Johnathan Kovacevic was the victim of the Canadiens’ surplus of personnel when he took the road to New Jersey. But the source of this surplus is not about to run out. In fact, the trade contributes a little more to it.
Read “The Canadian: The delicate management of surpluses”
The source is largely the draft, where Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton have had their hands full since their arrival at the head of the Tricolore.
The duo of administrators in fact increased the number of exchanges in which they obtained draft picks. From Tyler Toffoli to Brett Kulak, Joel Edmundson and Sean Monahan, many veterans were sacrificed in return for chips that Hughes and Gorton used in the draft.
Result: in the last three auctions, since the hiring of the tandem, the CH has claimed 30 prospects. It should be remembered that, on paper, teams hold seven choices per year, which gives a theoretical average of 21 choices over 3 years.
Only Utah has drafted more prospects since 2022.
Teams with the most players selected in the last three drafts
- Utah: 33
- Montreal: 30
- Chicago: 30
- Seattle: 29
- Detroit: 28
Where it becomes even more interesting is by including the 2025 auction in the calculation. Currently, Montreal has 12 picks, an NHL high, tied with the Philadelphia Flyers. Among these 12 selections, however, we find that of 1er tower from the Calgary Flames acquired in Monahan’s first trade. This choice is subject to conditions so complex that they can only be explained by a neurosurgeon capable of doing actuarial science and space exploration in his spare time.
In any case, whether this choice falls to the Canadiens or not in 2025, the team is the one that holds the most if we add those from next year to those acquired since 2022.
Teams with the most players selected in the last three drafts and coming in 2025*
- Montreal: 42
- Utah: 40
- Chicago: 38
- Buffalo: 37
- Seattle: 37
*Information for 2025 taken from CapFriendly
A bargaining chip?
This surplus eventually becomes a problem to manage, because NHL teams are allowed a maximum of 50 contracts in the organizational chart. It is therefore only a limited number of prospects who will end up signing an agreement with the big club. This is why this summer, the Habs waived their rights to hopefuls Cédrick Guindon, Petteri Nurmi and Miguel Tourigny.
In the meantime, the player development staff is busy monitoring a host of youngsters.
So it will be interesting to see where Hughes and Gorton go with this accumulation of picks, as they will have to put their foot down on the accelerator in their rebuilding process, eventually. If necessary, these choices could be used as bargaining chips.
They have already used this resource. This weekend in Vegas, picks 57 and 198 allowed Hughes to come to an agreement with the Los Angeles Kings to reverse their picks of 1er turn, which gave Montreal a right to speak on the 21ste rank, rather than 26e. The result was Michael Hage’s selection.
Last year, picks 31 and 37 brought Alex Newhook to Montreal. And the year before, when the team was struggling with a surplus of defensemen and picks, Alexander Romanov and picks 3e and 4e rounds allowed Hughes to unearth Kirby Dach.
The difference between this year and previous years is that the Hughes deal completed Friday did not provide immediate reinforcements.
This type of transaction – to obtain players capable of playing in 2024-25 – is still possible before training camps open, even though the draft weekend, always fertile for transactions, is over. Last year, Alex DeBrincat and Anthony Duclair were traded in July, after the free agent market opened. And the Erik Karlsson trade, which involved the Canadiens, was concluded in August.
Whether it is Martin Necas, Patrik Laine or Nikolaj Ehlers, several of the names expected in summer transactions remain on the market.
If Hughes and Gorton want to get involved, they have draft picks to start the discussions. And if their counterparts are looking for hopefuls instead, they have choices to replace them, eventually.