Ivan Demidov in Montreal: the result of The Athletic’s mock draft

I may be tired of it, but if the Habs can draft either Ivan Demidov, Cayden Lindstrom or Artyom Levshunov in the next auction, I think the club will be in the car.

And that’s even if Levshunov is a (right-handed) defenseman… since that would make it even easier to trade a current club defenseman for immediate reinforcement up front.

In an ideal world, in order and disorder, we wouldn’t see these three guys go out in the top-4 with Macklin Celebrini, question of at least one remaining for Kent Hughes. In an ideal world, Beckett Sennecke or Tij Iginla wouldn’t be the #5 choice either.

What this means is that in order to draft one of these three guys, at least one left-handed defenseman will likely have to come out ahead of the Montreal Canadiens’ pick.

I really have a feeling that Anton Silayev will be out before the Habs can talk, which would solve the problem. But what if two left-handed defensemen came out in the top-4? #DefenderDraft

According to Corey Pronman (The Athletic’s prospect expert), it’s definitely possible.

He believes that after Celebrini in San Jose, the Hawks will go with Levshunov, since history teaches us that between two similar prospects, the big defenseman is chosen before the winger.

Later, he sees the Ducks and Blue Jackets select Anton Silayev and Sam Dickinson, two left-handed defensemen. This would leave the Habs with the second-best forward in the draft .

And in his mock draft, unsurprisingly at this point, Pronman sends Ivan Demidov to Montreal, a player who could well slide all the way to #5.

Demidov may be a little smaller, but he’s the only one for whom the Habs have to make an exception to their “unwritten rule” of drafting a big guy with their fifth overall pick.

After all, he’s got so much talent coming out of his ears thatwe often talk about moving up to make sure we draft him.

Note that in such a scenario (The Athletic’s), Cayden Lindstrom would end up with the new Salt Lake City team, which has the sixth right to speak at the auction. He would be the first choice of the new expansion franchise that purchased the assets of the inactive Coyotes.

Zayne Parekh (right-handed defenseman), Zeev Buium (left-handed defenseman) and Konsta Helenius (center) would be the picks of the Senators, Kraken and Flames before Beckett Sennecke finally breaks into the top-10 with the Devils.

Pronman sees him moving up quickly. He doesn’t rule out his being drafted higher.

Pronman ranks Tij Iginla 13th, behind Berkly Catton and Carter Yakemchuk. He sees Cole Eiserman going to the Capitals (17th) and Trevor Connelly to Vegas (19th), because that’s a club that’s not afraid to get the word out.

In gusto

– Really?

– Slaf wants to win.

– One to watch.

– He’s 63 years old.

– What do you think?