For Canadiens, June draft is all about Dahlin
Dahlin appears to Be only Nhl-ready prospect available
With less a week to go before the end of a short season that has seemed like a loooooong season, it’s time to look ahead to the Canadiens’ prospects in the June draft.
In case you came in late, general manager Marc Bergevin’s philosophy is to build through the draft, which hasn’t proved to be very successful because the Canadiens have usually been drafting somewhere in the 20s, which is akin to lining up for Boxing Day sale on Dec. 30.
Of course, Tampa Bay picked up Nikita Kucherov in the second round; Washington got Evgeny Kuznetsov at No. 26; Detroit found Tomas Tatar at No. 60 and Claude Giroux went to Philadelphia at No. 22.
For the record, those guys were all selected after the Canadiens picked, respectively, Nathan Beaulieu, Jarred Tinordi, Louis Leblanc and David Fischer.
This year, the Canadiens, who stand 28th heading into Tuesday’s final home game against Winnipeg (7:30 p.m. TSN2, RDS, TSN-690 Radio), could have their highest pick since Alex Galchenyuk was the No. 3 overall selection in 2012, but in reality there is only one pick who will offer the Canadiens a ready-for-theNHL player who meets the team’s immediate needs and the chances of getting the No. 1 overall pick are currently about 9.5 per cent with an opportunity to go as high as 18.5 per cent in the draft lottery.
The prize is defenceman Rasmus Dahlin, who is in the Swedish Elite League as a 17-year-old and he checks all the boxes for the Canadiens. He has size at 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, he’s mobile and he shoots left.
The catchphrase for this year’s draft has become “all-in for Dahlin” and it’s apropos for Montreal because there are no alternatives. The Canadiens need a stud defenceman who shoots left and can play right away and the only player who fits that description is Dahlin. They also need a top-line centre and nobody in the draft fits that description. There isn’t a centre in any of the top-10 ratings.
This draft is all about the Swede. There’s no consolation prize like there was in 2016 when Patrik Laine or Jesse Puljujarvi were available after Toronto picked Auston Matthews. Or a year earlier, when Connor McDavid went No. 1, but Jack Eichel was sitting at No. 2. Or 2010, when the debate was between Taylor (Hall) and Tyler (Seguin).
This year, it’s truly all-in for Dahlin and the Canadiens’ chances rest with those lottery balls. The chances will improve if the Canadiens drop a spot or two over the final week. The irony is that, as bad as the Canadiens have been this season, they were good against the wrong teams. They were 4-0 against Buffalo; 3-1 against Ottawa and have a 3-0 edge over Detroit heading into their game Thursday in the Motor City. If the Canadiens had split the season series against Buffalo, they would have the worst record in the NHL. Another loss to Ottawa would have dropped them to 30th overall.
Irish favoured in Frozen Four: With top-ranked St. Cloud State on the sidelines, No. 2 Notre Dame is the favourite in this weekend’s NCAA Championship Frozen Four in St. Paul, Minn. The Irish, who are led by Canadiens prospect Jake Evans, will play Big 10 rival and 10th-ranked Michigan in one semifinal Friday, while another Big 10 school, fifth-ranked Ohio State, plays No. 11 Minnesota-Duluth in the other semifinal.
Evans is the highest scorer among the players on the four remaining teams, with 134 points over his four-year career at South Bend, Ind. Evans, who was drafted in the seventh round in 2014, runs out of eligibility after this weekend and it will be interesting to see if the Canadiens bring him on board for the final weekend of the AHL season with the Laval Rockets.
The scouting report on Evans is that he’s strong in the faceoff circle and has good vision on the ice. There are questions about his speed and the Canadiens feel he needs some time in the AHL.
Notre Dame is looking for its third NCAA title in two weeks. It defended its men’s fencing title late last month and the Notre Dame women’s basketball team upset UConn in the semifinals and then beat defending champion Mississippi State to win the women’s Final Four.
The irony is that, as bad as the Canadiens have been this season, they were good against the wrong teams.