CANADIENS DRAFT TALK: MOCK DRAFT ROUNDUP – LIKELY HABS PICKS
The first round of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft takes place on Friday, which means it’s time to take a look at which players various mock drafts suggest will be joining the Montreal Canadiens organization.
We collected over 25 mock drafts from various scouting sites, as well as a few from independent scouts to get a better idea of the possibilities. It’s important to remember these aren’t ironclad predictions, however, it does give us a good idea of the likely options once the Habs take to the podium for the fifth and 26th overall picks.
Ivan Demidov
12 outlets expect the Canadiens to pick the talented forward with the fifth overall pick. It’s an interesting result as Demidov is considered the second-most talented player available, and the Habs did meet with the Russian forward on Thursday. Of course, given how essential elite offensive talent is in the NHL, there are fairly good odds Demidov will be off the board once the Habs are ready to make their selection, but the recent draft intentions from the top four teams do seem to indicate there’s a chance he could drop to the Canadiens. It’s also worth noting Habs fans have targeted Demidov as the ideal player for the fifth overall pick.
Outlets: NHL (Kimelman), The Score, Gabriel Foley, MHN, Flo Hockey, Nathan Grav, Marc-Olivier Beaudoin, Sam Tirpák, William Leblanc (etc), The Athletic (podcast), Corey Pronman, Sports Grid.
Tij Iginla
The Canadiens have shown interest in Tij Iginla, a logical situation seeing as the Habs love adding players with truculence and talent to their lineup. However, despite having the pedigree and style of play that should entice NHL teams, the vast majority of outlets have him listed outside the top five. Of course, the Canadiens don’t care about independent lists. The only list that matters is their own, which means all bets are off once the first round starts. With that in mind, only two mock drafts had the Canadiens picking Iginla.
Outlets: TSN (Button), NHL (Peterson).
Cayden Lindstrom
11 outlets suggest Cayden Lindstrom is going to be the player the Canadiens select fifth overall, and there’s definitely some merit to their projections. There are decent odds he will be available, especially if teams like the Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks pick defencemen. The Habs have shown interest in the power forward, and do not seem concerned about his recent injury. Demidov is probably the ‘sexier’ pick at fifth overall, however, Canadiens faithful are likely to make Lindstrom a fan favourite should he join the organization.
Outlets: NHL (Morreale), The Athletic (Wheeler), McKeen’s, Alex (CareyPrix), Costa Rontzocos, Bleacher Report, Daily Faceoff, Sportsnet, The Faceoff, NHL (Wahl), Clutch Points.
Miscellaneous
Beyond the players who were named multiple times, only two other prospects were mentioned as possibilities for the Habs at fifth overall. Sportsnet (Bukala) thinks the Habs will pick Beckett Sennecke, whereas Sportsnaut believes Berkly Catton will be their top target.
26th Overall Pick
There’s significant variance in the players the aforementioned outlets think will be chosen by the Habs with the 26th overall pick. However, a few names showed more than once, including the hulking forward Dean Letourneau (x2), Andrew Basha (x3), and Emil Hemming (x5).
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2024-06-27T20:00:26Z dg43tfdfdgfd