Brock Otten is quick to point out the players within the Montreal Canadiens organization as well as the draft capital that they have as a strength and he can see a lot of fireworks from Montreal at the draft.
The top five was pretty set for McKeen’s draft squad, and Otten does point out that while the rest of top 12 is more-or-less clear, after that things get interesting and that there could be a lot of surprises.
The conclusion is that Montreal shouldn’t go for organizational need, but rather pick the best player available at 16 and 17 (if they keep both picks). The important thing when you have a good system is to just keep adding to it, and one area could be adding to the stacked defence – with Blake Fiddler, Logan Hensler or Jackson Smith.
Carter Bear is a common mock draft pick to Montreal as a complementary piece for the top-6. He can create space, finish off plays and he is a sort of Swiss Army knife that could do well in Montreal’s system.
Justin Carbonneau is someone with a lot of attention, for obvious reasons, high end skills, high end upside and he brings some physicality. One could question the hockey IQ a bit and his game needs to be refined. One thing is that Montreal fans will need to wait since after a few years of getting more NHL-ready prospects, picks 16 and 17 it will take longer for a prospect to break through.
You can listen to the full 22 minute podcast with Brock Otten below, or find it on your podcast platform.
