Here are the projected lineups for the Montreal Canadiens in three years: there are two pleasant surprises

While speculation is rife about which prospect will be the lucky one chosen by the organization, many team fans would love to see Kent Hughes select young Matvei Michkov, despite all that might surround this selection.

If ever the young Russian prospect becomes the property of the Canadiens at the fifth round, his contract in the KHL would expire at the end of the 2025-2026 season. For this occasion, let's transport ourselves a year later when Michkov could potentially land in Montreal in the fall of 2026.

This is proposed by Cimon Asselin, of Habsolumentfan.com, but let's agree, this is a possible projection.

For this exercise, Asselin did not include Pierre-Luc Dubois and he also projected that forward Josh Anderson and defenseman Jordan Harris would be traded. Moreover, as you will see, there are some surprises.

Here's the result:

On offense:

Cole Caufield - Kirby Dach - Juraj Slafkovsky

Matvei Michkov - Nick Suzuki - Joshua Roy

Rafaël Harvey-Pinard - Owen Beck - Sean Farrell

Emil Heineman - Jan Mysak - Brendan Gallagher

On defense:

Mike Matheson - Arber Xhekaj

Kaiden Guhle - Logan Mailloux

Lane Hutson - Justin Barron

In the net:

Samuel Montembeault

Jakub Dobes

We can obviously count on the sure values like Suzuki, Caufield, Dach and also the presence of a few surprises such as Heinemen, Mysak and Roy.

It's clear that this probably won't be the lineup the Canadiens will present for the 2026-2027 season, but we must admit that the potential is there with the presence of a Matvei Michkov (who is a pleasant surprise here) and with a bit of patience, the Canadiens fans will eventually see a competitive team.

We also love seeing Montembeault as the long-term number one goalie.

Imagine if we added Pierre-Luc Dubois!

What do you think?