NHL | Five things to know about the draft

The draft is coming up, it’s here, on our doorstep, and we have to prepare for everything. Including this.

1. No one knows Matvei Michkov

The problem with the world we live in, among other things, is that pretty much anyone can pretend to be anything. Thus, in the next few days, you will read quantities of analyzes from certain “experts” who will claim to know everything about this young Russian player after having seen him play in a 52-second clip on YouTube. It means nothing. Like the 1345 “expert” analyzes that you will see passing by June 28, when the repechage will finally open.

2. The Canadiens may or may not draft Will Smith.

Does that sound like a rather vague statement? It’s because it’s the truth. Teams have their favourites, of course, and it’s armed with several Excel files that they show up at the draft table each year, with all the possible scenarios. But aside from Connor Bedard, there’s nothing certain in 2023, and that’s the truth. By the way, the day before the 2005 draft, Trevor Timmins explained at length to the author of these lines that the Canadian had his eye on Anze Kopitar. That’s not what happened.

3. There will be no winners or losers on the night or the day after

That’s aside from the Chicago Blackhawks, of course, who are going to get a lot better all of a sudden on the night of June 28th. But otherwise, how can we pretend to know who was right and who was wrong when most of these hopefuls will play in the NHL in three or four years, maybe more? It’s impossible. Reminder: Roope Hintz, the Dallas Stars’ second-round pick in 2015, took five years to establish himself in this league. Another reminder: that year, the first choice of the Stars had been Denis Gurianov. It is not an exact science, we remember.

4. It’s unclear what personality tests are for

Each year, NHL clubs waste hours and hours concocting and then giving personality tests to the various hopefuls, only to throw it all away. For example, the Arizona Coyotes saw fit to draft Mitchell Miller with a fourth-round pick in the 2020 draft, even though just about everyone understood that was not a good idea due to his heavy past (the Coyotes dropped him a few months later). So, before fearing the qualities of this or that player, let’s wait a bit. The clubs do not know the players so much that they draft them anyway.

5. There will be fireworks

More and more teams are choosing the draft to take action, because it’s a good time to do so. Last year, in the Bell Center, the Canadian took advantage of the big night to complete the acquisition of Kirby Dach from the Chicago Blackhawks, while sending Alexander Romanov to the New York Islanders. During the two days of the 2022 Draft in Montreal, an incredible total of 23 transactions were made on the NHL planet, including 16 on the second day.