4. Ryan Murray
5. Mikhail Grigorenko
6. Griffin Reinhart
7. Teuvo Teravainen
8. Radek Faksa
9. Matthew Dumba
10. Morgan Rielly
11. Jacob Trouba
12. Cody Ceci
13. Brendan Gaunce
14. Zemgus Girgensons
15. Olli Määttä
16. Tom Wilson
17. Sebastian Collberg
18. Matt Finn
19. Andrei Vasilevski
20. Slater Koekkoek
21. Henrik Samuelsson
22. Derrick Pouliot
23. Tomas Hertl
24. Hampus Lindholm
25. Nicolas Kerdiles
26. Scott Laughton
27. Ludvig Bystrom
28. Cristoval 'Boo' Nieves
29. Oscar Dansk
30. Malcolm Subban
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Let's not kid ourselves-- despite a poor finish, Montreal has a lot too look forward to. In Price they have a franchise goalie for years to come, that can give confidence to a young team and cover up mistakes. Subban is emerging as a top defenseman, and they have a good core behind him with Markov (if healthy), Gorges, Emelin, and eventually the likes of Tinordi and Beaulieu. Up front they have some nice two-way pieces in Eller, Patches and Plekanec. In need of some franchise level high-end offense, and some tweaks, Montreal could go in the right direction quicker than expected.
"With the third overall pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, Montreal is proud to welcome, from the Sarnia Sting of the Ontario Hockey League:
Alexander Galchenyuk."
In the conversation with Nail Yakupov should be the name Alex Galchenyuk, the teammate of Nail in Sarnia. With a Russian background, Galchenyuk was born in Milwaukee and considers himself an American, whom he'll try to play for at the upcoming World Juniors. Having been taken 1st Overall in the OHL Draft, Galchenyuk already had pedigree behind his name before Yakupov joined him in the O.
A centerman with some size, Galchenyuk is a hot commodity. Standing at roughly six-foot-one, Gally has a good sized frame that some believe will be able to play at roughly 220 lbs. He considers himself a two-way player, but has a tremendous offensive game to go with it.
The first thing to notice about Galchenyuk is his top-end speed. He comes out of the gate quick with good acceleration and an explosive first two-strides. He has strong footwork and can change directions at a moment's notice to fool defenders. When in full flight, with his frame, he's hard to knock off the puck.
Offensively, Galchenyuk is a highlight reel type player. His hands are likely better than Nail's, using them to throw off defenders, find loose pucks, or dance around goalies. He's a tremendous playmaker, who can pass through multiple obstacles onto the stick of a moving target, with relative ease. He has the ability to dictate the pace of the game. Alex has a quick release to his shot, and can make you pay in that way too.
At his best, Galchenyuk uses his frame, physical strength barreling down on you to drive to the net and cut in, whether scoring, or looking for the trailing man.
The only question surrounding this top talent is whether a team will take the risk after he missed all the of the season with a torn ACL. If he had of played, we'd be talking about Nail vs. Alex, similar to Taylor vs. Tyler a couple seasons ago.
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