SOURCE: Canadiens ‘High On A Few Prospects’ For 2023 Draft

The Montreal Canadiens have been hard at work preparing for the 2023 NHL Draft, and they’re starting to round out their draft lists.

Although the Canadiens only learned about their official draft rank less than a week ago at the NHL Draft Lottery, they’ve been preparing to pick in that range from the get-go.

General manager Kent Hughes recently spoke after the lottery to discuss the range of players he was looking at, saying that there was a group of players the club was evaluating at that rank that could end up being their selection.

Hughes made those comments after just having returned from the IIHF U-18 World Championships, where many top prospects for the 2023 NHL Draft put on a show for the many NHL teams in attendance.

One source, who was present in Switzerland during the event, suggests however that the Montreal Canadiens really liked what they saw from the gold-medal Team USA roster.

“I spoke to a few members of the Montreal brain trust who were ranting and raving about Ryan Leonard and Will Smith at the U-18s,” said the source, who requested to remain anonymous. “They were waiting to see if Leonard was going to take his game up a notch, and he sure did. That’s a player to watch out for on Montreal’s radar if Smith goes early.”

When questioned about Dalibor Dvorsky’s exceptional tournament and how his regular-season struggles factored into the opinion most have of him today, it seemed to be a 50/50 split.

“Some teams fell even more in love with him at the tournament, while others realized they needed to pay a little more attention’ said the source. “That being said, Hughes has said that tournaments aren’t the deciding factors in a selection, which means they’ll be looking on the long-term for sure.”

Notwithstanding the top prospects like Connor Bedard, Adam Fantilli, and Leo Carlsson, there are other prospects that round out that group like forward Zach Benson and defenceman David Reinbacher, which should not be discounted either.

“They’re high on a few players, seems like about five or six of them,” said the source.

But one major question mark remains.

Michkov Remains An Option

The debate regarding the selection of Matvei Michkov is likely to be the biggest story heading into the 2023 NHL Draft.

Teams haven’t gone into the nitty-gritty with him yet, as a lot of rumours seem to be flying around the scouting community regarding his status in the KHL and his family situation.

That being said, the Canadiens know undeniable talent when they see it, and they’re going to count on Co-Director of amateur scouting, Nick Bobrov to do his homework on the subject.

“There’s a ton of risk regarding Matvei Michkov, but, you can bet that they’re not just going to snub him because he’s Russian,” said the source. “They’ll do their homework now, because he’s one of those players you simply can’t ignore. If they don’t pick Michkov, it’s because the risk is likely greater than we know.”

However, as Montreal Canadiens fans get nervous regarding the direction the organization takes on Michkov, management will do their due diligence as they build their board.

It doesn’t guarantee he’ll be selected, but they’ll surely weigh the pros and cons logically before narrowing their draft list in late June.