Who would or should Montreal pick

Created by: KentMcNally

Team: 2023-24 Montreal Canadiens

Initial Creation Date: Nov. 21, 2023

Published: Nov. 21, 2023

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Legend

Left Handed

Original Team

Waivers Exempt

Right Handed

Position

Trade Clause

Max Perf. Bonus

Expiry Status

Term Remaining

McDavid, Connor

$12,500,000 ( Performance Bonus

$250,000)

NMC

UFA - 5

Description

Right now Montreal is in the 7th position for the draft. Which means the worst that they could do in the draft (if it was done today) would be 9th overall. I don't see them catching many teams ahead of them (especially if Monahan and Allen or Montembeault get traded) and I think it is safe to say that Edmonton just has too much talent to finish behind the Habs, so I think they will likely be 6th overall or better (or worse, depending on your outlook) in April.

I know draft rankings could change between now and the actual draft, especially with international tournaments still to be played, but I am curious what other people think.

With all of that said, who should Montreal target if their draft position is between #2 and #9:
1st overall will probably be Celebrini
2nd overall will probably be either Eiserman or Levshunov
3rd overall will probably be Eiserman or Levshunov or Demidov
4th overall will probably be Catton or Dickinson or Demidov or Levshunov
5th overall will probably be Catton or Dickinson
6th through 9th overall could be one of: Lindstrom, Helenius, Silayev, Brandsegg Nygard or Jiricek

If Montreal gets 2nd or 3rd I think they should go after Eiserman if he is available. I think they should target guys like Demidov, Catton, Lindstrom or Helenius from pick #4 to #6 (unless Levshunov is available at #6 somehow).

Thoughts?

Trades

MTL

Campbell, Jack
2025 1st round pick (EDM)
2026 2nd round pick (EDM)

EDM

Allen, Jake

Buyouts

Karl Alzner: $833,333

Retained Salary Transactions

Joel Edmundson: $1,750,000 (50%)
Jeff Petry: $2,343,750 (50%)

Buried

Joel Armia: $2,250,000 ($3,400,000)

Draft	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7
2024
2025
2026

ROSTER

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK

EMBED

TEXT-EMBED

ROSTER SIZE	SALARY CAP	CAP HIT	OVERAGES	BONUSES	CAP SPACE
23	$83,500,000	$79,985,416	$1,170,000	$4,267,500	$3,514,584

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Caufield, Cole $7,850,000$7,850,000 LW, RW UFA - 8	Suzuki, Nick $7,875,000$7,875,000 C UFA - 7	Gallagher, Brendan $6,500,000$6,500,000 RW, LW M-NTC, NMC UFA - 4
Pearson, Tanner $3,250,000$3,250,000 LW UFA - 1	Dvorak, Christian $4,450,000$4,450,000 C M-NTC UFA - 2	Anderson, Josh $5,500,000$5,500,000 RW, LW M-NTC UFA - 4
Newhook, Alex $2,900,000$2,900,000 C, LW RFA - 4	Monahan, Sean $1,985,000$1,985,000 ($15,000$15K) C, LW, RW UFA - 1	Slafkovsky, Juraj $950,000$950,000 ($3,500,000$4M) RW, LW RFA - 2
Pezzetta, Michael $812,500$812,500 LW, RW UFA - 2	Evans, Jake $1,700,000$1,700,000 C UFA - 2	Ylönen, Jesse $775,000$775,000 RW, LW RFA - 1

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Matheson, Michael $4,875,000$4,875,000 LD M-NTC UFA - 3	Lindström, Gustav $950,000$950,000 RD RFA - 1
Harris, Jordan $1,400,000$1,400,000 LD/RD RFA - 2	Barron, Justin $925,000$925,000 ($275,000$275K) RD RFA - 1	Montembeault, Samuel $1,000,000$1,000,000 G UFA - 1
Struble, Jayden $867,500$867,500 ($57,500$58K) LD RFA - 2	Kovacevic, Johnathan $766,667$766,667 RD UFA - 2	Primeau, Cayden $890,000$890,000 G RFA - 2
Guhle, Kaiden $863,333$863,333 ($420,000$420K) LD/RD RFA - 2		Campbell, Jack $5,000,000$5,000,000 G M-NTC UFA - 4
Xhekaj, Arber $828,333$828,333 LD/RD RFA - 1

Scratches	Injured Reserve (IR)	Long Term IR (LTIR)
	Savard, David $3,500,000$3,500,000 RD UFA - 2	Price, Carey $10,500,000$10,500,000 G NMC UFA - 3
	Dach, Kirby $3,362,500$3,362,500 C, RW RFA - 3
	Harvey-Pinard, Rafaël $1,100,000$1,100,000 LW, RW RFA - 2
	Wideman, Chris $762,500$762,500 RD UFA - 1

Top Comments

Nov. 21, 2023 at 9:22 a.m.

Subbanator7667

Subbanator

Joined: Jul. 2017

Posts: 7,437

Likes: 3,402

Missing another 1st or good prospect in the trade.

If the Habs don't get Celebrini then they have to grab Demidov. Eiserman would be nice but need a truly dynamic and elite player and Demidov is above him that perspective

Nov. 21, 2023 at 10:26 a.m.

KentMcNally

Fall River Habs

Joined: Aug. 2021

Posts: 886

Likes: 336

Quoting: Subbanator7667

I did not put a ton of thought into the trade. I was more worried about the drafting question.

Interesting that you think they should go Demidov over Eiserman. I do not think that I have seen many (any??) mock drafts where Eiserman is behind Demidov. Have you watched a lot of tape on the 2 players?

Nov. 21, 2023 at 10:48 a.m.

Subbanator7667

Subbanator

Joined: Jul. 2017

Posts: 7,437

Likes: 3,402

Quoting: KentMcNally

Iv watched more Demidov games than Eiserman games and both are good players. Just different players, Eiserman is a shooter who has some questions on skating and IQ. Demidov has had limited ice time but he is just magic with the puck, his edges, hockey IQ and stick handling are all elite. Just less questions for me on Demidov than there is with Eiserman.

The Russian factor will be present but as of now he isn't locked in long term with the KHL like Michkov was so I don't think it will be as big of a factor

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