The 2024 NHL Entry Draft is just a couple of days away, which means the Montreal Canadiens are close to putting their hands on yet another top five talent.
Of course, the position of the aforementioned possibility is open for discussion. The Canadiens have made it fairly apparent they’re set on picking a forward, a sensible approach given the David Reinbacher selection in 2023, but as we all know, plans may change. If the targeted forwards are off the board, the best player available might very well be a defenseman, placing the Habs in a somewhat tricky scenario when it comes to obtaining forwards with elite talent.
To obtain a better picture of how the draft may unfurl, we can use the most recent information available to forecast the decisions made by the four clubs that are slated to take to the podium before the Canadiens draft the fifth overall player at the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.
1. San Jose Sharks
This is the only pick in the draft that is guaranteed. The San Jose Sharks will take Macklin Celebrini with the first overall pick at the 2024 NHL Entry take.
2. Chicago Blackhawks
This is when things become interesting. On the surface, you may believe the Blackhawks are frantic to add a little insulation around Connor Bedard, and there’s certainly sense in that line of thinking. However, that’s the contrary of what I’ve heard from the Blackhawks camp. They’ve spent a lot of time scouting Michigan State games, and they believe Artyom Levshunov is the ideal of a complete defenseman, which is something they’ll need in their lineup going ahead.
Now, here’s the rub. You hear a lot of stuff before a draft. Some people will run to social media to share every snippet of information they hear, whether it’s legitimate or not. That’s not how I function, as I will never be considered an insider, and I don’t need to pretend that I am one. Like most people in the profession, I hear a plethora of rumours, some good, some negative. The fact of the issue is that relatively few of them come to fruition. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re all untrue, as negotiations break down and teams might change their draft intentions, but when I see someone who I trust validate the information I have heard a few times already, I have no issues adding to the veracity of the story.
In this scenario, Scott Powers, a coworker, has said it would be surprising if Chicago did not draft Levshunov. Scott does not delve into wild rumours, and I am certain he only supplied this information because it was near to being ironclad.
3. Anaheim Ducks
Anaheim is a franchise that has been linked to all the top prospects, a little like the Canadiens. Scott Wheeler, another colleague that I trust directly, has argued the Ducks have shown tremendous interest in forward Beckett Sennecke in recent weeks.
I suspect that Scott’s intel is a little more fresh than mine, but from what I have heard, the Ducks are very high on defenseman Anton Silayev, the big Russian who is presently playing for Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in the KHL. And when I say they’re very high on him, I heard from a couple NHL scouts that it’s practically a lock.
Personally, I don’t believe any team is involved in a ‘lock’ this year, save for San Jose and Celebrini, but if the Ducks do opt to follow the defensive path, it bodes well for the odds the Habs will be able to select one of the greatest forwards in the draft.
4. Columbus Blue Jackets
Here’s what we do know. The Blue Jackets have not yet made a decision as to the final plans, to the extent that they’ve pushed the idea that the fourth overall pick is up for grabs in a trade.
What does this teach us? The Blue Jackets are presumably in the same scenario as the Canadiens. Their exact plans will only be exposed once the first three picks have been taken, leaving a distinct possibility they could end up moving down. Historically speaking, clubs almost seldom trade out of the top five , which is why we shouldn’t hold our breath for a deal. As for their desired draft targets, Cayden Lindstrom and Ivan Demidov are names that get cited a lot, alongside defencemen Sam Dickinson and Silayev. They’ve also supposedly expressed tremendous interest in the other top defencemen in the draft, namely Levshunov and Zayne Parekh.
Simply told, it’s tough to get a read on the Blue Jackets at this particular time, but if I had to take an educated guess, I would say Lindstrom is at the top of their list followed by a contingency plan loaded with the names of the top defencemen.
