We finally know which player Hughes is targeting with WPG's first pick
While everyone is wondering what the CH will do with the 5th pick of the upcoming draft, we must not forget that Kent Hughes has another first-round pick.
The Habs organization also has another first-round pick. Acquired in the trade with the Jets for Sean Monahan, the pick which eventually settled at 26th overall will also be very interesting to watch.
In a recent mock draft for the site
The Athletic, Scott Wheeler and Corey Pronman took turns predicting the first two rounds of the upcoming draft.
After choosing Ivan Demidov (yes, indeed) with the 5th pick, Wheeler also had the task of handling the 26th pick.
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Options for Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton with the Winnipeg Jets' first-round pick, acquired in the Sean Monahan trade, but a specific type of player is clearly targeted
His choice (Scott Wheeler's) fell on the young Swedish center Lucas Pettersson.
What's interesting here is not so much the choice of Pettersson, but rather the other possibilities Wheeler mentioned for the CH at this spot. He mentions three other centers.
"Centers like [Cole] Beaudoin, [Michael] Hage, and [Sacha] Boisvert would make sense here if one of them is available." - Scott Wheeler
As Charles-Alexis Brisebois of the site
DLC mentions, a profile emerges among these four players. Besides being of good size (except for Pettersson), the four had an excellent draft season offensively.
"And if we look at the four centers, we observe a trend.
Beaudoin: 62 points in 67 games in the OHL, 6'2" center
Hage: 75 points in 54 games in the USHL, 6'1" center
Boisvert: 68 points in 61 games in the USHL, 6'2" center
Pettersson: 57 points in 44 games in Swedish junior, 5'11" center
Even though Pettersson is a bit smaller, we agree that an 18-year-old guy can still grow a few inches. But besides that, they are all tall centers who flirted with or exceeded the point-per-game mark in junior hockey at their age-17 season." - Charles-Alexis Brisebois
However, it's important to note that the three players mentioned by Wheeler, Beaudoin, Hage, and Boisvert, were all taken in this same mock draft before the 26th pick. They could, however, be available in reality on June 28th.
It's ironic to see Boisvert's name here because a few days ago, he was specifically linked to the CH. he even mentioned on RDS that he was very open to the idea of joining the Canadiens.
"Of course, I wouldn't say no. Playing in Montreal is a different life than being drafted by another team further away. It would definitely be fun, the French, the fans, it's really special in Quebec. What introduced me to hockey was watching the Canadiens." - Sacha Boisvert
That wasn't all for the CH in this mock draft by
The Athletic as the club had one last pick, this time in the second round. It was Pronman's turn to pick, and with the 57th pick, he chose another center, Simon Zether.
"Zether is a big center with good offensive skills and competitiveness who held his own at the SHL level this season, even though his skating is just okay." - Corey Pronman
Zether is a 6'3" center weighing 187 pounds. He tallied 4 assists in 42 games with Rögle BK in his first SHL season. He also accumulated 27 points, including 11 goals, in 18 games with the same team but at the U20 level.
So we see what they are aiming for!
Previously on HabsFanatics
| POLL |
25 MAI | 624 ANSWERS We finally know which player Hughes is targeting with WPG's first pick What would you do with the Jets' first pick? |
| Move up in the draft | 266 | 42.6 % |
| A trade for a young player | 201 | 32.2 % |
| Simply draft Sacha Boisvert | 157 | 25.2 % |
| LIST OF POLLS |
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