Lindstrom or Iginla with MTL pick and Cole Hutson with WPGs Pick

Team: 2023-24 Montreal Canadiens

Initial Creation Date: Mar. 3, 2024

Published: Apr. 9, 2024

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Draft Day Moves :

Why Cole Hutson?
Similar path as his Brother and set to walk into his NCAA Role just as Lane turns Pro.
Given the development paths been the same im confident that he'll thrive under Coach Pandolofo.
So i guess its about hedging your bet knowing odds are he'll overproduce too

MTL is sketchy with our late first round picks, most bust but that was largely before Bobrov.
But TBH Bobrov's later picks are often just as controversial most years.
I feel picking someone with this much skill we know a lot about makes sense.

By the time he turns pro Guhle will be on his 7th Season with Arber and Lane will be in his 3rd full season.
As much as i love Arber and Guhle as soon as Lane Huston hits All Time NCAA Scoring Dman Im Confident he'll thrive here.
His Power Play Ability is what may stand out the most but he's a solid Defensman in his own right

Why take Cole then if all that's true ?
Cause if you got to move 1/2 big guys you better have a top tier high end upgrade

Is there other Good players we could take with that pick?
For sure but none with the upside in the position to succeed like Cole is.

Personally im a big fan of this family especially Quinn and Lane with their success together.
I was already gonna invest in Quinn to become our Laval Captain and Mainstay Leader
While he's not NHL Ready nor is his Long Time Linemate Luke Tuch but both could be in 2-3 years in Laval
There is a Window for them as largely we have Centers joining Laval who could benefit from their Chemistry/Play like Cellebrini's has between Q.Hutson-L.Tuch.
The Hope is Quinn will be competing in the AHL for a Title as Lane is starting to lead MTL to Playoffs regularly
MTL needs one of our many standout Centers to follow Suzuki's Path and take that 2nd C role.
Until then as good as our D is at scoring i think we just wont have the depth to endure Injuries without that.


If Tanev got a 2nd,3rd and a prospect
Lubushkin got a 3rd and a 6th
I'd suggest that Savard lands just above Tanevs return as he finishes ahead of him everywhere his whole career.
While Savard was winning a Cup Tanev was Golfing after a loss that year in his 2nd playoffs in a decade.
Lybushkin and Kovacevic are actually basically the same stats wise as it all balances out.
Some area's Lybushkin is weak Kovacevic is strong and visca versa.
Kovacevic is Bigger is the only Quantifiable extreme i can see in differences

I still think if MTL RS as much as CGY did that a 1st isnt out of the question in the right situation
That said i think


Florian Xhekaj Dregr said signed a PTO to join Laval now potentially that MTL expects Xhekaj to skip his final year in the OHL to focus on playing in either MTL or Laval as he'll be old enough to make the choice by season start. Florian is a 6'4 Power Center who before this Offensive Breakout this season he was known as a Defensive Shut Down Player playing kinda a Perry like Role these days as an Agitator/Pest in the bottom 6 who's not a defensive liability .

This is a Year ahead of where i thought Florian was and im glad too!
Growing that extra 2 inches and putting on that 15lbs helped him a lot for sure
But really he just plays that Jack McBain type role Hughes come up short in filling as runner up in the McBain hunt.
Like McBain i expect Florian to finish top 5 in NHL hits as a Rookie while making a name as a Power Forward.


Upside? Florian unlike Arber LOVES to Fight but wont do it unless he can draw the extra penalty
He'll wait and bait a Reaves type into taking the extra then completely rock them.
Having him around will benefit both Xhekaj Brothers in that regard
It'll also make Pezz better by Proxy as Florians linemates in Brampton all picked it up on that side of their game


Do we need Florian to be Suzuki ? Nope , Just better then Dvorak or Colin White at this point.
Pretty low bar really but given he's a projected bottom 6 role player brining him up at 19 has no downside really.

MTL still has tons of time and space to make moves this summer and to sell Vet's next TDL.
Plus we got a stacked AHL team with talent to the roof as Mesar,Beck,Kapanen,Hutson and Enstrom among others set to join Laval.

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