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Draft Recap: The Habs Add 10 New Prospects |
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After the elation of picking Cole Caufield on the first day of the draft, the second day was a calmer affair for the Habs. They did make a couple of deals but only pick flipping in the draft and nothing major to report. That wasn't the case for every organisation however and if ever there was a cautionary tale about spending too much in the cap era, both the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Nashville Predators could star in it. The two teams made the headlines yesterday for shipping away Patrick Marleau and P.K. Subban in what were clearly salary dumping deals at high cost for both teams.
Meanwhile, at the Canadiens table, the talk was all about bolstering the left side of the blue line and out of the 9 picks made yesterday, 5 were left handed defensemen starting with the Habs' second round pick and 46th overall, Jayden Struble. At 6 foot and 193 pounds, Struble is said to be a very impressive athlete and some even say that he could have chosen baseball over hockey being just as skilled with a ball than with a puck. An interesting mix of physicality and skill, he managed to rack up 40 points in 28 games with St. Sebastian in the New England Prep League and is without a doubt an offensive defenseman. No one can say that Trevor Timmins wasn't up front before the drat this year, he said he was looking for two types of assets; scoring wingers and offensive defensemen. Of his 2nd round pick, Timmins said that he was the same type of player as Charlie McAvoy from the Bruins...Speaking of which, the youngster owned up to liking Patrice Bergeron and the Bruins but of course added that the Canadiens were now his favourite team.
3 more left handed D were taken by the Canadiens after Struble: Mattias Norlinder 64th overall in round 3, Gianni Fairbrother also in the 3rd round and 70th overall and Jacob LeGuerrier at 126th overall in the 5th round. Still in the 5th round at the 131st pick overall they chose a left winger, Rhett Pitlick before taking a goaltender, Frederick Nissen Dichow with the 138th pick. In the 6th round they called Arsen Khisamutdinov's name a Russian centre before wrapping things up in the 7th round with left wing Rafael Harvey-Pinard and yet another defenseman, Kieran Ruscheinski.
It's worth notting that Mattias Norlinder is not expected to attend development camp next week since he broke his hand during off-ice training. The offensive minded defenseman is apparently a joy to watch with the puck and can skate with the best of them. As for Gianni Fairbrother, he's known as a two way defenseman who can also quarter back the power play and plays with confidence with the puck.
Jacob LeGuerrier has got more than a winning last name, he's got a solid frame at 6'2" and 205 pounds and shows some promising skills. In 68 games last season, he got 6 goals, 10 assists for 16 points and an impressive +33 rating. As for Rhett Pitlick, he's a 5'10" and said to be very speedy and is the son of a former NHLer. At 6'5" and 192 pounds, the Danish goaltender Frederick Nissen Dichow made a very good impression at the u-18 World Junior Championship featuring in 5 games and getting a 2.37 GAA and a .922 save percentage.
As for the Russian centre selected in the 6th round Arsen Khisamutdinov (6'3" and 205 poinds), Timmins said:
"He's a guy that we had at our European Combine in Stockholm. We watched him on video a lot play at the KHL level and some games below [in the MHL]," "He's a big, offensive forward that has one year left on his contract. We're hoping to get him over here the year after this coming season."
Finally, you should know that 7th rounder Rafael Harvey-Pinard was a 40 goal scorer in the LHJMQ this season and also added 45 assists and registered a plus 43 differential while Ruscheinski registered seven goals and 11 points in 33 games with the Calgary Northstars Midget AAA.
Now that the draft is history, it's full speed ahead to free agency but until then, expect some more trades to happen in the NHL with the cap official set at 81.5 M, the Canadiens now have $10,206,191 in cap space. While Bergevin did well to boost the Habs' prospect pool this weekend, there remains big needs to address for next season...
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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