Habs Prospects
Canadiens 2025 Draft Targets: The Intriguing Lynden Lakovic
The 2025 NHL Entry Draft is a stone’s throw away, and the Montreal Canadiens hold two first-round picks they may use to bolster their prospect pipeline.
Among the players that might be available for them at 16th and 17th overall are the enticing Carter Bear, and the prolific Justin Carbonneau.
Considering the Habs already has promising bottom-six forwards in Florian Xhekaj, Owen Beck, and Jared Davidson in their midst, the scouting team could be tempted to swing on upside rather than safe bets in this forward-heavy portion of the draft.
With that in mind, an interesting long-term project could be right there for the taking: Lynden Lakovic.
Lynden Lakovic, LW, Shoots Left, 6’4″, 185 lb, Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
Lakovic is a big winger that will only get add mass as he fills his underdeveloped frame. The talented playmaker has great skating abilities and really soft hands to match. Lakovic excels at zone entries, and often attacks the defensive zone in an arc, forcing the creation of a gap, and allowing for a drop pass that leaves room for the trailing player to wind up a shot uncontested, or use his speed to deke his way to the net.
Lynden Lakovic with an absolute BULLET 😤@MJWARRIORS | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/3Fx2yYRkug
— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) March 2, 2025
This is a major area of improvement in his play compared to previous seasons, as he used to be much more conservative with the puck. It goes to show Lakovic is improving and adjusting to the competition in front of him as he grows more comfortable in the WHL. His ability to assimilate new tactics and bolster his arsenal of tools, especially in his draft year, is encouraging for scouts, and makes it interesting to project a runway for the skilled winger’s development.
The Kelowna native favours using his long stick to deke opponents or keep the puck away when entering the offensive zone before dishing it out to a teammate. However, he doesn’t shy away from using his shot, and what a shot he possesses! His 27 goals in 47 games are a testament to his goal-scoring ability, and his 58 points total (while missing 21 games) still have him leading his team by 10 points. That’s not bad for a player that hasn’t quite figured it all out yet.
OH. BOY.
Lynden Lakovic, un genou par terre svp 🙌@MJWARRIORS pic.twitter.com/GlO6AR1IFj
— La Première Ronde (@1ereronde) March 3, 2025
Lakovic keeps his hands close to his body when firing at the net which creates great torque, and as a result, his shot is heavy and precise. He is also very good at catching and releasing pucks in a single movement, something that could make him a double threat at the next level.
At the risk of sounding cliché, as every year a big, skilled player is dubbed the ‘next Tage Thompson’… could Lakovic be this year’s recipient of the moniker?
Necessary Improvements to Help The Montreal Canadiens
There’s still some work to be done in the gym to ensure he fills out his impressive frame. On that note, he has gained several inches in recent years, and it has hindered his play slightly, as his skating, while good, still has a healthy dose of awkwardness.
Right now, fans are a little dumbfounded by his lack of physicality, his propensity for peripheral play, and how easily he loses board battles given his height. But considering he’s quite lanky, this is an area of his game that should improve once he fills out, and learns to throw his weight around.
For those reasons, Lakovic is probably three or four years away from the NHL, in order to give him enough time to add physicality and grit to his toolkit. There’s nothing wrong with letting a player with that much upside fully develop in order to cash out on that lottery ticket. And if he’s available in the middle of the first-round — somewhere he projects to be picked — the Montreal Canadiens faithful should be pleased with his selection, as the potential is sky-high.
it must be Lynden Lakovic’s lucky day! #17 gets his 17th goal of the season! @MJWarriors | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/3EUZuXhL3x
— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) December 28, 2024
Projecting a fit with the Montreal Canadiens
Lakovic has shown evidence of great hockey IQ, leadership qualities and the ability to adapt and improve over the course of his WHL stint. Banking on his motivation and coachability could really pay off if set on the right development path.
Nabbing a big winger with tantalizing skills that could become a top-six mainstay for years in the middle of the first round could be a home run to celebrate, years down the road.
And all the aforementioned character traits could yield a useful bottom-six player that can score goals, if he doesn’t fully hit his ceiling.
But will Lynden Lakovic still be available once the Montreal Canadiens make their selection on June 27, or will another team steal him first?
The description sounds a lot like Dach. There are several players that I’d like if we keep our picks and draft where we are and Lakovic is one of them. My only concern is the knock against him is his inconsistent compete level. That’s a bit of a question mark on him for sure. That’s a problem with Roy too. But, they’re young. There’s still time to mould them. Team peer pressure can also encourage guys to follow suit. If we surround them with enough dog-on-a-bone type guys, they’ll have no choice but to toe the line.
Agree, need a dog on bone to help him develop, problem is after Galley who is that?
I am actually good with Bear, Carbonneau or Lakovic but would take Martin or Cootes with next pick. Think they can get 1 or 2 RHD in 2nd/ 3rd round.
We definitely won’t be leaving the draft with a 2C unless he’s an established player we trade for. Although, I’m in the minority in thinking we shouldn’t trade for one (unless it’s a superstar which is extremely unlikely). I’m perfectly fine waiting to see how Dach returns next season. It would suck to spend valuable assets to get a 2C when we have one in Dach already here and one coming in Hage. Drafting where we are, we aren’t likely going to pick a needle moving player. My dream scenario would be that McQueen drops out of the top 10 and we can trade our 2 firsts to jump up and grab him.
Im not sold on lankovic. Everything i read and have heard it reminds me of dach or kotkaniemi tall lanky afraid of board battles or use his big body to drive the net. And icing on the cake has an awkward skating stride. Also not sold on dach being a full time center.aside from never being healthy you cant go into next year with all your eggs on dach remaining healthy. I personally would have loved bo horvat but reports r islanders are not interested in any trades for him.other option i like is Claude giroux. Big experienced still produces would help alleviate alot of defensive pressure for nick suzuki and help guide demidov. He wouldn’t be a long term solution obviously but with a very weak center free agency it would help us till next season when its a bigger center free agency or when hage makes his way..
But if we are dreaming and like all armchair gms do this is the year to sell big and land a true center of the future in Caleb desnoyer. P.s i love that he called out hughes to trade up fpr him reminded me of slafkovsky comment on how he’s would ve the perfect winger for suzuki caufield if they were to draft him
Pretty much every guy in our range has question marks somewhere. I agree, his warts concern me too, but I wondered if we surround him with the right guys, team culture will allow him to become what we want him to be.
I hadn’t read that Desnoyers comment to Hughes. That would be awesome, but we would have to sacrifice a top piece on our team now to get him. A dream is all it’ll be.
Btw, is your account name a shoutout to Judas Priest or unrelated?
I’m not sure that spending a 1st round pick on an awkward skater who doesn’t hit or play hard is such a great idea. That’s what later rounds picks ideally should be used on–project players who are 3+ years away. You can’t teach inate talent, but you can teach a harder play style, which is clearly what he needs from what I am reading about him.
I have no faith in Dach to stay healthy, and he was at his best as a winger on line 1. Good thing he isn’t a gun fighter, he’s so awful on the draw. I think if we go into yet another season with him as the de facto 2C, it will be another poor season for him. Especially if Laine doesn’t get dealt. Dach has a weak game defensively, and Laine is garbage unless he is standing still in the left circle on the PP.
In my opinion, 2C is of course a top priority, but the biggest has to be getting Laine off the team. Yeah, we don’t make the playoffs without his pp goals in December and January, but his lack of effort and uselessness elsewhere was exposed pretty quickly. When you bench your “star” winger in the playoffs and the team plays much better, that says a lot. And game 3, his 1st game out, was the best game they played all season, best game in years imo.
We should expect a lot more for the $ he gets paid, or spend it on players who actually try their best.