I’m getting tired of this, but if the Canadiens can draft either Ivan Demidov, Cayden Lindstrom or Artyom Levshunov at the next auction, I think the club will be in the car.
And this, even if Levshunov is a defender (right-handed)… since this would make it even easier to exchange a current defender of the club for immediate reinforcement in the attack.
In an ideal world, in order and disorder, we wouldn’t see these three guys coming out in the top-4 with Macklin Celebrini, question that there is at least one left for Kent Hughes. In an ideal world, Beckett Sennecke or Tij Iginla would not be the pick at #5 either.
What this means is that to draft one of these three guys, it will likely be necessary for at least one left-handed defenseman to come out before the Montreal Canadiens pick.
I really have the feeling that Anton Silayev will come out before the CH can speak, which would solve the problem. But what would happen if two left-handed defenders came out in the top-4? #DraftingDefenders
According to Corey Pronman (The Athletic’s prospects expert), it’s indeed possible.
He believes that after Celebrini in San Jose, the Hawks will go with Levshunov since history teaches us that between two similar prospects, the big defenseman is chosen before the winger.
Subsequently, he saw the Ducks and Blue Jackets choose Anton Silayev and Sam Dickinson, two left-handed defensemen. This would therefore leave the second best attacker in the draft to the Canadian.
And in his mock draftunsurprisingly at this point, Pronman sends Ivan Demidov to Montreal, a player who could well and truly slide up to rank #5.
Demidov may be a little smaller, but he is the only one for whom the Canadian must make an exception to his “unwritten rule” of drafting a big guy with his fifth overall pick.
After all, the talent is coming out of his ears so much that we often talk about moving forward to ensure we draft him.
Note that in such a scenario (that of The Athletic), Cayden Lindstrom would find himself with the new Salt Lake City team, which has the sixth right to speak in the auction. He would be the first choice of the new expansion franchise that purchased the assets of the Coyotes, this dormant organization.
Zayne Parekh (right-handed defenseman), Zeev Buium (left-handed defenseman) and Konsta Helenius (center) would be the choices of the Senators, Kraken and Flames before seeing Beckett Sennecke finally crack the top-10 with the Devils.
Pronman sees him rising quickly. He does not rule out that he will be drafted higher.
Note that Pronman places Tij Iginla in 13th place, behind Berkly Catton and Carter Yakemchuk. He sees Cole Eiserman falling into the hands of the Capitals in 17th place and Trevor Connelly in Vegas (19th place) because it is a club that is not afraid to make bad people talk.
A lot of
– Oh yes?
– Slaf wants to win.
– To monitor.
– He is 63 years old.
– What do you say?
