Canadiens Analysis
Canadiens Draft Focused On Turning Quantity Into Quality
The Montreal Canadiens owned 12 picks heading into the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, however, it was rather clear that they were not going to end up with a dozen new prospects once the festivities wrapped up.
And while that may seem counterintuitive for a team that’s just a few years removed from starting the tear down and rebuild, it speaks to the solid work done by Kent Hughes and Co., particularly their penchant for accumulating valuable assets.
Consequently, the Canadiens could afford to aggressively address pressing needs, as evidenced by the trade that saw top-pairing defenceman Noah Dobson join the franchise in exchange for a pair of first-round picks.
MUST READ: Instant Analysis – Dobson Trade Tidy Business By The Canadiens
Beyond the Dobson trade, which should help ensure an upward trajectory at a time when the Canadiens are set to close the books on their short-term rebuild plans, Montreal had stockpiled enough assets to land one of their most highly-touted prospects, Alexander Zharovsky.
According to Martin Lapointe, the Canadiens expected Zharovsky to be picked in the first round, which is why they did not hesitate to use a pair of second-round picks to secure a trade and nab him with the 34th overall pick. This decision would have been a little more difficult to make if the Habs weren’t sitting on a mountain of assets acquired in previous deals.
Nice work Montreal to get Zharovsky.
Kent Hughes doing nice things!
One of the best model bets still left. pic.twitter.com/XyhMAI3lrE
— Byron Bader (@ByronMBader) June 28, 2025
For the record, Montreal had Zharovsky listed as a player they would target with the 16th overall pick, making the extra second-round pick they paid to move up the draft a very reasonable price for an asset-rich franchise.
«On a repêché Zharovsky en deuxième ronde, mais c’était notre choix de première ronde, finalement», explique Martin Lapointe à @Antho_Martineau: pic.twitter.com/eJCnqhCvMY
— TVA Sports (@TVASports) June 28, 2025
The team also opted to spend more assets to move up shortly thereafter, picking 6’5″ forward Hayden Paupanekis with the 69th overall pick.
Montreal Canadiens Brass Tacks
It’s a significant departure from the philosophy of the previous regime, which focused on winning trades in a vacuum rather than putting together a grand design. By the end of his tenure, Marc Bergevin was almost paralyzed by the possibility he would lose asset value in a deal, but that strategy ignored that avoiding risk at all costs is one of the riskiest avenues possible, as it ensures status quo rather than growth.
With Hughes at the helm, not only are the Canadiens being honest about their pressing needs, they’re actively looking for ways to address them in the most efficient way possible.
Not all the trades will work out, and there’s no guarantee the prospects they moved up to draft will become stars, but the active and aggressive approach is a nice change of pace, especially when we consider Canadian teams traditionally err on the side of caution.
The modern sports landscape requires bold moves, backed up with a healthy dose of due diligence, the exact modus operandi Jeff Gorton has put into place during his very encouraging tenure as the vice president of the Montreal Canadiens.
Circling back to the Dobson trade, I think this is better than most recognize. He was having a monster season when Patrick Roy was hired as coach in late January of 2024 to replace Lane Lambert. At the end of January, Dobson had played 49 games and produced 52 points!!! and was a tidy +21. There was lots of Norris chatter but that faded as he finished the season under Roy from February on playing 30 games yielding 19 points and a -9 rating. Then he declined to 39 points and a minus -16 under Roy’s first full year as his head coach.
Prorating his 2023-24 pace before the coaching change, his season could have been 85+ points and plus 30, which wasn’t far behind Norris winner Quinn Hughes 92 points. His two previous seasons were 51 and 49 points so he was taking a big step forward in 2023-2024. It’s no secret he and Roy did not get along, but I expect he and Marty will have a strong relationship and he will return to his previous form which was about 60 points/82 during the 3 previous seasons. On Long Island he had the pp and here it will be Hutson on unit 1or maybe both? It will be interesting to see how Marty handles that. I was living in Calgary when Reinhart Suter and McInnis patrolled their blue line and Badger Bob Johnson managed to have all three get quality pp minutes and produce strong offensive numbers, so it can be done, but neither he or Lane have great shots so I suspect they will be on separate units.
The point is, we have just added a player in his prime with Norris contender abilities. Hutson is also elite and Matheson is no slouch moving the puck , and I hope he stays. The rest of the defense will be lower risk than those 3 providing balance. Our blue line will be near the top of the league in providing offense- my guess is top 3. So the more I look at this acquisition, the better I feel about it. The contract is rich but will age well and those team friendly deals Hughes inked will play well going forward to help sign Hutson and Demidov to long term deals. We can afford them all. The rebuild is really shaping up and you don’t need a high powered telescope to see how the players in our system can become cup contenders down tge road, as they mature and develop. We have depth in the prospect pool and Dobson accelerates the timeline. On paper, a sensational addition. Let’s see how it plays out on the ice. Go Habs
Ps I graduated high school in Summerside, Noah’s hometown, so I’m cheer a little extra for him. One of only 2 Maritime born players to win the Memorial Cup twice ( Stephen MacAulay from Cole Harbour was the other)
I can live with the first 2 picks we made, it’s after that where I start scratching my head. We definitely didn’t need to waste 2 more picks on goalies. We certainly didn’t need to waste a pick on a guy who is 2” shorter and 20lbs lighter than Caufield! I don’t even think we should have chosen any Dmen. Package as many picks together as we can to move as high as we can and draft the best big forwards available would have been the way to go in my book.
Let’s have you replace Hughes. I agree you definitely know better
Much ado about nothing. These are late round picks you are referring to. The chances that any one of them turn into just half-way decent NHL players is maybe 1 in 20. Hughes just did package 2 picks to move up to get a decent sized winger.
I don’t think your book would sell many copies! 🙂 Thankfully, Hughes and the team are staying true to their plan and not making knee jerk decisions based on the team “flavor of the month”