the Canadiens want to take one of the four centers that are available. The problem is, Connor Bedard, Adam Fantilli, Leo Carlsson and Will Smith are the projected top four selections. That means the Canadiens may miss out on their intended target if they stay put at five.
Friedman says other teams believe if they can’t get Smith, or one of the other centers, at five, they will be taking David Reinbacher (36:40 mark). The Austrian defenseman is a right shot that projects to be a two-way threat at the NHL level in the future. He could turn into a top pairing defender that can play a ton of minutes and add some points at even strength as well.
Of course, this just tells us what other teams think the Canadiens are going to do. That doesn’t mean that Canadiens are actually leaning that way. It is possible they are trying to get other teams to think one thing, when they really have something else planned.
With so few defenders compared to forwards ranked in the top ten, maybe the Canadiens are trying to play the market and get someone to jump up and offer them a pile of picks in an effort to secure Reinbacher.
We shouldn’t be surprised if the Canadiens take Reinbacher fifth overall, but it could all be a smokescreen as well. We really won’t know for sure until the draft arrives on June 28th.
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