The Montreal Canadiens remain third-last in the NHL despite rallying off some wins lately, which has made people start thinking about the 2025 draft. Fans are sick of worrying about draft position over playoff contention, but it seems there will be one more season of tracking the lottery results. The Canadiens decided to increase their forward depth this past offseason with the picks of Ivan Demidov and Michael Hage, then the acquisition of Patrik Laine. However, the question is whether they'll continue their forward revival or return to the well with a defenseman.
The Canadiens will never live down their selection of David Reinbacher over Matvei Michkov. Michkov has been a force for the Philadelphia Flyers this season, and the hate pours in more and more on social media as he racks up points game after game. Taking a defenseman over skilled forwards may be a sore spot for Habs fans, but you may wish it hasn't spooked Kent Hughes and the scouting staff. The 2025 NHL Draft will have a top-five with many different permeations, but it could be in their best interest to opt for the defenseman over the four forwards.
James Hagens, Michael Misa, Porter Martone, and Roger McQueen are the top-four forwards, with Ivan Ryabkin making a push in the preseason but seeing his stock take a hit once the games started. However, Matthew Schaefer is a name that many people watch and could end up stealing the No. 1 spot in this year's draft.
Schaefer had a slow start to the year after a mono bout, but he has been a star since making his season debut. He was the best player at the Hlinka-Gretzky tournament this summer, stole the show at the CHL-USHL Prospects Game, and now has a chance to make Team Canada's roster for the World Juniors. Hockey Canada named him to the preliminary camp roster, which is no small feat, according to sources with RG.org.
”[Schaefer] could have a bad camp and fail to make the team, but it won’t be surprising if he finds his way on the team as an underager. Schaefer making this team and beating out two like-minded defensemen who are a year older and already top-ten picks would say a lot about his ceiling.”
Hockey Canada rarely loads up the team with the most skilled players. Carter Yakemchuk and Zayne Parekh deserve to be on the team with their skill, but the front office decided to leave them off the roster because too many offensive defensemen are redundant. They chose to include Schafer over those two players, which should tell you much about what the Canadiens would be getting if they drafted him this summer.