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Dans les coulisses

The chances of the Canadiens drafting a defenseman in the first round are (very) high.

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - JUNE 29: (L-R) Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes of the Montreal Canadiens works the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bridgestone Arena on June 29, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

People often go from one extreme to the other. Especially in politics and sports…

“The Habs should have drafted Shane Wright, not Juraj Slafkovsky! Boooouuuuhhhh!”

“JurajSlafkovsky is a flop!”

And then…

“Kent Hughes needs to sign Slafkovsky for eight years. He’s our best day and if we wait too long, it’s going to cost over $10 million a season to extend him.”

The same exercise would yield the same conclusions with P.K. Subban, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Lars Eller, Marc Bergevin and so on.

On a more macro level, how many times have we heard experts AND fans say that we shouldn’t draft according to need in the NHL amateur draft?

That the best player should be selected, period…

Pretty much everyone agrees that in the first round (and in the second, in my opinion), the GM and his team should select the highest-ranked player on their list, period.

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Of course, organizations all have different lists because one) their evaluation criteria aren’t the same and two) not all scouts like all players in the same way.

The Habs, for example, seem to prioritize raw talent, size, character and the likelihood of becoming a high-quality player, not of turning out to be a home run. Other organizations think differently.

Some teams don’t draft in Russia, Quebec or certain European countries, while others love these selections.

But in the end, it’s been shown that a team that follows its list and drafts the best player available is more likely to make good selections in the end than another team that goes down its list to draft a player playing a specific position. In short, it’s best to avoid drafting according to need. Especially when the player selected (or ignored) will only have an impact in a few years’ time…

Needs have time to change.

And it avoids mistakes that make the entire management team look bad a few years later! Mathias Brunet had a word to say about this yesterday in La Presse.

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And yet, many experts AND fans are calling for a striker right now, on the pretext that we have too many defensemen (especially young ones) in Montreal. Practice what you preach, guys!

I don’t want to point fingers. You only have to follow Quebec sports news to find out who doesn’t want to see the Habs draft a defenseman, no matter what the situation…

Ten days from now in Vegas, I’d like to see Kent Hughes, Jeff Gorton, Nick Bobrov and Martin Lapointe pronounce the name of the highest-ranked day on their top five, that’s it. It doesn’t matter which position he plays…

If we have a surplus ofassets at a given position at a given time, we’ll make a trade.

Here’s MY personal top 5 for the first round:

1. Macklin Celebrini
2. Ivan Demidov (even though he plays in the KHL)
3. Sam Dickinson
4. Tij Iginla
5. Zayne Parehk/Artyum Levshunov

The Canadiens have their own.

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When it comes time to talk about the fifth spot, I’d like to see the Habs name the highest-ranked player on their list, that’s it. The chances of it being a defenseman are enormous. Especially since Anton Silayev and Zeev Buium are being touted by several scouts…

Cayden Lindstrom’s herniated disc… Berkly Catton’s size… Cole Eiserman’s one-dimensional game… general doubt about Beckett Sennecke…

Several forwards have downsides, and we’re headed for a draft of defensemen.

In Rome, do as the Romans do.

In an Asian restaurant, don’t ask if they have shepherd’s pie.

Don’t take your hockey stick to the golf course.

And if the best player available in the fifth spot is a defenseman, draft a defenseman. That’s it!

Then we’ll see what we do with it all! #BeautifulProblem

Overtime

– It’s official!

– Will Connor McDavid win the Conn-Smythe Trophy even if the Panthers lift the Stanley Cup?

– Florida’s advantages are numerous.

– Big boxing gala scheduled for August in Quebec City.

– The new owner of the Trois-Rivières Lions is doing what he promised to do.

– Sports may be different, but they’re very similar.