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Are the Habs about to make a big mistake in the 2023 draft?

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MarcO
March 7, 2023  (8:44)
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Now that the trade deadline is behind us, the focus of the Montreal Canadiens organization, as well as fans of the club, will be on the end of the season for the CH's multiple prospects, as well as preparations for the upcoming draft.

The 2023 draft will be extremely important for the Tricolore and there are two simple reasons.

On the one hand, the draft is seen as one of the best in many years, which means there is no acceptable margin of error for the CH.

On the other hand, the club is likely to get a top 10 pick, maybe even a top 5 pick, and possibly a top 15 pick from the Florida Panthers.

However, one particularly disturbing piece of information was reported by Global News reporter Brian Wilde, who seems to have details regarding the organization's intentions for this draft.

While appearing on TSN 690 yesterday, Wilde stated out loud that the Habs would like to add some size and bulk to their roster come June.

He even said this on air:

"If you knew what management likes right now, you wouldn't be happy." - Brian Wilde

This is very far from good news, as this is exactly the kind of draft strategy that contributes the most to draft mistakes.

As Danslescoulisses.com reports, Wilde added to that by stipulating that he wouldn't be surprised to see the Habs drafted off the board, if they don't end up in the top five in the first round

The problem with this mentality, which could prove to be very risky for the Tricolore, is that the majority of the prospects listed to come out in the first round are not known for their imposing physique, like Juraj Slafkovsky was last year, for example.

Aside from Adam Fantilli (6'2") and Leo Carlsson (6'3") who will possibly go in the top 3, a very large portion of the most talented prospects in the draft are between 5'10" and 6'.

However, if the CH is really aiming for big physicality, they might make a huge mistake by selecting prospects much lower on the draft lists, while turning up their noses at hyper promising players like Zach Benson, Matvei Michkov, Oliver Moore, Ryan Leonard, Andrew Cristall, Gabe Perreault, etc.

It's a VERY risky strategy to go with a specific player characteristic in the first round, rather than going with the best talent available at any position.

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7 MARS   |   136 ANSWERS
Are the Habs about to make a big mistake in the 2023 draft?

Do you think the Habs should go after the best talent available in every first round selection?

Yes12894.1 %
No85.9 %
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