Canadiens Looking To Acquire Prospects At Key Positions

The Montreal Canadiens are focused on making the most of the 2023 NHL Draft, but they’re actively studying the availability of top prospects to help fill some big organizational holes.

General Manager Kent Hughes and EVP Jeff Gorton have had the better part of a year to assess what the Canadiens are missing to become contenders down the line.

Last season, Hughes saw fit to acquire right-shot defenceman Justin Barron in a trade for Arturri Lehkonen and a big centre in Kirby Dach in a three-way with the Islanders and Blackhawks.

Acquiring many 1st-round picks is exciting for the fanbase, but when Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield are already hitting their strides, you would to acquire assets closer to their age group.

Montreal Hockey Now has learned that, although the Canadiens do seem intent on acquiring a third 1st-round pick, their priority going into the 2nd half of this season is to acquire near NHL-ready prospects to prepare for what will be a big “step up” season next year.

Rightie, Tighty

The first order of business would be to acquire another right-shot defenceman, capable of playing as soon as next season, on the Canadiens’ blue line, first and foremost.

The Canadiens have seen some great development from their young defencemen this year in the NHL, but they’re all left-handed defencemen outside of Jonathan Kovacevic.

With Justin Barron progressing nicely in Laval, he may have a role with the Canadiens next season, but the plan is to look into young, right-shot defencemen leading up to the NHL Trade Deadline and into the summer. Should they fail to uncover any however, the Canadiens there are a few right-shot defencemen available in the 1st round of the 2023 NHL Draft like Axel Sandin-Pellika or Lukas Dragicevic.

Jeff Gorton has been vocal about shoring up his defence, which was his trademark with the New York Rangers, as he added Adam Fox, and Jacob Trouba via trade; while drafting K’Andre Miller, Nils Lundkvist, Braden Schneider and more as GM.

Netminder’s Pathfinder

The Montreal Canadiens are looking to address their goaltending future, with some young goaltenders across the league as potential targets.

Cayden Primeau has unfortunately been unable to put up consistent performances so far this season, which will prompt the Canadiens to look elsewhere to determine the future of such a vital position. The Canadiens bought themselves a little time by extending Jake Allen for an extra two years, but they’ll need to have a successor in place and ready to take No. 1 duties before then.

Montreal Hockey Now released a list of potential trade targets, including Buffalo’s Devon Levi, whom Hughes is very familiar with, as he currently plays with Hughes’ son at Northeastern University alongside fellow Canadiens prospect Jayden Struble.

On the flipside, in case the Canadiens aren’t able to get a true successfor via trade, if they do acquire another 1st-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, there are a few goalies that are pushing to get picked between the 25 to 40 rank in this deep class.

Goaltenders like Michael Hrabal of the USHL or Scott Ratzlaff of the WHL are pushing for a place in the 1st round with solid performances in their respective leagues.

It’s been 18 years since the Canadiens spent a 1st-round pick on a goaltender (Carey Price), and they could use a newly acquired late 1st-round pick to address the position, once and for all.

https://montreal.nationalhockeynow.com/2022/12/20/montreal-canadiens-five-canadiens-trade-targets-to-address-future-of-goaltending/

Goals, Goals Goals

Last season, the Canadiens focused primarily on acquiring draft picks and including prospects with interesting potential, but nothing top-end outside of Justin Barron.

This season, it may very-well be the other way around. The Canadiens have a couple of trade chips yet again, and could look at bolstering the skill at forward at this time.

Once the NHL Trade Deadline comes and passes, the Canadiens will have some holes in their lineup, akin to last season after trading Lehkonen, Brett Kulak, Tyler Toffoli and Ben Chiarot. It could provide some newly acquired prospects the time and space to come in and get their feet wet with the Canadiens in a kind of test drive, prior to the start of next season.

With the way the Canadiens’ prospect pool is set up now, there’s a major need for top-end talent. They did a good job in adding some of that in the 2022 NHL Draft, but they’ve identified prospects, like a Xavier Bourgault in Edmonton, that could fit the bill in adding some scoring punch to their ranks.

As it stands right now, Cole Caufield is the organization’s purest goal scorer, but the projection isn’t necessarily high on the rest of the prospect pool or the immediate future for the Canadiens. Juraj Slafkovsky may likely become an interesting goal-scorer, with Filip Mesar also being a good bet, but, to properly fill out their top-six and continue funneling in prospects over the next few years, they’re going to need reimforcements in this category.

Based on what Montreal Hockey Now has heard, the Canadiens are hard at work evaluating all opportunities right now, be it draft pick or prospect, as they continue to evaluate and rank the organization’s biggest needs.

That being said, one can expect some movement on this front as we head into January, with the Canadiens seeing a significant uptick in trade interest from rival teams.

https://montreal.nationalhockeynow.com/2022/12/15/very-early-mhn-2023-nhl-draft-rankings-montreal-canadiens/