Draft: Is Montreal about to achieve a first in nearly 15 years?

With the unexpected appearance of the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final, it therefore means that the Canadiens' second first round pick in the next draft will be among the last two selections.

While some Canadiens fans see this situation as disastrous, it remains that several quality prospects will still be available and Kent Hughes could take advantage of the situation to draft a Quebec native forward, which hasn't been seen with the Canadiens since Louis Leblanc was selected in 2009.

As reported by Cédrick Gervais, from the site Marqueur.com, the organization could very well draft forward Ethan Gauthier from the Sherbrooke Phoenix in the QMJHL.

The latter, who collected 69 points in 2022-2023, is ranked the 26th best prospect, according to Sportsnet's final list. The chances are quite good that he will still be available when the Canadiens make their selection at the end of the first round.


In addition, he was teammates with Joshua Roy with the Phoenix, who is among the promising prospects of the organization. Also, selecting Denis Gauthier's son would be a great catch for Kent Hughes.

There are still a few weeks left before the draft session which will take place in Nashville this year, and let's say that the potential selection of Ethan Gauthier would be a great opportunity to draft a local talent in the first round, something that hasn't happened in 14 years.