Despite the first round upset to the hands of the Ottawa
Senators, the organization made great strides this season under the helm of new
general manager Marc Bergevin as well as new head coach Michel Therrien. As a
result, everyone expects the Canadiens to be competitive next season as well.
With a very deep core of young defensemen such as Nathan
Beaulieu, Jarred Tinordi, Morgan Ellis, Marcus Nygren, Dalton Thrower and
Darren Dietz, everyone expects Trevor Timmins and his scouting staff to draft a
forward with his first-round pick. Will the organization keep their 25th
overall pick to draft that forward or will the team try to move up or down the
draft to get the player they want?
The rumors coming from Montreal is that GM Marc Bergevin would
very much like to move up in the top 10-12 of this particular draft in order to
land a quality power forward to add to an already potent group of young and
talented forwards, namely Sebastian Collberg, Tim Bozon, Danny Kristo, Charles
Hudon, Michael Bournival, Brady Vail and Patrick Holland. While the above group
of forwards is very talented, it lacks a true power forward and that's the kind
of player the organization is looking to select in 2013.
In order to do so, Bergervin would need to package one or
two 2nd or 3rd picks with the team's 25th overall draft pick to accomplish this
feat. The team is also shopping center David Desharnais, who has become
redundant with the emergence of youngster Lars Eller, who is now ready to
become the team's #2 center behind Tomas Plekanec. Don't forget that while he
was mainly used as a winger this season, Alex Galchenyuk is also a natural
pivot.
Timmins and his staff will most likely draft on of the
following forwards: Sean Monahan, Valeri Nichushkin, Hunter Shinkaruk, Max
Domi, Bo Horvat, Anthony Mantha, Frederik Gauthier, or Curtis Lazar.
The Canadiens could also draft PK Subban's brother Jordan in
the second round of this draft. The younger Subban is currently ranked at the
end of the second round by most draft agencies and scouting services, which
means the Habs could very well draft him with their 55th overall selection.
