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12th pick to the Penguins: hurts the Canadiens’ chances of moving in the draft
Charles-Alexis Brisebois
12th pick to the Penguins: hurts the Canadiens’ chances of moving in the draft
Credit: Getty Images
Will the Canadiens trade at least one first-round pick by tomorrow night? Possibly.

If they do, it will either be to get their hands on an established player or to move up in the draft. I can’t see the Canadiens moving backwards, so let’s say forwards at the draft.

If it’s to look for outside reinforcements, we’ll see how much other teams value the Canadiens’ assets. In that case, the draft order in the top-15 isn’t that important.

But if you’re going to move up in the draft itself, you have to understand that the Rangers sending their first pick of 2025 (12th overall) to the Penguins affects the Canadiens.

Why do I say this?

Because, in light of the Penguins’ acquisition, the Pennsylvania club has the 11th and 12th picks. And if a top-10 club wants to trade their pick, dancing with the Penguins becomes more tempting than dancing with the Canadiens.

Arpon Basu (The Athletic) wrote about this: it makes the Habs more likely to keep their picks.

It’s also worth mentioning that if the Canadiens want to move up to 11th or 12th, which is easier than moving up into the top-10, they’ll have to dance with the Penguins… who want to move up, not down.

So yes, the Penguins are getting in the Habs’ way with the 12th pick.

In reality, the simplest thing would be this: the Penguins could draft 11th, 12th, 16th and 17th if Sidney Crosby asked his bosses to go the Montreal route.

But that might be a little less realistic for Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes at this point in the 2025 off-season.


overtime

– At 20, he’s off to the NCAA. It’s perfect.

– Right during the draft, too.

– Interesting.

– Québécois changes address.

– Where could he go?

– What do you think?

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