Montreal Canadiens: Was The 2018 NHL Draft Really That Bad?

Still Figuring It Out

I saved the worst for last, if you will, and there are some definite head-scratchers here. This list represents the eight other selections from the draft. Two players were selected ahead of Harris which makes their failed development sting a little extra.

Jacob Olofsson

Olofsson represents one of the two players selected ahead of Harris and given the expectations from the Habs scouting, he has fallen off. He was viewed as a smart two-way centre, who was solid all around and had a strong offensive game. Nothing ever materialized, and the Canadiens let their signing rights expire.

Cameron Hillis

Hillis was selected with the Habs next pick, representing the second player drafted ahead of Harris, and he wasn’t able to secure himself a role at the American League level. So with the NHL way out of the equation and a demotion to the ECHL, Hillis never lived up to his draft selection at number 66. He was dealt to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for dman Nicholas Beaudin, who has been solid on the Rocket blueline, one notch for the ’18 draft, because of the trade. A negative notch on the draft.

Allan McShane

After a strong season in the OHL with the Oshawa Generals, McShane put himself on the Habs’ radar. This materialized with the Canadiens taking a flier on the young center with the 97th overall selection. He has bounced around the European professional leagues, posting his best numbers in the Italian ICEHL with Asiago (59 points in 48 games). His NHL aspirations look grim, so this is a gaff, but beyond the two first rounds of the draft, the success rate of being an NHLer isn’t high.

Jack Gorniak

A fourth-round selection by the Habs at pick number 125, Gorniak put up strong numbers during his time in High School. There was an onus put on his potential, and it never really came along they wanted it to. He played five NCAA seasons, and the Canadiens decided not to retain his rights, making him a free agent. He is currently set for a season in the ECHL, so his future isn’t likely to be with the Habs.

Cole Fonstad

Fonstad had his name called in the fifth round of the draft after his second consecutive 73-point season. The Canadiens never signed him to his entry-level deal, but he found work in the Blue Jackets system with the Cleveland Monsters. He will head to Germany for the 2023 campaign, which adds another miss in the late rounds for the Habs

Samuel Houde

Although the Habs selected the left-shot defenseman from the QMJHL’s Chicoutimi Sagueneens in the fifth round, he never played for the organization. After his final season of junior in 2020-21, Houde signed a deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins farm team in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. This upcoming season will be his third with the club, so an NHL future isn’t out of reach, which speaks to his potential, so this could still be a good value pick.

Brett Stapley

Stapley earned the distinguished honour of becoming the Canadiens’ final selection of their ’18 Draft class after being selected in the seventh round. He played four years of college hockey, exploding for 43 points in 41 games in his senior year, earning himself a contract with the Rocket, who sent him down to the ECHL where he scored 52 points in 52 games. The Habs weren’t impressed, and he was free to sign elsewhere, and he did so with the Colorado Eagles in the AHL. He could also be a great value pick, in the seventh round, albeit elsewhere.

So while the first selection drew a lot of negative attention and comments, this draft could have ended up much worse. And given the strength of the top half of the draft for the Habs, the players selected beyond Jordan Harris would have just been a bonus. It stings not having Tkachuk or Hughes, and seeing Kk in Carolina. But the past is the past, and we came away with some nice pieces.

I say that’s a pretty good outing, and Dach wouldn’t be here in Montreal if it weren’t for the selection of Romanov. So that is a reason to be excited. The ’18 Draft wasn’t all that bad for the Habs.

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