HabsWorld.net —\u00a0<\/p>\n
The dust has largely settled on Montreal\u2019s offseason, or so it seems, at least.\u00a0 With that in mind, it\u2019s time to take a closer look at their 2026 draft class.<\/p>\n
I wanted to take some time after the draft to get a better feel for who Montreal selected, especially since the prospect rankings are returning this summer.\u00a0 Rather than do grades as we used to do, let\u2019s instead go over some general thoughts on their newest prospects and their draft as a whole.<\/p>\n
1) Gleb Pugachyov, 26th Overall: It has been a few years since Montreal\u2019s first-round pick had some controversy.\u00a0 Yes, Pugachyov was rated below 26th by a lot of public rankings but at the same time, we know scouting Russia isn\u2019t easy.\u00a0 Many NHL teams struggle to get eyes in there so we know independent scouts probably aren\u2019t having an easier time.\u00a0 With that in mind, I\u2019m not concerned about the pick being a reach based on the rankings.\u00a0 And if the Habs had him well above 26th on their list, flipping a 2027 third-rounder to make sure they get him is defensible.<\/p>\n
There is definitely some risk here but the fact Pugachyov\u2019s floor is a role the Habs lack helps to insulate it somewhat.\u00a0 They clearly think he has top-six upside.\u00a0 A couple of years in the KHL could help develop those skills.\u00a0 But his defensive awareness (he was a defenceman early in his career) and physicality are attributes that make him a seamless fit in the bottom six.\u00a0 Barring injuries, Pugachyov should have a role in Montreal\u2019s lineup, probably fairly quickly given how filled out he is already.\u00a0 If he can be a top-six piece, this should be a great pick.\u00a0 If not, he can still contribute but a lower-lineup outcome on a first-round pick wouldn\u2019t be great by any stretch.<\/p>\n
2) Timofei Runtso, 57th Overall: It\u2019s fair to say this pick was more controversial, given that the defenceman wasn\u2019t picked last year and the Habs traded up to get him.\u00a0 But that overlooks the fact that Runtso took huge strides in his development, thriving in a much more competitive league (WHL) compared to his draft year (NAHL).\u00a0 He\u2019s big, a strong skater, and has a lot of offensive skill while being a right-hand shot.\u00a0 There\u2019s a lot to like here once you look past the second year of eligibility part.\u00a0 Montreal has an intriguing track record with blueliners not picked in their first year, including Adam Engstrom and Bryce Pickford, players who have some similar attributes to Runtso.\u00a0 There\u2019s a reason he was believed to be in Montreal\u2019s top 32 on their draft board.<\/p>\n
3)\u00a0Cooper Cleaves, 93rd Overall: This selection was even less popular on draft day, given that it was his third year of eligibility, something this management group hasn\u2019t shied away from among defenders (look no further than Bogdan Konyushkov).\u00a0 They had him at development camp last year and he also stood out more at a higher level, going from the USHL to the NCAA.\u00a0 If you were to ask Montreal\u2019s coaching staff about the profile of player they\u2019d like on the third pairing, it would be someone who is defensively reliable, a good skater, and brings some grit to the table.\u00a0 Cleaves checks the first and third boxes and if his skating comes around, he could fit the bill as a third-pairing player.\u00a0 This pick isn\u2019t a swing for upside but he\u2019s the type of player Montreal is going to want to sign over the next few years.\u00a0 That said, I had him pegged to go a couple of rounds lower than this.<\/p>\n
4)\u00a0Brayden Klimpke, 117th Overall: Young blueliners aren\u2019t always the most reliable on a consistent basis but that\u2019s one element Klimpke has.\u00a0 He\u2019s a great skater, can log big minutes, and is solid defensively.\u00a0 At this point of the draft, that\u2019s not bad, although he\u2019s a bit on the smaller side with a skill game that might not have a ton of projection.\u00a0 He profiles as more of a solid AHL defender than someone with NHL upside although he\u2019ll be taking the slower development route through college.\u00a0 After some riskier selections, this was certainly a safer pick.<\/p>\n
5)\u00a0Parker Trottier, 189th Overall: In the sixth round, you\u2019re not necessarily looking for skill players and this was an example of that.\u00a0 Trottier is an effective energy player who is reliable defensively.\u00a0 But he hasn\u2019t been scoring much in his age group and players usually don\u2019t go from bottom-six checkers to scorers as they progress through levels.\u00a0 That said, we\u2019ve seen in the playoffs how an effective energy player becomes even more important.\u00a0 If all went well, Trottier could have a shot at filling that role.<\/p>\n
6)\u00a0Wesley Royston, 190th Overall: A couple of years ago, the Habs took a flyer on winger Tyler Thorpe with the hopes that he could develop into a big, physical checker.\u00a0 Royston is another pick along those lines although the two players are largely opposite.\u00a0 Royston is quick but his skill set is limited.\u00a0 Conversely, Thorpe is much slower but has some skill, allowing him to be productive in junior.\u00a0 Could there be a fourth-line crash-and-bang profile here?\u00a0 Given how fast the Habs like to play, Royston\u2019s skating will help his cause but his play with the puck is going to need to get a lot better for that to happen.<\/p>\n
7)\u00a0Jean-Samuel Daigneault, 221st Overall: By the time this pick came on draft day, it was painfully evident that physicality was being targeted.\u00a0 Daigneault might be the most physical of them all although the rest of his game has a long way to go.\u00a0 Earlier in this piece, I mentioned that Runtso and Cleaves moving to higher levels brought out big improvements in their game.\u00a0 Daigneault will have that chance as he goes to a good program in Brantford.\u00a0 If he can lock down a regular role with the Bulldogs this coming season, a bit of upside could emerge from this selection.<\/p>\n
8)\u00a0Tyler Deakos, 224th Overall: It took until literally the last pick of the draft for the Habs to target a bit of offence.\u00a0 Deakos has battled injuries but he\u2019s a quality puckhandler with a strong shot.\u00a0 He\u2019s another player jumping to a better level for the upcoming season (he\u2019s WHL-bound) and another one of those \u2018draft him now over maybe needing a higher pick to take him next year\u2019 selections.\u00a0 The Habs have been hit or miss with these in recent years but this is a reasonable skill set to take a flyer on.<\/p>\n
9)\u00a0Trades: The Habs made five pick trades in the draft.\u00a0 I already covered the first in the Pugachyov write-up, a reasonable price to pay to make sure you get your guy, especially with the Flyers, a team also prioritizing size and physicality, picking before you otherwise.\u00a0 Let\u2019s quickly look at the other four:<\/p>\n
\u2013 Habs acquire Pick 57 for Picks 61 and 125.\u00a0 A late fourth to move up four spots in the second round is reasonable.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Habs acquire Picks 113 and 190 for Pick 103.\u00a0 A late sixth to move down ten spots in the fourth round seems a little light but not terrible.\u00a0 By comparison, Pick 102 went for 131 and 148.\u00a0 Something like that might have been nicer than how things went overall.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Habs acquire Picks 117 and 223 for Pick 113.\u00a0 That\u2019s a pretty boring return overall but if they were convinced Klimpke was going to fall, then it\u2019s okay in that something is better than nothing.\u00a0 But if they lost who their target was to add the second-last pick in the draft, ouch.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Habs trade Pick 223 to Los Angeles for their 2027 seventh-rounder.\u00a0 Value-wise, it\u2019s hard to think they\u2019ll lose as I don\u2019t think the Kings are winning next year\u2019s Stanley Cup.\u00a0 And with them moving the 2027 third in the Pugachyov trade, getting another pick to get them back to seven in that draft isn\u2019t bad.<\/p>\n
10)\u00a0Overall Assessment: I\u2019m a big believer in looking for BPA over searching for a type.\u00a0 I can be sold on the Habs believing Pugachyov and Runtso were BPA on their board but I feel like they went away from that a bit the rest of the way to make sure they got their specific need filled.<\/p>\n
I get targeting physicality given that it\u2019s an organizational weakness but you can still do that and not completely shy away from more of a skilled player until the final pick of the draft.\u00a0 Yes, the Habs may have their top six largely set before long but by the time most of these players could be NHL-ready, a lot could have changed.<\/p>\n
The typical line is that a team needs two players to make it to the NHL for a draft class to be successful.\u00a0 Pugachyov feels like a very safe bet to get there and Runtso has a chance as well.\u00a0 Maybe Cleaves if his skating takes some steps forward.\u00a0 But when you\u2019re targeting physicality over skill, there are bound to be some straight-up misses out of the rest of the group.\u00a0 Time will tell if they can get to the magic number.\u00a0 I think they can, but this probably isn\u2019t going to be a highly impactful draft class overall, at least compared to some of their other ones. But that\u2019s also to be expected with their picks being much later than they were in those other years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HabsWorld.net —\u00a0 The dust has largely settled on Montreal\u2019s offseason, or so it seems, at least.\u00a0 With that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":811657,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":["post-811656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=811656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/811657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=811656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=811656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=811656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}