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With The Ninth Overall Pick In The Draft…
With the draft right around the corner, I have decided to write draft profiles on the players that could be on Montreal’s radar for their ninth overall pick. To fit with the theme of picking ninth, I will be doing nine different player profiles for the Habs’ potential pick. Players like Auston Matthews, Patrick Laine, Jesse Puljujarvi, Matthew Tkachuk and Pierre-Luc Dubois are omitted from that list since it’s very unlikely that any of them will be available by the time Trevor Timmins steps on the podium to announce Montreal’s selection.
Timmins doesn’t appear to necessarily have a specific type of player that he prefers, but you can definitely see some trends in his track record as head scout for the Canadiens. He likes players that showed great progression throughout the year (see Michael McCarron, Darren Dietz and Jeremy Gregoire). He also has a preference for prospects that are known as gym rats (are you surprised, considering Timmins used to look like this?) Players like McCarron, Brett Lernout and Brendan Gallagher come to mind for prospects that practically lived in the gym and posted great results at their combine. Finally, Timmins covets players with good skating who play a complete game (Michael McCarron, Jacob de la Rose and Brady Vail).
It’s interesting to note that Montreal hasn’t picked a defenseman in the first round since the selections of Jarred Tinordi (2010) and Nathan Beaulieu (2011). Considering the need for left handed defenseman and a viable replacement for Andrei Markov long term, scouts might be tempted to pick a defenseman at the ninth spot. It’s also curious to point out that since Timmins was brought in 2003 as Head Scout for the team, the team has NEVER selected a player under six feet tall as one of their first round picks (Clayton Keller). There’s also been a recent trend under Bergevin where the team picks players with size in the first two rounds and then shifts their focus to smaller players in the later rounds (Sven Andrighetto, Charles Hudon, Jake Evans and Martin Reway).
This draft will be crucial role for the organization going forward. This is the perfect chance to replenish the prospect pool and add some players with the potential to become impact players. The Habs have three picks in the top 45 and they can’t blow this opportunity like they did in 2012 by selecting total busts like Sebastian Colberg (33rd) and Dalton Thrower (51st). I think the team would be wise to select a forward with their first pick and pick a defender or two with their second round picks, there a few interesting options projected in the 40-50 range (Lucas Johansen, Samuel Girard, Ryan Lindgren, Libor Hajek, Cam Dineen, Kale Clague, Luke Green and Frederic Allard). Will this draft be like our 2012 one or like our 2007 one?
Only time will tell but one thing is certain, it will be exciting to see how the first step of the Habs off-season unfolds!
Potential picks to come, so stay tuned for all nine profiles, starting with Logan Brown today.
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