As the 2020 NHL draft approaches, TSN Hockey provides an initial draft for each of the seven Canadian NHL clubs. Today, we start with the Montreal Canadiens.
2019 review
Number 15, Cole Caufield of Wisconsin scored 19 goals in 36 games in his first college season, and the lead on most goals was shared by a freshman in the NCAA. Montreal entered the 2019 draft targeting the left-handers and picked five out of 10 overall choices – including four in a row from the second to fifth rounds. The first of them was Jayden Strobel (No. 46); Strobel played for Northeastern when he was 18 and had 10 points in 21 games before a lower body injury sidelined him for the season in early February.
The last 5 drafts rated
TSN Scout Director Craig Patton has been giving Canadians an A grade in three out of five drafts since 2015. Montreal has replaced the person with the most influence in the NHL – Mikhail Sergachev. It was distributed over Tampa Bay in favor of Jonathan Drouin and evolved into a lightning player in the Stanley Cup Three Best Defenders.
Canada Direction
Montreal’s original selection of Caufield, Wisconsin, continued in 2019 in a 20-year trend: 11 of the 22 selections in the first round from Canada since 2000 were from the United States. Montreal picked a Canadian in the first round only twice in their last 10 drafts (Nathan Beaulieu, 2011 and Noah Goulsen, 2015).
Top 10 possibilities: Grade A minus
Patton says Alexander Romanoff, Caufield, Ryan Boiling and Kaiden Primo are the locks to be high NHLers and rank the overall list as A-minus, the second best Ottawa team among the seven Canadian teams. At the front of the Montreal streak is the Russian Romanov, who was named to the all-star team of the 2020 Junior World Championships in Blulin.
2020 Lockahide
After trading the fifth-round pick with Carolina for falling UFA defender Joel Edmundson, Montreal has 11 choices, including 16 overall and three in the second round. The Canadians are on the way to making two-digit selections for the third straight draft. Reminder: GM Marc Bergevin made a total of 10 trades on the second day of the previous two drafts: six in 2018 and four in 2019.
Who Should Canadians Choose?
The button identifies the basic need for Montreal as a scorer. We asked: If you were picking No. 16 for Montreal, which of the next four forwards would be expected to be available at this range, would you choose? Dawson Mercer and Hendrix Labier finished in a heated match – each receiving 41 percent of the vote. Canadian Scouts will definitely be in Chicotimi on October 2 and October 4 when the Saguanese open their regular 2020-21 season with home matches against Shawinigan and Bae Como, respectively.
Who Should Choose Canadians With Choice # 16 in the 2020 Draft?
Craig’s Choice:
Mercer, an all-encompassing force that will not only score goals but also set them. If Citizen Bay Roberts, Nfield, was drafted by Montreal, it would be the second year in a row that Newfoundlander has been picked at number 16, after that in the skateboarding editions of Alex Newhawk, native St.John’s, who was chosen by Colorado.
Draft NHL Hockey TSN Primer
Monday, September 14 – Montreal Canadiens
Tuesday September 15 – Ottawa Senators
