An early look at the Canadiens biggest needs for the 2024 NHL Draft

Another pure right winger (or two) is also a big need for the Habs

Scott Wheeler’s rankings revealed something else: he only had one pure right winger - Filip Mesar - in his top 15. Mesar is a great player, with the former first-round pick having improved steadily between his 2022-23 campaign with the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers and this season. Overall, Mesar appeared in 55 games, scoring 68 points and 20 goals, and he will be even better in 2024-25 when he ultimately finds his place on the Laval Rocket. 

But Mesar is just one player, and while there are some versatile wingers in the system, Kent Hughes must address the right side not once but probably a few times in late June. As noted in the previous slide, the first-round pick should be all about taking that top player, be it a blueliner, a center, or a left winger, but either a right winger or a center must come off the board late in the first round. 

There should be talent there, like Terik Parascak, Emil Hemming, and Beckett Sennecke, to name a golden trio. Parascak could be the best of the three, putting up 105 points and 43 goals, so he would be the ideal pick here. 

But Hughes doesn’t need to stop there, as if there is another right winger available with his late-second-rounder, he must take them, too - again, assuming the center isn’t addressed previously. If he can get one or two high-quality talents here, it would be a huge win for the Hughes and the Habs prospects pool.