Grading the Montreal Canadiens’ 2023 NHL Draft

Montreal had two clear needs before the draft: right-handed defencemen and goalies needed to fill up the system. In the end they filled out those needs, as five of the players ended up being either of the positions.

David Reinbacher (D)

I like this pick, especially after having long conversations with Thibaud Chatel, from NL IceData and reading his article “What Montreal Sees in David Reinbacher.”

While many have spoken about Reinbacher’s high floor, Thibaud speaks about his potential ceiling and how high it can be. The fact is, by drafting Reinbacher, Montreal directly has a player who is their best right-handed blue-liner in the system. He has played pro for two years, he has managed to adapt his play to the next level within a couple of games, and he will be a big part of the Montreal Canadiens going forward.

I think it is clear that the front office considers the 2024-25 season as the season they will start to compete and that’s most likely the start of Reinbacher’s career on North American shores.

Grade: A-

It was clear with the next pick of the draft that Montreal couldn’t trade down, as Arizona would have picked Reinbacher if he were there, and it seems to be the case that Matvei Michkov didn’t want to play for Montreal, therefore this is the pick that was made, and an organizational need was covered. Reinbacher is at the moment not the cool pick, but he will be an integral part of the Montreal defence going forward.

Jacob Fowler (G)

The goalie who relied on athleticism and speed to shuffle his frame around the crease this year has been an exceptional revelation for people who follow Junior hockey. While his regular season was strong, he took it to 11 in the playoffs as he posted some incredible stats over the nine games needed to clinch the championship: a .952 save percentage with a 1.36 goals-against average. In Junior hockey, that’s something spectacular.

After having been drafted by the Canadiens Fowler said, “I don’t think I could write the script any better.” Fowler has family that lives in the Montreal area and it really seems like this is the place he wanted to go to.

Grade: B

The jury will be out for a long time, but Montreal might have gotten the best goalie of the draft.

Florian Xhekaj (LW)

I like the sentiment in drafting Arber Xhekaj’s brother, and this choice to me means that their draft board was gone after drafting Fowler, and having lost two second-round picks in the Alex Newhook trade.

Florian Xhekaj was unranked in the consensus rankings that we have, as were the rest of the picks outside of Luke Mittelstadt, and this is a clear reach. They might know something I don’t, but only two rankings had Xhekaj listed, 131st from Central Scouting and 214th in Draft Prospects Hockey. Even taking these rankings in it was a huge reach.

Grade: F

They could have gotten this player with one of the later picks, and there were some good players on the board at this instance. However, I do like the fact that they added Florian to the organization.

Bogdan Konyushkov (D)

“Throughout the season, Konyushkov was one of the championship leaders in terms of playing time and the percentage of accurate passes. He finished the 2022-23 season in the MHL, where he won the Kharlamov Cup with Chaika. During the season, he was recognized as the best rookie of the week and the best rookie of the second round. He was a nominee for the Alexei Cherepanov Prize – the best rookie of the season.” – Championat

He was ranked 133rd in McKeen’s rankings, but not mentioned as one of their top 10 re-entry candidates. Generally I like drafting over-agers, and you will have more data to fill in a trajectory. It seems that’s what Montreal has done here. Over-agers are especially important with regards to Russians as you have unlimited rights due to the fact that there is no KHL / NHL deal in place.

Grade: C-

Much like Petteri Nurmi last year, you have more data, and the data is positive, maybe even very positive. Again, it also fills a positional need. I can see this swing being logical.

Quentin Miller (G)

Miller was ranked by three scouting services, but still didn’t make the consensus rankings, he was ranked between 192 and 228 which shows that it was an over reach again for a player with many more ranked higher at the time of the draft.

He’s a big goalie, much in the shape we have gotten used to. His selection was still too high for my liking.

Grade: D-

Sam Harris (LW)

Over-ager, NCAA product, this decision offers a long trajectory and four years to sign him, meaning more time to evaluate.

Harris was ranked by one scouting service, at 213 by Central Scouting, so this was another pick much higher than expected. However, in these rounds of the draft it is a bit of throwing darts at a board, and the two extra years gives you a bonus chance to see a player develop into an NHL candidate.

A point-per-game player in the USHL, what is a bit concerning though is the -17, as the only other player on the team with a negative number was a -9.

Grade: D-

Still way too early. Montreal could have traded down to add more picks to take these players.

Yevgeni Volokhin (G)

Another goalie drafted, so it was clearly a positional draft in that regard. As with Konyushkov, the upside of drafting from Russia is the time you hold the rights, it gives the players a chance to develop with no clock ticking down.

Volokhin’s numbers in the MHL look good. He was sixth in the playoffs in regard to a 2.52 goals-against average and .931 save percentage and all other goalies were older, with similar success during the regular season.

Grade D

It’s an interesting pick at more or less the right time of the draft, hence why I leave out the minus this time.

Filip Eriksson (C)

Eriksson plays for the Swedish champions Växjö Lakers. He has gotten time in the SHL but it has been extremely limited with about three-and-a-half minutes of time, and that ranges from seven minutes to 14 seconds over the six games he played during the regular season and the playoffs. He had a short season due to an injury, and was unranked in our consensus list.

Grade: C+

This is a pick you should do this late in the draft: you take a chance on someone that you think others have missed. Växjö has a good scouting and development staff, and if they believe in him, so do I.

Luke Mittelstadt (D)

According to the consensus rankings, Montreal finished with a good addition here, Mittelstadt was ranked 123rd, and Montreal got him at 192. This is the way to pick: upside. The problem is he’s another left handed defenceman again, and that cupboard is well-stocked.