Stu Cowan: Canadiens did a lot of strange things at the NHL Draft

Team that struggles to score selects a defenceman instead of a forward with No. 5 overall pick and then takes three goalies in same draft.

Author of the article:

Stu Cowan • Montreal Gazette

Published Jun 29, 2023 • 4 minute read

Montreal Canadiens staff during the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bridgestone Arena on June 29, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. Photo by Bruce Bennett /Getty Images

Strange is a good word to describe what the Canadiens did at the NHL Draft in Nashville.

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It’s strange that a team that has struggled for so many years to score goals — both at five-on-five and on the power play — would take defenceman David Reinbacher with the No. 5 overall pick when talented offensive forwards Matvei Michkov and Ryan Leonard were still available.

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It was strange when GM Kent Hughes asked Carey Price to announce the team’s first-round pick on the stage at Bridgestone Arena and then Price couldn’t remember Reinbacher’s last name.

It’s not strange that the Canadiens would select goalie Jacob Fowler with their next pick in the third round (69th overall). It was strange that they would then draft two more goalies — Quentin Miller in the fourth round (128th overall) and Yevgeni Volokhin in the fifth round (144th overall).

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Martin Lapointe, the Canadiens’ director of player personnel, said afterward that goalies take more time to develop and that a team can never have enough of them.

But three goalies in one draft?

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It was strange — but understandable — that the Canadiens would select left-winger Florian Xhekaj in the fourth round (101st overall) when he was only ranked 131st among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting. Xhekaj’s brother, Arber, was never selected at the NHL Draft and he played 51 games with the Canadiens as a rookie defenceman last season before injuring his shoulder in a fight.

“We know the family, we know Arber,” Lapointe told reporters in Nashville. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Lapointe added that he believes in the talent the younger Xhekaj has, noting he’s a player who has a high compete level, will work hard to improve and also — like his brother — brings a physical dimension.

Of the nine players the Canadiens drafted, three were goalies, three were defencemen — including Bogdan Konyushkov, selected in the fourth round (110th overall) and Luke Mittelstadt, selected in the seventh round (197th overall)— and only three were forwards — including Sam Harris, selected in the fifth round (133rd overall) and Filip Eriksson, selected in the sixth round (165th overall).

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Nick Bobrov, the co-director of amateur scouting, was asked why the Canadiens decided to draft Reinbacher instead of a talented forward like Michkov or Leonard.

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“It’s no mystery to anyone how difficult it is to acquire certain assets, what it takes to acquire them, and we all watched the playoffs,” Bobrov told reporters in Nashville. “For two months of the year we get reminded what works and what wins. Then maybe we tend to forget for 10 months and then we get reminded again. So we felt that David, given what he’s done this year and last year, in fact, his growth, his potential, are very, very intriguing and extremely difficult to obtain. We see that every draft teams trying to trade up and get that guy. So we were fortunate that he was there for us and we have very high hopes for him.”

The Vegas Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup last season with six defencemen who were all at least 6-foot-1 and the lightest was 197 pounds. Reinbacher is 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds.

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But size isn’t the only thing Bobrov likes about Reinbacher, who had 3-19-22 totals in 46 games last season with Kloten HC in the Swiss National League.

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“I think in this case there were not only attributes that we loved in the player, but the knowns that we have in the player vs. many of the unknowns that may exist with others,” Bobrov said. “And, again, it’s a very, very difficult asset to obtain. We felt that it was the right place, the right player and we’re building a culture. We want certain things that permeate that culture as we keep building this. We felt that this player embodies the type of culture that Jeff (Gorton, the executive vice-president of hockey operations), Kent (Hughes), Marty (St. Louis, the head coach), the coaching staff are trying to build and that was not a trivial matter to us. So culture was an important word.”

When asked to evaluate how the Canadiens did at the draft, Bobrov joked, saying: “I think we got seven, eight Hall of Famers today.”

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He then added: “We feel great, but the work starts tomorrow for the kids and they know it. We tried to diversify where we’re going with each pick as well. Some players that bring a certain style, a certain brand are hard to get, too. So we felt that we accomplished the goal of diversifying the type of player that we go after. One consistent then was are they adding to the culture that management and we are all trying to build here? So we feel that we accomplished that piece and then the work starts and hopefully all of them play. We all know the reality. But on this day we feel good, and then the work begins.”

Diversify and culture are two good words. But strange better describes what the Canadiens did in Nashville.

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