After the draft lottery, where do the Habs stand ?

In a dim season that haunted my dear Montreal Canadiens there was a silver lining in the grey clouds of defeat. The draft lottery, was held April 10th, 2 days ago and the Montreal Canadiens stood pat and will be drafting 3rd overall. The Canadiens have not drafted in the top 3 since 1980. In anticipation to the selection I will break down what the options are for the Habs and who they could potentially draft on June 22nd. 

In light of the recent firing of General Manager Pierre Gauthier the Habs will have work to do in determining who the new boss will be. That new boss will decide who will lead the team to victory as early as next season. Depending on who Mr. Molson chooses to occupy the job of General Manager, it may impact the position that the Habs draft come draft day. The Oilers are drafting 1rst overall for a 3rd year in a row and the highly touted Russian prospect Nail Yakupov is slated to go number one in the upcoming draft. However, the Oilers already have much needed offense in Nugent Hopkins and Hall. They lack high end deffensive prospects on the back end and top prospect Ryan Murray could fill the hole on the Oilers blue line. Drafting second overall, are the Colombus Blue Jackets. The Bluejackets are in need of a center to feed the puck to Rick Nash and will need someone to replace Jeff Carter. The Canadiens are in desperate need of an offensive superstar and Yakupov is that guy. With all that in mind the Blue Blanc et Rouge could attempt to swing a deal for the 1rst overall pick in this years draft. 

However, this is pure speculation. If the Montreal Franchise stays at number 3 there are many prospects that will be available. Filip Forsberg, Mikhail Grigorenko and Alex Galchenyuk come to mind. 

Filip Forsberg is the safest pick in the top 3. He has not lacked effort and has not been injured, something that all three of yakupov, grigorenko and galchenyuk have been victim of. Forsberg plays a power forward style game, skates very well and has a great shot. He has been compared to NHL veteran Daniel Alfredsson. 

Mikhail Grigorenko is a high risk/high reward prospect. He is a big center that can control the flow of the game and that has impeccable passes. His lack of consistency has been questioned throughout the year but it seams that he is suffering from the Sean Couturier treatment. In other words, he is been considered a top prospect for so long that he starts falling in the rankings because there are little inconsistencies in his game. Another concerning factor is the possibility that he might go back to the KHL if the situations are not what he wants. 

Alex Galchenyuk is the most logical pick. He is an American born center that has a big frame and who has great hand and speed. The only problem with Galchenyuk is that he missed one entire year of development because of his ACL injury early in the season. However, he is exactly the type of player that the Habs are looking for, American Born, a big center, great speed, amazing hands and a gym rat.



Who will the Habs pick? My choice is Galchenyuk.