Behind the scenes of the draft: “We’re aiming for Michael Hage in 21st place”

As we all know, the Habs are going through a rebuilding phase. The first REAL rebuild in quite some time.

And the draft is one of the best ways, if not the best way, to do it.

The recent acquisition of Patrik Laine has accelerated the process, but the last draft was a good one.

The selection of Ivan Demidov has greatly improved the Habs’ prospect bank, but the selection of Michael Hage at No. 21ᵉ is also an excellent choice.

By the way, the Montreal Canadiens have released a behind-the-scenes video on the 2024 draft.

I invite you to listen to it, it’s very interesting.

Watch the LIVE premiere of the Canadiens’ NHL Draft 2024 documentary here or on YouTube!

https://t.co/yPGVMXASb6

Watch the LIVE premiere of the Canadiens’ 2024 NHL Draft Documentary, right here or on YouTube! #GoHabsGo https://t.co/n8CKVx5dc2

– Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) August 22, 2024

Demidov immediately became the Habs’ most promising prospect upon his selection at No. 5ᵉ.

On the other hand, Hage is also showing great skills that lead us to believe he could very well become a top-6 center.

In the Canadiens’ video on their draft, we understood several things, but above all we understood that Hage was the ideal target as a second first-round selection.

The odds of Hage being available at No. 21ᵉ were far from guaranteed. Nick Bobrov, the Habs’ head scout, estimated that there was about a 20% chance of this scenario coming to fruition.

However, as Bobrov said in the video, it was definitely Hage the organization was targeting at that rank.

In the event that Hage was no longer available at this rank, there were already trades prepared for this 21ᵉ pick.

The trade to move up from the 26ᵉ to the 21ᵉ rank was mainly to have a good chance of selecting Hage, but also for a possible major transaction.

Finally, the ideal scenario arrived for the organization.

On another note, we got to see some clips of the prospects selected by the Habs in 2024 in pre-draft interviews.

Hage definitely delivered the most touching interview.

As we all know, the young right-handed center lost his father last season.

When Habs management asked him about his family, he had tears in his eyes when he talked about them.

He was, and still is, Hage’s role model.

Once again, I strongly recommend that you listen to the full video, it’s a beautiful little gem that the Habs made.

We learn more about the latest prospects chosen by the club and also the mentality of all the scouts on certain prospects.

Overtime

– It’s done.

SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED!

Rutger McGroarty, the 14th overall pick in the 2022 #NHLDraft, has signed his entry-level contract with the @penguins! pic.twitter.com/5jWFcVkyQM

– NHL (@NHL) August 22, 2024