Habs Daily: McKenzie’s Draft Rankings, Star Power, Weber HHoF

Here are the Montreal Canadiens news items, highlights, and stories you may have missed on Tuesday.

Montreal Canadiens News

Bob McKenzie’s much anticipated 2024 First Round Draft Rankings have been revealed. McKenzie’s list is based off the consensus of NHL scouts, which means the order in which the players are presented won’t necessarily align with any previously published mock drafts, but it does offer interesting insight as to how the league views the top prospects. Macklin Celebrini took the top spot, as expected, followed by Ivan Demidov, Artyom Levshunov, Anton Silayev, and Cayden Lindstrom. Forwards Konsta Helenius, Tij Iginla, and Cole Eiserman were ranked 8th, 9th, and 15th, respectively. [McKenzie Draft Rankings Give Insight To Canadiens Picks]

Former Canadiens captain Shea Weber was named as part of the 2024 NHL Hockey Hall of Fame inductee class. Say what you will about the fact that Weber’s contract remains in effect until 2026, or that the questionable cutoff put in place by Hall leaves something to be desired, but there’s no doubt he put together an impressive career, both in and outside the NHL. Weber essentially won a gold medal at every international tournament in existence, while putting together great seasons for the Nashville Predators and Montreal Canadiens in the NHL. Few players around the hockey landscape have matched his success rate while representing their country, an important consideration when we remember the Hockey Hall of Fame was not created simply to recognize NHL accomplishments.  [Former Canadiens Captain Inducted To Hockey Hall Of Fame]

It’s impossible to recreate a Stanley Cup winning roster. When it comes to professional sports, there are simply too many factors in play to chase the meta. But you can draw some important conclusions when evaluating Cup-winning lineups, with the most important being that you need star players to win 16 games in the playoff. The Habs have one player that’s considered a ‘career star’ in captain Nick Suzuki, but there are a handful of players that could join him in the future. [Star Power: Canadiens Lessons Learned From Stanley Cup Final]

National Hockey Now Network

• Don’t forget to check out all the Stanley Cup coverage from our sister site, Florida Hockey Now.  [Florida Panthers]
• For the first time in the history of their franchise, the Florida Panthers are Stanley Cup champions. There’s very little time for them to party and celebrate, though. The absurd NHL schedule means they have six days to sign half their team. No, that’s not an exaggeration. Florida has 11 players set to become unrestricted free agents on July 1, and the Colorado Avalanche should probably take a look at a few of them. [Colorado Avalanche]
• The Hockey Hall of Fame announced its 2024 class on Tuesday afternoon, with former Philadelphia Flyers standout Jeremy Roenick amongst those immortalized at the pinnacle of the game of hockey. [Philadelphia Flyers]