Overviewing The Canadiens Top Targets For 2023 NHL Draft

Even if the Montreal Canadiens don’t win the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery, they’re still likely to draft an impact player or two this June.

Montreal Hockey Now was joined by NHL.com’s Mike Morreale to discuss the players that could be available to the Montreal Canadiens at the 2023 NHL Draft.

For the longest time, the 2023 NHL Draft has been viewed as the “Connor Bedard Show“, and with due cause. Bedard has put up offensive numbers and performances that only come around once in a generation, making him the unanimous top player of this draft class.

However, outside of Bedard, you also find the likes of forwards Adam Fantilli, Leo Carlsson and Matvei Michkov. All of the above forwards have been in the public eye for many years now, forming what many believe to be the top tier of the draft.

However, as we’ve seen of late, the talent tier may be getting a little more crowded at the top than many initially believed; with top talents like Zach Benson, Dalibor Dvorsky and Eduard Sale joined by risers like Will Smith, Oliver Moore, Andrew Cristall and Axel Sandin-Pellikka to name a few.

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As we get set for an important second half of the season, amateur scouts across the board continue to rave about the growing number of impact players emerging out of this year’s draft class.

Morreale believes that, given what he’s seen so far, it could be one of the more top-heavy classes in recent memory.

“Despite having Connor Bedard and Fantilli, which looks to be 1 and 2 at this stage of the season, there’s a lot of other talented players here that could have an impact,” said Morreale at the quality of the 2023 NHL Draft Class. “I think this year’s draft will top the one we saw in 2022 and also 2021, as far as first-round talent goes.”

As the Montreal Canadiens continue to separate themselves from the basement-dwellers of the NHL standings, there has been a growing concern that the Canadiens are playing themselves out of reach of Bedard, but any potential game-breaking talent in this draft class.

This may have been a valid concern in past drafts, but, as Morreale details, the talent level in the top half of the first round is unique this year.

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“There are many impact players coming from the NTDP this year, a ton of guys coming from the WHL, and then even internationally,” said Morreale in terms of the high number of impact players available at the top of this year’s class. ” You will see this draft be a notch above, particularly in the first round. Teams are going to be trying to get an extra pick in the first round.”

With players like Smith, Moore, Leonard, Cristall, Benson, Sale, Dvorsky and plenty more being potential targets outside the top-5 of this year’s draft, the Canadiens are well positioned to draft an impact player wherever they land within the bottom 10 of the NHL standings.

To listen to the full breakdown of potential impact players likely to be available to the Canadiens, see the full interview below:

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