After a dozen or so games, the hierarchy of the season has started to become clear. There are some surprises at the top like the Winnipeg Jets being the best team so far, and Washington and Minnesota hovering right at the top of the league. But its the usual suspects near the bottom of the league: San Jose, Chicago, Philadelphia and the Montreal Canadiens.
And it's never too early to look to the draft, especially when your team, the Montreal Canadiens are going to be drafting high. While this draft class doesn't look like the most exciting, there are a gems that will be going high.
And one of those players is a young centre by the name of Roger McQueen.
San Jose is looking almost historically bad, and will likely have the best odds for first overall locked down, and James Hagens does seem like the early concensus first overall pick, but it gets a little muddy in the coming picks this soon.
But from picks 2-5, Roger McQueen could still be available for the picking if he is missed by a couple of teams above the Canadiens.
Which would be ironic, since it is hard to miss Roger McQueen.
Mcqueen is 18 years old and stands at 6'5". He definitely stands out when he's on the ice. If it isn't due to his size, its due to his surprising puck skills for a player of that size.
It wouldn't shock anyone that he isn't the fastest player on skates, but he can generally keep up the pace. His strength is in the offensive zone, where he is hard to separate him from the puck due to his size and stickhandling.
His shot isn't the greatest, but with that size and puck-handling skill, its not as big of a concern. He can get himself into high-danger situations, and score that way. Its very rare to find someone as big and as skilled as McQueen.
So where would he fit in Montreal? McQueen is a natural centre. If Kirby Dach continues his success and moves to the wing, that leaves a hole in the middle of the ice for the Canadiens.
And what is one of the main talking points this season for the Montreal Canadiens? That they are too easy to play against. It's hard to play against a 6'5" very skilled centreman. If McQueen develops into a second-line centre, like he definitely can, the Montreal Canadiens could have one of the deepest centre cores in the entire league.
The only trepidation that I have in the Canadiens drafting McQueen is that drafting a tall centreman has not really worked out in the recent past. Anyone remember Ryan Poehling, or Michael McCarron?
If there is any consolation, McQueen is more skilled than either Poehling or McCarron. Drafting McQueen is more about skill and size, rather than just size alone.