“Re-draft” 2019: Three CH players in the top-10

Kirby Dach, Cole Caufield, Alex Newhook, Jayden Struble and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard.

These players all have something in common. They’re all members of the Montreal Canadiens organization, of course…

But they were all selected in the 2019 draft. Dach went out at #3, Caufield at #15, Newhook at #16, Struble was drafted in the 2nd round and Harvey-Pinard heard his name called in the middle of the 7th round.

That said, the draft is far from an exact science, and if we were to do a “re-draft” of that year, the respective draft rankings of the guys named above would be different.

The JFresh account on Twitter, which specializes in advanced statistics, completed the exercise of “re-drafting” the draft with the data we know today.

The result?

The Hawks would have selected Caufield with the 3rd overall pick…

Kirby Dach would be a member of the Oilers, who had the 8th pick of the NHL’s amateur auction…

Alex Newhook would have been drafted 10th overall by the Canucks…

And RHP would have heard his name called at the end of the first round, not the seventh.

Still, it’s special to see that the CH now has three players who “should” have been drafted in the top-10 in 2019 :

Here’s your 2019 NHL Re-Draft

1. Jack Hughes
2. Moritz Seider
3. Cole Caufield

⬇️⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/EU1yTWVaFA

– JFresh (@JFreshHockey) August 1, 2023

Since the start of their careers, Newhook, Caufield and Dach have shown great potential. So, to see them in the top 10 of the 2019 draft is not necessarily surprising in my eyes.

When he took the helm of the CH, Kent Hughes had a plan to add talented young players to his roster, and he kept his word.

But the case of Harvey-Pinard is the one I’m most interested in. After all, the Quebecer has been impressing ever since he turned pro, and now he’s starting to make a name for himself all over the NHL.

He was never really talked about as a top prospect in Montreal because he was selected in the seventh round, but that hasn’t stopped him from climbing the ladder in recent years by playing his own way.

And, frankly, it’s nice to see his talent and potential recognized, as in the tweet above. He’s worked hard to get where he is today, and we can’t help but be proud of the Québécois, really.

His place in the CH line-up may not be guaranteed in the eyes of many by the first game of next season… But if he continues to perform as he has for the past two years and keeps up the same style of play, chances are he’ll be in line for a great NHL career.

Isn’t it amazing how quickly things change? Four years ago, he came close to being passed over for the NHL draft…

And today, we think he should have been selected in the first round at that same draft.

Hats off to him!

In brief

– Jeremy Swayman has a new contract.

– A return to his roots for Justin Verlander.

– Love this.

– Ah, no. That’s too bad.