The Canadiens need a forward who can win the Calder

At the last draft, the Montreal Canadiens drafted David Reinbacher in a “forward draft”, and that angered a lot of people.

For my part, because I believe that defensemen win championships, I love what the CH does and (above all) I love the youngster’s profile, it was my choice if the club couldn’t crack the top-4. I’ve never hidden that fact.

With all the youngsters pushing the blue line, the CH has the means to have an indestructible defense in a few years’ time.

But does that mean I don’t want to see the Habs get some attacking talent? Of course not, because scoring goals is just as important to winning.

And when you see that my colleague Tony Patoine ranked Owen Beck as the second-best prospect among the Flanelle forwards, you can see that he lacks a bit of punch. I like Beck a lot, but he’s not an offensive dynamo, let’s say.

Basically, it’s a shame that the Habs don’t have that big offensive player who can win the Calder, for example. So I’d like to see the CH get their hands on a guy who can bring the trophy back to Quebec.

At this point, the Habs’ prospect bank is overflowing, and that’s a good thing. That said, there will come a time when quantity will have to give way to quality among top prospects.

And CH management knows it.

Mind you, I’m not saying that the CH’s prospects aren’t quality. But what I am saying is that the CH doesn’t have a Connor Bedard, a Logan Cooley, an Adam Fantilli or a Leo Carlsson.

And don’t even get me started on Matvei Michkov. I don’t want talent at any price and I’m not a fan of the Russian.

But the good thing is that the Habs have the time to go out and get a guy who will allow the CH to add talent that can play on the top-6 with guys (notably) like Cole Caufield, Kirby Dach, Nick Suzuki and, hopefully, Juraj Slafkovsky.

We can add names like Alex Newhook or Joshua Roy, if we like. We could also add Lias Andersson… ah well, no.

We know that the Habs can move youngsters from their bank to pick up talent. And since Kent Hughes has never been afraid to trade first-round picks, fireworks can happen.

And if the CH has an ugly season, it can also go through the draft.

And as I said, the CH (which doesn’t necessarily want to overpay a free agent) knows that it takes talent on offense. Maybe that’s why Kent Hughes didn’t want to make a move for Yaroslav Askarov: when he does, it’ll be for a forward.

Remember that the CH tried out for Pierre-Luc Dubois and the #2 and #4 picks in the last auction, as the guys on Radio-Canada’s Tellement Hockey podcast remind us.

So I’m talking about a guy who can win the Calder, but you understand I mean a young forward. I don’t mind if it’s a guy who already has a hundred games under his belt in the Bettman circuit: as long as he’s young and can energize the top-6 up front.

If Kent Hughes finds another youngster “who’ll love the coach ” to add to the group, that’ll help. And since he has the resources to move, all he has to do is find his target and get the timing right.

In bursts

– I love seeing this.

– We need to talk about William Trudeau. [BPM Sports]

– If the Hawks hadn’t won the lottery in 2023, he might have already been named captain.

Seth Jones wants to be next Blackhawks captain:https://t.co/TM0OxDLN4l

– NHL.com (@NHLdotcom) September 13, 2023