In the end, Montreal picked Nathan Beaulieu

Well, my predictions for Montreal in the NHL 2011 draft was completely wrong, since no one could have expected to see Nathan Beaulieu drop into the 17th pick. I said Montreal needed big or super-talented forwards, but in the end, Pierre Gauthier did the right choice into picking the best overall player available in the draft that is the defenseman Nathan Beaulieu. It was surprising since I was expecting Montreal to go for a totally random guy from the US program (lol) or for Tyler Biggs which would make me rage. While still needing to become stronger physically, he is still reportedly the best skater of the draft who’s a good puck mover with a solid first pass and good shot. I find this move to be pretty exciting for the defensive corp in Montreal for the future seasons to come.

NHL Draft Tonight!! Go Habs Go

Well, The NHL draft is in a few hours and as always, I’m interested in mainly 2 things. Who’s the first 10 picks and which elite talent Trevor Timmins will miss to get for Montreal?

In the top 10, 5 players are pretty much assured to be drafted there. Obviously, they are Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (WHL), Adam Larsson (SWE), Jonathan Huberdeau (QMJHL), Gabriel Landeskog (OHL), Sean Couturier (QMJHL).

The Oilers are most likely going for Nugent-Hopkins. If not, I guess they could go for Adam Larsson since their defence lines are pretty bad (but they have 3 promising defensive prospects with Jeff Petry, Martin Marincin and Alex Plante). Adam Larsson is probably going to Colorado while Landeskog could get into Florida as the team lacks good forwards in the system. It would be interesting to know who’s going to get draft first between Couturier and Huberdeau. I predict Couturier for his safe body size.

Will Montreal get a good player?

Well, MTL GM, Pierre Gauthier said that his scouts believe that the first round has enough depth to get, on the 17th pick, a player on the same caliber as top 10 player. Do we believe that? That’s stating the obvious, there always players from the lower 1st round that shines more than some top 10. It’s really nothing new.

The Montreal Canadien’s scouting team has the tendency to look for the american hockey program. So, Scott Timmins will probably look for the guy who will be a 2-way player after 4 years before going pro. Is that a wrong move? NO, it’s the safest thing to do since these players get to be developed with defensive roles. But, will that produce the shining star? Probably not (lol), because in the end, he’s looking for the future responsible second-liner and not the possible first-liner with a hint of miss risk. I just want to see Timmins gambling like a gambler and not got for the 1 penny slot machines. Just hope that he doesn’t pick for a defensive defenseman on round 1, because it’s there where he seems to fail the most.

What does Montreal need?

Either a player with elite talent who can possibly shine or a sizy forward since the 4 of the top 6 forwards are below 6’0″ + the team sucks at 5 vs 5.

From what I’ve read, the one I Hope (?) to see drafted in montreal:

-Zack Phillips (center): Do we need another prospect center? No, but positions can always be changed anyway (lol). It seems that most nhl scouts and hockeysfuture believe the dude will go to Montreal. He has apparently great hand skills, but questionable skating. I’d say it would be cool to draft him into Montreal. We need offense!

-Joel Arnia (right-wing): the dude is a hit-or-miss kind of player. Talent vs inconsistent work Ethic. Who knows? André K. did get drafted by Montreal (lol).

-Boone Jenner (center): Some speculated that Montreal is looking at Jenner ever since the team signed Alain Berger from the Oshawa Generals. Apparently, he’s a hard-working player with good hockey sense who will play any role from face-offs to blocking shots to leadership. He’s probably not going to be the best offensive potential nor the most impactful pick but I’m sure he can’t be worse than Kyle Chipchura (lol).

-Matt Puempel (left-wing): Apparently, the type of player that gets drafted in the 27-30th pick. Offensive-minded player with speed and hands but also with bad defense and inconsistent work ethic. That reminds me of Ryder but with speed (lol). Worth it? Montreal can always go lower pick on the first by trading in order to find a second round pick or get another 3rd round pick.

Sources:
rds.ca
tsn.ca
hockeysfuture.com