Montreal Canadiens Draft Prospect Profile: Michael Hrabal

Welcome to another prospect profile here on A Winning Habit, where we learn more about some players the Canadiens could potentially select in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. Previously we’ve looked at players the Habs may select with the fifth overall pick, but now we’ll look at a few goalies the Habs could take later in the draft. This is the ninth prospect profile, and today we’ll be looking at Michael Hrabal. You can find the rest of the prospect profiles here:

• Will Smith
• Leo Carlsson
• Dalibor Dvorsky
• Zach Benson
• Ryan Leonard
• David Reinbacher
• Matvei Michkov
• Trey Augustine

Hrabal played for the Omaha Lancers of the USHL this season, the same team Habs goalie prospect Jakub Dobes played for before heading to the NCAA. His 2.86 GAA and .908 SV% are nothing to get too excited about, but goaltending stats rarely are in the USHL. To put his numbers in perspective, his .908 SV% was actually eighth in the league this season. He’s committed to play College Hockey at UMass next season. Where Hrabal really turned heads was on the international stage, both at the U18s and the Ivan Hlinka Gretzky Cup, giving his under matched Czechia team a chance to win every game he played.

Player Rundown

Team: Omaha Lancers (USHL)

Height/Weight: 6’6″/216 lbs

Position: Goalie

Catches: Left

DOB: Jan 20th, 2005

Hometown: Praha, Czechia

Analysis & NHL Projection

Hrabal’s best attribute is probably his size, as his six-foot-six frame allows him to make virtually any save, covering up a great deal of the net. It makes it difficult to screen him and remove his sight lines, which obviously makes it easier for him to stop the puck. For this reason, he’s been compared to other big goalies, like Ben Bishop, goalies that just gave you nothing to shoot at. But make no mistake, Hrabal isn’t just big. He’s very athletic for his size too, and can make a ton of desperation-like saves, using his blend of size and athletic capabilities to never count himself out of a play.

Still, he’s not a perfect goalie prospect worthy of a first-round selection, in large part due to poor agility and skating in the crease. This means he can occasionally get caught out of position and give up some real stinkers. But these issues are fixable. Hrabal’s game needs a lot of polish still, but the toolkit and the potential are certainly already on display. Consistent work with a quality goalie coach could help him reach that potential and become a solid NHL starter. It’s so hard to project goalies, as there are so many factors that go into their performance, but he has the makeup of an NHL starter, but he needs to develop still, as all goalies do.

Michael Hrabal Draft Projection

Hrabal could be the first goalie to hear his name called at the 2023 NHL Draft, but it likely won’t happen until day two. He may sneak into the back end of the first round, but I think unless there are a lot of teams looking for goalies, teams are going to feel comfortable waiting. Take Montreal, for example, they could take him at 31, but they could also scoop up a quality skater knowing Hrabal might still be there when they pick again at 37. I doubt Hrabal lasts too long on day two, and there’s a really good chance he’ll be the first goalie drafted this year.

Hrabal’s Fit With The Canadiens

Like Trey Augustine, the fit in Montreal is just fine, seeing as getting any goalie is better than no goalie. Montreal doesn’t necessarily need to get the next Carey Price, and let’s face it, even if they were looking to, they won’t find him in this draft. Still, Hrabal could be a good addition to the organization, which does need more depth at the position.

Hrabal needs work, but seeing the strides Samuel Montembeault has made under goalie coach Eric Raymond makes me believe he could help Hrabal develop into a quality starter for the Habs. And truthfully, that’s all the Habs should need, as I don’t believe it’s essential to have a Vezina candidate in the crease in order to win a cup. If the Canadiens can build a solid, well-rounded squad, all Hrabal would need to do, assuming he one day became the starter, is give his team a chance to win. I think that’s certainly a possibility.

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