Don’t expect the CH to draft a goalie in the first three rounds

Since Carey Price has unofficially retired, the question of a future goaltender in Montreal has been the talk of the town. Although Samuel Montembeault is doing well and the club is banking on Cayden Primeau and Jakub Dobes in its bank of prospects, many doubt that there is a future #1 goalie in the organization.

Personally, I think Montembeault has the potential to be one, but it’s not a certainty.

This is one of the reasons why many people would like to see the CH draft a goalie early in the next draft. With Trey Augustine and Michael Hrabal being good prospects in front of the net, it’s a possibility that intrigues many fans.

However, in an article published on The Athletic this week, Arpon Basu and Marc-Antoine Godin(unfortunately signing his last article on the site) threw cold water on the idea: in their opinion, don’t expect the Tricolore to draft a goaltender in the first three rounds.

Both explain their point this way: given that there seems to be a good contingent of quality prospects in front of the net, teams aren’t likely to want to draft a goalie very quickly.

And since none of them have a huge lead over the rest of the group (Augustine and Hrabal are the ones who get the most attention, but they’re not the only ones), it won’t encourage anyone to move very hastily.

So, for the Tricolore, chances are high that the club’s first four picks (all in the first three rounds) will be used to select defensemen. That said, the fact that the club holds three fourth-round picks means that it could be tempted to go for the heap at that point.

Both journalists seem pretty convinced that Kent Hughes will draft (another) goalie this year, and he might even draft a second if the club targets another interesting one.

We’ll keep an eye on that, but if the CH really wants to wait until the fourth round to draft a goalie, Trey Augustine and Michael Hrabal probably won’t be coming to town. And if you ask me, that’s about as bad as it gets.

In gossip

– The Senators’ new owner is a big fan of Arber Xhekaj.

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– Indeed.

⚔️ “They took big risks!”@thetender1987 and @Lappy14 discuss the success of the @GoldenKnights in just 6 years!

Listen now with @LangloisMario👉https://t.co/Kef8gc3MGO pic.twitter.com/bhc3ALpeu2

– 98,5 Sports (@985Sports) June 15, 2023

– Good point. And since it won’t be for a while, we may have to wait to find out if Patrick Roy will be coming to town.